White House rejects criticism of Obama over NSA surveillance as rift deepens

[Indi Guy]

Source: the guardian

The White House sought on Friday to distance itself from the National Security Agency's monitoring of foreign leaders, rejecting criticism that President Barack Obama was understating his knowledge of the agency's activities.

In a further sign of the growing blame game within Washington over the affair, spokesman Jay Carney said Obama paid close attention to terrorism intercepts but had no need to personally bug the phones of allies. "The president is a very deliberate consumer of the intelligence gathered for him on national security matters," said Carney. "But when the president wants to find out what the heads of state of friendly nations think, he calls them."

The White House comments followed an admission on Thursday from secretary of state John Kerry that some surveillance practices were carried out "on auto-pilot" and had not been known to the president. That was followed on Thursday night by the NSA director, Keith Alexander, blaming Kerry's own department for driving its spying on friendly world leaders.

"The intelligence agencies don't come up with the requirements. The policymakers come up with the requirements," Alexander said. "One of those groups would have been, let me think, hold on, oh: ambassadors."




Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/01/barack-obama-nsa-surveillance-foreign-leaders

[blkmusclmachine]

1. Pawns in their end game.

[JDPriestly]

2. We need more civilian control, a broader political spectrum of civilian control over our

intelligence services. It's just too much information for Obama to know it all.

The amount of information amassed is a danger to democracy when so few people have access to it.

The surveillance should be used to target, I repeat target, terrorists, drug traffickers, money launderers, criminals, etc., and it should always be used after getting a warrant based on probable cause or at the very least reasonable suspicion stating the facts of the case. This blanket computerized surveillance and spying is dangerous for our country. We could easily have a military coup as a result of this, not tomorrow or soon, but eventually. This information puts too much power in the hands of very few. That is incompatible with democracy.

[gussmith]

3. Denials are so auto pilot

Any truthers on staff?

[roguevalley]

4. he ignore this at his peril. a deficit of his is no getting his message out

[marshall]

5. It's a tightrope walk

Whatever the truth, deny as much as possible without looking hopelessly out of touch.

[Indi Guy]

6. ...And come up with phrases that offer plausible deniability like, "on auto-pilot".

You should be hearing that term allot in the days to come.

[sendero]

9. Now that Biden is down..

... to making OUR CASE against this agency you know that there is something at stake.

[24601]

7. So what did the President not know and when did he not know it? Am I surprised? Not that the WH

dodges & weaves. Am I surprised as what the IC focuses on? Supporting policy-makers about the capabilities & intention of foreign governments is the essence of foreign intelligence.

[sendero]

8. "autopilot"? Mr. Biden?

And you wonder why we don't trust the NSA and we don't want them performing sweeping big-brother mass surveillance?

Anyone still arguing that there is not a PROBLEM here is stupid or evil.

[Demeter]

10. let's put it this way: Obama is not part of the solution

and the saying goes:

"If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem."



Now, the President could suddenly reverse himself, as he is on so many other issues: the Great Bargain/Betrayal,
Sequester, Deficits, Syria, and start to show some leadership....

but I'm not holding my breath. A man who has to change against his will, is of the same opinion still, and Obama hasn't been showing any leadership worth following since he started office.