Spy agencies call for broader surveillance laws

[kpete]

Spy agencies call for broader surveillance laws
Intelligence officials say controversial changes are needed to track moving terrorist targets in an Internet age, and Republicans agree.
By Anne Broache
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: July 26, 2006, 11:53 AM PDT

WASHINGTON--The heads of the nation's two major spy agencies on Wednesday told Congress that it's impractical to seek warrants before tracking the global phone and Internet activities of groups like al-Qaida and terrorist sympathizers.

At a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing here, CIA Director Michael Hayden (who until recently headed the National Security Agency) and NSA Director Keith Alexander urged adoption of a proposal that would grant spy agencies more power and current practices more legitimacy. The proposed law amounts to a rewrite of the 1978 wiretapping law called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Under FISA, investigators must file a detailed application and obtain permission from a secret court before eavesdropping on foreign communications in which at least one end is located inside the United States.

But obtaining individual warrants "is less well-suited to provide the agility to detect and prevent attacks against the homeland" than it was during the Cold War era, Hayden said, particularly when investigators are in "hot pursuit" of communications involving al-Qaida and its associates.

more at:
http://news.com.com/Spy+agencies+call+for+broader+surveillance+laws/2100-1028-6098735.html?part=dtx&tag=nl.e433

[napi21]

1. I don't personally have a problem with they trying to track whatever

they want on the net. Anyone who doesn't already realize that whatever you post on the internet has lost it's privacy is just not facing reality!

As to the phones, I believe they still should be required to get the FISA warrant!

If there is anysmidgeon of truth to the cops & robbers TV programs, ekkiminating the need for warrants won't matter anyway! Seems all someone has to do is buy a prepaid cell phone, use it once, and throw it away, and you can remain hidden for a very long time!

[KansDem]

2. Why? They (Bush and GOP) ignore US intelligence anyway

Bush had ample warning about 9/11 and chose to ignore it. The GOP backs him up on this.

They also had sound intelligence that Saddam had no WMDs. They chose to invade anyway.

Bush outed a CIA operative, exposing an intelligence operation that was tracking mideast WMDs.

So why in the Hell should the GOP want more intelligence gathering power when that intelligence is ignored?

Doesn't make sense. :shrug:

[AndyA]

3. Why hasn't the FISA process been streamlined more, so agencies can

utilize it better? Why not file requests for warrants electronically? Agents could carry laptops with them and have information processed instantly.

To me, this whole FISA system being burdensome is bullshit. You can get the warrants AFTER the fact. Later. As in days later. If that isn't enough time, the process should be streamlined to make it easier/faster to get warrants and file the required documents.

Giving the President Carte Blanche to do whatever he wants to do is not the answer here.

If the terrorists succeed in removing our rights and freedoms, they've won! WE LOSE!! America as we once knew it is gone. The terrorists win, freedom and democracy loses. What, exactly are we fighting for anyway, if not freedom and democracy?