January 24, 2006
Last month, senior editors at the New York Times, following direct negotiations with the President George W. Bush, came to terms on publishing limited information about a National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance “program” by which communications of American citizens have reportedly been intercepted.
It was agreed that the Times would be permitted to print their “story” about the “program,” but only if they mislead readers as to the date on which the “program” was actually implemented. They agreed to falsely report that the “program” was created shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
As NSA documents now show, the “program” actually began not after September 11, but immediately after Bush took office. The best available evidence shows that the Times is once again involved in a limited hangout by which they hope to shield the President from questions regarding the true intent of the “program.”
However, while the Times will surely continue to mislead the American people, they have given the President a rare opportunity, and a motive, to tell the truth. I’m sorry to have to break the news to the liberal media, but when George W. Bush insists that his “program” is only aimed at tracking al Qaeda-related communications, he is telling the truth. Every instance of wiretapping can be linked to al Qaeda.
But why then did so many Americans get caught up in this al Qaeda-only surveillance “program?” Well, as you know, the White House started a march to war immediately following the September 11 attacks. But, for them to pull off an invasion of Iraq, it was understood that they would first have to convince the American people that al Qaeda and Iraq were one in the same. Therefore, anybody attempting to disprove the link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein became enemies of the administration.
And who was it that dared to disprove this would-be link? It was everyday Americans. It was the anti-war movement. It was the Quakers. It was you.
Before September 11, the administration was tracking al Qaeda-related communications in hopes of using the obtained information in a way which would eventually give them an excuse for going to war. This did not change after September 11, 2001. Not at all.
After the attacks, any and all communications which could arguably be aimed at disproving the administration’s case for war, any communications which arguably could have disproved the al Qaeda link, became fair game in the eyes of George W. Bush.
This week, the President embarked on a promotional tour by which he hopes to convince the American people that his warrantless spying was done with the best of intentions. Among his talking points, Bush is asking audiences why, if the spying was illegal, he would have shared specifics about the “program” with a very small, bi-partisan group of Capitol Hill legislators. That’s a very good question. But the answer is even better:
Because the so-called legislators were brought into the loop after September 11, and long after the “program” was actually created, the legislators believe, to this very moment, that the “program” was created in response to the attacks. But, as the evidence clearly shows, the “program” was actually created in anticipation of the attacks. The legislators are stooges. They will unwittingly confirm the legitimacy of an illegitimate “program.”
The NSA secrets are not being clouded by the lies of George W. Bush, they are being revealed by the underlying truths of his words.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011306Z.shtml
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