NSA: Amanpour, other CNN reporters not targeted for surveillance

[kpete]

NSA: Amanpour, other CNN reporters not targeted for surveillance
From David Ensor
CNN Washington Bureau


Friday, January 6, 2006; Posted: 10:31 a.m. EST (15:31 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A senior U.S. intelligence official told CNN on Thursday that the National Security Agency did not target CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour or any other CNN journalist for surveillance.

NBC raised the question in an interview with The New York Times reporter James Risen, asking him whether he knew anything about possible surveillance of Amanpour by the NSA. Risen, author of a new book, "State of War: the Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," said he had not heard anything about it.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/06/nsa.amanpour/

[adigal]

1. Yes, but did they target her husband?

I believe he worked in Kerry's campaign.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. Notice the wording.

'not targeted' does not neccesarilly mean 'not monitored'. That can be interpreted as 'we did not specifically select this person for surveillance'.

The NSA's Echelon monitoring system doesn't target ANYBODY it monitors EVERYTHING passing through the various communications switches it is attached to. All of that data is then processed into a huge back end database which in turn can be accessed by anyone who has access to it to look for anything they want to look for.

For example, it could be queried by some whitehouse clown with access for all phone calls made by Amanpour, who those calls were made to, and what keywords were mentioned in those conversations. But Amanpour would remain 'not a target of surveillance' anymore than you or I were targets.

[applegrove]

3. I still say the story is in how the rumour was spread to NBC.