Spy chief's disclosures stun Congress

[Hepburn]

McConnell is criticized for offering once-classified details about the wiretapping program in an interview.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's top intelligence official drew sharp criticism from Capitol Hill and government watchdog groups Thursday for disclosing previously classified details about the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

In a newspaper interview last week, Director of National Intelligence J. Michael McConnell provided new details on the scope of the espionage program, saying that fewer than 100 people in the United States were under surveillance by the National Security Agency at any time, compared with thousands overseas.

He also disclosed details about a previously secret decision by a special intelligence court that ruled that the program was in violation of U.S. law. The deliberations of the court are generally classified.

The disclosures stunned members of Congress. They were not allowed to discuss those details publicly during an intense debate this month on legislation sought by McConnell that granted the government significant new powers to eavesdrop on e-mails and phone calls that pass into or through data networks in the United States.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mcconnell24aug24,1,7754284.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Yeah, a leak of secret info that aids BushCo...how rare ~~ NOT!

[ThomWV]

1. Selective disclosure (declassification) for political purpose

Surely that must be against some law. If not the Congress needs to get to work.

[annabanana]

2. No one is allowed to leak classified stuff

Except Bush, Cheney, Rove, McConnell, probably Gonzales, Scooter, Ari, umm lets see... probably most good ol' GOP boys in Texas. . .

Let's just blow ourselves up and be done with it, right?

[Xipe Totec]

5. List of people knowing of the secret plan

Me and you of course Darling, Field Marshall Haugue, and Field Marshell's Haugue's wife, All her friends, her friends servants, her friends servants tennis partners, and some man I bumped into in the mess last week named Barnard


"So only me and the rest of the English speaking world then"

- The Black Adder

[wordpix]

3. doubtful that only 100 w/in US being spied on---what about all the peace, environmental & other

activist groups we've learned about?

like Thomas Merton Center peace group in Pittsb.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spyfiles/28000res20060314.html

and Greenpeace, etc.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/17/politics/main1215238.shtml

[Hepburn]

4. My thoughts exactly...

...why bother with all the BS and cover-ups to spy on ONLY 100 people in the US. There are bigger fish in the water than this, IMO.