How Bush Sacrificed Troop For Spy Powers

[kpete]

Saturday, September 29, 2007
How Bush Sacrificed Troop For Spy Powers

Over the past week, we've been reporting that U.S. government sources have disputed Mike McConnell's account to Congress that FISA Court rulings unreasonably delayed surveillance on Iraqi insurgents who kidnapped U.S. troops this spring. The sources blamed cumbersome bureaucratic hurdles for the delay, not the court, and questioned why obtaining an emergency surveillance order -- good for 72 hours before approval by a judge -- should have taken so long to acquire.

.........................

The timeline, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, showed that the Bush administration held "internal deliberations" on the "novel and complicated issues" presented by the emergency FISA request for more than four hours after the National Security Agency's top lawyer had approved it...

...Another two hours passed when Justice Department officials had trouble tracking down Alberto Gonzales, then the attorney general. He was speaking at a conference of U.S. attorneys in Texas.

........................

The delay resulted in the death of one of the kidnapped soldiers.

more at:
http://politicsplus.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-bush-sacrificed-troop-for-spy.html


according to the timeline, for the next four hours, administration officials "discussed legal and operational issues" about the surveillance. That's the critical delay...
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004323.php
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004320.php

[williesgirl]

1. k&r - Impeach Cheney now, then Bush