Ever-Expanding Secret
EDITORIAL, NYTimes on
the Web, May 12, 2006
Ever since its secret domestic
wiretapping program was exposed, the Bush administration has depicted it as a
narrow examination of calls made by and to terrorism suspects. But its
refusal to provide any details about the extent of the spying has raised doubts.
Now there is more reason than ever to be worried — and angry — about how wide
the government's web has been reaching.
According to an article in USA Today, the National Security Agency has been
secretly collecting telephone records on tens of millions of Americans with the
cooperation of the three largest telecommunications companies in the nation.
The scope of the domestic spying described in the article is breathtaking.
The government is reported to be working with AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth to
collect data on phone calls made by untold millions of customers.
President Bush has insisted in the past that the government is monitoring only
calls that begin or end overseas. But according to USA Today, it has
actually been collecting information on purely domestic calls. One source
told the paper that the program had produced "the largest database ever
assembled in the world."
The government has stressed that it is not listening in on phone calls, only
analyzing the data to look for calling patterns. But if all the details of
the program are confirmed, the invasion of privacy is substantial. By
cross-referencing phone numbers with databases that link numbers to names and
addresses, the government could compile dossiers of what people and
organizations each American is in contact with.
The phone companies are doing a great disservice to their customers by
cooperating. To its credit, one major company, Qwest, refused, according
to the article, because it had doubts about the program's legality.
What we have here is a clandestine surveillance program of enormous size, which
is being operated by members of the administration who are subject to no limits
or scrutiny beyond what they deem to impose on one another. If the White
House had gotten its way, the program would have run secretly until the war on
terror ended — that is, forever.
Congress must stop pretending that it has no serious responsibilities for
monitoring the situation. The Senate should call back Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales and ask him — this time, under oath — about the scope of the
program. This time, lawmakers should not roll over when Mr. Gonzales
declines to provide answers. The confirmation hearings of Michael Hayden,
President Bush's nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director, are also a
natural forum for a serious, thorough and pointed review of exactly what has
been going on.
Most of all, Congress should pass legislation that removes any doubt that this
kind of warrantless spying on ordinary Americans is illegal. If the
administration finds the current procedures for getting court approval of
wiretaps too restrictive, this would be the time to make any needed adjustments.
President Bush began his defense of the N.S.A. program yesterday by invoking, as
he often does, Sept. 11. The attacks that day firmed the nation's resolve
to protect itself against its enemies, but they did not give the president the
limitless power he now claims to intrude on the private communications of the
American people.
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