Gen. Michael Hayden, the nation's No. 2 intelligence official, speaking to the New York Daily News, repeated the administration's neocon claim about the Bush people's warrentless wiretapping of Americans: "Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is my professional judgment that we would have detected some of the al-Qaida operatives in the United States."
That's a flat-out lie: "The NSA, with full knowledge of the White House," began warrantless domestic spying shortly after Bush first took office, in early 2001, long before September 11.
Gen. Michael Hayden, the nation's No. 2 intelligence official, speaking to the New York Daily News, repeated the administration's neocon claim about the Bush people's warrentless wiretapping of Americans: "Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is my professional judgment that we would have detected some of the al-Qaida operatives in the United States."
That's a flat-out lie: "The NSA, with full knowledge of the White House," began warrantless domestic spying shortly after Bush first took office, in early 2001, long before September 11.
The Bush people are also telling us to trust them, telling us that they are only spying on suspected al Qaeda militants. That, also, is untrue: Mother Jones reported back in 2003 that: "Under a Justice Department training curriculum, police are taught to pay attention to citizens' political affiliations and ... directed to collect information on the 'structure, philosophy, number of members, [and] locations' of groups including 'the Green Movement,' which is defined as 'environmental activism that is aimed at political and social reform with the explicit attempt to develop environmentally friendly policy, law, and behavior." So if you care about the environment and have said so in any public way — such as, say, signing a petition here and there in support of the environmental movement — the Bush people think you're a threat, and may be watching you.
Recently, the mainstream media caught up with this story. Now the dangerous ones, according to the Bush people, are vegetarians, peace activists, and civil rights advocates. People like me. Why? What makes a peace activist more important to watch than an actual militant bent on taking American lives? What makes a vegetarian more dangerous than a suicide bomber? How can the administration justify spying on civil-rights activists?