Home > Is Bush Spying on His Political Opponents?
Governments Secret Services USA
With the Rove machine in full blast demonizing anyone who dares speak out against the noble and necessary "Terrorist Surveillance Program", it becomes more clear that Democrats need to strike back. Instead of merely saying that the spying program is illegal and unwarranted, the Dems need to question Bush’s intent. He, of course, says that the purpose of the program is to stop terrorist attacks from occurring on US soil. Democrats need to respond by questioning this intent and push the fact that it is credible that Bush is using NSA wiretapping capabilities for his own political self-interest. In other words, Bush has a nasty habit of spying on people who happen to disagree with him, and we have proof.
- Daisy Cutter’s diary :: ::
It is important to realize why FISA came into existence in the first place, to prevent abuses from happening and to make sure that spying is only done to protect the American people. An informative article by Athen G. Theoharris points out the US’ history of spying on dissidents and jouralists. It shows Presidents like LBJ, FDR, and Richard Nixon abusing intelligence capabilities to further their own political agenda. This suggests that there is much precedent for the suspicions of many on the Left.
It seems very clear what Bush’s intention is when one takes a close look at the facts. The President refused to go to Congress in order to amend FISA, and even claimed that in 2002 and that the law was working well in a direct contradiction of recent statements made by the administration in defense of the surveillance program. Bush wanted to keep the eavesdropping as secret as possible, and with virtually no oversight whatsoever.
Some allegations of the government spying on political opponents can be found below. Several of these links were found on MyDD.com.
Revealed: US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war (The Observer, 3-2-2003) A leaked NSA memo makes it clear that the Bush administration intended to spy on UN delegates during the run-up to war in order to obtain "’whole gamut of information that could give US policymakers an edge in obtaining results favourable to US goals or to head off surprises." A later article by The Raw Story has more information and reveals that the plan was authorized by Condoleezza Rice.FBI scrutinizing anti-war protesters (New York Times, 11-23-2003) Another leaked memo details how the FBI collected information on numerous anti-war groups and discusses "innovative strategies" such as videotaping arrests as a way of "intimidating" police".
Large Volume of FBI Files Alarms US Activist Groups (New York Times, 7-18-2005) The FBI has collected at least 3,500 pages of documents on antiwar and civil rights groups. 1,173 pages are on the ACLU alone.
Is the Pentagon spying on Americans? (NBC News, 12-14-2005) It’s revealed that the Pentagon keeps a database of "suspicious" dissident groups and a list of protests.
NSA: Amanpour, other CNN reporters not targeted for surveillance (CNN, 1-6-2006) The possibility exists that Amanpour or other CNN journalist was spied on by the NSA. It should be noted that Amanpour is married to James Rubin, an advisor to John Kerry’s presidential campaign.
NSA Used City Police as Trackers (Baltimore Sun, 1-13-2006) The NSA used local law enforcement to spy on Quakers on their way to an antiwar protest outside Fort Meade. The group has a history of non-violence. The Raw Story has more information and the relevant documents.
The Other Big Brother (Newsweek, 1-20-2006) Michael Isikoff discloses the role of a Pentagon program known as the Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) in spying on domestic activists, including an anti-Halliburton group that showed up outside the company’s headquarters in Houston.
Did The National Guard Spy On ’Raging Grannies’? (ABC 7 KGO-TV/DT, 2-28-2006) The California National Guard is accused of spying on an antiwar group called the "Raging Grannies" at a Mother’s Day Rally. A hard drive with information on it about the spying was erased, and boxes of documents have been blacked out.
ACLU files lawsuit demanding military turn over records on alleged government spying (Associated Press, 3-7-2005) A student protest at Berkeley showed up as a threatening activity on a DoD database. It was done under a Pentagon program called Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) which was started in 2003 for the purpose of tracking people and groups with terror ties.
Also, as ThinkProgress points out General Hayden has in the past refused to provide a satisfactory answer as whether or not the program was used to spy on political opponents and journalists.
It is vitally important that the Democrats push for documents about the spying program to be released so that everyone knows the full extent of Bush’s breach of the balance of powers.
Forum posts
10 March 2006, 14:33
Yes, Bush has a number of secret operatives whose full time job is to spy on all political opponents of George Bush. They have huge files from e-mails, telephone calls, faxes, documents, conversations. Now that Bush has a secret police that can arrest you anytime without warrant, hold you indefinitely, abuse and torture you, we should all be aware that at any time, day or night, our President is a scoundrel who is out to see that you have no freedom of speech or movement without his imperial say-so. No one in this country is safe from his loony President. Our democracy has turned into a corporate theocracy, in which everything is for sale.
12 March 2006, 00:47
I would suggest citizens who want to get a better grasp of just where the Neo-CONS want to Take America type into google "homeland security opening mail". I did it and I got 16 MILLION plus hits.
My mail is being opened the last time these criminals stole over 200 dollars in mdse.
What is happening at airports with People of Conscience being targeted for harrassment is shear Hitleresque brown shirt tactics that attempt to harrass citizens who only want to add their voice in a First Amend. protected way to the dialoque that simly asks is this "war" REALLY in our country’s best interest and how many more have to die to achieve some jello like ideal. Slippery and always hard to get a hold of REASONS for war that don’t make any logical sense and keep changing like the weather.