VirusHead

General Hayden contradicts himself on illegal domestic spying program

Seems to me that when we give up the values of our democracy, we’ve handed a victory to the terrorists.

September 11th Advocates are not happy about the continual use of 9/11 as an excuse to break our laws. They point to contradictions between NSA Directory General Michael Hayden’s current statements on the NSA domestic surveillance program and his testimony to the Joint Inquiry of Congress in 2002.

January 22, 2006 – General Michael Hayden, in defending the illegal NSA Surveillance program, stated:
“We’re not violating the law … 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.”

In 2002 – NSA Director Hayden testified before the Joint Inquiry that:
“the collection of communications between the United States and foreign countries will most likely contain information about domestic activities and thus, is the responsibility of the FBI, not NSA.”

According to the Joint Inquiry, Hayden “contrasted the foreign intelligence value of such intercepts and their domestic security value. If the former is at stake, he asserted, NSA should intercept the communications; if the latter, the FBI.”

The Joint Inquiry found: “General Hayden, senior NSA managers, NSA legal staff, and NSA analysts made clear in Joint Inquiry testimony and interviews that they do not want to be perceived as focusing NSA capabilities against U.S. persons in the United States. The Director and his staff were UNANIMOUS that lessons NSA learned as a result of Congressional investigations during the 1970’s should not be forgotten.”

*** We would appreciate General Hayden explaining why he now deems the illegal surveillance program being carried out by the NSA appropriate and constitutional. Once again, we note that President Bush’s illegal NSA surveillance program was in place when General Hayden testified in 2002. Furthermore, we believe that the NSA and in turn the American people would be better served with a Director who understands that agency’s capabilities regarding terrorist surveillance – both past and present. Hayden’s statements indicate one of two things – he is either incompetent or a liar. In either case he should not be heading up the NSA.

Once again, we encourage President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Former President Bush, Attorney General Gonzales and General Hayden – all of whom were recently on TV spouting utter nonsense to the American people regarding the need and justification for this illegal program – to review the findings of facts and conclusions held by the Joint Inquiry of Congress and the 9/11 Commission. As such, their recent statements to the press regarding the need and justification for the current illegal NSA surveillance program can only be perceived as a deliberate attempt to grossly mislead the American public.

September 11th Advocates
Kristen Breitweiser, Patty Casazza, Monica Gabrielle, Mindy Kleinberg

Whatever you think of the rhetoric here, it is interesting that he would have said that in 2002, when the program was already going.