Bush’s Abuse Of The NSA

I’ve been digesting this developing story of how Bush avoided the legal processes to spy on Americans suspected of being terrists. Its taken me a while to properly voice my concerns with the process. Its not that the NSA collects on Americans. The NSA does sometimes collect on Americans – but only with a warrant issued by the FISA court! In other words, the government must prove probable cause to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillence Act court that an American citizen is suspected of working as an agent of a foreign power (i.e., a spy).

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillence Act was put into place in the late 1970s to keep the NSA from being abused. It spells out in no uncertain terms what must occur if the NSA is tasked with collecting against American citizens. The process is an important judicial oversight to ensure our rights as citizens are not violated. Its so easy to use that its almost always a slam dunk for the government. In over 17,000 cases where the government has requested warrants the number of rejections can be counted on one hand.

The NSA can be a great resource (though not foolproof) for tracking terrorists. It should by all means play whatever role it can. The problem I have with this issue is Bush’s total disregard for the rules put in place for the agency’s own protection. The FISA court is there, it is designed to move swiftly on warrants. Why did Bush thwart the law by bypassing it?

I spent my navy enlistment working with the Naval Security Group, part of the NSA. The cardinal rule, as spelled out in a document called USSID 18 is this: The NSA Does Not Spy On Americans Without A Warrant. Period. This is drilled into your head constantly, backed up by annual training. The folks with the NSA take this very, very seriously. I am not surprised that some NSA staffers felt uncomfortable enough with this tasking to want to put a stop to it. Adhering to this rule is a matter of pride to the Agency.

The NSA has some incredible success stories in its fabled history. It has proved its value to our nation’s security many times over. It is sad that most of those stories will never be told publicly – that the men and women who do this work will never get the recognition they deserve. It hurts these people (and me, as a cryptologic veteran) even more to watch public opinion of their work, sketchy at best due to the inherent secrecy, get dragged through the mud. For this, I do not blame the whistleblowers, or the New York Times (which after all sat on this story for a whole year). I blame Bush, for breaking the rules if not for outright breaking the law.

I hope the Congress will take a close and careful look at the actions the Bush administration has undertaken with the NSA under the well-worn ruse of “national security.” Its time we, the people of the United States, decide if anyone is above the law.