Originally published February 23 2006
Senate Judiciary Committee begins monitoring program hearings
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The issue is whether the surveillance is legal or illegal. President Bush claims it is, while civil libertarians contend it is not. About 600 people in the U.S. have been targeted for repeated surveillance since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The National Security Agency has secured the cooperation of large telecommunications companies, including AT&T, MCI and Sprint, in its efforts to eavesdrop without warrants on international calls by suspected terrorists, according to seven telecommunications executives.
Michael Hayden, former head of the NSA, during a hearing last week on Capitol Hill.
The Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings today on the government's program of monitoring international calls and e-mails of a domestic target without first obtaining court orders.
At issue: whether the surveillance is legal, as President Bush insists, or an illegal intrusion into the lives of Americans, as lawsuits by civil libertarians contend.
AT&T was recently acquired by SBC Communications, which has since adopted the AT&T name as its corporate moniker.
MCI, formerly known as WorldCom, was recently acquired by Verizon.
The New York Times, which disclosed the clandestine operation in December, previously reported that telecommunications companies have been cooperating with the government, but it did not name the companies involved.
� Information from U.S. or allied intelligence or law enforcement points to a terrorism-related target either based in the United States or communicating with someone in the United States.
� Using a 48-point checklist to identify possible links to al-Qaeda, one of three NSA officials authorized to approve a warrantless intercept decides whether the surveillance is justified.
Michael Hayden, the nation's No. 2 intelligence officer, said the checklist focuses on ensuring that there is a "reasonable basis" for believing there is a terrorist link involved.
Call-routing information provided by the phone companies can help intelligence officialseavesdrop on a conversation.
The two intelligence officials said that number has been whittled down to about 600 people in the United States who have been targeted for repeated surveillance since the Sept. 11 attacks.
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