[Reader-list] U.S. discovers violations in surveillance program

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All and Dear Jeebesh,

The story below indicates how a State can sometimes overstep its
privileges. I particularly liked the way in which various government
players choose to articulate illegal actions of the State, related to
brazen invasion of privacy and total disregard for the individual
freedom of the persons concerned.

For instance, sample this piece of rhetoric- 'NSA had engaged in
"over-collection" of Americans' domestic communications.'  ha
ha...'over-collection' seems like an act of earnestness totally devoid
of any intentionality and willful disregard.

...and Jeebesh there is something for you, in this report.

Consider this-

a. The Justice Department seeks court approval for each wiretap, which
must be approved by the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Court.

b.Congress in July 2008 authorized U.S. intelligence agencies to
eavesdrop without court approval on foreign targets believed to be
outside the United States.

c. But critics complained the new bill allowed warrantless
surveillance of phone calls and e-mails of Americans who were
communicating with the foreign targets, and they said safeguards in
the bill to minimize such eavesdropping were inadequate.

In this case at least  'foreign' seems like a valid state construct, a
category which appears to be quite institutionalized. It may be so
that 'foreign' causes 'anxiety'. But perhaps it is not the 'foreign'
which the State sees, rather the presence of 'anxiety' appears as a
symptom, for which the 'foreign' is defined, sought, classified,
studied, analyzed, categorized and chaffed out.

Maybe I am completely wrong here, but it appears to me, as if, any
pathology of the state could have anxiety of the foreign or the
foreignness of anxiety as fundamental elements playing a virtually
real game of perfectly rational causality.

Regards

Taha


http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE53F4GH20090416

U.S. discovers violations in surveillance program

Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:27am EDT

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. program to intercept Americans' e-mails
and phone calls recently violated legal restrictions imposed to guard
against previous abuses, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

After learning of the violations, the department said, the National
Security Agency adopted new safeguards that brought the program into
compliance.

"The Justice Department ... works diligently to ensure that
surveillance under established legal authorities complies with the
nation's laws, regulations and policies, including those designed to
protect privacy interests and civil liberties," department spokesman
Dean Boyd said.

The Justice Department seeks court approval for each wiretap, which
must be approved by the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Court.

Boyd issued the statement after The New York Times reported that the
NSA had intercepted the e-mails and phone calls in recent months on a
scale that went beyond limits set by the U.S. Congress last year.

Citing unnamed intelligence officials, the paper said the NSA had
engaged in "over-collection" of Americans' domestic communications.

Democrat Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said her panel would hold a hearing on the subject within a
month.

"These are serious allegations, and we will make sure we get the
facts," Feinstein said.

Congress in July 2008 authorized U.S. intelligence agencies to
eavesdrop without court approval on foreign targets believed to be
outside the United States.

The 2008 bill was introduced after controversy over a secret
warrantless domestic spying program, launched by former President
George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks and revealed in 2005.

But critics complained the new bill allowed warrantless surveillance
of phone calls and e-mails of Americans who were communicating with
the foreign targets, and they said safeguards in the bill to minimize
such eavesdropping were inadequate.

The bill also gave liability protection to telecommunications
companies that took part in the program.

President Barack Obama has reversed some security policies of the Bush
administration, ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison for
terrorism suspects within a year and an end to interrogation methods
condemned as torture.

Boyd said the Justice Department had immediately notified the
surveillance court, which has jurisdiction over such eavesdropping, of
the excess wiretapping and was working with the court to address the
problem.

Government officials also have briefed members of Congress, including
lawmakers on the intelligence and judiciary committees, Boyd said.

(Editing by Randall Mikkelsen and Eric Beech)