Sorry I have been absent the past weeks. I have been writing letters to my local paper in an attempt to help correct the American Public’s ignorance. My latest letter was in response to this letter published on October 1st:

William O. Stephens seems to be as misguided as other liberals who attempt to destroy the ability of the CIA to obtain information on terrorists.
By believing that “citizens on the U.S. end of international phone calls are stripped of any protections,” Stephens speciously props up the notion that all coming into the United States must be reaching a U.S. citizen.
I called the offices of U.S. Sens. Russell Feingold D-Wis., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., with the same question: “How do you know that the person receiving a call is a U.S. citizen?” Both Offices said they didn’t know.
I believe the cheap political opportunism used by liberals, as opposed to actually protecting the citizens of this nation form coordinated attacks, is treasonous. At the very least, believing all calls need judicial warrants indicates that naiveté that one can have in not realizing that terrorist are smart enough to own multiple cell phones. By the time a judge approves a warrant, another phone can be in use.
Sadly, until another 9/11 happens, our efforts at obtaining early knowledge of enemy actions will be hamstrung by those who claim to be protecting us.

My response, which was published on October 4th (Keep in mind I was limited to 200 words, or else I would have included more evidence and perhaps some Foucault):

I must disagree with Brian L. Johnson’s (October 1st. Sorry, Wrong Number) assessment of the CIA’s new wiretapping program.
First, he advocates that Americans would be protected from another attack and would preserve National Security. However, this rationale has been used to justify some of the worst atrocities the world has ever seen. For instance, it allowed thousands of Japanese-Americans to be imprisoned, even though they posed no threat. It also allowed Joseph Stalin to create the Gulag.
Second, he contends that the CIA needs this to monitor terrorists; however, the pre-9/11 reports clearly show the problem was not a lack of information, but an over abundance coupled with a lack of sufficient personal to filter it. This program would only add more information to an agency that is already unable to deal with what it has. Do we really want to do this?
Finally, a few years ago, the CIA obtained a warrant to tap a known terrorist to obtain information, but a news agency leaked it, causing the terrorist use another phone, proving that warranted wiretaps are still feasible. I am not against protecting this country, but there are legal and constitutional restraints that need to be upheld.

Tell me what you think.

Filed under: Activism, Alex Habrock, Constitution, Democrats, Foriegn Affairs, George W. Bush, Government, Moral Issues, Opinion, Secondary Featured Stories, Terrorism, War on Terror