As a result of September 11 the powers of the CIA and the FBI have been broadened significantly. Once barred from domestic surveillance because of concerns of abuse by an all-powerful spy agency, the CIA has now effectively been given carte blanche.
“The C.I.A. is now permitted to read secret grand jury testimony, without a judge’s prior approval. It can obtain private records of institutions and corporations seized under federal court-approved searches.
In proposed legislation circulated on Capitol Hill last month, the C.I.A. is also seeking the power to intercept e-mail messages routed through the United States from abroad, on the say-so of the director of central intelligence, without a warrant. In addition, the F.B.I. would like to expand its ability to eavesdrop on individuals in the United States. …
“The case for breaking down the barriers to work against international terrorists seeking to kill Americans is absolutely compelling,” said Morton H. Halperin, himself the target of an illegal wiretap when he worked in the Nixon White House. After many years of court battles, he won a belated apology from his former boss, Henry A. Kissinger.
“But the government insistently refused to limit it to that,” he said. “Most of the new authorities are directed as much at American citizens as foreigners.”
The expansion of government power to spy at home is taking place in a political environment charged by the attacks. To oppose the powers that the government seeks, Attorney General John Ashcroft warned Congress last month, is to side with the terrorists.”
I’m also worried about all of these billions and billions of dollars being spent without oversight and with the say-so of people who most likely do not have the best interests of Americans on their minds.