From: "Rich Gauszka" 

Good grief Mark - The world is as it's always been - only the names of the
'bad' guys making the threats have changed.  Agencies charged to protect us
have made arrests and stopped plots well before Bush was a thought. The
frightening event in the future is the dissolution of our liberties and not
some amorphous bogeyman.


"Mark"  wrote in message
news:44b18877$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> That the internal whistleblower thing worked the way it was supposed to
> (up until some ass leaked the letter itself) is a good thing. Hoekstra
> also said there's no way that they can/want to be briefed on every single
> program, he felt these should have made the cut.
>
> What this tells me, is that we're in a transition phase adjusting to a new
> world-wide threat and it's going to take some time to get it all sorted
> out (via squabbles such as this one and Supreme Court input in other
> areas, as well as continuing adjustments in the way other agencies and
> departments communicate).
>
> I just don't see how this transition can be expected to be accomplished
> with no missteps at all, but, eh, let's blame Bush. 
>
> This part of his letter, however, is what I found interesting and quite
> disturbing:
>
> "In fact, I have long been convinced that a strong and well-positioned
> group within the Agency intentionally undermined the Administration and
> its policies.  This argument is supported by the Ambassador Wilson/Valerie
> Plame events, as well as by the string of unauthorized disclosures from an
> organization that prides itself with being able to keep secrets.  I have
> come to the belief that, despite his service to the DO, Mr. Kappes may
> have been a part of this group.  I must take note when my Democratic
> colleagues - those who so vehemently denounced and now publicly attacked
> the strong choice of Porter Goss as Director - now publicly support Mr.
> Kappes's return."
> http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2006/07/hoekstra_cia_gr.html
>
> What we've got going on, I think, is a plethora of power struggles, and it
> ain't purty and it ain't making us safer or expediting the elimination of
> terrorist groups around the world. So I wish they'd all swallow their egos
> and kiss and make up 
>
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
> news:44b17a2e{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Well now the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee is
>> saying it. Perhaps Bush really likes to play 'Twenty Questions'
>>
>>
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=200
6-07-09T143910Z_01_N09148126_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-INTELLIGENCE.xml
>>
>> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration was running several
>> intelligence programs, including one major activity, that it kept secret
>> from Congress until whistle-blowers told the House of Representatives
>> Intelligence Committee, the committee's chairman said on Sunday.
>>
>> Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House
>> Intelligence Committee, said on Fox News Sunday he had written a
>> four-page to President George W. Bush in May warning him that the failure
>> to disclose the intelligence activities to Congress may be a violation of
>> the law.
>>
>> In doing so, he confirmed a story that first ran in Sunday editions of
>> the New York Times.
>>
>>
>> "I take it very, very seriously otherwise I would not have written the
>> letter to the president," Hoekstra said.
>>
>> "This is actually a case where the whistle-blower process was working
>> appropriately and people within the intelligence community brought to my
>> attention some programs that they believed we had not been briefed on.
>> They were right," said Hoekstra, a close ally of Bush.
>>
>> "We asked by code name about some of these programs. We have now been
>> briefed on those programs but I wanted to reinforce to the president and
>> to the executive branch and the intelligence community how important by
>> law is the requirement that they keep the legislative branch informed of
>> what they are doing," Hoekstra said.
>>
>> The White House declined to comment directly on the allegations in
>> Hoekstra's letter. "We will continue to work closely with the chairman
>> and other congressional leaders on important national security issues,"
>> said Alex Conant, a White House spokesman.
>>
>> Critics have charged that the Bush administration has a penchant for
>> secrecy and has pushed its legal powers to the limit and possibly beyond
>> in pursuing its "war on terror." But Hoekstra's complaint was
>> particularly significant since it came from a strong supporter of the
>> administration's tactics.
>>
>> Hoekstra complained in his letter to Bush that the U.S. Congress
"simply
>> should not have to play 'Twenty Questions' to get the information that it
>> deserves under our Constitution."
>>
>> In the letter and the interview, Hoekstra did not provide details about
>> the programs, which presumably remain secret.
>>
>> Hoekstra had been briefed about both the National Security Agency's
>> domestic surveillance program and the Treasury Department's tracking of
>> international banking transactions, both of which were leaked to the
>> media.
>>
>> He said he did not expect to be briefed about everything intelligence
>> agencies were doing but at least one of the secret activities was a major
>> program which Congress definitely should have been informed about.
>>
>>
>> In the letter, Hoekstra said the lack of disclosure possibly constituted
>> a "breach of responsibility by the administration, a violation of the
>> law, and, just as importantly, a direct affront to me and the members of
>> this committee who have so ardently supported efforts to collect
>> information on our enemies."
>>
>>
>
>

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