From: "Mark" 

Oh c'mon Rich, we've revamped our intelligence apparatus in a big way since
9/11, when they didn't stop the plot, as they didn't in the first WTC
attack, and there are bound to be oversteps/oversights in this area or
that, it's going to take awhile to get it all together properly.



"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
news:44b18e09$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> 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=20
06-07-09T143910Z_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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