funsec mailing list archives
Re: [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany
From: "Joel R. Helgeson" <joel () helgeson com>
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:00:50 -0500
The upset is with the fact that the NSA monitors call traffic that could be routed through the United States, such as a call from Canada to the UK(using undersea cables), without a warrant. The second is that an Al Qaeda terrorist is in Germany, talking to a terrorist in the USA, planning an attack. Because the conversation involves an individual inside the USA, does the NSA need a court order? So, I could see that this story is accurate, that a call from a terror supporter communicates with a sleeper cell in the USA - leading to the discovery of a plot. Joel -----Original Message----- From: Dave Dittrich [mailto:dittrich () u washington edu] Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 7:09 PM To: Paul Ferguson Cc: privacy () whitestar linuxbox org Subject: Re: [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany Paul Ferguson wrote:
Via The Boston Globe (Reuters). [snip] Information gained through a U.S. wiretapping program much criticized by civil liberties advocates helped authorities foil attack plots last week
in
Germany and Denmark, top U.S. intelligence officials said on Monday.
That does not logically follow. These are two separate concepts. Someone is trying to conflate the two, as I'm sure they understand the details (as they are so closely held) or else the reporter doesn't understand and is writing a slanted story (accidentally, or on purpose: either way it means they're not doing good independent journalism.)
U.S. Director of Intelligence Michael McConnell said the surveillance program had made "significant contributions" in discovering and breaking
up
a suspected plot in Germany to bomb American installations. He cited them as a reason that the U.S. Congress should reject attempts to restrict it.
Uh... How do German, or Dutch, citizens (which the NSA could already legally wiretap, without even needing to go to the FISA court) get us to "warrantless domestic wiretapping?" Or are they confirming that these suspects were talking with people in the U.S., and how does using that information in the legal process in Germany prevent ANY discussion (even with Congress) here in the U.S.?
"It allowed us to see and understand all the connections ... to al Qaeda," McConnell told a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Yeah, so? It lead to a legal effort, prosecuted by German law enforcement. If anything, the argument above about the program being successful should support the idea of getting warrants. -- Dave Dittrich Information Assurance Researcher, dittrich () u washington edu The iSchool http://staff.washington.edu/dittrich University of Washington PGP key http://staff.washington.edu/dittrich/pgpkey.txt Fingerprint FE97 0C57 0843 F3EB 49A1 0CD0 8E0C D0BE C838 CCB5 _______________________________________________ privacy mailing list privacy () whitestar linuxbox org http://www.whitestar.linuxbox.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy _______________________________________________ privacy mailing list privacy () whitestar linuxbox org http://www.whitestar.linuxbox.org/mailman/listinfo/privacy
Current thread:
- [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany Paul Ferguson (Sep 10)
- Re: [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany Dave Dittrich (Sep 10)
- Re: [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany Joel R. Helgeson (Sep 10)
- Re: [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany Brian Loe (Sep 11)
- Re: [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany Joel R. Helgeson (Sep 12)
- Re: [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany Joel R. Helgeson (Sep 10)
- Re: [privacy] U.S. Says Wiretapping Helped Foil Terror Plot in Germany Dave Dittrich (Sep 10)