My friend Alec has recently taken on a serious case of BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome). His recent post:
Bush's Total Failure at Protecting America. Using the word "total" sets a bad tone for the post. Alec has one good point, but he's lost on other Bush attacks.
Last night, during the State of the Union Address, Bush claimed that his illegal wiretap program could have caught and prevented the terrorist attacks of 9/11. His assumption is that one immoral act can prevent another immoral act. He's flat out lying to you. Not only were the 9/11 terrorists already known to the FBI and CIA, they were also already under a totally LEGAL wiretap... you know, one that required a warrant. The problem wasn't a lack of wiretaps. The problem was a lack of priority and cooperation between the FBI, CIA, NSA and even the Whitehouse itself.
First, the legality of the wiretap program is up in question but the Clinton administration also judged it to be legal and had a similar program for the same purpose, fighting terrorism. The decision to wiretap was not made lightly and without legal review. Alec then claims he's lying, because Bush said that the wiretap program could have caught and prevented the terrorist attacks of 9/11. It's a strech of Bush's words (from the SOTU):
It is said that prior to the attacks of September the 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy. We now know that two of the hijackers in the United States placed telephone calls to al Qaeda operatives overseas. But we did not know about their plans until it was too late. So to prevent another attack -- based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute -- I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al Qaeda operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous Presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have, and federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate members of Congress have been kept informed. The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people inside our country who are talking with al Qaeda, we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.
Even if you assume Bush is implying that 9/11 could have been prevented, how can it be said to be a lie? First, it's an opinion. And while the 9/11 hijackers were known of by the FBI and CIA, they didn't have a complete picture of their actions. I'm not sure exactly who was on wiretap and who wasn't, but I haven't found any information that implies that most of the 9/11 hijackers were being wiretapped. Alec's link also mentions nothing about 9/11 hijackers being wiretapped.
I agree with Alec that the biggest problem was the lack of cooperation between agencies, and I don't know that wiretaps without warrants are necessary, but I see no civil rights violation involved in creating them.
Continuing with Alec's text:
If you're an American you probably don't have a passport, and you've probably never travelled abroad or otherwise had a need for a passport. So let me walk you through the process. You go to your post office, and you ask for a passport. You have to show a couple pieces of ID, including your birth certificate. They take your picture and some money and in about two weeks you get a passport. Then when you go to another country, you show your passport to the immigration officer. He or she looks it over, and might ask you how long you plan on staying in their country. They stamp your passport, and you're allowed to stay in the country from anywhere from two weeks to six months as a guest.
Visiting the US is not so simple. Tourists who want to visit the United States and spend their money here have to first apply for a visa, a process which can take up to a year, even if they plan to only visit for a short period of time. When they arrive they are photographed and fingerprinted like a criminal being booked into jail. They are repeatedly asked why they are here, who they are visiting and when and where they will be during their entire stay. The entire process can take many hours.
The U.S. isn't the only country to require a visa to enter. Just last year I needed a visa to enter Brazil, which I had to mail for in advance and spend money on, more for being from the U.S. than from another country.
If another country wants to fingerprint me when I come in, go right ahead. Even though I'm "being treated like a criminal", I understand the purpose and do not oppose this. "The entire process can take many hours." maybe, but that happens when there are long lines. It took me about a half an hour to get into Brazil, and I imagine if a couple of flights had landed just before mine I probably would have been there well over an hour.
It didn't used to be this way. We used to have an immigration system similar to other countries. One where we treated visitors like friends instead of criminals. The current program to hassle tourists is called the US-VISIT. It has cost the American taxpayers $15 Billion dollars, and so far has caught 1,000 criminals. None of them, however, were terrorists. That means Bush's programs spent $15 Million per passport fraud. At the same time, we also treated 44 Million law abiding visitors to our country as though they were all criminals.
While I can't argue the specific cost/benefit ratio of the system, I do agree that Bush's spending has been excessive on this. It's a common problem withe the Bush administration. A "we need to do something" mentality.
Bush seems to enjoy using terrorism as an excuse for his wasteful expenditures and civil right violations. It'd be nice if he actually caught one. Instead, he seems to be letting them go and his intelligence seems completely clueless about warning us before known terrorist organizations win elections in known hot spots.
"It'd be nice if he actually caught one." Well, the military and FBI have caught quite a few since 9/11.
And how exactly was the Bush administration going to prevent Hamas from being elected? What does that have to do with Bush or any of this?
