[Infowarrior] - Text: Bush Statement on USA Today NSA story

[Richard Forno]

President Bush's Statement

Published: May 11, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/11/washington/11text-bush.html

The following is the transcript of President Bush's statement regarding
domestic spying, as provided by Federal News Service.

After September the 11th, I vowed to the American people that our government
would do everything within the law to protect them against another terrorist
attack. As part of this effort, I authorized the National Security Agency to
intercept the international communications of people with known links to al
Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. In other words, if al Qaeda or
their associates are making calls into the United States or out of the
United States, we want to know what they're saying.

Today there are new claims about other ways we are tracking down al Qaeda to
prevent attacks on America. I want to make some important points about what
the government is doing and what the government is not doing.

First, our intelligence activities strictly target al Qaeda and their known
affiliates. Al Qaeda is our enemy and we want to know their plans.

Second, the government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court
approval.

Third, the intelligence activities I authorized are lawful and have been
briefed to appropriate members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat.

Fourth, the privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our
activities. We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of
millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda
and their known affiliates.

So far, we've been very successful in preventing another attack on our soil.
As a general matter, every time sensitive intelligence is leaked, it hurts
our ability to defeat this enemy. Our most important job is to protect the
American people from another attack, and we will do so within the laws of
our country.

Thank you.

Q Sir, how is collecting phone calls not an intrusion on privacy?

(No response from the president.)

.... END