Common sense about the NSA "scandal"

By Aussiegirl

As usual, Herb Meyer cuts through the fog of the war of the words and points out the obvious -- sometimes all you need to do is apply a little common sense. And in the process he give us zingers like the following:

The American Thinker

The choreography of Washington “scandals” has become as precise – and as predictable – as a performance by the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. And the latest so-called scandal – this one over disclosures that the NSA has been eavesdropping without warrants on international phone calls and emails between Americans and terrorists – is no exception.

First comes the leak itself, which is quickly followed by squeals of outrage by the President’s political opponents. Administration officials then jump in to provide an inept and painfully inarticulate defense of the President’s actions. Then come the television talk-show shouting matches, featuring solos by our country’s apparently-inexhaustible supply of perky blonde “political strategists” armed with talking points and teeth like Chicklets. This is followed by a barrage of learned and unreadable essays by legal scholars on both sides of the issue, always citing laws no one had previously heard of, and quotes from The Federalist Papers so obscure that James Madison himself probably couldn’t tell you what he’d meant. Then the Senate and the House each promise to hold hearings, and finally – last Friday, in fact – the Justice Department announces that it’s launched an investigation to determine who disclosed the secret project.

Now, let’s take a look at what the President authorized the NSA to do that – so we’re told – breaks the law and threatens our civil liberties. He authorized the NSA to listen in on telephone calls between terrorists and American citizens that originate overseas. And while we haven’t yet learned precisely how the NSA has used this authorization, it isn’t hard to think back to what was happening in the weeks and months after 9-11 and to imagine a likely scenario:

Stopping a Second 9-11

We had learned that planning for the 9-11 attacks had been under way for years – and our greatest fear was that planning for a second attack on our country now was under way. We had to stop it. Meanwhile, our troops were rolling through Afghanistan, knocking over the Taliban and killing as many al Qaeda fighters as possible. Along the way they were picking up documents and computers left behind by fleeing terrorists that provided the telephone numbers of cell phones used by al Qaeda leaders. The NSA moved fast to lock onto those numbers in hopes of learning something – anything – that might prevent a second horrific attack.

Suddenly a call is placed on one of those phones, and as the numbers light up on the NSA officer’s computer screen he sees the call is being placed to someone in Hamburg, Germany.

Will you be ready by Thursday?

In the name of Allah, we will be ready. And this time we will teach the Americans a lesson they won’t forget.

While the NSA officer signals his team that he’s onto something, a second call is placed. As the numbers light up on his screen he sees that this call is going to someone in Pakistan.

Our next project is set. We need only your final approval and I will give a green light to the mission commander.

You have my approval. This will be our greatest victory of all.

The NSA officer and his team are at full alert now, and scrambling to be sure they don’t miss whatever comes next. Moments later a third call is dialed on that cell phone, and as the numbers on his screen light up the NSA officer sees that this call is being placed to someone in Chicago.

Now, what do you want that NSA officer to do – hang up?