Would you trust a Karl Rove, a Dick Cheney, an Elliot Abrams, a Roberto Gonzales, an I. Lewis Libby, a David Addington or a John Bolton with such information? With the obsequious example set by Gen. Hayden, no director of NSA is likely to keep it from them. What might they be likely to do with it?
Abuse of private information can transcend the loss of the personal privacy that so many say they are willing to trade for a bit more security. Rather, such abuse constitutes serious trammeling of civil liberties and""still worse""can tip the precarious balance of constitutional checks and balances. It was, after all, such abuses that were responsible for the passing of the FISA law in the first place.
Originally published at TomPaine.com
Ray McGovern works for Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour. A veteran of 27 years in CIA's analysis directorate, he is now a member of the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
Abuse of private information can transcend the loss of the personal privacy that so many say they are willing to trade for a bit more security. Rather, such abuse constitutes serious trammeling of civil liberties and""still worse""can tip the precarious balance of constitutional checks and balances. It was, after all, such abuses that were responsible for the passing of the FISA law in the first place.
Originally published at TomPaine.com
Ray McGovern works for Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour. A veteran of 27 years in CIA's analysis directorate, he is now a member of the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
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