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You are here: Home / Politics / Colin Powell on the Wiretapping

Colin Powell on the Wiretapping

by John Cole|  December 26, 20052:23 pm| 17 Comments

This post is in: Politics, War on Terror aka GSAVE®

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For those of you who like to have your cake and eat it too:

“My own judgment is that it didn’t seem to me, anyway, that it would have been that hard to go get the warrants,” Mr. Powell said. “And even in the case of an emergency, you go and do it. The law provides for that.”

But Mr. Powell added that “for reasons that the president has discussed and the attorney general has spoken to, they chose not to do it that way.”

“I see absolutely nothing wrong with the president authorizing these kinds of actions,” he said.

Asked if such eavesdropping should continue, Mr. Powell said, “Yes, of course it should continue.”

Make of that what you will.

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Reader Interactions

17Comments

  1. 1.

    Zifnab

    December 26, 2005 at 3:34 pm

    Translation:
    “As a sane, rational, and patriotic human being I cannot understand nor approve of the need for these wiretaps.”

    “But as a Republican, I guess it’s cool.”

  2. 2.

    Steve S

    December 26, 2005 at 4:01 pm

    Honestly, the whole Rule of Law thing is quaint and out of date.

  3. 3.

    Doug

    December 26, 2005 at 4:08 pm

    The Principle Formerly Known as the Rule of Law is only operative when one is discussing oral sex.

  4. 4.

    Steve S

    December 26, 2005 at 4:18 pm

    HA! This just made it up on CNN’s Situation Room. I didn’t quite catch what they had to say, I just saw the picture.

  5. 5.

    Pooh

    December 26, 2005 at 4:34 pm

    Disappointing, but not surprising.

  6. 6.

    MrSnrub

    December 26, 2005 at 4:35 pm

    Colin Powell is the lipstick on the pig.

  7. 7.

    RonB

    December 26, 2005 at 7:18 pm

    Not fair to Powell. I think he’s saying exactly what alot of people are saying here. It’s ok to do what was done, provided that one goes about it thru the proper channels. But, I guess I need to see the article. Don’t really feel like signing up for NYT to do so.

  8. 8.

    Baron Elmo

    December 26, 2005 at 9:58 pm

    You left out the part where Powell emphasized that he knew nothing — nothing! — about these warrantless goings-on.

    Ah, the dulcet tones of asses covering themselves…

  9. 9.

    Tractarian

    December 26, 2005 at 10:13 pm

    “My own judgment is that it didn’t seem to me, anyway, that it would have been that hard to go get the warrants,”

    This proves that Powell was not informed of the initiative, even as one of Bush’s top cabinet officiala and a National Security Council member.

    Those who were informed of the details of the initiative claim that it was not possible to get as many warrants as were needed within FISA’s timeframe. This is presumably because the program consisted of simply expanding Echelon to cover domestic communications – that is, millions of domestic communiations were surveilled daily, rendering FISA impossible to comply with.

    To me, this means Bush’s failure to comply with FISA procedure was not a stupid oversight or power play, it was a necessity given the nature of the program. A program which, by the way, contravened the clear intent of Congress.

  10. 10.

    Tequila

    December 27, 2005 at 4:41 am

    He blew any credibility he had with the UN speech, so who gives a flying fuck?

  11. 11.

    Make7

    December 27, 2005 at 5:41 am

    Hey RonB,

    Try BugMeNot.com. No need to register just to read an article.

    -Make7

  12. 12.

    Ben There

    December 27, 2005 at 10:45 am

    Nice to see all the liberals pass judgement on the Iraq war and the President. Where were you when Clinton bombed Serbia for 28 straight days destroying every bridge on the Danube? Sad when Americans support a war depending upon the party in office.

    I was drafted for Truman’s war. I was in Vietnam for Kennedy and Johnson’s war. I support the president regardless of the party.

  13. 13.

    Steve S

    December 27, 2005 at 11:46 am

    Where were you when Clinton bombed Serbia for 28 straight days destroying every bridge on the Danube? Sad when Americans support a war depending upon the party in office.

    Ahh a strawman, argument.

    The sign of someone with a weak intellect.

  14. 14.

    Don

    December 27, 2005 at 11:52 am

    Nice to see all the liberals pass judgement on the Iraq war and the President. Where were you when Clinton bombed Serbia for 28 straight days destroying every bridge on the Danube? Sad when Americans support a war depending upon the party in office.

    Yeah, that was comparable with regards to casualties, costs, scope, collateral damage, global ill-will and did I mention COSTS? Sheesh.

  15. 15.

    HH

    December 27, 2005 at 11:57 pm

    Let the “house slave” slurs commence…

  16. 16.

    RonB

    December 28, 2005 at 5:33 am

    Make, many thanks.

  17. 17.

    ats

    December 28, 2005 at 12:27 pm

    One wonders what Powell will say if we discover that John Bolton GOT NSA intercepts of Powell himself. We know Bolton requested something politically sensitive. We know Bolton hated Powell.

    And that may be why nobody in the WH seems keen to investigate NSA leaks to the NYT. There may be a career NSA guy just aching to spill some more beans, all over the Administration’s lap.

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