Posted by the The Crux | If at first you don't succeed -- lie, lie again. Would this motto offend Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, whom President Bush repeatedly assigned to urge Congress to increase officials' wiretapping powers?
Last week, McConnell told the House Intelligence Committee that because of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requirements, agents weren't able to tap Iraqi insurgents' communications for 12 hours, which enabled insurgents to capture three U.S. soldiers in May.
In reality, officials didn't start seeking wiretapping approval until 86 hours after the soldiers had been captured (WaPo/Truthout). Furthermore, the debate between intelligence lawyers and the Justice Department lasted 9 1/2 hours, because the request for approval was insufficient. That and then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (whose approval was required) couldn't be reached for 2 hours, because he was at a gathering in Texas.
This is not the first time McConnell has made questionable statements to Congress....
A few weeks ago, when arguing before a Senate Committee that intelligence officials should be given more wiretapping powers, McConnell claimed that the "Protect America Act" (which had already somewhat increased wiretapping powers), led to the capture of terrorist suspects in Germany. (BN-Politics) The implication: see, giving us more wiretapping powers works!
Actually, the "Protect America Act” (PAA) played little or no role: the Germans uncovered the terrorist plot based on info the U.S. military had given them 10 months before the PAA was passed.(Newsweek) After other intelligence officials shared these facts with Congress, Director McConnell formally retracted his original claim.
Related BN-Politics Posts:
* Declassified Pre-War Intelligence Report
* Experts Poo-Poo War Rhetoric, Candidates Use it Anyway
* Krugman on War Rhetoric and Flip-Flopping
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