The widespread surveillance programs operated by the National Security Agency will remain intact, notwithstanding the international and domestic backlash that has rocked the Obama White House.
In the wake of the revelations made by the Guardian and
Washington Post last week, President Barack Obama has defended
the controversial NSA spy programs that continue to generate
headlines across the globe. Now the Associated Press reports that
the administration shows no sign of slowing down its domestic
operations, even as the scope of the surveillance – conducted in
secrecy until leaked to the media – becomes more widely known.
Quoting a senior intelligence official speaking on condition of
anonymity, AP reported Tuesday that there are no plans to scrap
the surveillance programs. Despite outrage from US citizens and
persons abroad mortified by the revelations, the NSA operations
are likely to “continue to receive widespread if cautious
support within Congress,” the official told the AP.
Indeed, the White House’s own argument in support of the programs
is gaining backing from some of Washington’s biggest players. In
defense of the leaked operations, proponents of NSA’s tactics
call the collection of personal data a necessary implement in the
war against terror.
On Monday, White House press secretary Jay Carney further
defended the NSA programs and condemned details about it being
leaked to the media.
“Leaks about sensitive information that cause harm to our
national security interests are a problem,” Carney said
Monday afternoon.
Other members of the administration have called for the
prosecution of 29-year-old Edward Snowden, the former NSA
contractor who attributes himself with sharing the NSA data with
the Guardian and the Post. Snowden is reportedly in Hong Kong and
could seek asylum in lieu of the likely efforts to extradite him
to the US.
But even though Snowden is being hailed as a hero and a
whistleblower by some for sharing details about domestic spying,
a number of politicians have labeled him a traitor and continue
to tout the NSA’s operations.
Disclosing the programs, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said
Tuesday to ABC News, “puts Americans at risk,” “shows
our adversaries what our capabilities are” and is “a giant
violation of the law.” Boehner called Snowden a
“traitor,” a sentiment shared by lawmakers on both side of
the aisle.
“I don’t look at this as being a whistleblower,” Sen.
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calf.), the chairwoman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said Monday. “I think it’s an act of
treason.”
“Just on the issue of, ‘Is this a whistleblower, or is this an
act of treason,’ I think it directly is,” added Sen. Bill
Nelson (D-Florida.). “And I think that most of the people who
serve on [the intelligence committee] will tell you that.”
Even if the NSA programs will continue for the time being, some
members of Congress are asking for the details to be disclosed to
a degree that will shine some light on an operation otherwise
cloaked in secrecy. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) is expected to
propose a bill on Tuesday that will compel the federal government
to disclose the opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act (FISA) court that approves legal orders to track
communications coming into or exiting the US. Last week, Snowden
leaked documents exposing the widespread surveillance of US
communications under FISA, as well as a separate NSA program
named PRISM that allows the government to access private
conversations conducted over Facebook, Google, Skype and other
services.
“I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of
things,” Snowden told the Guardian over the weekend. “I do
not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is
recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live
under.”
Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Dean
Heller (R-Nevada), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Al Franken
(D-Minnesota), Jon Tester (D-Montana) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)
all plan to supports Sen. Merkley’s proposal. That isn’t to say
they disapprove of the program, though.
“I think there should be enough transparency that the American
people understand what is happening…But I can assure you that
this isn’t about spying on the American people,” Sen. Franken
told the Star Tribune this week.
“There are certain things that are appropriate for me to know
that’s not appropriate for the bad guys to know,” he said.
“Anything that, quote, the American people know, the bad guys
know so there’s a line here, right? And there’s a balance that
has to be struck between the responsibility of the federal
government to protect the American people and then people’s right
to privacy. We have safeguards in place …The American people
can’t know everything because everything they know then, the bad
guys will know.”
This article originally appeared on: RT