In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. Before we intercept these communications, the government must have information that establishes a clear link to these terrorist networks.
This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security. Its purpose is to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against the United States, our friends and allies. Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country.
This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security. Its purpose is to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against the United States, our friends and allies. Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country.
Good for him. Each time I hear one of these leak stories, I think about the parents and siblings of our soldiers. My brother's a Gulf War vet, and I vividly recally what it is like to have a loved one in harm's way and the radio announcing every half hour, "another soldier has died. . . .details later," just selling ad time with the body of maybe your brother. The cavalier attitude of the leakers and the press in collusion during a time of war: I take it personally, as if it were my brother they were endangering, because it could have been. . .and in the sense that any citizen is my brother, it is. I hope the President pounds these people again tonight. As Limbaugh said succinctly the other day, The New York Times must not be allowed to run our foreign policy.
UPDATE: I see ninme's cheezed off, too. I like the title of her post.