Q: What Americans called internationally and were wiretapped?

A: Troops overseas in Iraq and the loved ones who talked to them in phone calls.

What does this mean? It means that our own troops and their loved ones wondering what was going on were probably wiretapped illegally. I wonder how the troops and those with family over in Iraq would feel about that.

Yes, the calls anyone in the miitary makes are duly "monitored". But do the parents, sons, daughters, husbands and wives of the troops feel happy that they are indeed bugged and in the same category as Al Qaeda? Add that the wiretaps were in most cases illegal...

It's been going on, and understood, for DECADES: http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/d4640_06.htm

1. COMSEC telephone monitoring is a valuable asset of the U.S. Government
which must be conducted in a manner that satisfies the legitimate needs of
the government and protects the privacy and civil liberties of persons
whose telephone communications are subject to such monitoring.

2. DoD-owned or leased telephones and telephone systems are provided for
the transmission of official government communications and are subject to
COMSEC telephone monitoring in accordance with this Directives the
National Communications Security Directive (reference (i)) and National
COMSEC Instruction 4000 (reference (j)). Use of official DoD telephones
and telephone systems constitutes consent by the user to COMSEC telephone
monitoring.

3. COMSEC telephone monitoring provides information not available through
other sources that is essential for evaluation of DoD communications
security.

Bush said the eavesdropping was “limited to calls from outside the United States to calls within the United States.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/02/politics/02spy.html?pagewanted=print

Calls outside the US to calls within the US....soldier (in Iraq) calls Mom (in New Jersey).....get it?

Calls to or from US government telephones constitute a consent to be monitored by their simple placement. Don't even waste your time on tilting at that windmill, it is well established precedent. Same with use of a government computer--consent to monitoring is hard wired into the process.

It's the average American civilian getting their chitchats monitored that is the issue here, and that is a BIGGIE.

Bush approving of secret warrantless wiretapping on a soldier's parents would be a nice point to make...

Look, I spent decades answering my phone "This line is not secure and is subject to monitoring" as part of the name/rank and Good day, how may I help you? speil. Any phone on a military base is eligible for monitoring, and every servicemember KNOWS this like they know their own name. It doesn't matter if the wife calls to tell you to pick up diapers for the kid on the way home from the Pentagon, or if Grandma calls you at Camp Sandbox out in the desert to wish you happy birthday--if you are on the government horn, you consent to monitoring. They even have cute little stickers on the handsets that remind you of this, just in case you forget...but no one does. It's as automatic as breathing.

listening, I sure as hell wouldn't be saying it over a monitored phone line.

Is it outrage or information overload, or fatigue?

that are redirected to overseas locations?

Most of us have had that experience - call a help/customer service 800 number and you find yourself talking to someone in India

are these being "monitored" for more than quality assurance?