Whitehouse "Setting the Record Straight" on Domestic Spying

But The President's Authorization Only Covers International Communications In Which One Party Is Suspected Of Links To Al Qaeda Or Related Terrorist Organizations.

Deputy Director Of National Intelligence General Michael Hayden: "One End Of Any Call Targeted Under This Program Is Always Outside The United States."
GEN. HAYDEN: "I don't think domestic spying makes it. One end of any call targeted under this program is always outside the United States. I've flown a lot in this country, and I've taken literally hundreds of domestic flights. I have never boarded a domestic flight in the United States of America and landed in Waziristan. In the same way - and I'm speaking illustratively here now, this is just an example - if NSA had intercepted al Qaeda Ops Chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in Karachi talking to Mohamed Atta in Laurel, Maryland, in say, July of 2001 - if NSA had done that, and the results had been made public, I'm convinced that the crawler on all the 7 by 24 news networks would not have been 'NSA domestic spying.'" (General Michael Hayden, Remarks, Washington, DC, 1/23/06)

DEFINITION: Domestic Vs. International.

• Domestic Calls are calls inside the United States. International Calls are calls either to or from the United States.
  
• Domestic Flights are flights from one American city to another. International Flights are flights to or from the United States.
  
• Domestic Mail consists of letters and packages sent within the United States. International Mail consists of letters and packages sent to or from the United States.
  
• Domestic Commerce involves business within the United States. International Commerce involves business between the United States and other countries.

"The NSA's terrorist surveillance program is targeted at al Qaeda communications coming into or going out of the United States. It is a limited, hot pursuit effort by our intelligence community to detect and prevent attacks. Senate Democrats continue to engage in misleading and outlandish charges about this vital tool that helps us do exactly what the 9/11 Commission said we needed to do - connect the dots. It defies common sense for Democrats to now claim the administration is acting outside its authority while their own party leaders have been briefed more than a dozen times - only after there was a leak and subsequent media coverage did they start criticizing the program. Such irresponsible accusations will not keep us from acting to stay a step ahead of a deadly enemy that is determined to strike America again."

- Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary

...

Because Of Its Speed, The NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program Has Provided Crucial Information Otherwise Not Available. GENERAL HAYDEN: "I can say unequivocally, all right, that we have got information through this program that would not otherwise have been available." QUESTION: "Through the court? Because of the speed that you got it?" GENERAL HAYDEN: "Yes, because of the speed, because of the procedures, because of the processes and requirements set up in the FISA process, I can say unequivocally that we have used this program in lieu of that and this program has been successful." (The White House, Press Briefing, 12/19/05)

The Program Targets Suspected "Al Qaeda Communications." DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE GENERAL MICHAEL HAYDEN: "Again, I make the point, what we are talking about here are communications we have every reason to believe are al Qaeda communications, one end of which is in the United States. And I don't think any of us would want any inefficiencies in our coverage of those kinds of communications, above all. And that's what this program allows us to do - it allows us to be as agile as operationally required to cover these targets." (The White House, Press Briefing, 12/19/05)

The Government Has "A Reasonable Basis To Conclude That One Party To The Communication" Is Affiliated With Al Qaeda. ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO GONZALES: "Another very important point to remember is that we have to have a reasonable basis to conclude that one party to the communication is a member of al Qaeda, affiliated with al Qaeda, or a member of an organization affiliated with al Qaeda, or working in support of al Qaeda. We view these authorities as authorities to confront the enemy in which the United States is at war with - and that is al Qaeda and those who are supporting or affiliated with al Qaeda. What we're trying to do is learn of communications, back and forth, from within the United States to overseas with members of al Qaeda. And that's what this program is about." (The White House, Press Briefing, 12/19/05)

One Party On The Call Has To Be Outside The United States. ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES: "The President has authorized a program to engage in electronic surveillance of a particular kind, and this would be the intercepts of contents of communications where one of the - one party to the communication is outside the United States. And this is a very important point - people are running around saying that the United States is somehow spying on American citizens calling their neighbors. Very, very important to understand that one party to the communication has to be outside the United States." (The White House, Press Briefing, 12/19/05)