The FBI admits the PATRIOT Act has not thwarted any terrorist attacks
The Congress is set to begin debating the re-authorization of the PATRIOT Act in the near future and of course proponents of the legislation are not only telling us the PATRIOT Act must me renewed but some are also seeking to make the NSA data-mining program legal after it was recently ruled illegal in the courts.
They tell us that we cannot return to a pre-911 mindset because we will all be in danger of another attack. (You know; that pre-911 mindset when the American people could reasonably expect the Federal government would not be collecting data on telephone calls made by people who were not suspected of doing anything wrong.)
However one may want to know how the PATRIOT Act is protecting us, or if it is at all, and according to the FBI the PATRIOT Act has not done a damn thing to thwart any major attack. Here is more:
FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday that could complicate efforts to keep key parts of the law operating.
Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said that between 2004 and 2009, the FBI tripled its use of bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows government agents to compel businesses to turn over records and documents, and increasingly scooped up records of Americans who had no ties to official terrorism investigations.
“The agents we interviewed did not identify any major case developments that resulted from use of the records obtained in response to Section 215 orders,” the inspector general concluded — though he said agents did view the material they gathered as “valuable” in developing other leads or corroborating information
In case you are unawares, Section 215 is the section which the NSA has used to justify its data-mining program. So, if the PATRIOT Act has not helped to stop any terrorist attacks why is it so vital? Why does the establishment in Washington want to keep the data-mining program in place and who are they really interested in collecting data on? Perhaps this will give us a clue:
Increasingly, that meant scooping up information on those who weren’t targets of a terrorism investigation, Mr. Horowitz said. He said that while Section 215 authority allows the government to do that, the FBI needed more checks to make sure it was using the power properly.
“While the expanded scope of these requests can be important uses of Section 215 authority, we believe these expanded uses require continued significant oversight,” he concluded.
In other words, anybody at any time and for any reason. I do have to take issue with Mr. Horowitz when he says Section 215 allows the government to do this, perhaps he did not hear about the recent court ruling which deemed it illegal, and perhaps he has never read the Fourth Amendment. The end justifies the means, but what is the end game? That is the big question in my mind…
Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Trackbacks
- The NSA begins to wind down its data-mining program after Rand Paul outmaneuvers Mitch McConnell | America's Watchtower
- Peter King on Rand Paul: He is making ‘the NSA the villain’ instead of ISIS | America's Watchtower
- Barack Obama calls for the Senate to pass the USA Freedom Act | America's Watchtower
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Reblogged this on Brittius.
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Thank you.
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You’re welcome.
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So you put someone in the scope. Find his phone numbers, and checks who he has called and that is perfectly fine? And they do have access to conversations according to what I have read. Why the Utah data center if not. Yet the GOP drinks the kool aid. I thought the bills were suppose to be posted for three days??? No, they have to rush to get back on vacation.
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I have heard they can access the conversations as well if they want to. This is troubling and to think the GOP is going along with it sickens me.
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Come on people. To date we have not had one old Irish Catholic Nun blow up a plane since the Patriot Act was enacted. Our American Gestapo is a model for every other civilized first world country.
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See, it is working! 🙂
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“Increasingly, that meant scooping up information on those who weren’t targets of a terrorism investigation, Mr. Horowitz said. He said that while Section 215 authority allows the government to do that, the FBI needed more checks to make sure it was using the power properly.”
Didn’t Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz take an oath to uphold the Constitution? Maybe he was never told that any ‘law’ that contradicts the Constitution is no law at all. Congress cannot grant themselves authority that has not already been delegated to them by the Constitution. Congress most certainly cannot pass a law that ‘grants’ them the ‘authority’ to violate our Rights.
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Exactly Laura! That line bugged the hell out of me because he was justifying what amounts to his breaking of his oath. These people pay the Constitution lip service and that is it, I wonder how many of them have actually read it.
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Steve, it comes down to the false belief that the Constitution means whatever the government decides it means. That false belief – along with judicial supremacy, judicial review, judicial decisions become the law of the land, federal supremacy over states, and others – have been taught in our schools, colleges, and universities. Many (most) educated people just automatically accept that if Congress/the pres/the courts do something, they are acting within their authority. It’s sooooo distressing how many conservatives actually believe that the courts were created to tell us what the Constitution means; to tell us whether a law is Constitutionally or not; to be the sole and final word on everything concerning the Constitution. Sometimes, I just feel like crying reading how uninformed conservatives are.
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Great points Laura, too many people do not understand the Constitution, either because they are apathetic, it has been taught to them incorrectly, or they just trust the government to do the right thing. We often talk about how liberals don’t understand the system of government as set up by the founders (a republic) but the truth is that many conservatives do not understand it either.
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OK, if the FBI didn’t get any significant info from this massive breach of Constitutional rights, just what did they do with all the data?
““The agents we interviewed did not identify any major case developments that resulted from use of the records obtained in response to Section 215 orders,” the inspector general concluded — though he said agents did view the material they gathered as “valuable” in developing other leads or corroborating information.”
Corroborating information? Corroborating what information? That there are a lot of malcontents like us in the U.S., who we are and where we are?
When GWB first laid this out, there was a lot of concern as to just what was going to happen. It looks like the worst fears may be coming true.
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FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act…
Maybe they are referring to non-terrorism crimes….? If that’s the case, the FBI certainly wouldn’t want to give up the ability to collect this information under the guise of protecting us from terrorism.
Makes me want to vomit.
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GWB’s intentions might have been good but it opened the door for possible abuse and now we are seeing it happen. Many of us, admittedly myself included, were blinded by emotion after the attack and were not thinking clearly so we allowed this to happen. I regret my former support for this act more and more every day.
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Don’t be too hard on yourself, Steve. I supported it at first, also. Like you said, we were in a very emotional state – a state of shock. We were lied to, deceived, taken advantage of. We know now how bad the Patriot Act is, we have to do everything we can to abolish this obscene violation of the Constitution and our Rights.
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Yeah, and with the Patriot Act, who will protect us from the FBI?
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Maybe we need a citizen’s PATRIOT Act to protect us from the government!
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Lol, Steve, we already have one – our Founding documents – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. 😉
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You’ve got me there! The Constitution protects us from the government and actually tells us what the government cannot do. Sadly too many people do not understand this concept and even more sadly most of our elected officials do not understand this either.
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They really, really don’t. And no one cares that the very people elected to uphold the Constitution and carry out the enumerated duties don’t even know what the Constitution means; don’t even know what is legal and what isn’t!!!
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And the reason nobody cares is because they don’t understand the pr0per role of government either and they are simply voting for those who promise to give them the most.
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Yes, exactly! Will our Country be able to survive us – her People???
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