I had learned from past Presidential instances that Presidents are not always informed of clandestine operations for safety reasons...So I suppose its possible he (Obama) knew nothing about NSA program... Obama not told of NSA program President surprised at scope, officials say By Scott Wilson and Anne Gearan The Washington Post WASHINGTON — In the midst of the controversy over U.S. surveillance this summer, top intelligence officials held a briefing for President Barack Obama at the White House — one that would provide him with a broad inventory of programs being carried out by the National Security Agency. Some of those programs, including the collection of emails and other communications from overseas, had already been disclosed because of leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. But Obama was also informed of at least one program whose scope surprised him: “head of state collection.” That program, whose targets included the communications of U.S. allies such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, began in 2002, according to administration officials. The president never knew that the program targeted American allies, administration officials said, adding that he was aware of collection efforts aimed at leaders of “adversarial countries.” Officials — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe still-classified activities in general terms — declined to outline the scope of the “head of state” collection program. They added that although Obama ordered the curtailing of some of the program and informed Merkel that the United States was not currently monitoring her calls, he was not angered that intelligence officials had not told him sooner about the eavesdropping. “Their job is to get as much information for policy-makers as possible,” a senior administration official said. “They’re used to coming at this from the other direction — that is, being criticized for not knowing enough. This is a new dynamic for them.” If Obama and senior officials at the White House were unaware of the program, so, too, were key lawmakers, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalif., the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said Monday that her panel had not been properly informed of activities going back a decade or more. With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of U.S. allies-including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany - let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed, Feinstein said in a statement, adding that her committee would initiate a major review into all intelligence collection programs. Unless the United States is engaged in hostilities against a country or there is an emergency need for this type of surveillance, she said, I do not believe the United States should be collecting phone calls or emails of friendly presidents and prime ministers. The president should be required to approve any collection of this sort. Not a high priority White House officials said Obama was not told about the world leader surveillance program before this summer because briefings are tailored to the presidents priorities. Iran, China, counterterrorism and other concerns ranked ahead of an accounting of intelligence collected about leaders of allies such as Germany, the officials said. They said it came up only after news reports of NSA spying appeared in Brazil and in Mexico, among other countries. Obama asked for information on what exactly the agency was doing in those allied countries and in others. The review and briefings to the president on the first findings began soon after. Obamas decision to curtail the program was disclosed late Sunday by the Wall Street Journal. The latest revelations have sparked fresh outrage over NSA activities, particularly in Europe, which was already fuming at the clandestine collection of communications data. The breadth of the anger at U.S. prying, and the degree to which Obama is seen as responsible, may be summed up in a rare English headline on the opinion page of the French daily Le Monde on Monday. No You Cant, it reads, a reference to the 2008 Obama campaign slogan and to French outrage over his actions since. Spain complains On Monday, Spain became the latest American ally or partner to protest U.S. espionage activities after the newspaper El Mundo published documents showing that the NSA had tracked more than 60 million Spanish telephone and text messages in about a month. The allegation and the document, obtained from Snowden, were similar to a report in France last week. In both cases, the U.S. ambassador was summoned to hear Euro pean complaints. The European Union has sent a nine-member delegation to Washington for meetings with U.S. officials this week to underscore European anger over the scope of American electronic surveil lance. The group, which is meeting with diplomatic, trade and other government officials, is warning that the United States must take specific steps to restore confidence or risk scuttling talks on a major transatlantic free trade pact. We are not in denial about the fact that these disclosures have raised some significant challenges in some of our most important relationships and partnerships, and we are addressing those as they come, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. These disclosures, in our view, have not prevented us from cooperating with other countries, moving forward our agenda on a range of issues, including trade, national security priorities, counterterrorism cooperation, other issues that are of great significance globally, Psaki said, without addressing the specific agenda for the E.U. visit. Seeking redress Diplomats say European leaders want the United States to establish a legal right for European citizens anywhere to sue for redress in American courts when they believe that their privacy rights have been violated by either the U.S. government or U.S. companies. German politicians said Monday that they would convene a special session of Parliament next month devoted to the spying issue. Lawmakers want to press their intelligence agencies about how Merkels phone could have been monitored for years without the eavesdropping being discov ered. Powered by TECNAVIA Copyright (c) 2013 The Greenville News 10/29/2013
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 11:14:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015