Obama’s Path From Critic to Overseer of Spying New York Times (01/16/14) Baker, Peter In the days leading up to President Obamas scheduled Jan. 17 decision on changes to the nations surveillance programs, political observers have been looking back on his evolving positions on the intelligence communitys actions. As a presidential candidate, then-Senator Obama was sharply critical of classified surveillance programs. In one speech, he promised that if elected, there would be no more illegal wiretapping of American citizens... No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. In the five years of his presidency, Obama has come to oversee the nations massive intelligence structure, including National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs that have been widely criticized for violating privacy rights. David Plouffe, an Obama advisor, says the presidents positions have changed since the 2008 campaign because he is now the one responsible for protecting the nation, and because he sees at least some of the surveillance tools as being necessary to prevent attacks. But officials also say that President Obama remains skeptical of programs that could be abused in the name of national security. Critics of NSA surveillance say that, despite the presidents concerns, he may not sufficiently step up restrictions on those programs.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 21:30:10 +0000