FBI, Bush and illegal wiretaps

The FBI, George W Bush, 9/11 and Illegal Wiretaps

Interview audio http://www.npr.org/2012/02/14/146862081/the-history-of-the-fbis-secret-enemies-list

Transcript http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=146862081

Below is an excerpt from a longer interview

GROSS: I've been focusing on the Hoover era of the FBI, but your book goes past that. And just a couple of questions, one or two questions about the George W. Bush era. You talk about some of the boundaries that were crossed in terms of getting intelligence. What do you see as the biggest transgression of the law in how the Bush administration tried to work with the FBI to gather intelligence on Americans?

WEINER: There is an incredibly dramatic moment in 2004 where the head of the FBI, Robert Mueller - Robert S. Mueller III, or Bobby "Three Sticks," as his agents call him - who took office, let's remember, a week before 9/11, confronts the president of the United States in the Oval Office over the White House's secret eavesdropping program that has transgressed its boundaries and overstepped the law and the Constitution.

Through its data mining tactics, through its eavesdropping technologies, they've gone beyond what even the secret court that oversees eavesdropping will authorize. They're going to get in trouble - deep, deep trouble. And Mueller tells the president, in the Oval Office, face to face, with a handwritten letter of resignation in his breast pocket that either the program is curtailed and brought within the law or he, the head of the FBI, will resign, as will the entire command structure of the Justice Department, from the attorney general down.

And President Bush says, according to his memoirs: What are you talking about? What program? What problems? What legal issues? And Mueller looks at him with a very steely gaze and says: I think you know what we're talking about, Mr. President. And at that point, it's a crime to lie to the FBI. It's punishable by five years in prison. And that's where we were.

We were - the president had chalks on his spikes at that moment. He was at the line, and about to cross it. And he says, Bush says in his memoir: Visions of the Saturday night massacre during Watergate dance in his head when, you know, two attorneys general and the command structure of the FBI resigned rather than cover up for the president.

Mueller wins. Bush eventually backs down, and that is a triumph of the rule of law. And that's what the FBI does and should stand for. The great dilemma for Mueller and for the American people is: How do you do secret intelligence operations within the rule of law? Secret intelligence operations require stealing other people's secrets, breaking into their houses, tapping their telephones, reading their email.

How do you do that within the rule of law? We've got a secret court set up in this country called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that meets in secret at the top of the Justice Department's roof. And they were set up to authorize this kind of thing after Watergate. You either work with the rule of law - if you don't, and if you're protecting American national security in the country and you lose your freedoms in the process, you fight the war on terror and you lose your freedoms, you've lost.

LESSONS LEARNED???

When looking at today’s news there are lessons from the past---about our actions and their consequences----about what to do about the Arab Spring, Syria, Libya, Benghazi, and now Mali, Algeria and even Iran and North Korea

Some examples from the past---Iran Iraq Afghanistan and Libya

1979 lots of things happened—here are a few major ones

1979 Iran--- the US--backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi is ousted in protests by supporters of the religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The Shah was put in charge of Iran by military and government backing from the US UK and Russia from 1941 to 1979---he was even reinstated by US after a democratic election puts Mohammad Mossadegh into power—he wanted to nationalize oil profits and US wouldn’t have that.

The 1979 Iranian Revolution brought the religious and population minority Shi’ia Islamists into power—creating an imbalance to the rest of the Muslim World (Iranians are not Arab but are ethnically European)

In 1979 in Iraq Saddam Hussein took over power—he was a leader in the Baath Party since 1968—but in 1979 took over in a coup

As a response to the Iranian Revolution and to keep his own Shi’ia population in check—Saddam started a war with Iran that lasted from 1980 to 1988----The US backed Saddam in his efforts against our new enemy, the new government in Iran---and Donald Rumsfeld  went to sell Saddam chemical weapons which he later used on his own population after the 1990 Gulf War.

photo 1 source

photo 2 source

SUMMARY SO FAR  In 1979 Iran has a revolution, Saddam comes to power in Iraq and they start a war, The US backs Iraq against our old friend Iran, who since the Revolution has become our enemy to this day.

The Iraq--Iran War left Sadddam Hussein in debt—so he invaded oil rich Kuwait—trying to annex it as the 19^th province of Iraq---as a way to get oil profits to pay his debts----BUT this action made IRAQ as well as IRAN our enemies---interesting huh???

But wait there’s MORE!!!!!!

In 1979 our OTHER enemy, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan—setting up the now famous war between the Islamic fundamentalists, the Mujahadeen, Pakistan and the US to oust the Soviets armed the rebels, created the Taliban, empowered bin Laden, etc which most of us have learned since 9/11

Bin Laden emerged from the Soviet experience and wanted to offer his services of military to Saudi Arabia, his homeland, in defense of Iraq in the 1990 war where Saddam invaded Kuwait to pay off his debts from the Iraq Iran War---instead Saudi Arabia turns to the US, shunning bin Laden, pissing him off and setting bin laden towards declaring war on America, 9/11 etc

ANOTHER SUMMARY So we respond to 1979 Iran revolution, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Iran Iraq war and 20 years later they converge in 9/11 (And NO I am NOT saying 9/11 was our fault---whatever bin Laden’s grievances were---the MINUTE he kills civilians ON PURPOSE to get his points across he IS A TERRORIST and is UNJUSTIFIED in his actions)

Our decision to help Libya in the Arab Spring helped arm terrorists now in Mali and Algeria, and while Bush still thinks Iraq war was a good decision, Iran since 2005 has been a growing nuclear threat because the war that ousted Saddam also made Iran stronger in the region, because it removed Iran’s enemy and put in place the friendly Shi’ia government that looks to Iran as a friend not an enemy. (Saddam led a Sunni minority population in Iraq, which has a Shi’ia majority based on population)

My point is be careful with Syria, Libya, Iran today and other conflicts in the world, we cannot see into the future, but its important to look to the past to make smartest decisions we can.