NSA spied on US aid workers, officers, and journalists in Baghdad

The US National Security Agency routinely spied on the phone calls of American military officers, journalists, and aid workers calling back home from Iraq, according to two former NSA operators. The whistle blowers told ABC News that intercept officers listened to the personal conversations of hundreds of Americans "who are …

[J]

"What he finds disturbing about the report is open to interpretation."

And it's pretty obvious too: he finds disturbing is that people are talking about this, since he sure thinks they should just shut up and go away and let the Bushies do whatever they want. Obviously.

[Anonymous Coward]

Not Shocking

Anyone surprised by No Such Agency involved in this kind of indiscriminate wire tapping needs to wake up and smell the coffee. It happens and it happens quite often and to a degree that never makes the news.

[Christoph]

Americans only

All the objections are to them listening to the personal conversations of 'Americans' with no reason. If they listen to perfectly innocent foreigners there's no objection whatever.

Europe has human rights. So does the US - it's just that only US citizens count as human.

[Andy Bright]

I find it disturbing too.

Revisionist Christianity has no place for these peaceniks and hippies. We're all for doing things Jew-style.. kill your enemies, an eye for an eye - literally (you should see our President's collection of eyes) and fine Christian values such as the death penalty, the accumulation of wealth and happy-go-lucky wars.

The Revisionist Testament allows true Christians to spy and wiretap whomever they choose, because Terrorists because real Christians are also mavericks and will get all maverick-y with the Constitution. We're against the dual evils of Washington insiders and human rights.

Remember, the President of the United States is Jesus' Second in Command, it says so in the Bible, right after the bit about talking snakes and a boat large enough to carry two of every species, but before the bit about dinosaurs being dragons and the world being 5000 yrs old.

[kain preacher]

Know your history

@Christoph NSA was set up for domestic spying. Since the creation of the NSA they spied on Americans and activates that happen in America . Its the CIA that will be spying you Euros. So please continue on about how only Americans have humans rights and not the rest of the world does, when this agency was created to spy on Americans and not the rest of the world.

[Anonymous Coward]

Equal Under Law

We used to accept that Government and it's agencies were equal under the law to an individual. such that a transgression by a Governement or an agency could be adequately prosecuted under criminal law or judged in civil suit. Why is that no longer so?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anonymous!

"Europe has human rights. So does the US - it's just that only US citizens count as human."

It's nice being American. Except for the whole you-only-have-rights-until-you-do-something-that-irks-someone-with-authority part. Or the whole privacy-is-an-illusion thing.

US Constitution = lawmaker toilet paper.

Black helicopter and posted AC for the same reason.

(I really do see black helicopters flying over my neighborhood somewhat frequently. Literal, black helicopters. Please, send help.)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: J

Sad but true... well, more like, brown trousers time but true

I swear I never looked behind the curtain!

-Dashes for coat-

[Anonymous Coward]

Probably UK as well..

Given the powers the Government has given itself (AFAIK using the same excuse) I wouldn't be surprised if it happened in the UK as well.

Plenty of excuses: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/09/policing_internet_one/

[I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects]

Salon Kitty?

What was the name of the officer behind the idea of the sex scandal in the book: "Private Schultz"?

[James]

Domestic versus foreign wiretapping

Most of the protection is supposed to relate to *domestic* calls - spying on phone calls in a foreign country is a very different matter. Did anyone expect them to go and try to get a warrant from an Iraqi court first? Come on, the NSA monitoring what's going on in Baghdad should hardly come as a surprise to anyone!

[Anonymous Coward]

And politicians too

Look, Bush/Cheney created a warrantless surveillance program, he also stuffed the NSA with his cronies. So naturally those cronies had a look at what politicians are up to. They're only human! I Betcha.

The fix is to have: reasonable suspicion, a judicial process and THEN surveillance with warrant.

So if UK goes ahead and creates a warrantless surveillance program, naturally it will be abused. Just like RIPA is abused, just like anti-terror laws are abused, THEY'RE ONLY HUMAN!

[Jimmy Floyd]

Haven't we heard this before?

"It was just always, that, you know, your job is not to question"

Or, to put it another way, "I vos only obeying orders."

[alain williams]

So: will any other govt snooping be different ?

With out own govt: going to start keeping all email/text/...; keeping records of car journeys; DNA; ... how many of these are going to be used for: entertainment; personal profit; snooping on neighbour/lover/ex-lover/partners business rival/... ?

This is ''what we have got to hide'' and why we must stop govt snooping.

[D@v3]

Rockefeller

every time i see that name, i feel like some one has walked on my grave

[Daniel Wilkie]

Um....

So what is the reason for these people coming forward now? Maybe it's just me being cynical but I can't help thinking there must be some motive here - I mean come on, they clearly had no problem with it at the time. Have they recently left or something like that?

I'm no fan of the way the world is going down the tube, but I'm pretty sceptical when people make revelations about things they were involved in (especially when they're clearly admitting their guilt) for the good of the people... That's just not how most people work!

[Alistair]

I was only following orders

So the Bush admin knows nothing and the operators are just doing their jobs without question. No news there.

@kain preacher: Trouble is you septics fail to distinguish "the world" from outer America. In fact, I think A-Q's main problem is something like that (or was it the pr0n-laden web? I think we should be told).

I've also been seeing those big black helicopters ..!

[Warhelmet]

A Mighty Wizard

Perhaps it should have been called Project Palantir?

[Anonymous Coward]

Do we assume...

...that all of the equipment at GCHQ is being used to watch The Two Ronnies on UK Gold?

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing to see here

Move along. nothing at all. We have it all under control. Papers please, citizen!

[elderlybloke]

Monitored

Down here in Kiwiland, we have a big American communication monitor/ spy centre . Those big spherical radar looking things, that apparently pick up signals well because of our location.

Nice to know we are in on all this cloak and dagger spy business.

[kain preacher]

@Alistair

Point I was making is the NSA is a secret police design to spy on Americans. Hell for the longest time the gov denied they even existed.