GW Bush gives remedial lesson on 9/11 wiretaps

President Bush responds to the NYT smear campaign: [From The Corner at NRO Read the whole thing. ]

In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. Before we intercept these communications, the government must have information that establishes a clear link to these terrorist networks.

This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security. Its purpose is to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against the United States, our friends and allies. Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country.

...

This authorization is a vital tool in our war against the terrorists. It is critical to saving American lives. The American people expect me to do everything in my power under our laws and Constitution to protect them and their civil liberties. And that is exactly what I will continue to do, so long as I'm the President of the United States.

Commentary: Amen.

In the post 9/11 climate where it is understood that the domestic vs. international intelligence "wall" caused great damage to our safety, I am surprised that there are Americans that would question presidential actions designed to improve intelligence gathering. There are other less damaging ways to argue that wiretapping terrorists is wrong; the Senate debate on the Patriot Act for one.

I am also suspicious of the timing of this story. The Iraqi elections should be dominating the news, but instead we have overly magnified attention on a story that the NYT has sat on, by their own admission, for 1 year.

The President has said to the NYT prior to publication that this story would hurt our security. What responsible paper would run with this? If you have a subscription to the NYT this would be a great reason to cancel it.