A DISTORTED VIEW OF SECURITY? NSA ATTEMPTED TO SPY ON MEMBER OF CONGRESS

The New York Times revealed that illegal surveillance on American citizens by the NSA under the Bush administration were so broad that officials attempted to intercept communications from an unnamed Member of Congress. Although the effort ultimately failed, the allegation, confirmed by an anonymous senior FBI official, raised new concerns about the scope of the Bush Administration's illegal surveillance programs which some fear may have been used against domestic political dissidents. The Inspector General's office was said to have received allegations of “significant misconduct” relating to probes that were opened against American citizens on flimsy evidence. Officials still don't know how many violation occurred.

In the past the government has spied on and interfered with domestic political opponents, even assassinating Fred Hampton, a Black Panther activist in Chicago, but details of the Bush administration program, which the NSA has said will continue under the Obama administration "in strict accordance with U.S. laws and regulations", are still largely unknown. It is possible that the Bush program was only exceeded the law in overzealous monitoring suspected terrorists, in which case the slippery slope problem would be the only issue, it is also entirely possible that the Bush administration used the program to spy on political opponents. It is hard to know the scope of the program, but it is easy to see why illegal surveillance of American citizens inside the U.S is a cause for concern.