Powell: 'Nothing wrong' with eavesdropping (AP) Updated: 2005-12-26 08:40
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday supported government
eavesdropping to prevent terrorism but said a major controversy over
presidential powers could have been avoided by obtaining court warrants.
Powell said that when he was in the Cabinet, he was not told that President
Bush authorized a warrantless National Security Agency surveillance operation
after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Appearing on ABC's "This Week" Powell said he sees "absolutely nothing wrong
with the president authorizing these kinds of actions" to protect the nation.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, left,
listens to President Bush speak to reporters, in this Jan. 10, 2005 file
photo, in the Oval Office.[AP/file] | But he
added, "My own judgment is that it didn't seem to me, anyway, that it would have
been that hard to go get the warrants. And even in the case of an emergency, you
go and do it."
The New York Times reported on its Internet site Friday that the NSA has
traced and analyzed large volumes of telephone and Internet communications
flowing into and out of the United States. The program bypassed the secret
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Powell said Congress will need to judge whether Bush is correct in his
assertion that he could approve eavesdropping without first obtaining court
orders.
"And that's going to be a great debate," Powell said.
Powell, who also is a former chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff,
had no reservations when asked whether eavesdropping should continue.
"Of course it should continue," he said. "And nobody is suggesting that the
president shouldn't do this."
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