NSA ordered to stop wiretap programme

NSA ordered to stop wiretap programme
By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Published: August 17 2006 17:49 | Last updated: August 17 2006 23:53


The White House on Thursday suffered another blow in its “war against terror” strategy when a federal court ruled its warrantless eavesdropping programme unconstitutional.

Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled that the “Terrorist Surveillance Programme” violated rights to free speech and privacy. The Bush administration immediately appealed against the decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union said the ruling was “a landmark victory against the abuse of power that has become the hallmark of the Bush administration”.

“Government spying on innocent Americans without any kind of warrant and without Congressional approval runs counter to the very foundations of our democracy,” said Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, which brought the lawsuit.

President George W. Bush authorised the eavesdropping programme after the September 11 2001 attacks. The highly classified programme allowed the National Security Agency to intercept the international phone calls and e-mails of Americans with links to suspected terrorists.

The White House argued that Mr Bush had the authority to order the programme, saying it was a crucial tool in the “war on terror”. But Arlen Specter, Republican chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, and many Democrats criticised Mr Bush for not seeking Congressional approval.

In a resounding rebuke of Mr Bush, Judge Taylor wrote: “There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution.”

The court ruling is the second recent important indictment of the Bush administration’s counter-terrorism tactics. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the military commissions formed to try prisoners at Guantánamo Bay violated US law and the Geneva conventions. The administration was forced to reverse policy and to allow that prisoners captured in the war against al-Qaeda were entitled to some Geneva protections.

Only a week after the UK and US foiled an alleged plot to blow up airliners, the court ruling is likely to renew debate about national security policies before November’s Congressional elections.