Raw Story - Whistleblower: NSA spied on everyone, targeted journalists

[1776Forever]

Video from Keith Olbermann Show on site:

Whistleblower: NSA spied on everyone, targeted journalists
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Published: Wednesday January 21, 2009

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Whistleblower_Bushs_NSA_targeted_reporters_0121.html

Former National Security Agency analyst Russell Tice, who helped expose the NSA's warrantless wiretapping in December 2005, has now come forward with even more startling allegations. Tice told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Wednesday that the programs that spied on Americans were not only much broader than previously acknowledged but specifically targeted journalists.

"The National Security Agency had access to all Americans' communications -- faxes, phone calls, and their computer communications," Tice claimed. "It didn't matter whether you were in Kansas, in the middle of the country, and you never made foreign communications at all. They monitored all communications."

Tice further explained that "even for the NSA it's impossible to literally collect all communications. ... What was done was sort of an ability to look at the metadata ... and ferret that information to determine what communications would ultimately be collected."

According to Tice, in addition to this "low-tech, dragnet" approach, the NSA also had the ability to hone in on specific groups, and that was the aspect he himself was involved with. However, even within the NSA there was a cover story meant to prevent people like Tice from realizing what they were doing.

"In one of the operations that I was in, we looked at organizations, just supposedly so that we would not target them," Tice told Olbermann. "What I was finding out, though, is that the collection on those organizations was 24/7 and 365 days a year -- and it made no sense. ... I started to investigate that. That's about the time when they came after me to fire me."

When Olbermann pressed him for specifics, Tice offered, "An organization that was collected on were US news organizations and reporters and journalists."

.........

Follow-up interview on KO tonight.

[pmorlan1]

1. Why is Olbermann breaking this and not the NYT?

On Wiki it says that Tice was a source for the NYT article about illegal wiretaping.

"Media reports on January 10, 2006, indicated Tice was a source of the Times leak, which revealed that, under the direction of the White House and without requisite court orders, the NSA has been intercepting international communications to and from points within the US."

If Tice was a source for the NYT story did he also tell them that journalists were being targeted? If he did why didn't they report it? Why is Olbermann breaking news on this and not the NYT if Tice was one of their sources? Did Tice go to the NYT before he spoke with Olbermann? If not, why not?

[1776Forever]

2. I believe it was true that he did give NYTs input, he is saying now it was media/reporters.

From what I heard on KO last night he never said that before.

[Divine Discontent]

3. if this country believes in justice - there will be a serious investigation into torture and spying

there's so many avenues of which to route the bus on! The shrub admin. did so many things that were filthy and fascist in nature that surely they can figure out which has the most slam-dunk chance of forcing them to spend some time in the pokey!