Ex-CIA Official: NSA Officers are
Necessary 'Patriots'
Sunday, 22 Dec 2013 12:41 PM
By Sandy Fitzgerald
Former CIA
Deputy Director Michael Morell Sunday defended the
National Security Agency's procedures,
calling officers "patriots" who are needed to keep the country safe.
"The NSA is not spying on Americans,"
Morell, who was a member of a presidential panel that this week recommended
sweeping limits on the government's surveillance programs, insisted to CBS "Face the Nation"
host Bob Schieffer Sunday. "It is not
focused on any single American. It is not reading the content of my phone
calls, or yours, or anyone else. It is focused on the metadata only."
But even though the panel had concerns
about how Americans' information is gathered, the programs should not be
outlawed, said Morell, who was also acting CIA director.
"There has not been a successful
terrorist attack in the United
States since 9-11," Morell said Sunday.
But that doesn't mean that the NSA's work should stop, he said.
"The officers that work there are
patriots," Morell said, noting that the threat of terrorism still exists,
and while the danger dropped some in recent years, it could grow again.
Further, the NSA was not acting on its
own, but was "doing the things the government asked it to do," Morell
said, noting that the agency was overseen by Congress and the nation's
intelligence services.
"There was no abuse here," he
said.
Further, Morell said the NSA's data
gathering is done to ensure overseas terrorists aren't making contact with
Americans. But what's being collected, said Morell, are telephone numbers and
when they're called and the duration of the calls.
"There are no names attached to
it," he said.
He noted that many people think the
presidential review panel didn't see value in the program, when that is not the
case.
Morell said the investigation panel found
out that out of a "couple hundred times a year, there are dozen, maybe 15
times a year where they [the NSA] has tipped information to the FBI… It is very
important for our government to be able to look into that database to see if
that terrorist is talking to anyone in the United States."
However, the panel said that the
government should not hold on to the telephone data that's being gathered, but
instead, the information should be held outside the government, and the NSA
would have to go to court and give justification to access it.
The process could take a few days, unless
the search is under an emergency situation, Morell said.
"We think this better protects
privacy and civil liberties while allowing the government to protect this
country," said Morell.
Morell does not believe NSA leaker Edward Snowden should get amnesty for his disclosures, which
exposed many of the agency's more sensitive intelligence activities.
"No, I feel strongly about
that," said Morell. "He violated the trust put in him by the U.S.
government. He has committed a crime."
Further, he denied that Snowden is a
whistleblower, saying that "a whistleblower doesn't run. A whistleblower
does not disclose information that has nothing to do without what he says his
cause is."
Morell said that if he could talk to the
young fugitive, who has been given temporary sanctuary in Russia, he
would tell him to "come home and be judged."
"I would say, 'Edward, you say you
are a patriot, you say you want to protect the privacy and civil liberties of
Americans, you say you want Americans to have a debate. If you really believe
that Americans should be the judge of this program, then you should also
believe that Americans should be the judge of your behavior,'" Morell
said.
Michael Morell
Michael
J. Morell was the deputy director for the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), is a member of the White House
intelligence technologies review panel, and a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
Note: George
H.W. Bush was a director at the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), the president for the George H.W. Bush
administration, is a member of the Burning Tree
Club, and a member of the Bohemian Club.
Bob
Schieffer is a member of the Burning Tree Club,
the anchor & moderator for Face the Nation,
and the chief Washington
correspondent for the CBS News.
Walter
L. Cronkite was the anchorman for the CBS News, and a
member of the Bohemian Club.
George H.W. Bush talks about the
NWO; Walter Cronkite said he is glad to sit at the Right Hand of Satan
Dark Secrets inside Bohemian
Grove
Bohemian Club
Weaving Spiders Come Not Here
The Bavarian Order of the
Illuminati Owl of Wisdom
Henry A. Kissinger
is a member of the Bohemian Club, the
founder of Kissinger Associates, Inc., an
overseer at the International Rescue
Committee, a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States (think tank), a director at the
American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Judith
A. Miscik is the president & vice chairman for Kissinger
Associates, Inc., a member of the President's
Intelligence Advisory Board, the deputy director of intelligence for
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and
a director at the International Rescue
Committee.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the International Rescue Committee, the Brookings
Institution (think tank), the Aspen
Institute (think tank), the New America Foundation,
and the Committee for Economic Development.
George Soros
is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society, a board member for the International Crisis Group,
and the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the American
Constitution Society, and the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Samantha
Power was a director at the International
Rescue Committee, a board member for the International
Crisis Group, Barack Obama’s
aide, is the United Nations U.S. ambassador for
the Barack Obama administration, and
married to Cass R. Sunstein.
Cass R.
Sunstein is married to Samantha Power,
a member of the White House intelligence technologies review
panel, and a senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
White
House intelligence technologies review panel is reviewing the practices of
the National Security Agency (NSA).
Geoffrey
R. Stone was a director at the American Constitution
Society, and is a member of the White House intelligence
technologies review panel.
Arthur
B. Culvahouse Jr. is a trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and was a member of the President's
Intelligence Advisory Board.
Lee H.
Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and a member of the President's
Intelligence Advisory Board.
Stephen
Friedman is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and was a member of the President's
Intelligence Advisory Board.
Rita E.
Hauser is a director at the New America Foundation,
a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board,
and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Paul G.
Kaminski was a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), and is a member of the President's
Intelligence Advisory Board.
Chuck Hagel
is the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), the secretary for the U.S.
Department of Defense, and was the co-chairman for the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.
Michael
J. Morell is a member of the President's Intelligence
Advisory Board, a member of the White House intelligence
technologies review panel, and was the deputy director for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
White
House intelligence technologies review panel is reviewing the practices of
the National Security Agency (NSA).
Edward
Snowden leaked information about the National Security Agency
(NSA), and an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz
Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Robert
S. Osborne is the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen
Hamilton, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden
Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N.
Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
Please note: This link for the members of
the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
W.
James McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.
Boeing
Company is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Barbara
G. Fast was a VP at the Boeing Company,
and a VP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI
Group Inc. was the Obamacare
contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Donna S.
Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.,
and a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development.
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