Is Something Bugging You?

So the CIA is eavesdropping on the phone calls of people that have ties to al Qaeda. They are conducting surveillance on these people without having gone through the effort of obtaining a court order. So what’s the problem here? Isn’t that what the Central Intelligence Agency is supposed to do, spy on people? In fact when I first heard the news I was a bit perplexed. I found it rather funny that such a thing would even be newsworthy. I’d always assumed that the CIA spied on people and listened to the telephone conversations of suspected terrorists. It never occurred to me that they would or even should seek court-sanctioned permission for that either.

Really, I don’t see what the problem is here. If anything, the CIA should increase the scope of the operation. They need to be listening to everyone with ties to someone who has ties to al Qaeda. Perhaps even the people who know the people who know people with ties to al Qaeda. The more people under surveillance the better. This is not an invasion of privacy. This is a matter of National Security. The government needs to be checking up on every potential threat that they are aware of, regardless of how small that threat is. If these people have nothing to hide and are not conducting illegal activities or planning them, then they don’t have anything to worry about. If they’re telling personal and embarrassing stories to their close confidants, I don’t think they have to worry that the CIA will spill the beans. If they’re cheating on their wives or talking to a girlfriend, it’s not going to end up in the newspaper. If they get caught playing hooky from work it won’t be because of the government listening in on their conversations. However, if they are planning to blow up people or buildings, then perhaps they can be stopped before anyone or anything gets hurt.

For those of you who do think that this is a violation of privacy or human rights or whatever, what is it that you talk about on the phone? Is there really anything that you say on the telephone that you would be concerned about the CIA hearing? What is it that is so bad and so scary about an unknown, unseen, complete stranger who knows nothing about you screening your phone calls for possible terrorist conduct? Besides, it’s not like bugging telephones is anything new or unusual. Even without the possibility that the government is listening, did you really consider phone calls to be safe and secure? You can readily buy all the surveillance equipment you’d ever want from a number of companies on the Internet. All the CIA is doing is what your neighbors, spouses, friends, family, and children have been doing for years: They’re keeping an eye on you.

Date Added: 05-01-2006