Opinion: Is U.S. Wiretapping Truly Tracking Terrorists?

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The powers that be in the government want to be able to listen in like a fly on the wall when you’re on the phone. The program is to track terrorists and American targets for a week without a warrant. But is that really what is going on?

When Computer World spoke to the Department of Justice about those demands that civil liberties groups have going on to the details of mobile phone tracking they had the status quo to say, or did they?

Computer World spoke to the DOJ on the matter, and received the usual “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear” line, highlighting how important phone records can be in tracing children and serial murderers - but not terrorists, this time, so missing a trick there.

Whoa Nellie, hold your horses here. Since when have children been thought to be terrorists? It’s all well and good to track serial killers and the like within the legal arm but why are the kids being listened in on?

Oh my gawd, did you see what Jessie was wearing?

I know and isn’t Brandon a hunk?

Yes, our children’s phone calls are a matter of national security.

“This is a critical opportunity to shed much-needed light on possibly unconstitutional government surveillance techniques,” said Catherine Crump, a staff attorney at the ACLU, “Signing up for cell phone services should not be synonymous with signing up to be spied on and tracked by the government.”

Back on June 20th when the House passed new surveillance laws Bush was quoted on ABCNews.com as to saying:

President Bush praised the bill Friday. “It will help our intelligence professionals learn enemies’ plans for new attacks,” he said in a statement before television cameras a few hours before the vote.

So children may have plans of attacks? Come on folks, Big Brother is staring us in the face and he’s not looking that pretty.

The way the law stands now with the new bill the government can initiate a wiretap for a week if “important intelligence” could be lost. The court then has 30 days to object the government after that week is completed and a case is filed.

“What we have here is the opportunity for the government to commit mass untargeted surveillance,” said Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

How do you feel about this issue? Do you think that the government should be allowed to listen into your calls or those of your children?

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