Report: U.S. spied on Americans intimate conversations abroad

Report: U.S. spied on Americans intimate conversations abroad

www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Congress is looking into allegations that National Security Agency linguists have been eavesdropping on Americans abroad.


Government linguists say the U.S. eavesdropped on Americans, including military officers serving in Iraq.

The congressional oversight committees said Thursday that the Americans targeted included military officers in Iraq who called friends and family in the United States.

The allegations were made by two former military intercept operators on a television news report Thursday evening.

A terrorist surveillance program instituted by the Bush administration allows the intelligence community to monitor phone calls between the United States and overseas without a court order -- as long as one party to the call is a terror suspect.

Adrienne Kinne, a former U.S. Army Reserves Arab linguist, told ABC News the NSA was listening to the phone calls of U.S. military officers, journalists and aid workers overseas who were talking about "personal, private things with Americans who are not in any way, shape or form associated with anything to do with terrorism."

David Murfee Faulk, a former U.S. Navy Arab linguist, said in the news report that he and his colleagues were listening to the conversations of military officers in Iraq who were talking with their spouses or girlfriends in the United States.

According to Faulk, they would often share the contents of some of the more salacious calls stored on their computers, listening to what he called "phone sex" and "pillow talk."

Both Kinne and Faulk worked at the NSA listening facility at Fort Gordon, Georgia. They told ABC that when linguists complained to supervisors about eavesdropping on personal conversations, they were ordered to continue transcribing the calls.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 10-10-2008 by 4thefight]

[edit on 10-10-2008 by 4thefight]

This story ignites rage. Since when are our own soldiers terrorists?

This is the kind of dictatorship power that Bush was after when he was pushing the Patriot Act. These actions are criminal at the very least. Here is the bad news, the next president, however well meaning, inherits this power. Why bother voting, either way we are still scwered until we remove everything that Bush has done.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

edited for spelling errors

[edit on 10-10-2008 by 4thefight]

Just goes to show you, If you give them enough rope they show thier true colors. Someone tell me bush won't get a pardon for all this crap !!!

As a military member here in cuba I know that every thing i post here every email i send is looked at by someone I know that when i am on the phone with my family that they are listining to what i am saying and what not we are told so. this comes as no suprise to me i am nother shocked nore am I worred about it because it happens every day here. we are told that we have no rights as military members so what does it matter right?

reply to post by SPC_D


What you say is true. We know how much disrespect soldiers get, even after training. Soldiers have the same rights as every other American, which includes private conversations to family and friends. (Unless you are working on classified projects, but we all know as far as Bush is concercened classified simply means HE wants it private.)

reply to post by 4thefight


listin you can say what you want to about our rights, how we have them but we don't it is a fact of military life. we live by military laws and we have no right to privacy at all. nor do we have the freedom of speech. I could go on but I dont have the time as I have to b e up for woork soon I should be sleeping.

is it dissrespectful to listin to my conversations or read my emails or read my myspace to see if im posting about gitmo? sure it is and I hate it but I can't do squat about it in any way shape or form sucks but like I said part of military life allways assume the phone is taped and your comuter bugged.

reply to post by SPC_D


I know exactly what you mean. The price is so high to fix what we all know is wrong. The only way things are ever going to change is when enough soldiers are willing to ruin their military careers by standing up and telling the world how it really is. I know not many would consider it patriotic, but what would you consider patriotism to be if not to stand up for the Constitution, even if it means laying down your very life for what you know is right. If you think about it, the enlistment oath you took means your Commander in Chief is the worst enemy our Constitution has EVER faced in our country's history. No one wants to tear down America. But I think we all know a whole a lot of our current politicians need to be held accountable for what they have done.

reply to post by 4thefight


I know what it is that you are saying but I am un willing to let my family go hungry or be with out a home or health care. I am not one of thoes military members you spoke of I am nither brave nor am I stupid I know what it means to speek up and I will not do it. I wont if I were single perhaps but I have a family and I will compromise my morals for them. any thing the army askes me to do I will to the fullest I have done it in the past and am mor than willing to do it in the future. it is sad but the things you will do for your kids and your own selfish reason's. and I am verry selfish so there you have it, the truth of the matter I will defend as long as the pay checks keep comeing in and my family has a roof over there head and health care and food in there bellys.and I will keep silent and do what i am told. till the day the money runs out.

"LOVE THAT MONEY!" -Ricky Bobby

When the top 2% of our bravest and most loyal souls who are willing to risk thier life for the rest of us can not get the most basic rights of our constitution then what hope do the rest of the people have. You could say that the financial crisis is not the worst problem America today. The thing is that now with so many being put out in the streets and many others with little hope of having the basic needs all families have. The question is this: how much more will we suffer before the majority in this country become the terrorist we were supposed to be defending against.

I am a former soldier. In basic training, day 1, they tell you who you belong to. When you sign that last form at the MEPS center, you become the property of the United States Government. You do not have the rights of a civilian. Everything you do or say can be recorded and belongs to the US Military organization.
You accept it because you gain the benefits of being a soldier, which are in there own rights, very beneficial as well. So, to be a member of that brotherhood-for-life, you agree to make compromises.

As a citizen, it is very disturbing that our freedoms are being trampled on. However, if you think about it, as long as you are not actually doing anything wrong then you are just making these infiltrators work that much harder to find absolutely nothing. So they treat you like a terrorist. Is it really something that was not completely expected with the passing of the PatAct? I mean, they all but said it out loud that they were going to start checking everyone. Just remember, if you voted for Bush, you have nothing really to complain about.

SPC_D, I know what you are saying, and I would not call it selfish, but taking care of you family. If everyone stood up and said we will not stand for this, they could not discharge everyone.

flatfoot:

how much more will we suffer before the majority in this country become the terrorist we were supposed to be defending against.

There is not much to say to that but wow.

Must sleep now will reply to you wheresthetruth tomorrow