The confirmation of a presidential order allowing the NSA to conduct wiretaps on US citizens sparked a much needed debate about the nature of surveillance and civil liberties. Proponents of the presidential order argue that wiretaps with no warrant are necessary to quickly track terrorists.
Furthermore, they argue, the wiretaps would only be used against known terrorists and therefore do not represent a diminishing of civil rights. The search warrant system exists to check executive power, and provide protection against civil liberties violations. Search warrants are a basic aspect of the check and balance system on which our government is based. When this check is ignored, the American people are required to trust that the executive branch has their best interests in mind and will not make errors, a burden of trust which is normally lessened by the independent oversight of warrant courts.
Although the administration insists that the only people who were targets of this program were known terrorist suspects, the secret nature of the program makes this fact nearly impossible to ever verify. We are forced to assume that the government is acting unerringly and in good faith, an assumption which many may find difficult to make.
It has been said that this program was crucial because of the rapid nature of modern communications and the requirement of secrecy when gathering intelligence. The system in place for obtaining wiretap warrants, however, takes both of these facts into account. Warrants are often kept secret to avoid tipping off suspects.
Additionally, the laws allow for retroactive warrants which can be issued after the wiretap has actually taken place. Given this, the fact that President Bush chose to ignore the set procedure for wiretapping is even more bizarre. Although it is unclear at this time whether the Bush Administration actually violated the law with this order as some suspect, all Americans should be concerned about the secrecy and seeming disregard for set procedures when dealing with the delicate matters of wiretapping and surveillance.
Although it is likely that the only people targeted by this program were truly intending to harm our country, but the truth of the matter is that we will never know. Under this program, if injustices are occurring, there exists no means to prevent or stop them. The Bush administration must balance its desire for secrecy with recognition of the importance of checks and balances.
