Blue Crab Boulevard

The Problem With Leaks

I see USA Today has a story, written completely around leaked information, about a secret NSA program. I also see that the blogosphere is exploding about this. Opinions are predictable, of course. There is much rage on the left. One pictures many coffee stained monitor screens and spittle drenched keyboards.

Just a couple of points. I read this story and have a few mixed feelings about it. Because the people who leaked the story are not identified in any way, I cannot judge the accuracy of the program description. I cannot judge the truthfulness of the leakers. I cannot judge if there are political motivations to the leaks. I cannot judge if only part of the program is being reported. I cannot judge whether there are totally legitimate reasons for the program's existence. I cannot tell if any laws have been broken. I cannot tell if Congress was fully informed and agrees with the program. I cannot tell if these leaks have caused massive damage to a legitimate program.

Neither can anyone else.

What we're likely to get is more rage and uproar. More heat, but little light. Which is very unfortunate, because I would like a sane discussion of some topics. This is one of them.

UPDATE: President Bush made a statement about the program. Transcript of his remarks here. Pretty straightforward. It would also appear that damage may very well have been done.

UPDATE: Possiblymajor, major news. AJ Strata at Strata-Sphere notes that the leaker(s) may already be known – and it sounds like a political hit job.

Blogosphere, Media | Gaius May 11, 2006

By JP, May 11, 2006 @ 9:41 am

Glad to see someone else considering this rationally. It does bring up questions, though.

“Why wasn’t this information volunteered earlier this year when the first reports surfaced? Why were we only given part of the truth as an answer? Are people still willing to sacrifice all manner of personal liberty in exchange for security, after being continuously scared by the Bush administration regarding terror threats?”
By Gaius, May 11, 2006 @ 9:47 am

There are questions, but I don’t see us getting good answers for a while at least – if ever.
By Robert, May 11, 2006 @ 12:13 pm

More open government, not less, please.
By Gaius, May 11, 2006 @ 12:18 pm

Again, until we get some better light on this, this is a lot of wild speculation at this pont.
By Black Jack, May 11, 2006 @ 12:34 pm

Best info so far is at PowerLine and Michelle Malkin.
By jpe, May 11, 2006 @ 9:50 pm

I would expect that the threshhold for a program to be considered legitimate would be its legality, a threshhold that this program does not meet (note that FISA defines a communication as anything that identifies a person, which a phone number clearly does).

That said, what could Bush do that you would be uncomfortable with? What if the NSA were eavesdropping on purely domestic phone calls w/o warrants? What if the state detained U.S. citizens w/o probable cause and w/o trial?
By Gaius, May 12, 2006 @ 4:27 am

That take is interesting. Because it is not what some people are saying at all.