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In defense of taps

Top intelligence official says only those tied to al-Qaida are domestic spy targets, not the Average Joe

BY TOM BRUNE | WASHINGTON BUREAU

January 24, 2006

WASHINGTON - A top intelligence official yesterday insisted that a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program is meant to target those believed to be part of al-Qaida or its affiliates, not to cast a wide "drift net" to capture American phone calls and e-mails indiscriminately.

As part of a White House campaign to defend the eavesdropping, Gen. Michael Hayden, deputy director of national intelligence, made a rare appearance at the National Press Club to convince the audience of reporters and editors that the NSA program is legal and protects civil liberties.

"If we are intercepting a communication, it is because we have reason to believe that one or both communicants are affiliated with al-Qaida," said Hayden, who headed the NSA when the program began.

"It is not a drift net over Dearborn or Lackawanna or Fremont, grabbing conversations that we then sort out by these alleged keyword searches or data-mining tools or other devices that so-called experts keep talking about," he said.

"This is focused. It's targeted. It's very carefully done," he said. "You shouldn't worry."

Hayden's remarks were met with tough questions at the Press Club and later with criticism by Democrats, who continue to question whether the president has the authority to order warrantless NSA surveillance.

Last month, Bush confirmed that in 2001 he had authorized the NSA to intercept international communications into and out of the United States, without first getting a warrant from a special court, as federal law usually requires.

Senate Democrats and Republicans have questioned Bush's constitutional authority to issue that order. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) will chair the first of a series of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on that question beginning Feb. 6.

Yesterday marked the second time in two months that Hayden has defended Bush's order and the NSA program in a news briefing.

"The lawfulness of the actual authorization was reviewed by lawyers at the Department of Justice and the White House and was approved by the attorney general," Hayden said.

For the first time, Hayden revealed that right after the Sept. 11 attacks he used his authority under a 1981 presidential order to expand NSA surveillance, even before Bush issued his order.

He also revealed that at first the NSA had in fact overwhelmed the FBI with raw intelligence. After the NSA "turned on the spigot" of reporting to the FBI, he said, "We found that we were giving them too much data in too raw form." The NSA quickly made "all the appropriate adjustments."

Hayden also conceded, "It's the nature of intelligence that many tips lead nowhere, but you have to go down some blind alleys to find the tips that pay off."