America: The Country That Spies Better on Itself Than Other Countries by Wayne Madsen

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_wayne_ma_070726_america_3a_the_country.htm
July 26, 2007

America: The Country That Spies Better on Itself Than Other Countries

By Wayne Madsen

July 25, 2007
On July 9, 2007, WMR reported that the March 10, 2004, hospital drama over then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card showing up in ailing Attorney General John Ashcroft's hospital room to get his signature on what was reportedly a warrantless wiretapping program, a part of the Terrorist Surveillance Program, involved a different surveillance program.

WMR reported, "After 9/11, the Bush White House used FEMA's [Federal Emergency Management Agency] secret and illegal database of American citizens, code-named Main Core, to target American citizens with electronic and other surveillance. FEMA's database had increased in size with the addition of raw telecommunications intercept data on American citizens obtained from the National Security Agency (NSA)."

Yesterday, Gonzales testified that the program he and Card were trying to get Ashcroft to approve had nothing to do with the Terrorist Surveillance Program. Gonzales stated, "The disagreement that occurred was about other intelligence activities, and the reason for the visit to the hospital was about other intelligence activities . . . It was not about the terrorist surveillance program that the president announced to the American people."

July 25, 2007 -- GOP runs nationwide espionage operation

WMR has learned that the Republican Party, under the aegis of Karl Rove and a network of political operatives serving in state Republican Party committees, various US Attorneys offices, and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, has established a nationwide surveillance and opposition research operation that targets opponents of the White House and the Republican Party.

Targets of the operation include Democratic office holders and candidates running against Republican incumbents; journalists whose writings are considered anti-Bush and anti-GOP; anti-war, civil liberties, and environmental groups; and government and private industry whistleblowers and leakers.

Targets are subjected to eavesdropping, surveillance, and harassment that is not limited to vandalism, bogus criminal and civil charges, and unfounded "whispering campaigns."

July 24, 2007 -- Another confirmation of Cheney personality change

The editor spoke to a long-time fixture in Washington politics who confirmed previous reports that Vice President Dick Cheney underwent a complete personality change after he became Vice President in January 2001.

Others who have reported the same personality change include former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, both of whom worked closely with Cheney when he was Secretary of Defense in the George H. W. Bush administration.

Our source also reports a culture in the George W. Bush White House of intimidation of its opponents. The intimidation goes as far as illegally tapping telephones and reading e-mail and regular mail.

WMR has previously reported that sudden personality change is a normal sign of an individual being blackmailed.




Authors Website: http://www.waynemadsenreport.com

Authors Bio: For more, visit Wayne Madsen Report, which its publisher, Wayne Madsen, keeps refreshed with more news than any one reporter has a right to.

Wayne Madsen is an investigative journalist, nationally distributed columnist, and author who has covered Washington, DC, politics, national security, and intelligence issues since 1994. He has written for The Village Voice, The Progressive, CAQ, Counterpunch, and the Intelligence Newsletter (based in Paris).

Look for his new book, Overthrow a Fascist Regime on $15 a Day: The Internet Irregulars vs. The Powers That Be!, in the fall.