The Latest Leak

USA Today is reporting a new NSA program based on new leaks of classified information. Doesn't that strike anyone the least bit odd? These are actually records that are kept and maintained by the phone companies themselves. The NSA program, if the article is even accurate, is designed to study calling patterns to help figure out how terrorists communicate with each other.

They're not listening in on the calls themselves or maintaining records of the individual calls.

And once again we're seeing someone leaking classified information for political points - which happens to coincide with the nomination of Hayden to CIA.

Is it a coincidence? I'd like to think that's the case, but given the venom of those on the left and those that seek to undermine this Administration, I don't put anything past those behind the leak.

Stop the ACLU has more. AJ Strata believes that the USA Today story has once again given terrorists tips on how to evade our intel efforts to discover plots and cells in this country.

UPDATE:
The Media Blog notes that the Left is seriously atwitter with this latest leak. The Moderate Voice notes that this information came out in close proximity to the Hayden nomination and thinks the General should be asked about the program. Sister Toldjah calls this the latest non-scandal scandal.

Hot Air has a roundup, as well as points out that appears to be yet another iteration of the current Echelon program that grew out of Clinton Administration approved programs (Carnivore and Omnivore). Oh, and they also question the timing of this latest story.

UPDATE:
Rick Moran has a very thoughtful and detailed posting, which covers much of the same ground as this post. It provides the details that the USA Today article deemphasizes in trying to claim that this is some grand spying program on US citizens.

UPDATE:
Memeorandum shows the extent of this latest blogstorm. Lots of reaction coming forth, but like the earlier NSA wiretapping/eavesdropping stories - the real story is in the leak, not the program itself. Flopping Aces notes that someone in the CIA has taken it upon themselves to determine what programs are secret and which ones are made public and thereafter undermine US national security. The purpose? To affect the outcome of domestic politics.

Dan Riehl wonders what the fuss is about. Blue Crab Boulevard wonders whether we can truly trust the veracity of the story, and wondered whether the revelation of the program caused harm to national security - though President Bush seems to think that it did.

Confederate Yankee has additional thoughts.

UPDATE:
In the past few hours since the last update, the number of posts on the USA Today story and reaction has grown exponentially. Stop the ACLU notes that the ACLU ought to look within before complaining about the government. Apparently, the ACLU has gobs of financial information about all of its members and practices all kinds of sophisticated analysis.

Pajamas Media has a big roundup.

Big Lizards makes the point that this simply isn't a new story - it's a rehash of an old one, with the same questions over the source of the leaks. Outside the Beltway

Others blogging: Newsbusters, Michelle Malkin, Right Mind, and Blind Mind's Eye.

UPDATE:
Tom Maguire has a comprehensive post and picks up Glenn Greenwald's comment on the Qwest refusal to go along with the NSA program as the other telecoms did.

Unable to get comfortable with what NSA was proposing, Qwest's lawyers asked NSA to take its proposal to the FISA court. According to the sources, the agency refused.

The NSA's explanation did little to satisfy Qwest's lawyers. "They told (Qwest) they didn't want to do that because FISA might not agree with them," one person recalled. For similar reasons, this person said, NSA rejected Qwest's suggestion of getting a letter of authorization from the U.S. attorney general's office. A second person confirmed this version of events.

Considering that the FISA court has shown itself to be antiquated, it could be understandable that the NSA would choose to avoid to get other bureaucracies involved. However, one has to wonder why the Attorney General was not involved - unless there is more to the story that the USA Today journalists either don't know or withheld from this story. It remains to be seen if the Qwest version of events is accurate and needs further investigation.

Others blogging: Decision '08, The Sandbox, and Small Town Veteran.