VP Cheney on PBS

I don’t know how many of you had the opportunity to view the interview with Vice President Dick Cheney on the News Hour last night. I watched nearly all of it before being interrupted. As was usually the case with VP Cheney, he was calm, collected, never allowing himself to get caught in a trap by trick questions, etc.

Jim Lehrer spent ample time discussing the wire tapping issue concerning the NSA and FISA. Lehrer pushed hard on certain issues of the program. Two items come to mind that grabbed me as something he pressed for. One was he wanted Cheney to give the viewers a promise that they weren’t being eavesdropped on by this program. The other was Lehrer pushing for details of the program, of which Cheney would have nothing to do with.

Cheney went about promising lawful citizens of this country that they were not being listened in on, unless of course they were talking to a terrorist, and went to pains to explain the details that were being followed to make sure only those conversations or communications were being intercepted by one party out of the country and it was taking place with known terrorists or groups of terrorists.

Cheney went on to explain the process the Bush administration and NSA took before beginning this secret program. He explained that one extremely important element of the program was secrecy – not from the America people for the purpose of spying on them but to ensure the effectiveness of the program. The first thing I learned when working in intelligence, was the fewer people who know, the less chance of someone spilling the beans.
Judges, lawyers from many departments including the Attorney General and anyone whom the administration felt could render legal assistance and be trusted to keep secret the program, were consulted to make sure what was being proposed was legal. Once this once done, then the administration brought in key members of Congress to inform them.

Cheney wanted it made clear that only informing the key members of Congress was nothing knew nor was it unlawful. Most times in matters such as national security, chairs of committees, etc. are the only ones updated and they know what they are told is to stay with them and not passed on. It is part of their responsibility and they are instructed of that when taking that position as a committee chair person. Again, Cheney cited the need for secrecy to make the program work.

He also expressed the change in attitudes by key members of Congress who were informed of the program from the beginning. He stated that no one and he emphasized no one, had any doubts or questions when told about the program, until the leak was made to the press and the New York Times printed the story. After that he said, it became a political nightmare for those wanting to exploit the story for their own politcal gains.

When asked by Lehrer about comments being made by fellow Republicans, namely Arlan Spector and others, Cheney just smiled and said, “They weren’t informed.” In other words they weren’t brought into that room initially and told about the program, how it works and why it is legal. He said if they knew, they would think differently.

Cheney does think that the longer this issue stays in the forefront of Congress, the media and the American people, it is seriously jeopardizing a very effective program. He knows that many members of Congress want a full blown investigation which would ultimately reveal how the program is being run and that would render it useless.

Tom Remington