Uh, first off the question isn't written correctly. It should be written:
Should the US government be allowed to listen into INTERNATIONAL calls and E-mails that are traced to or from numbers or nations with terrorist ties if one of the people making the call is a citizen.
That is a factual poll, what you have is a knee jerk hysteria poll.
I say, "Yes.", to my above poll for the following reasons.
1. It is Constitutional. The President has a duty to protect the Constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic. This is why Article 2 gives him power over national defense. This means that he is not bound by the Constitution with regards to Acts of War. No, this doesn't mean he can just go after you or me, but someone who is trying to commit an act of war, he can go after without the red tape of the Bill of Rights.
2. All people tapped had connections to either phone lines or by name in captured Al Quaeda intelligence.
3. It does not violate the 4th Amendment.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
There are a few key points. It is not unreasonable in war to spy on the enemy. If information is disclosed that you are an enemy, it is no longer unreasonable to to search your property. Instead in war time it is unreasonable to seek a Warrant, which normally takes days.
It isn't just me, but the Supreme Court who believes that:
For the view that warrantless surveillance, though impermissible in domestic security cases, may be constitutional where foreign powers are involved, see United States v. Smith, 321 F. Supp. 424, 425-426 (CD Cal. 1971); and American Bar Association Project on Standards for Criminal Justice, Electronic Surveillance 120, 121 (Approved Draft 1971, and Feb. 1971 Supp. 11). See also United States v. Clay. 430 F.2d 165 (CA5 1970).
As quoted from:
http://rfraley301.blogspot.com/2005/12/ ... nable.html
4. There is Congressional oversite every 45 days.
5. I don't know why having a judge look at the case and then give a warrant makes it "all better". Is a judge less likely to be corrupt than a President? Is a judge more likely to be righteous than a President?
6. The outrage that is happening is strangely silent when considering that warrantless searches have been going on before with international dealings. Even worse, is Clinton did it to citizen to citizen communications in Project Echelon and recorded and spied on political enemies, unlike Bush who has kept the spying to terrorists and possible terrorists.
But in fact, the NSA (When Clinton was in Office)had been monitoring private domestic telephone conversations on a much larger scale throughout the 1990s - all of it done without a court order, let alone a catalyst like the 9/11 attacks.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005 ... 1452.shtml
7. And a list of warrantless searches that occur everyday, all with the blessings of the citizens:
http://www.nationalreview.com/mccarthy/ ... 201735.asp
