The following article by James Jay Carafano appeared on WashigntonExaminer.com. Prof. Carafano taught Foundations of Homeland Security at IWP this summer.
PRISM is essential to U.S. security in war against terrorism
“Our intelligence professionals must be able to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they’re planning,” said the president. “The lives of countless Americans depend on our ability to monitor these communications.”
He added that he would cancel his planned trip to Africa unless assured Congress would support the counterterrorism surveillance program.
The president was not Barack Obama. It was George W. Bush, in 2008, pressing Congress to extend and update reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). He was speaking directly to the American public, in an address broadcast live from the Oval Office.
How times have changed.
Back then, the President of the United States willingly led the fight for the programs he thought necessary to keep the nation safe. Now, our president sends underlings to make the case.