Most Americans Support NSA Efforts

Cross-Posted From Gribbit’s Word
The Washington Post is reporting on a poll which claims that 66% of Americans support the efforts of the National Security Agency.

A majority of Americans initially support a controversial National Security Agency program to collect information on telephone calls made in the United States in an effort to identify and investigate potential terrorist threats, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it.

A slightly larger majority–66 percent–said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made, the poll found.

Underlying those views is the belief that the need to investigate terrorism outweighs privacy concerns. According to the poll, 65 percent of those interviewed said it was more important to investigate potential terrorist threats “even if it intrudes on privacy.” Three in 10–31 percent–said it was more important for the federal government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats.

Half–51 percent–approved of the way President Bush was handling privacy matters.

The survey results reflect initial public reaction to the NSA program. Those views that could change or deepen as more details about the effort become known over the next few days.

Yesterday’s revelations brought out some details from the President, the NSA, and Congressional Intelligence Committee members which outline exactly what was collected by the NSA. Phone records that’s it. The same information which is available on your individual phone bill. This information has been previously ruled by the Supreme Court to not be covered under an expectation of privacy because there are countless numbers of people who are exposed to your phone records before your bill makes it into the envelope.

The information collected from AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth were turned over to the NSA with the companies’ cooperation. Qwest refused to cooperate and according to the most recent information available, has not turned over any information to this point.

This fact removes any claim against the government by individual customers. It is now a matter between the customer and their telephone provider.

Michelle Malkin wrote in today’s edition of The New York Post

President Bush made clear yesterday: “We’re not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda and their known affiliates. So far we’ve been very successful in preventing another attack on our soil.”

Nevertheless, the civil liberties Chicken Little are screaming “Bushitler!” on cue. What they should be screaming for are the heads of the blabbermouths endangering all of us by running to the fifth-column press when they don’t get their way in Washington. But you can never find the leak-decriers when you need them, can you?

Prediction: To the dismay of the USA Today prize-seekers and fear-stokers, most Americans won’t react to their precious scoop by hysterically throwing their cellphones into the nearest lake and calling for President Bush’s impeachment.

I, for one, will be sure to continue to do business with Verizon, in support of its willingness to cooperate with the government to prevent another 9/11.

In fact, I think I’ll pick up the phone and give them a call right now. And if you’re listening, NSA: Thank you.

I echo Michelle’s comment – Thank You NSA and President Bush for keeping us safe.

Ed Morrissey puts in with some good common sense.

When we finally acknowledged that Islamist terrorists had declared war on us, George Bush warned us that we would have to make sacrifices in order to beat our enemy. So far, we have not been asked for much in the way of sacrifice. Now that we see how the NSA has kept us safe, we should recognize that the limited loss of privacy on our telephone habits is not much of a sacrifice in giving the intelligence community a tool to root out terrorist sleeper cells. However, we should not dismiss the risks of giving even more power to the federal government so lightly, and we should ensure that the power we do grant them does not get misused.

It is good to know that most Americans have common sense, unlike certain senators that would risk our lives to protect our phone numbers from the federal government.
H/T: The Drudge Report & Michelle Malkin
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