“On December 16, 2005, the lead article in the New York Times, by James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, was titled ‘Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts.’ The article instantly became a national sensation, revealing the broad outlines of a secret eavesdropping program run by the NSA [National Security Agency] to find al Qaeda […]
Category: quotes
12/16/2005
From a New York Times article on December 16, 2005, “According to anonymous government officials quoted by the reporters [James Risen and Eric Lichtblau], NSA [National Security Agency] ‘eavesdrops without warrants on up to 500 people in the United States at any given time… Overseas, about 5,000 to 7,000 people suspected of terrorist ties are […]
12/15/2005
“In several respects, the [December 15, 2005] elections [in Iraq] were an unprecedented success. Voter participation jumped dramatically, from 9.8 million in the October 15 constitutional referendum to nearly 11 million in December (about 70 percent of registered voters), despite the continued efforts of Sunni jihadist groups to deter voting.” – Larry Diamond, Squandered Victory, […]
12/15/2005
In Iraq, “The third election of the year, held in December [15, 2005], was to replace the interim assembly with a permanent legislature. Once again, Iraqis defied terrorist threats. Nearly twelve million people–a turnout of more than 70 percent–cast their ballots. This time Sunnis participated in overwhelming numbers.” – George W. Bush, Decision Points, Page […]
12/15/2005
Appearing on National Public Radio on December 15, 2005, former Deputy Chief of the Office of Legal Counsel John Yoo “admitted that ‘some of the worst possible interrogation methods we’ve heard of in the press have been reserved for the leaders of al-Qaeda that we’ve captured’ and, with remarkable candor and abandonment, ‘I’ve defended the […]
12/15/2005
“During 2005, alarmed by the course of events, [al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-] Zawahiri sent a letter to [al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi urging him to show restraint. In December of that year, when Zarqawi failed to heed such calls, [senior al Qaeda member Atiyah Abd al-] Rahman sent a much […]
12/15/2005
The New York Times “posted the story [about the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program] on the newspaper’s Web site on the evening of December 15 [2005], shortly after informing the White House. [President] Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney felt betrayed by not having much if any real notice, which exacerbated their anger. The […]
12/15/2005
As stated in "The Report of the Iraq Inquiry – Executive Summary:" "Parliamentary elections in Iraq." – Commissioned by the Prime Minister The Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP, “The Report of the Iraq Inquiry: Executive Summary,” IraqInquiry.org.uk, Dec. 15, 2005, […]
12/15/2005
On December 15, 2005, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said: “When the Senate voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002, it was based on a more limited scope of prewar intelligence than was available to the [Bush] Administration.” – Jonathan S. Landay, “Congress Doesn’t See Same Intelligence as President, Report Finds,” Knight-Ridder […]
12/15/2005
"…far from saving 'thousands of lives,' as claimed by Vice President Dick Cheney in December 2005, the NSA [National Security Agency] [warrantless surveillance] program never led investigators to a genuine terrorist not already under suspicion, nor did it help them to expose any dangerous plots." [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes […]