McConnell: That’s Right, Openness Kills AmericansLast month, in an interview with the El Paso Times, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said that openly debating changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — changes requested by none other than McConnell himself — would mean that “some Americans are going to die.” At first it seemed like an unfortunate bit of demagoguery. At a hearing today of the House intelligence committee, though, McConnell again anticipated bodies piling up in the streets as the direct consequence of discussing the McConnell’s favored revisions to FISA. From Reuters:
He said debate over the programs was important to ensure authorities had proper tools to fight suspected terrorists, but that the open discussion would also help U.S. enemies.
“What this dialogue and debate has allowed those who wish us harm to do, is to understand significantly more about how we were targeting their communications,” McConnell told the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee.
Asked if debates had cost U.S lives, he said, “They will.”
Or as he also put it: “The intelligence business is conducted in secret. It’s conducted in secret for a reason.”
Why not just declare the 20 committee members enemy combatants and be done with it?
