perfidy

Attentive readers will be aware that I supported the war in Iraq from the beginning. I had some few quibbles about the Patriot act, but on the whole felt that the powers it granted our government were reasonable given the threats that face us.

But what is entirely unacceptable, if true, is the report in the Times that the administration secretly allowed the NSA to eavesdrop on American citizens without a warrent.

Some of those who object to the operation argue that is unnecessary. By getting warrants through the foreign intelligence court, the N.S.A. and F.B.I. could eavesdrop on people inside the United States who might be tied to terrorist groups without skirting longstanding rules, they say.

The standard of proof required to obtain a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is generally considered lower than that required for a criminal warrant ­ intelligence officials only have to show probable cause that someone may be "an agent of a foreign power," which includes international terrorist groups ­ and the secret court has turned down only a small number of requests over the years. In 2004, according to the Justice Department, 1,754 warrants were approved. And the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court can grant emergency approval for wiretaps within hours, officials say.

I can understand that people in the NSA and elsewhere in the intelligence community want to have the ability to act quickly to prevent some very bad people from causing us harm. That is admirable. But in their zeal to prosecute the war on terror, we must be aware of the consequences of the actions that we take. We must be very cautious in granting powers to government, and especially to secret government intelligence agencies. There is already far too much secrecy in government. Vast powers can just as easily - even more easily - be used for ill as for good. To err on the side of caution is a good rule of thumb when it comes to liberty.

However, blatantly violating the Constitution is not a reasonable exercise of executive power no matter how "bad" the people we wiretapped are. No matter how clear the connection to known foriegn terrorists is, the law and our constitution must be obeyed. Liberty is more important than safety. Much more.