Ayoon wa Azan (Wiretapping violates the constitution)

Had there been any justice in this world, George W. Bush would have been tried at the International War Crimes Tribunal for charges of killing one million Arabs and Muslims in addition to 6,000 Americans in a war whose reasons were rigged on purpose. Had he been tried, Bush would have faked “stupidity;” and copied Ronald Reagan who answered by “I don’t know” to every question asked by the investigation committee in the Iran-Contra affair. Bush might have even pretended to be mad since his ignorance and stupidity might push him to stoop that low. Statutory law exempts mad individuals from liability just like Islamic law indicates that mad individuals (and sick people and children) shall not be held liable. Barack Obama cannot use ignorance or madness as an excuse. He is a lawyer who graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago between 1992 and 2004. He is a very smart man and his family’s wealth and power were not the elements that brought him to the White House. Obama acceded to power after his father returned to his country of origin, Kenya, and following the death of his American mother. Nevertheless, this smart, self-made president, an expert on the American Constitution, has been let down by his sharp mind or his courage and he is now violating the American constitution and completing the work of his predecessor, Bush. When I wrote about the wiretapping scandal in America a month ago, I stated that this is the mother of all scandals. The pieces of information that were available at that time have now increased by many folds. The Americans and the entire world are now aware of the existence of a secret court called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that convenes secretly and issues undisclosed decisions to decide on the legitimate and illegitimate boundaries when it comes to spying on people. Experts insist that these decisions violate the very essence of the American constitution, the federal laws and the states’ laws. The first amendment of the American Constitution guarantees citizens’ freedom of speech while the fourth amendment protects people’s privacy against spying. However, the National Security Agency spied on people and collected billions of phone calls, emails, photos, and recordings in an illegal and clandestine manner until Edward Snowden exposed the matter knowing that he once worked in those spy programs. Recently, Bradley Manning was convicted of spying and passing classified material to WikiLeaks, but was acquitted of aiding the enemy; while the U.S. House of Representatives legalized wiretapping through a slim majority. I read that surveillance was launched through a program called Echelon back in 1946. The program was improved in the 1960s but technology had its limits at the time. In the 1990s, the program went global and was used for spying on the entire world, including the allies and the potential adversaries. One article that I read about the program indicated that it was used to spy on the EU’s new technology and sabotage a deal between the French Airbus Company and Saudi Arabia. There is also the Patriot Act that was passed in an atmosphere of terror following the September 11 Attacks. This act violated the American’s personal freedoms under the excuse of the war on terror. In 2011, Obama renewed the act for four additional years after tightening some of the surveillance clauses. How did this constitutional expert and lawyer accept to go there? I have no convincing answer. I however believe that Obama’s wit betrayed him on other cases. For instance, he took advantage of the Congress’ leave to appoint members at the National Labor Relations Board. This is a standard procedure in the USA since I also recall that George W. Bush had appointed John Bolton as the USA’s ambassador to the United Nations during the Congress’ leave and the latter objected to this appointment. The ignorant Bush succeeded in imposing his candidate while Obama the lawyer “lost face” when the third federal appeals court ruled that his appointments during the Congress’ leave were illegal. The case will go before the Supreme Court in the justices’ next session. The argument of the parties opposing the appointments will be supported by the decisions of the appeals court. A few days ago, I was at a “cultural” dinner with some famous politicians, businessmen and journalists. The famous American Journalist Seymour Hersh was there and I heard him say that the government may collect information but it may not read it without obtaining a court decision after convincing the court of the existence of a potential terrorism threat, spying, or illicit enrichment. The Obama administration has no excuse at all as it is violating the constitution and breaking the law by spying on people. The USA, a pioneer in human rights and personal freedom, is now a pioneer in violating that same freedom. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arab Today.