[irishgrl]

Bush: spying program to continue By Adam Entous


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Monday he broke no laws in authorizing spying on Americans with suspected ties to terrorism and declared he would continue the practice despite concern that it infringes on civil liberties.


Bush, facing a barrage of questions over the program at an end-of-year news conference, said he believed an investigation was under way by the Justice Department into who committed the "shameful act" of revealing the covert program to the press.
He rejected any suggestion he was exercising "unchecked power" when he decided after the September 11 2001 attacks to authorize eavesdropping on international telephone calls by Americans with suspected links to terrorism.

"Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely," said Bush, who is struggling with low approval ratings and wide public discontent with the Iraq war.

"I've reauthorized this program more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks, and I intend to do so for so long as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill our American citizens," he said.

Bush also said it was "inexcusable" that a group of U.S. senators were blocking renewal of the Patriot Act, a centerpiece of his war on terrorism which includes provisions critics also say infringe on Americans' individual liberties.

Bush said the eavesdropping program, first disclosed by the New York Times on Friday, had been effective in disrupting terrorist acts, but he gave no details.

Several Republican and Democratic lawmakers back plans by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, to hold a hearing on the issue. Many question whether spying on Americans violates the Constitution.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. John Rockefeller (news, bio, voting record), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Monday he had expressed serious concerns about the program after he first learned about it in July 2003. In a hand-written letter to Vice President Dick Cheney, Rockefeller wrote that the activities raised "profound oversight issues."

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and his predecessor, Tom Daschle, said they were briefed by the administration about the program but said key details were omitted.

The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act made it illegal to spy on U.S. citizens in the United States without getting a court order. Bush gave the National Security Agency authority to intercept communications without such approval.

ABOVE THE LAW?

"No administration should believe it is above the law. We need to restore checks and balances in this country," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record) of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Bush said he wanted to assure the American people that the program "is a necessary part of my job to protect you, and (that) we're guarding your civil liberties."

"As president of the United States and commander in chief I have the constitutional responsibility and the constitutional authority to protect our country," he said.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said earlier on Monday the Congress' authorization of military force after September 11 also gave Bush the right to order the eavesdropping.

The New York Times said it had been asked by the White House not to publish an article about the program, arguing it could jeopardize investigations. The newspaper said it delayed publication for a year and omitted some information that officials argued could be useful to terrorists.

Bush defended his Iraq strategy, which is costing $6 billion a month and in which more than 2,100 U.S. troops have died. But he conceded that pre-war intelligence failures made it harder to make the case that countries like Iran pose a threat.

"Where it is going to be most difficult to make the case is in the public arena. People will say, you know, if we're trying to make the case on Iran, you know, 'Well, the intelligence failed in Iraq; therefore, how can we can trust the intelligence in Iran?"' Bush said.

(Additional reporting by Patricia Wilson)