But, to quote from my more extensive post on the subject:

And while the FBI director is blaming the violations on a failure to follow internal policies I would suggest that such failures are inherent when government agents are able to act without judicial oversight.

People are people and they are by varying degrees zealous, clever, and lazy. And so are FBI agents.

By allowing what are essentially extrajudicial search warrants, the Patriot Act provisions which allow the use of national security letters invite abuse.

And if a power can be abused, it will be. Absent some countervailing force that is. This is why we have three branches of government, so they can keep an eye on each other.

Civil liberties ARE indeed ask risk if powers are granted to one branch of government which are totally beyond the purview of any other.

We’ve been fortunate in this case, because another exectutive branch, the IG’s office, has blown the whistle on Justice.

Will we always be so lucky?

But, to quote from my more extensive post on the subject:

And while the FBI director is blaming the violations on a failure to follow internal policies I would suggest that such failures are inherent when government agents are able to act without judicial oversight.

People are people and they are by varying degrees zealous, clever, and lazy. And so are FBI agents.

By allowing what are essentially extrajudicial search warrants, the Patriot Act provisions which allow the use of national security letters invite abuse.

And if a power can be abused, it will be. Absent some countervailing force that is. This is why we have three branches of government, so they can keep an eye on each other.

Civil liberties ARE indeed ask risk if powers are granted to one branch of government which are totally beyond the purview of any other.

We’ve been fortunate in this case, because another exectutive branch, the IG’s office, has blown the whistle on Justice.

Will we always be so lucky?

“The problems identified by the IG are problems of process in terms of recordkeeping and reporting, which are administrative. The process in terms of operation and use of the information has not been problematic. The IG found no deliberate or intentional misuse of authority, meaning there were no infringements on privacy rights or civil liberties. Even though recordkeeping and reporting was inadequate, actual use of information was appropriate.
{snip}
Before rushing to judgment and calling for the restriction or elimination of the NSL program, critics should remember that the problem is administrative, not operational. As such, civil liberties are not at risk. The only true risk is to national security if this issue escalates as a platform to diminish or eliminate an important investigative tool.
Dennis M. Lormel, Corporate Risk International, Senior Vice President,
Anti-Money Laundering
————————————————————————————

Thomas P.M. Barnett’s blog is very good also. CNN, not so much.

And Shaun, to avoid shock next this happens, just keep this in mind, if a power can be abused, it will be.

“The FBI has made as many as 56,000 requests a year for information using the letters since the Patriot Act was passed in October, 2001, the audit found.”

That is what, 280,000+ requests for information, which have yielded one catch so far according to the FBI. Granted, there may be others they can’t talk about. But this is a striking contrast in numbers:

280,000 letters vs. 1 alleged terrorist!

I know people might be troubled by applying a cost-benefit analysis to potential terrorism, but the cost to civil liberties vs. the yield here is very very unsettling.

The US does not want to go the route of the UK with CC TV cameras on every corner, and sweeping often unchecked police powers of investigation.

You hit a very big nail on the head. Once civil liberties are taken away, it is extremely difficult to restore them.