Former CEO Says NSA Punished Phone Firm

Washington Post:

A former Qwest Communications International executive, appealing a conviction for insider trading, has alleged that the government withdrew a $100 million contract after Qwest refused to participate in an unidentified National Security Agency program that the company's top lawyer said was illegal.

Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio, convicted in April of 19 counts of insider trading, said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[Doofus]

Does it trouble anyone that prior to 1978
and FISA, NSA was listening to or gathering
data about 'overseas telecommunications', going
back to 1952, probably earlier. Any 'harm' come from that?

Does it trouble anyone that if there had been
no FISA in 1978, 9/11 probably would have just
been another ordinary day in NYC & Washington?

[Marlyn]

What harm is there in BREAKING THE LAW? Is that what you are saying.

[Doofus]

What was illegal before FISA was illegal after.

Some years after FISA, the events of 9/11 happened.
FISA was all about interfering with NSA doing effective
'communications security'.

You do the math.

If nothing else, FISA was, on evidence, a remarkably stupid measure.

[unclebucky]

Ummmm.... you made that prediction in 1977 and sealed the envelope and sent it to the Dalai Lama for him to keep for you?

So JUST because we did FISA, eh?

Nothing to do with putting bases in Saudi and continuing to support a murderous, racist Israeli government, eh?

Poor baby, you need to be burped.

Ugh.

--UB.

[Doofus]

You talkin' to me?

What it's about is that if we're going to put
bases in Saudi Arabia (or wherever) and support
those 'treacherous' Israelis, we had damn well
better have effective communications security.

Go burp yourself.

[outnow]

Cockpit security would have prevented the hijackings. If indeed jets were hijacked.

[nuQlerOstrich]

If Bush had taken the August 6, 2001 Daily Briefing seriously, instead, when the CIA man who brought it to him and said, "You have to do something" Bush replied, "Well, OK you covered your ass." And then stayed on Vacation.

[Conservativeslayer]

Well if Nachio's allegations are true, that the NSA was eavesdropping on Americans before 9/11 without warrants. Then the program wasn't designed to catch terrorists, because 9/11 happened. So who were they listening to? As for your contention that if it wans't for FISA, the gov't could of prevented 9/11. That's making a lot of assumptions. Like that they were listening to the right people, and not focusing on the wrong ones. Also you're obviously unaware of how many warnings the Bush admin had before 9/11 that a terrorist attack was imminent. 13 different foreign intelligence warned them an attack was coming. They had a ton of warnings but never acted on them. They didn't take the threat seriously. It was their incompetence that allowed 9/11 to happen.

[on2them]

they let it to happen...

[Doofus]

Indeed, if NSA had been listening to the wrong
people, they would have missed it. The trick,
of course, is to listen to *many* people, and
hope you hear the right stuff.

Obviously, even if you do this, when some idiot
ignores a 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack US'
briefing, dire consequences can be expected.

[lisakaz]

They were perhaps listening to Britney if not to Al Gore.

[accountability]

Conservativeslayer

from what I understand Bill Clinton also left detailed information that Al Queda was gearing up and was becoming a bigger threat than ever.
Detailed report... and then of course there was the briefing.

It makes you wonder, I hate to say it, but given PNAC and the need for a Pearl Harbor like attack, and their seeming obsession with such a "pearl Harbor like" attack as Nacchio says ya gotta wonder.

I'm no conspiracy theorist to the max... but neither am I a coincidence theorist.

[cardholder]

"So who were they listening to?"

I am surprised not to have read of anyone being suspicious of what this criminal administration was up to. If they carried out the rigging of the DOJ into national Kangaroo Courts so that they could arbitrarily prosecute Democrats and oust them from office, why don't we suspect them of using NSA to tap into the lives of Democratic candidates or officeholders? I would imagine that any number of Democrats, like Feingold, Waxman, Conyers, etc. would be prime targets. But I'll betcha that local party politics is of interest too.

Whaddaya think?

[itmaybetoolate]

"By the early years of the 1970s...Congress was determined to rein in the Nixon administration and to ascertain the extent to which the nation's intelligence agencies had been involved in questionable, if not outright illegal, activities.
A series of troubling revelations started to appear in the press concerning intelligence activities. First came the revelations of Christopher Pyle in January 1970 of the U.S. Army's spying on the civilian population [1] and Sam Ervin's Senate investigations that resulted. The dam broke on 22 December 1974, when The New York Times published a lengthy article by Seymour Hersh detailing operations engaged in by the CIA over the years that had been dubbed the "family jewels". Covert action programs involving assassination attempts against foreign leaders and covert attempts to subvert foreign governments were reported for the first time. In addition, the article discussed efforts by intelligence agencies to collect information on the political activities of US citizens.
These revelations convinced many Senators and Representatives that the Congress itself had been too lax, trusting, and naive in carrying out its oversight responsibilities." Wikipedia

And, thus, FISA was born. FISA would in no way have prevented bushie from stopping 9/11. The request for the warrant can come 72 hours AFTER the spying begins, and requests for warrants have never been denied! If only bushie had decided to listen to the August 6th briefing that said terrorists were planning to fly planes into buildings! But, he was on vacation and couldn't be bothered.

[Doofus]

Procedures requiring warrants don't always
make sense, unless the warrant is so broad
as to seem extraordinarily vague. It's
pretty naive to suppose otherwise.

You ought to be able to imagine that in the
age of the internet, not to mention international
terrorism, there are of necessity 'new rules'.

For the want of a warrant, some terrible shit happened.

[unclebucky]

jeezz....

These fluckers are wearing us out. This is the work of Cheney, Addington, Libby, Rove and several others. They don't fool around.

Now is the time to arrest them all and put them in the dock.

I heard this BS about using the South African truth and reconciliation approach. Tell the truth on record, and then give them forgiveness.

Naahhh. I want Cheney to die in prison. I want Rove to rot in hell. I want Bush to be bitten by a poisonous snake in Paraguay and slowly fade away thinking of the veto he gave on the medical insurance for kids, the civilians murdered by Blackwater in Iraq, and the US Citizens reduced to ghetto people in a new American Fascist state. Then I wish that a brown man would marry Laura and make her his barefoot bride cooking cuy (guinea pig) in an iron skillet.

Ugh.

--UB.

[on2them]

I'm with you...

[accountability]

It really is exhausting UncleBucky.

I need a nap after all of this. Every frigging day it is something else.

[MissLouise]

Since the Bush Administration had the AMAZING FORESIGHT to start the wiretapping program as soon as they took office, obviously a flash of brilliance to prevent impending terrorism (not, you know, for illegal spying on citizens and Congress, right?), can we investigate why they did NOT effectively use it to actually STOP the biggest act of terror ever to occur in our nation's history? You know, since they took such great pains to have the wiretapping in place well before Sept. 11th...

[ohhellno]

MissLouise they bombed the world trade building,s.Google 911.

[MissLouise]

I am trying to avoid tinfoil-hatdom, but I lean more toward LIHOP than MIHOP at this point...but still, who knows? We'll never get to the bottom of 9/11 or anything else because Democrats in Congress simply don't want to go there for whatever reason, and for sure Hillary won't roll back the Constitution-violating gifts Chimpy and Shooter will bestow upon her.

[accountability]

excellent suggestion!

[PollM]

Wow even before 9/11.

It's a decision made, it contradicts their contractual agreement with the customer. They should be held responsible as they have violated their agreement. If they are given immunity this behavior will repeat itself. In addition to the above, I believe telecommunication companies need to inform their customers if they have released any info about their customers and what info. Full Disclosure.

Do you believe telecommunication firms should be given immunity for disclosing customers' phone records & other data to the government?
-------> http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=702
.

[FogBelter]

It should be remembered that just like Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were the human beings at the helm of the corporate monolith ENRON, there are also human beings that were CEO's and Members of the Board of Directors and major stock holders, and corporate managers behind the Telecom Industries that sold out their customers that can be identified and prosecuted for Breach of Trust.

If we focus on the notion of the Faceless Corporation these persistant abuses they feel comfortable engaging in will never cease, if, however, we identify the human beings making these despicable decisions we can haul them before Congress, and ask them upon what legal grounds they found it acceptable to collude with this Government to undermine the US Constitution.

Since the Administration is pushing for blanket amnesty for the Telecom companies that assisted the US Government in unlawful wiretapping, the companies in question foregoing due diligence in the process, and since we know that some Telecom companies did not feel comfortable going along with the Government's request for assistance and abstained from allowing warrentless wiretapping, it only goes to show that there are individuals in the Telecom companies that complied with the Bush Adminstration that are exposed to criminal prosecution.

That opportunity should not be squandered. Amnesty should not be granted and prosecutions should begin.

We should never fall into the trap of thinking that a Corporate Brand is where the investigation needs to stop.

[ZingoBonMot]

-fogbelter-

And how come Rooty Ghouliani was so quick to be handed the cleanup contract on the Boca Raton building where an employee of the National Enquirer was killed by anthrax?
And how come Rooty paid so little for that building when he later bought it?
TOO MANY SECRETS.

[accountability]

absolutely

[outnow]

Which came first, the chickenhawk or the egg?

I heard before 9-11 that they were databasing because wealthy Republicans owned miniframe computers with litigation databases powerful enough to check out all digital communications for "content," so Bussh bought it with your tax dollars.

During the "attacks" on 0-11, I was informed that agents provacateurs where behind the attacks. Now it seems to all add up. Since I live by Camp Pendleton and the sources seemed to know, I was surprised to see the building free fall while Bush was talking about his pet goat. NORAD stand down orders were in effect.

How can all those planes make big "U" turns, while on airtraffic control and then the weird anthrax attacks. Makes you wonder, especially when all the metal was immediately taken away before it could be examined by the metallurgical engineers. The SEC criminal investigation Enron documents got "cooked" in the WTC.

The US was bankrupt as we can all see. We "needed" the attacks and the war to save capitalism for BushCo.

[Marlyn]

Ah yes, so true.

[Where is Jesus?]

Pelosi had better get it in her head that Democrats will vote her ass out in 08 if she does not get with the program here! She risks losing Democrat's momentum for 08 if she keeps impeachment off the table. Congress needs to initiate impeachment investigations now, if it is not already too late to stop the neocon's long range plans for destroying the constitution and replacing it with their idea of domination and control over the citizens. this is serious folks. This is the real test for whether we want to continue as a democracy or as a fascist state. What's it gonna be?

[on2them]

how many more co-sponsors are needed for 333? I thought Conyers said he would take it to the floor with 20?

[accountability]

I've writtten her a dozen times that just like we made her speaker we can unmake her.
next time I'm quoting my favorite quotable human being...
"you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone."
We are sick of it.

[Where is Jesus?]

OK. So, NOW can we puleeeeez start the impeachment investigations? What more are we waiting for? Oh yes, Pelosi...

It is unconscionable to wait any longer and let this crap continue. Bush must be stopped in his tracks now before he rushes in the next 9/11 false flag attack against Amerika. We must make congress act now. Let the Repukes filibuster all they want. Please tell me that Conyers and company are ready to launch the impeachment show!

Do we have to re-instate Monica as an intern for Bush?

[iburl]

I'm not sure WHAT Nancy is wating for. What exactly does Bush have to do to get her off of her plastic-surgery ravaged ass and do her duty to impeach a criminal president? It's like David Cross says, he could eat a jewish baby on TV and still people would let him go about his dirty business. You would think that the Democrats would want to PLEASE the voters, but no. They have their "base" that they feel free to insult, demean and spit on knowing that we have nowhere else to turn, whil they court the brain-dead middle for votes. 11% approval. 11%.

[SilerMarriott]

Are we really surprised they wanted to do wire tapping before 9/11. Just a bunch of liars, cowards and loser who are stealing our way of life as the founding fathers saw it.

[PollM]

Wow even before 9/11.

It's a decision made, it contradicts their contractual agreement with the customer. They should be held responsible as they have violated their agreement. If they are given immunity this behavior will repeat itself. In addition to the above, I believe telecommunication companies need to inform their customers if they have released any info about their customers and what info. Full Disclosure.

Do you believe telecommunication firms should be given immunity for disclosing customers' phone records & other data to the government?
-------> http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=702
.

[foghornleghorny]

Now we all know why Bush will veto any wiretapping bill that does not include immunity for the telecom companies.
He's COVERING HIS ASS! He wants to keep them from rolling over on his administration when they get indicted by the new administration (hopefully/probably Democratic).

[jazzman]

He's covering his ass with a little help from his friends; the Democrats (Steny and Jay are leading the way)

[gopgoingdown]

Could it be that the Bush regime know that 9/11 was going to happen, and they wore getting ready.

I for one know Bush, and Cheney did 9/11. Every thing points to it, the list is to long to post here.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

I just had to pay a parking ticket, while Bush and Cheney walk free.

There is no justice.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Six months PRIOR to 9/11. Call it 3/11. Less than two months after Bush's first inauguration day. While we were AT PEACE.

DESPICABLE. ILLEGAL. UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

*** VISUALIZE -- AND DEMAND -- CHIMPEACHMENT ***

When Bush ran as a "uniter," he was LYING... unless you now realize he meant uniting all power in his office. "Heh-heh, heh."

From the get-go, to Gitmo, he wants to be a dictator. WE THE PEOPLE need to respond.

Someone, PLEASE give him a BJ, and impeach the SOB. Go for it, Pelosi (ambiguity intended).

[WretchedEtcher]

So...Bush and Co were evil and dastardly even before 9/11? go figure.

[citizenofmars]

It's more than that- It's living proof that 911 was an inside job, executed in order to justify an already ongoing effort to sabotage constitutional rights and guarantees in the name of "anti-terror". This is the smoking gun for those with eyes to see it. Now you see why the so-called "911 Truth Movement" won't just go away. The official story of 911 is a house of cards, tipping over fast. The Bush/Oil/CIA/Saudi/Israeli/NSA/Pentagon AXIS is GESTAPO in nature, and we're ALL under suspicion.

[wadenelson1]

I could see NASA getting mad at Martin Marietta, or North American Aviation, perhaps even Boeing, but the phone company?

What, did they finally get the bill for all those calls from the moon?

I'll admit, yes, it IS long distance, but...

Oh, NSA. Nevermind.

[citizenofmars]

It was all those Bill O'Reilly phone-sex calls...he charged them to the White House..

[fourex]

Yes, it really is that small.