Vindication of Pres. Bush.

Pres. Bush was much criticized by the ultrasqueamish for his arrogant arrogation of the right to surveil communications between foreign terrorist suspects and people with whom they were in contact inside the U.S. Presumably, these people in the U.S. were not the stockbrokers, spiritual advisers, psychotherapists, lovers, and business partners of those terrorist suspects.

From the chorus of hysterics, one could not but assume that intimate and private conversation between U.S. citizens wholly within the U.S. was a thing of the past.

The following is delicious, especially for the fact that the intercepts may have come from just such intercepts. It is not clear that they did, however, so we simply see now an example of what intercepts can do to locate terrorists or learn about their methods, plans, and actions.

Given the involvement of terrorists, the extremely low possibility of intercept of communications of U.S. citizens without a terrorist buddy, and the enormous tragedy that has been averted, how justifiable was the ultrasqueamish perseveration over the Fourth Amendment and the draconian, freedom-endangering presidential initiative in question?

Which is better? (a) [Visualize burning twin towers.] Or, (b) this:

MI5 and Scotland Yard agents tracked the plotters from the ground, while a knowledgeable American official says U.S. intelligence provided London authorities with intercepts of the group's communications.

"Thwarting the Airline Plot: Inside the Investigation." By Brian Bennett and Douglas Waller, Time, 8/14/06 <-- Best of the Web Today, Wall Street Journal Online, 8/11/06.