Obama's Abuse of State Power Squelches U.S. Media (La Gaceta, Spain)
"The last stumble of the CIA and the Obama Administration, the
attack on Boston, where they were unable to foresee the attack coming despite
having been warned on more than one occasion by the Russian secret services,
has left the CIA and U.S. counter-espionage services licking their wounds. ... But the
solution must not be to attack journalists and the media, since that is the
same as attacking freedom."
The
steps taken by the Obama Administration never cease to amaze us. Its constant
attacks on the right to life or the way it has used verbal manipulation to conceal
the terrorist attack directed at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed
its ambassador are good examples. Now its
surveillance and interference with journalists remind us of the most rancid
models of socialism, including episodes that have been experienced in Spain.
The
fact is that the
U.S. government obtained the records of phone calls from the offices of the Associated Press, in what is clearly
interference with press freedom by the Obama Administration. Furthermore, for the
months of April and May 2012, it has had access to the records of calls to and from
up to 20 phone lines in three AP offices,
including New York and Washington, where over 100 people work.
It
is true that the intent was to uncover who leaked to the news agency data on a
CIA operation in Yemen, and therefore, in principle, it was a matter of
national security. But it is also true that before monitoring reporters and
restricting freedom of the press, the CIA and the Obama Administration should
clean their own house - which is going through hard times.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Their
last stumble, the attack on Boston, where they were unable to foresee the attack
coming despite having been warned on more than one occasion by the Russian
secret services, has left the CIA and U.S. counter-espionage services licking
their wounds.
The solution is not to attack
journalists and the media, since that means attacking freedom itself. This is why we must
support AP's statement, which holds
that the government has no conceivable right to know, "confidential sources
across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP ... which provide a road map to AP's newsgathering operations and disclose information about AP's activities and operations." The Department of the
Treasury's pursuit of members of the Tea Party is another sign that in even in a
democracy, one can live under the undue pressure of state power.
