Bush said the disclosure "damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk." (Reuters)

WASHINGTON, December 17, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – US President George W. Bush admitted on Saturday, December 17, that he had authorized domestic spying, defending the practice as "crucial" in his so-called war on terror.

"In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with US law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to Al-Qaeda and related terrorist organizations," Bush said in a televised address, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He confirmed media reports that he had authorized the NSA, the government's intensely secret electronic and satellite spy agency, to intercept communications by people living in the United States who are suspected of terrorist activities.

"This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security," Bush said.

Earlier, a senior intelligence official said Bush personally authorized secretive spying at home more than three dozen times since 9/11 attacks.

Bush claimed that the media disclosure of the controversial program "damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk."

The New York Times said Friday, December 16, that Bush signed a secret presidential order after 9/11, allowing the NSA to track the international telephone calls and emails of hundreds of US citizens and other residents without the necessary court-approved warrants.

Prior to 9/11, NSA typically limited its domestic surveillance activities to foreign embassies and missions under court orders.

Americans have been wary of domestic monitoring by intelligence agencies since it was learned in the 1970s that the Pentagon spied on civil rights and anti-Vietnam War groups.

That led to legislation imposing strict limits on intelligence gathering inside the United States.

Domestic spying, much of which is handled by the FBI, is governed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and overseen by a special and highly secretive court that meets at Justice Department headquarters in Washington.

Shockwave

"The administration is claiming extraordinary presidential powers… putting the president above the law," Fredrickson said.

Before Bush's confirmation, the disclosure of the NSA plan send shockwaves across the American society, triggering immediate rebuke from lawmakers and rights groups.

"There is no doubt that this is inappropriate," said Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

"I want to know precisely what they did," he said.

"How NSA utilized their technical equipment, whose conversations they overheard, how many conversations they overheard, what they did with the material, what purported justification there was."

Specter, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promised to hold oversight hearings on the issue early next year.

"This shocking revelation ought to send a chill down the spine of every American," agreed Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, a committee member.

The disclosure had an immediate effect on Capitol Hill, where Democratic senators and a handful of Republicans blocked renewal of the controversial Patriot Act anti-terrorism law.

Caroline Fredrickson, Washington legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union, also blasted the domestic spying practice.

"The administration is claiming extraordinary presidential powers at the expense of civil liberties and is putting the president above the law".