Rattle said :

Bush added: "Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk."

I do not see any direct legitimate way this is putting citizens at risk. I am sure al-Qaeda assumes any communications inside the United States could be monitored. Rather, I see this as exposing an abuse of executive powers that are putting citizens civil liberties at risk. There is no system of accountability in place.

Well, after all this, Al Queda will be a little more confident that those wiretaps won't exist, because they'll know the American public won't tolerate it. So starting from that, I guess you could make the connection that lives are at risk.

The fact is, though, that that's not the fucking point. Will greater surveillance reduce the threat of violence from terrorists? Probably. Is it worth the trade? NO. That's what Americans have said since the very beginning... we don't want to live in a country where every move is monitored and scrutinized. Even if it means that we're more vulnerable to certain types of attack, we're willing to take that risk to live in a free society.

At least, that's what I thought. We'll see.

Bush says he signed NSA wiretap order