Bush urges passage of spy bill

2008-06-20 19:11

Washington - Savouring two late-term political wins, President George W Bush on Friday urged lawmakers to approve a spy-powers bill that has drawn heavy fire on civil liberties grounds and new Iraq war funding.

"It's vital that our intelligence community has the ability to learn who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they are planning," Bush said in a hastily announced statement at the White House.

The spending bill would provide $162bn for conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, fuelling both for months after his successor takes over in January, without attaching a withdrawal timetable sought by Iraq war opponents.

"This legislation gives our troops the funds they need to prevail without tying the hands of our commanders in the field or imposing artificial timetables for withdrawal," said Bush.

Wiretapping

Both measures were expected to clear the US Congress despite opposition from some senior Democrats - in particular to the intelligence measure.

A pitched political battle has raged over Bush's decision to secretly launch, in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a warrantless wiretapping programme that skirted surveillance law.

On Thursday, key members of the Senate and House of Representatives unveiled what they called compromise legislation that immediately won White House approval but slammed headlong into opposition from some senior Democrats.

If passed, the new measure could short-circuit about 40 court challenges targeting major US telecommunications firms that cooperated with the programme, which the US public learned about in a December 2005 New York Times article.

'A good bill'

"This is a good bill. It will help our intelligence professionals learn the enemy's plans for new attacks. It ensures that those companies whose assistance is necessary to protect the country will themselves be protected from liability for past or future cooperation with the government," said Bush.

Critics charge the secret programme was illegal because it ran afoul of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)'s requirement of a court order to spy on US citizens inside the United States.

The White House says Bush made proper use of wartime presidential powers under the US Constitution and that the 1978 law requires updating to reflect changes in modern telecommunications and the nature of the terrorist threat.

- AFP