bush - i'm not spying!!!! i'm not the king! i'm protecting you serfs from terrorists!!!!! blah, blah, blah, ...... Original Article Bush reiterates a defense of domestic eavesdropping Says revelations about program have hurt safety Walter F. Roche Jr. and Edwin Chen Los Angeles Times Jan. 2, 2006 12:00 AM SAN ANTONIO - Emphasizing that "we are at war with an enemy who wants to hurt us again," President Bush on Sunday strongly defended the domestic eavesdropping program that began in 2002 and repeated his contention that the disclosure of its existence has caused the country "great harm." In a brief exchange with reporters after visiting wounded solders at Brooke Army Medical Center, Bush said the surveillance, conducted by the National Security Agency, targeted known al-Qaida members or associates and involved intercepts of only a few numbers in the United States. "If somebody from al-Qaida is calling you, we'd like to know why," he said. "We're at war with a bunch of cold-blooded killers." The NSA is normally required to seek permission, on a case-by-case basis, from a special panel of federal judges before conducting any type of surveillance within the United States. Bush contends that the congressional authorization to use force against al-Qaida, approved a week after the Sept. 11 attacks, enabled him to approve NSA intercepts of telephone calls and e-mails without seeking court orders under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Bush said Sunday that the program, which was disclosed by the New York Times last month, had been vetted repeatedly by both Justice Department officials and members of Congress. "This program has been reviewed, constantly reviewed, by people throughout my administration. And it still is reviewed," he said. Bush's comments came after he was asked about a newspaper report that a top Justice Department official had questioned the legality of certain aspects of the surveillance, resulting in its temporary suspension. He avoided answering directly and instead raised a spirited defense of the program. "We're at war, and as commander in chief, I've got to use the resources at my disposal, within the law, to protect the American people," he said. The New York Times reported Sunday that in March 2004, administration officials made an emergency visit to then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft's hospital room after his deputy, James Comey, who was serving as acting attorney general during Ashcroft's absence, refused to approve continuation of the program. Ashcroft was recovering from gallbladder surgery and had been in intensive care under tight security, the paper said. Comey could not be reached Sunday for comment. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Judiciary Committee, said the report of Comey's refusal to give his approval heightened concerns. He said that when people like Comey "had real doubts about the program, it calls into question the way the president and vice president went about changing it." The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has said his panel will hold hearings. But citing widespread discussion of the issue, the Senate's second-ranking Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said the Senate Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, whose sessions usually are closed to the public, was the proper venue. "We're already talking about this entirely too much out in public . . . and it's endangering our efforts to make Americans more secure," he said on Fox News Sunday.