Gridlock News

USAToday has reported that the National Security Agency headed by General Michael Hayden (currently nominated to head the CIA) received information to compile a database to track the phone calls of millions of Americans. Some reports put the numbers of Americans impacted at over 200 million people, more than two thirds of the population. The database did not track conversations but did track who was called and by whom. A significant amount of intelligence can be gleamed from this information, which could have been used to identify and track terrorist cells. However, do to the extreme scope of the database it is unlikely that two thirds of the US population belongs to a secret terrorist cell. The information in the database could have been used for many other purposes from political shenanigans to corporate espionage or worse. The NSA is specifically prohibited from spying on US citizens within the US borders. The bush administration had previously acknowledge tracking calls from international caller coming into the US. Now information has surface to indicate that the NSA is spying on everyday Americans en masse. Several members of Congress have indicated that they will take this issue up with General Hayden before they will consider his nomination. Separately the Bush administration closed an investigation into this activity and refused to grant security clearances to investigators to seek further information. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania stated that he will call the executives of At&t, Verizon and Cingular to ask them about the type of information and scope of information they provided. USATODAY.com - NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls: "'It's the largest database ever assembled in the world,' said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is 'to create a database of every call ever made' within the nation's borders, this person added."