A Legacy of Torture

Domestic Spying Watch

Siobhan Gorman writes in the Wall Street Journal: "Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program meant to vacuum up electronic data about people in the U.S. to search for suspicious patterns. Opponents called it too broad an intrusion on Americans' privacy, even after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"But the data-sifting effort didn't disappear. The National Security Agency, once confined to foreign surveillance, has been building essentially the same system.

"The central role the NSA has come to occupy in domestic intelligence gathering has never been publicly disclosed. But an inquiry reveals that its efforts have evolved to reach more broadly into data about people's communications, travel and finances in the U.S. than the domestic surveillance programs brought to light since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

"Congress now is hotly debating domestic spying powers under the main law governing U.S. surveillance aimed at foreign threats. . . .

"Largely missing from the public discussion is the role of the highly secretive NSA in analyzing that data, collected through little-known arrangements that can blur the lines between domestic and foreign intelligence gathering. . . .

"According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic emails and Internet searches as well as bank transfers, credit-card transactions, travel and telephone records. . . .

"The NSA's enterprise involves a cluster of powerful intelligence-gathering programs, all of which sparked civil-liberties complaints when they came to light. They include a Federal Bureau of Investigation program to track telecommunications data once known as Carnivore, now called the Digital Collection System, and a U.S. arrangement with the world's main international banking clearinghouse to track money movements.

"The effort also ties into data from an ad-hoc collection of so-called 'black programs' whose existence is undisclosed, the current and former officials say. Many of the programs in various agencies began years before the 9/11 attacks but have since been given greater reach. Among them, current and former intelligence officials say, is a longstanding Treasury Department program to collect individual financial data including wire transfers and credit-card transactions."

Economy Watch

Peter Baker writes in The Washington Post that a "surprisingly bleak employment report sent tremors through Washington" on Friday.

"The nation shed 63,000 jobs in February, the worst job loss in five years, the Labor Department reported, and another sign that the economy may have slipped into a recession that could prove to be the defining challenge for President Bush and Congress through the rest of his administration. . . .

"Bush asked for patience to let an economic stimulus package he signed last month start to work. . . .

"'Losing a job is painful, and I know Americans are concerned about our economy,' Bush told reporters at the White House. 'So am I. It's clear our economy has slowed, but the good news is we anticipated this and took decisive action to bolster the economy.'"