Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, Director of the National Security Agency, testified today that it would not be feasible to track al Qaeda's international communications if it were necessary to obtain a search warrant on a conversation by conversation basis:

But the administration officials called FISA impractical and ineffective for tracking al Qaeda, saying the law would require separate warrants for each U.S.-bound phone call placed by an overseas suspect.

"It would cause a tremendous burden," said NSA Director Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander.

"You'd be so far behind the target if you were in hot pursuit, with the number of applications that you'd have to make and the time to make those, that you'd never catch up."

Where, exactly, do the Democrats stand on the NSA international terrorist surveillance program? When they're done waxing eloquent about civil liberties, do they want to continue intercepting terrorists' international communications, or not? I suspect that as a practical matter, as with a number of issues, it all depends on which party occupies the White House.

Posted by John at 03:40 PM  |    |