Senator blasts surveillance critics

Knight Ridder Newspapers | February 4 2006

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas sharply attacked critics of President Bush in a speech Friday and questioned the nation's resolve as it wages the war against terrorism.

Speaking before members of the Kansas City Kansas Area Chamber of Commerce, Roberts strongly defended Bush's domestic spying program, which has come under a torrent of criticism from Democrats and some Republicans.

Some critics have even accused Bush of breaking the law by tracking down terrorists with a secret program that intercepts phone calls between the United States and overseas.

But Roberts, Republican chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, vigorously defended the practice, saying that "in time of war and probable attack," the existing law "ties the president's hands."

"Much of the war against al-Qaida is being fought overseas," he said. "But the war against terrorism is not confined to foreign lands. The war against terrorism is being fought every day in our own back yard. America is a battlefield."

Noting that the New York Times revealed the existence of the spying program, Roberts said he had no doubt that America's enemies appreciated having another "leak peek" at the nation's security strategies.

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