Intelligence officers who eavesdropped on thousands of Americans in overseas calls under authority from President Bush have dismissed nearly all of them as potential suspects after hearing nothing pertinent to a terrorist threat, according to accounts from current and former government officials and private-sector sources with knowledge of the technologies in use.

....Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the nation's second-ranking intelligence officer, acknowledged in a news briefing last month that eavesdroppers "have to go down some blind alleys to find the tips that pay off." Other officials, nearly all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not permitted to discuss the program, said the prevalence of false leads is especially pronounced when U.S. citizens or residents are surveilled. No intelligence agency, they said, believes that "terrorist . . . operatives inside our country," as Bush described the surveillance targets, number anywhere near the thousands who have been subject to eavesdropping.

More on that here.

We should insist the President comply with FISA as is and get a warrant based on probable cause or use the limited emergency powers already contained in the law. The bills to amend FISA are little more than attempts to ratify what the Adminisration has been doing illegally. Remember, the war on terror has no end and any changes made likley will be with us for decades.

Senate Democrats are just falling into the Republican trap by trying to claim equal status in supporting survellance in the war on terror. They should not concede that FISA needs to be amended.

Congress should be demanding facts about Bush's NSA surveillance, not figuring out a way to legalize it. FISA already provides for wiretapping and electronic surveillance on terrorist groups like al Qaeda. Let's not make it easier for Bush to spy on Americans.