Report: U.S. listened in on military calls home

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/09/spying.on.americans/index.html

-Ex-Army Reserves Arab linguist said the U.S. government listened to private calls
-Another linguist said NSA eavesdropped on 'pillow talk' conversations
-U.S. surveillance program allows calls related only to terrorism to be monitored
-Linguists said that when they complained, they were told to keep listening

This might come as news to you that the military listens it to your phone calls home, most every body all ready knows this.

Just so you know, there's a difference between having a suspicion or taking it for granted that they do because that's the nature of the beast and actually having folks come forward and tell us, Yes we listened to your intimate conversations when you're out there serving your country. The fact that the military community is not outraged is appalling. We give up a lot, but a total relinquishment of any expectation of privacy is not something I agreed to, and "most everybody" I know would be upset if they knew this was the case.

What?!?!? Oh my gosh!!! The military listens in on phone calls!?!??! NO WAY!!! lol

Yea, when my ex and I were together and he was in Afghanistan, he called me and "warned" me that they could be listening. Let's just say if they were......they went home happy men that evening! lol

I'm sure the government listens to phone calls. There must be a reason why they listen. The only thing I don't understand is why listen to conversations of military calling their spouses? I think it is an invasion of privacy especially if they know it's a waste of time and money. It's called being nosey and they should listen to the enemy instead of private phones calls to home. Get a clue.

Connie, I'm sorry, but if you don't understand the difference between invasion of privacy and being "nosey", then I'm definitely not the one who needs to get a clue.

ha ha great post Elizabeth!!!

HELLO, we are dealing with terrorists.....OF COURSE the government is going to listen to those calls. Do people realize how much OPSEC is violated as a result of a soldier trusting their significant other or a friend and they they open they big mouth about that crap??? Frankly, I find it annoying.

Are you serious? I feel like I'm talking to a wall here. This news has nothing to do with terrorists. If you kept up to date and read things more thoroughly, you would see that one of the major issues is that these calls in question decidedly had NOTHING to do with OPSEC and more to do with having phone sex and other similarly "private" conversations. There is a big difference between realizing you've come into a conversation where a couple is discussing bedroom topics and then switching over to a different line or frequency and BEING TOLD TO CONTINUE LISTENING. If accidental "drop-ins" were the only issue, there would BE no issue. Also, the whole point of monitoring phone lines is to intercept terrorist chatter. They are not sitting there to babysit and make sure that some private does not let slip his coordinates or mission to his girlfriend. That is simply not the point of these wiretappings, and it's ridiculous that some people obviously think so.

This is obviously something important enough for the ARMY THEMSELVES TO INVESTIGATE so please don't act like I'm the one who is not familiar with what is and is not protocol for the military. There is a huge difference between what the program is supposed to be monitoring and what the linguists and others were told to continue monitoring, regardless of the guidelines put in place.
(http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49F0ES20081016)

I'm really embarrassed at the responses my posting this article has had, and I wish that both as private citizens and soldiers, more people would take initiative and stop taking everything at face value. Attentiveness is one of the most important assets someone in the military can have, and the fact that so many people are responding as if this was an issue of defending terrorists' privacy rights instead of a willful and unnecessary violation of our own, while obviously never have even glanced at a newspaper regarding this issue, is appalling.

By the way, I was a dependent as well. I ALWAYS knew that any phone call made from a base phone was subject to be listened in on. This, to clarify, does not mean that we do not have the right to a private phone call. It means if we are suspected of any shady doings, they will start monitoring us. Please, please, please make sure you know what is and what is not acceptable when it comes to your privacy rights. The things that obviously make America so great will start to disappear if you take them for granted. As I said before, we give up a LOT when we go into the military, but we do NOT sign away all our civil liberties, and being willing and eager to do so due to misinformation does not equate to supporting the troops, and it does not equate to patriotism.

I honestly don't see what you want people to say. We all know that our calls were monitored just about anywhere we were stationed. I had an uncle who served in Vietnam who would've loved the accessability the modern military has to contact home. With the internet, cell phones and phone banks the modern military is given more oppurtunity to stay in touch with the homefront then ever before. If there is a chance some linguist is listening in on what a Marine wants to do with his wife when he gets home, I'm sure the Marine wouldn't care who's listening. If he did he could use his own means of communication ,which is far more expensive, to contact home. Be embrassed all you want at the responses but they are people's opinions just like you have given us your opinion. Like em or hate em, they are just opinions.

Elizabeth, there is a reason why almost everybody that has responded to your post has sided on the side of the government. We know how to read. Posted on every U.S. phone or computer in a foreign country is a sticker or sign that says - "This phone is subject to monitoring by the US Government...." Every soldier knows and expects for the government to be listening in. Its the price we pay to utilize goverment communications. If you don't want the government to listen to your phone call, then you purchase a commercial satellite phone and call a commercial satellite phone. Otherwise, you write letters; not e-mail. Snail mail is the most secure way to communicate in today's technological world.