Physics

Don't worry, it's "science.".

Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the former N.S.A. director who is now the second-ranking intelligence official in the country, was asked at a White House briefing this week whether there had been any "purely domestic" intercepts under the program.

"The authorization given to N.S.A. by the president requires that one end of these communications has to be outside the United States," General Hayden answered. "I can assure you, by the physics of the intercept, by how we actually conduct our activities, that one end of these communications are always outside the United States."

Oh. Physics of the intercept. Well, then, sounds like there must be something about the technology that makes it physically impossible for both ends of the communication to be within the US. I can't imagine how that would work, but he must, so we can trust him on it and relax.

Or maybe not.

A surveillance program approved by President Bush to conduct eavesdropping without warrants has captured what are purely domestic communications in some cases, despite a requirement by the White House that one end of the intercepted conversations take place on foreign soil, officials say.

The officials say the National Security Agency's interception of a small number of communications between people within the United States was apparently accidental, and was caused by technical glitches at the National Security Agency in determining whether a communication was in fact "international."

Hmm. Last time I looked, 'technical glitches' did not violate the laws of physics. If, in fact, it's possible for a 'technical glitch' to allow this, then there is nothing about the 'physics of the intercept' that protects us.

Telecommunications experts say the issue points up troubling logistical questions about the program. At a time when communications networks are increasingly globalized, it is sometimes difficult even for the N.S.A. to determine whether someone is inside or outside the United States when making a cellphone call or sending an e-mail message. As a result, people that the security agency may think are outside the United States are actually on American soil. ...

Eavesdropping on communications between two people who are both inside the United States is prohibited under Mr. Bush's order allowing some domestic surveillance.

But in at least one instance, someone using an international cellphone was thought to be outside the United States when in fact both people in the conversation were in the country.

Huh? Surely they had anticipated this possibility, right? Someone must have asked, Uh, what happens when Ahmed brings his cell phone from Munich to Cleveland? Was there a bug in the GPS locator subroutine on the Snoop-o-scope? Was the 'technical glitch' that they thought he was in Rome, and it turned out to be Rome, NY? They aren't looking at the location of the cell tower? What?

Of course, maybe there was a localized exemption to the laws of physics. After all, this administration has been trying to say "up is down" and "down is up" for quite a while. Why should "domestic is abroad" be different?