Bolton says news that 50 Americans have joined Al Qaeda points out why using metadata may be critical to domestic security

BALTIMORE, Maryland February 4, 2014 - No one would accuse John Bolton of being a supporter of obama and his administration.  And no one who reads this blog would accuse this writer of endorsing obama or his policies.  And yet here I am writing about Mr. Bolton's appearance on Fox earlier today, stating clearly that recent revelations about Al Qaeda's penetration of the United States and its coaxing of some 50 United States' Citizens into their ranks stands as a clarion call for the use of so-called metadata.

The President has continued to support the culling of metadata as a necessary means for  protecting the United States, even in the face of ramped up criticism of the controversial security programs.  The NSA has been culling billions of domestic phone calls, e-mails and other electronic methods of communication, usually looking for patterns that are signatures of terrorists.  In other instances, the security and intelligence agencies have used technology to actually penetrate specific communications between suspected terrorists and their contacts here in the United States.  Revelations that every American has had their phone calls and emails "sifted" by the NSA and other agencies have created an uproar.  And to be clear, Mr. Bolton did not give any kind of blanket endorsement to these forms of gathering information.  The former cyber expert, Edward Snowden, has alleged that the use of metadata compromises the privacy interests of every American.  Snowden's defection and his alleged transfer of information and secrets to countries that do not have the best interests of the United States in mind - and here I speak of China and Russia - has been at the center of the metadata firestorm.  The use of metadata started under President Bush, but allegedly on a far more limited basis.  obama, while not ignoring the firestorm of criticism, some of it from the left, has not given any indication that he intends to limit its use in any way.  Instead, the President's attitude has been that the use of such techniques is here to stay and a necessary evil in today's increasingly high tech world.

Now, news that up to 50 Americans have joined Al Qaeda has sent ripples of fear through the nation, as even everyday citizens apparently re-evaluate their positions.  Bolton appeared on Fox in the last few hours to state that this news is the very reason why so-called cyber spying has become a critical element in the constant effort to protect the United States from terrorist attacks.  According to Bolton - one of the foremost authorities on all things in the foreign policy field, and a possible Republican Presidential Hopeful - the NSA, CIA and even the FBI have to be on top of any communication between these 50 American members of Al Qaeda, and the people in these United States whom they communicate with.  He said that those who support the use of metadata, including the President, should be using this latest revelation as a touchstone of their defense of the use of such security measures.

It stands to reason that security agencies have to know how these 50 came to be members of a terrorist group dedicated to the destruction of all things American.  Bolton said he would want to know who it is that they talk to here in these United States.  The idea that such communications would be beyond the reach of security agencies is not a comforting one, and for the President and his supporters, the revelation that 50 citizens have joined Al Qaeda could not have come at a better time in the defense of these security ideas.