TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: So, was Venona wrong?

So, was Venona wrong?

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
12 Jan 2006 08:13:36 -0800

During WW II the government began to monitor and decode Soviet cables
to/from the U.S. in a project known as "Venona" (sp?). From it they
learned the Soviets had spies all over the U.S.

Now during the war the Soviet Union was our ally. In the context of
the current controversy, was it wrong for the U.S. to be reading those
cables?

Frankly I am of mixed feeling of the current controversy. This
country was attacked and is in a state of war, so special procedures
different than normal peacetime are appropriate. Some restrictions
and surveillance make me uncomfortable (such as restricting domestic
photography of infrastructure, e.g. taking pictures of buildings from
the sidewalk), but others seem ok. If the recipient on the foreign
end of a phone call is a possible enemy, then it seems proper for the
govt military to monitor such communications. However, I would
restrict any information gained for military purposes only.

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