Trolling for terrorists

A follow up to this post on the USA Today exclusive concerning a large database of domestic phone calls.

George W. Bush has not denied the existence of this databse. He's made some carefully parsed statements, indicating a great deal. The transcript. Some highlights and thoughts.

The introduction addressing the article:

Today, there are new claims about other ways we are tracking down al Qaeda to prevent attacks on America. I want to make some important points about what the government is doing and what the government is not doing.

Excerpt one:

First, our intelligence activities strictly target al Qaeda and their known affiliates. Al Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans.

The target is clearly al Qaeda -- or sympathetic organizations -- however, Bush does not detail the methods, which appear to be a large collection of communications filtered for patterns.

Excerpt two:

Second, the government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval.

Third, the intelligence activities I authorized are lawful and have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat.

Fourth, the privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities. We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda and their known affiliates.

It seems as though the database is a collection of contact data, which can then be reviewed for odd patterns. Perhaps, and this is speculation, new cell phones communicating with a set of common numbers in urban areas -- new arrivals to a terrorist cell.

"Trolling" was an interesting word choice. Did he mean this definition: "To patrol (an area) in search for someone or something"?

Last but by no means least, the leaker-in-chief has another moment of reality disconnection:

As a general matter, every time sensitive intelligence is leaked, it hurts our ability to defeat this enemy. Our most important job is to protect the American people from another attack, and we will do so within the laws of our country.

Of course, he can declassify whatever he wants -- even for political purposes -- and thus it no longer endangers national security. Sure thing. "Sources and methods" weren't compromised with Plame's outing.