Wiretapping is the practice of connecting a listening device to a telephone line to secretly monitor a conversation. Many people dislike wiretapping because they feel it is an invasion of privacy. But, if it is all for the greater good of America, why do these people still oppose it? The government should be allowed to wiretap to protect the US from external threats, protect the US from internal threats, and because the Patriot Act provides justification for the government to wiretap.
September 11, 2001 is one of the most infamous dates in US history. One reason 9/11 occurred is due to the US not knowing what Al Qaeda was planning. The US government could have known what Al Qaeda was up to if they were allowed to wiretap their phones and computers. Now that wiretapping is legal for the US government, there have been no further attacks on US soil. After 9/11, the US government wiretapped both Iraq and Iran for six weeks straight. The moment Osama bin Laden found out that we were wiretapping his country and Al Qaeda, he released a quote: "Freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people "and the West in general "into an unbearable hell and a choking life." There are two things bin Laden might have been trying to say in this quote. He could have been trying to make the people of Iraq believe that the US is an evil place that spies on their own citizens. .
The second thing bin Laden might have been trying to say is that he is not afraid to confront the US. Since 9/11 there have been no direct attacks on US soil. But on April 16, 2013, North Korea launched a test nuclear missile at the US.(1) Although it did not reach the US this time, what if it does next time? If a nuclear missile hit the US, a nuclear war would most likely occur soon after. Not only can wiretapping other countries help protect the US from external threats, it can also protect other countries from attacking each other and shedding unnecessary blood.
