Most of the questions at the president's first press conference in
months focused on Edward Snowden and the U.S./Russia relationship. Very
little attention was paid to the ongoing, specific and credible
terrorist threats to U.S. interests from al Qaeda.
By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus
The Jewish Press
U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House press conference on
Friday, August 9, 2013
Before leaving on a nine-day vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, U.S.
President Barack Obama held a 53-minute long press conference on Friday,
August 9.
The president spent his entire introductory remarks in his first solo
press conference since late April, on proposed changes to the
government’s surveillance laws.
The four specific steps he laid out were ones intended to mollify
outrage both from the American people and U.S. allies to issues of
eavesdropping and other forms of privacy invasion raised in the wake of
damaging security leaks by Edward Snowden about secret U.S. government
mass surveillance programs to the press.
Those four steps include amending the relevant portion of the Patriot
Act, provide oversight to the judges who are tasked with authorizing the
specific surveillance programs, increasing transparency regarding the
different programs, including creating a website “hub” which will allow
U.S. citizens and our allies to better understand the programs, and
creating an outside panel of experts to review the entire enterprise to
ensure that the U.S. government can maintain the trust of the people and
our allies. This review panel will be required to submit an initial
report in 60 days and a final report by the end of the calendar year.
While he remained even-keeled throughout most of his ten minute
presentation, the president allowed himself a few jabs at countries who
have been harshly critical of the U.S. in the wake of the Snowden leaks.
PLS CONTINUE READING: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/obamas-friday-press-conf-threats-emb-closures-insignificant/2013/08/10/ | The Jewish Press
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Lori Lowenthal Marcus
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