More on joint U.S. and Mexico spying - another way around FISA

some important points i missed last night in my post on the la times article...

• [T]he contract specifications say the system is designed to allow both governments to "disseminate timely and accurate, actionable information to each country's respective federal, state, local, private and international partners."

• [T]he prospect of U.S. involvement in surveillance could be extremely sensitive in Mexico, where the United States historically has been viewed by many as a bullying and intrusive neighbor. U.S. government agents working in Mexico maintain a low profile to spare their government hosts any political fallout.

• Legal experts say that prosecutors with access to Mexican wiretaps could use the information in U.S. courts. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held that 4th Amendment protections against illegal wiretaps do not apply outside the United States, particularly if the surveillance is conducted by another country, Georgetown University law professor David Cole said.

this tells me several things... one, information collected in either country can end up in any hands that either government should decide to put it in, whether it's inside or outside the country, governmental or private sector... two, this is yet another way to bypass fisa and the 4th amendment and gain access to the the enormous volume of communications traffic between the united states and mexico... and, three, yer goddam right u.s. officials in mexico have to "maintain a low profile..." the mexican people are very fond of americans and love the united states, but they draw a very strong distinction between our people and our government... VERY strong...

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