Surveilling "terrorists" 7 months before 9/11

There have been some extremely interesting disclosures about Bush's so called "Terrorist Surveillance Program" in the last week or so. However, what appear to be rather stunning revelations don't seem to be gaining much traction with our lobotomized corporate press. It now appears rather certain that this surveillance program was beginning some 7 months BEFORE 9/11. Several outlets, including the Washington Post have reported on this, citing court documents associated with several ongoing lawsuits. A number of important questions immediately come to mind. Since we know that the last thing on the Bush crowd's mind at that time was terrorism--by all credible accounts they were more or less asleep at the switch--what was the primary motivation for initiating the program at that time. Might it have been, dare I say it, politically motivated? I wonder what the real, original name for the program was? Obviously, "Terrorist Surveillance Program," would not have worked, maybe something along the lines of "Voter Fraud Surveillance Program," is closer to the mark, but then I forget, this Republican crowd would never do anything with political motives. They're much to pure for that. Indeed, I apologize for even suggesting it. Equally of interest is the subsequent, monstrously hypocritical, retroactive justification for the program as having been necessary to fight the "terrorists" and keep America safe.

There are several informative links on the subject, but Ray McGovern's is a nice summary, and Glenn Greenwald's provides substantial background.