THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY MAKES ME FEEL WARM ALL OVER!

THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY MAKES ME FEEL WARM ALL OVER!

(Russian Times, Reuters, Tabassum Zakaria, Scott Shane)

(Deborah Charles, Jim Sciutto, Chelsea J. Carter, Barton Gellman)

(New York Times, Jason Leopold, Al Jazeera, Bonnie Malkin, Greg Miller)

(Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach, John Bates, Glen Kessler, Bill Moyers Journal)

(USA TODAY, Greg Richter, Newsmax, Peter Grier, Harry Bruinius, Bamford, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Why is it that whenever a governmental agency obtains super secret status they immediately go all out to make their agency even more stealth, more secret and more powerful than it was originally supposed to be. Is this secret feeling, this hazy appearance just a natural progression in the intelligence community, and are these people answerable to anybody, anywhere, and at any time?
 
The National Security Agency (NSA) is the main producer and manager of signals intelligence for the United States. The agency is estimated to be one of the largest of U.S. intelligence organizations in terms of personnel and budget. However because of its sensitive nature, both the number of people working for the agency and the operating budget are…..classified.

The NSA is tasked with the global monitoring, collection, decoding, translation and analysis of information and data for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence purposes, including surveillance of targeted individuals on U.S. soil. The agency is authorized to accomplish its mission through clandestine means, among which is bugging electronic systems and allegedly in sabotage through subversive software.

The NSA is also responsible for the protection of the United States government communications and information systems. As part of the growing practice of mass surveillance in the United States, the NSA collects and stores all phone records of all American citizens.

The National Security Agency was formed in November of 1952, replacing the Armed Forces Security Agency, and now is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. General Keith B. Alexander is the current agency chief, and John C. Inglis is the Deputy Director, and the parent agency is the United States Department of Defense.

SECRETS, SECRETS, SECRETS

On January 27, 1975, the Senate, in the wake of the Watergate scandal and alarmed by allegations of intelligence service misdeeds, voted to establish an 11-member investigating body along the lines of the recently concluded Watergate Committee.

With little difference, every time governmental agencies overstep their bounds, government establishes a committee to investigate whatever charges there are. Headed by Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho) the committee members, John Tower (R-Texas), Walter Mondale (D-Minnesota) and prominent conservative Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) did, over nine months interview over 800 officials, hold 250 executive and 21 public hearings, probing widespread intelligence abuses by the CIA, the FBI and the NSA.

The resulting legislative changes were momentous no matter who was looking at them, the Church Committee and the decisions rendered was one of the unfortunate prices that was paid for the Nixon administration…..and the country continues to pay to this day.

Several lessons that were learned from the committee that applies today in the impending NSA scandal, inevitably when a government agency starts small, it goes big…..and when an agency seems to start out as legitimate, with the best of intensions, it invariably goes too far. In reaction to the Church Committee’s findings, Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, (FISA) of 1978.

These committees no matter their name, no matter the chairperson, and no matter the reason all seem to be a stopgap for whatever situation(s) that they are meant to address. Suggestions that are adopted might work for a few years, but seem to always go back to the old ways.

Although FISA is a secret court, consisting of 7 judges, who are responsible for issuing warrants for domestic wiretapping activity, their validity came under attack during the Bush administration when it was discovered the wiretapping was being done without authorization. The 7 members of the court are appointed by the Chief Justice and serve seven year terms.

Project Shamrock was a program which was created by President Truman in 1952, and began as a continuation of censorship efforts conducted by the Army Security Agency during World War II. The Shamrock Project lasted from 1947 stretching through the middle 1970’s. During the height of the program the National Security Agency was analyzing more than 150,000 messages a month, and this was before the widespread use of computers.

Throughout the history of these intelligence agencies there has been one overbearing desire…..to collect as much information on people, to analyze each piece, and to harvest catch phrases or words which send up red flags, and then to store that information for use at a later time.

The prevailing opinion by the 1970’s was that warrantless eavesdropping was an absolute necessity for intelligence agencies to accomplish their work…..their mission. The warrantless wiretapping does absolutely no harm according to Charles Fried a jurist and lawyer, and…..they do a great deal of good.

WHAT A MESS

I’m not sure why intelligence agencies need to operate with impunity; I have little understanding about intelligence agencies and their stealthy attitudes. I mean it isn’t like the average Joe on the street doesn’t know that these people and their organizations exist. I guess what one might wonder is who in hell is in charge, that might be the $64,000 dollar question.

President Obama for all his eloquent rhetoric gives little clue to what the National Security Agency is up to, and to what extent their surveillance programs extend. The president has yet to explain, defend or admonish the NSA. During a time when the people don’t trust the administration with its tax records, it seems as if the Obama regime can’t be trusted with phone records either.

The mess that the intelligence community is in, isn’t unprecedented in the country’s history, go back to the Bush administration and you’ll find evidence of spying on our allies and their leaders, It’s the old hand caught in the cookie jar syndrome, spying on allies is never a good thing…..and when you’re caught, ouch, it’s gonna hurt, but don’t compound the situation by lying.

It’s past time for an overhaul of the United States intelligence community…..do we even know whether it works or not…..and PLEASE spare me the weak argument about the U.S. not being attacked, it’s a tired old excuse for not giving out any information. It’s time that we treat our allies how we want to be treated, fair, above-board, and honest.

HAVE A NICE DAY!