NSA and September 11, 2001
During the cold months in the year (and we have plenty of them in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota) as soon as I turn on the TV set in the evenings I like to check if there is something appealing to me on the local PBS station. Last evening NOVA was on. The Spy Factory was aired for the first time.
The show was mostly based on the 2008 book, The Shadow Factory by author James Bamford. The show poses the question if the National Security Agency (NSA) could have prevented the terrorist attacks on the US that occurred on September 11, 2001. I strongly recommend to all Naive Americans to watch the show and if so inclined to purchase the book and reach a conclusion. I would like to state that the conclusion that any Naive American will reach is completely subjective based on the opinions and reduced number of facts presented during the show. At this point I have not read the book yet. Might stop later today by Barnes and Nobles if the temperature climbs from the current -5F.
It is interesting and important when making a decision to make sure one has the actual facts. In most occasions Naive Americans base their decisions on opinions and likes, not in actual facts using basic logic. One can see this behavior in action during elections. Candidates are chosen into office for all the wrong reasons. Politicians, who tell us what we want to hear, should not run our country, but they do.
If and when you watch the NOVA show and perhaps read the book make sure you put on your thinking and logic cap. Apparently the NSA had very good information on al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and the terrorist group that conducted the attacks on 9/11. So why did such important information was not conveyed to the CIA or FBI? Apparently the legal reason is that each organization has different jurisdictions and is not able to share information with others. This and the fact that every Naive American has rights, and in order for the government not to monitor my important and private conversations with my wife regarding what is for dinner this evening, or with one of my sons regarding the color of the iPod for my granddaughter’s upcoming birthday, may disregard the fact that thousands of fellow Naive Americans were killed, millions of Dollars of property were lost, and billions of Dollars and jobs were lost in the aftermath when the economy took a dive. I guess the rights of some Naive Americans come before the rights of others.
Apparently after 9/11 President Bush, under an executive order, authorized some of these agencies to monitor electronic communications (i.e., e-mail, phone, satellite, voice over IP, etc) not only outside but also inside the USA. This means that the government is currently able to find out that some Naive American this evening is planning on cheating on his wife with the young and sexy receptionist from work. Please keep in mind that current statistics show that one out of two marriages in our society end in divorce. Big Brother is not interested, one way or the other in addressing this social problem; the US government is only after the bad guys.
The reader should appreciate that there are billions of conversations and messages conducted and exchanged between phones and computers every day. Super computers running very sophisticated and constantly evolving algorithms attempt to select conversations and messages that should be reviewed by humans. Chances are that in general most if not all messages are stored for a relative short period of time in case they are needed for cross-reference. After that, they are deleted, which lends me to believe that my plans for Valentines Day are safe from Big Brother.
It does not take too much to figure out that terrorists are not using words like: “blow up”, “bomb”, “explosives”, or “kill” in their communications. This compounds the task of monitoring and sifting through huge amounts of data to get to the relevant one. Point in case, with all the billions of Dollars spent by NSA, the USA has not been able to catch the single individual who master minded and ordered the 9/11 attacks.
So, are Naive Americans safer today than before September 11, 2001? Is the spending the billions of Dollars by the NSA worth what the Naive American is getting in return? Are some of the technologies being developed for the NSA applicable to products used or to be developed for use by Naive Americans? Should the CIA, FBI and NSA work together sharing information when dealing with threat on the US or Naive Americans?
The answers to the above questions would probably generate more questions than actual answers. Most of the information and technologies are SECRET. One way or the other, technology and some high end jobs are being generated by the operations conducted by the NSA. This should have a small but positive effect on our economy. Hopefully President Obama and NSA officials are not considering outsourcing the development of technology and jobs to foreign countries in order to save a buck or two.
