Perhaps the weaponization of the NSA database was the biggest research project we ever took on. That said, CTH prudence requires a lack of commentary. For a background on this story see the [“SIDE NOTE“] previously presented HERE. “The candle is not worth the flame.”
(WASHINGTON DC) The National Security Agency has recommended that the White House abandon a U.S. surveillance program that collects information about Americans’ phone calls and text messages, saying the logistical and legal burdens of keeping it outweigh its intelligence benefits, according to people familiar with the matter.
The recommendation against seeking the renewal of the once-secret spying program amounts to an about-face by the agency, which had long argued in public and to congressional overseers that the program was vital to the task of finding and disrupting terrorism plots against the U.S.
The latest view is rooted in a growing belief among senior intelligence officials that the spying program provides limited value to national security and has become a logistical headache.
Frustrations about legal-compliance issues forced the NSA to halt use of the program earlier this year, the people said. Its legal authority will expire in December unless Congress reauthorizes it. (read more)
…”It is up to the White House, not the NSA, to decide whether to push for legislation to renew the phone-records program. The White House hasn’t yet reached a policy decision about the surveillance program, according to the people familiar with the matter.
The White House National Security Council and the NSA declined to comment.”…
[…] In remarks over the past month, Gen. Paul Nakasone, the director of the NSA and chief of U.S. Cyber Command, has declined to offer specifics about the status of conversations about the metadata program, but he has acknowledged officials are reviewing whether it is necessary.
“It’s a collaborative process, and the administration will make the decision,” Mr. Nakasone said this month at a Marshall Forum event in Washington. “We are taking a look at it, what is the value of it, what are we able to get from it…I think the question becomes, is this a tool that we continue to need to have for our nation’s security?” (link)
May God continue to bless Admiral Mike Rogers…
Do not go about your day without contemplating the scale of this decision; and more importantly the ideological shift on the freedom continuum. 97% of our nation will have no comprehension of the importance of this story.
One of the hurdles in revealing the scale of the story behind the abused FISA process are the current interests of the intelligence community. Those who benefited from the abuse of the system have used “national security interests” as a shield to avoid revealing the history of Obama-era political surveillance and spying.
However, if the intelligence apparatus says they no longer want/need the surveillance system; that is, the specific aspect used for prior abuse; well, the shield is removed;… and, as a consequence, the history of how the NSA database was abused for political spy operation can then be revealed.
Love to all.
Wolverines !!
Centinel2012 