Readers of my previous columns know my overall sentiments on this matter. We live during a time when our enemy, radical Islam, would set off a nuclear device in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, without hesitation, if they had a chance. Our intelligence agencies must stay ahead of the game and thwart the activities of these terrorists before they get their chance. They also need to frighten them into hiding in their holes, which means that the revelations from Snowdon and the Guardian are not necessarily a bad idea.
The XKeyscore briefing referenced in the source article discloses that over 300 terrorists have been captured using intelligence generated from XKeyscore. If so, that make the program one of the most successful anti-terrorism programs to date.
The Guardian article does do some scare-mongering. While the article reads as if NSA employees are spying on Americans without due process, the briefing makes it clear that the searching being done using XKeyscore is on foreigners not within the USA. Ahem, ahem, but a foreign national does not have our constitutional protections; an NSA analyst can surveil them with impunity.
Bravo, I say. America remains at war in spite of politicians in Washington who think otherwise, in spite of academics in liberal ivory towers who think otherwise, in spite of U.N. bureaucrats in New York City who think otherwise. Sure, add more safeguards to ensure that Americans aren't surveilled but keep at it.
