NSA Under Obama Exceeding Its Brief?

posted at 12:47 pm on April 16, 2009 by coldwarrior

“The National Security Agency intercepted Americans’ e-mails and phone calls in recent months on a scale that went beyond limits set by Congress last year, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.”

Further, according to the article, NSA apparently “sought to eavesdrop on an unidentified Congressman in contact with an extremist.”

I honestly do not enjoy having the New York Times again and again printing national security information in public.

But, in recent months? Define recent?  Since January?

Is this how the Obama Administration is running the show?

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair admitted on Thursday, according to the linked article,  that the NSA made “mistakes” and intercepted the wrong communications. But he emphasized the number of errors is small to the overall collection efforts and that each error is investigated, leading to corrective measures to prevent reccurrences.

Having worked with the folks at Fort Meade, at home and abroad, I would like to believe they are following tasking orders and operational directives appropriately, in all cases.

Those who are not need to be brought on the carpet in the DIRNSA suite and be properly dealt with.

This new revelation from the NYT will, however most likely be read by most as that nasty old Bush NSA doing all sorts of nasty things…without any regard to a closer look at the facts.

If NSA indeed exceeded its brief, then reel in those who authorized such, or carried out erroneous directives, and where appropriate fire them or move them to less sensitive posts.

NSA has a tough enough job to do and does not need to be involved in targets of opportunity that are not congruent with standing federal law and duly issued directives.  They do not need yet another distraction and public outcry to cause them to lose focus on the real targets out there, nor to provide blood in the water for the sharks in Congress and elsewhere who ignorantly would much rather have no NSA at all.

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