I guess it is time I ended my silence on the NSA situation. The whole problem with a democracy is that everyone considers their privacy as paramount to continuing democracy. I agree with that. The other problem is that everyone wants the government to ensure that we are protected and our security is upheld. I also agree with that. But in todays modern, global world that is where the conundrum comes into play. Just what is the government allowed to do and not do.
As you know, this all came about because Edward Snowden leaked information from the NSA about its collection of emails, phone lists, text messages, etc. Although I was never involved in Intelligence Gathering, I did live in the “secrecy world” for several years. Maybe I have a different point of view than others because of that. That is also why I am not going to beatify Mr. Snowden or his actions, yet. I need more information as to why a contractor should decide to steal and then leak this information and offer it to other nations in order to gain asylum. That is to say, I am not convinced about his motives.
The only good thing that came from Mr. Snowden is that we now have a national debate about just how far the NSA should be allowed to go. That is something that should have taken place when the Patriot Act took effect under Mr. Bush. I am not blaming Bush, but there was no discussion as to what type of spying should take place then, and that has had a direct effect on what is going on today.
President Obama gave a speech offering several proposals to help clean up this situation. Some will naturally say it doesn’t go far enough, while others will say it goes too far. The one thing that seems to bother most Americans is the meta-data collection by the NSA. The President said it should be held by a third-party, without specifying who that third-party is. That can also be a problem.
Many of the reforms will need to be handled by Congress. The President ordered the NSA and Attorney General Eric Holder to develop recommendations over the next 60 days as to how the program should be structured, and how meta-data should be stored. This window coincides with the late March deadline by which Congress must vote to re-authorize many intelligence practices anyway.
Since 9/11 we have had a series of problems with the Intelligence Community. Again, some claim that they have gone too far. Others claim they have not gone far enough. Many even blamed them for the 9/11 attacks because they “should have known” something was going to happen. The real problem with intelligence is that it is run by people. People are flawed, and we can never be 100% certain of anything.
Rather than ranting and raving about what has happened, we need to take all of that into consideration and focus on what will happen in the future. The reforms that are necessary in Intelligence Gathering will give us an opportunity to have a national debate on the subject. That should give us an opportunity to mutually agree on a common method that the NSA and other Intelligence Gathering organizations must follow.
Senator Cruz offered his usual general statement that we “should only be going after the bad guys”. How convenient for him to say. But, how will we know just who the bad guys are if we aren’t allowed to find out? That is what I mean by having a reasonable debate on the problems. Headline grabbing nonsense like this cannot be part of the debate if we are to get the proper balance.
Benjamin Franklin once said “be careful of giving up freedoms in the name of security. Otherwise, you will find that you have neither.” Unfortunately, he lived in a time when global communications took several months, not seconds. Even still, we must find a middle ground where our freedoms are protected and still allow our Intelligence Gathering organizations the tools necessary to keep us safe. It will be difficult, but if we use common sense and level-headed thinking, it should be possible.
