How stupid is our own FBI, CIA, NSA, etc...?

Question

When in the UK, they bust up the terrorist ring and catch these guys, yet we were SO asleep at the wheel before 9/11...

makes me feel so warm and fuzzy that NOW we have "HOMELAND(lack of) SECURITY"

Let's create MORE govt entities so we can be, more secure?

Answer 1

ask the liberal wackos in the aclu.... they are the ones fighting the goverment from "infringing" on the rights of the people who would do us harm. fbi want to screen my calls.... shoot, go ahead... nothing to hide here. i'm sure that they really care that I'm calling my buddies..... trying to figure out which bars we're hitting tonight. or that I call my girlfriend "pumpkin".

Answer 2

They are always finding moles in the CIA and FBI. The asleep complaint is what created homeland security in the first place. Oh and thank the Pakistani government for the tip off.

Answer 3

one of the reasons the UK caught these guys today was because of 9/11. if 9/11 never happened those guys would have probably gotten on that plane and succeeded. it was bc of 9/11 that airport security is so ridiculous. i was searched bc they found a toenail clipper in my carry-on. before 9/11 that wouldnt have mattered, they would have waved me right through.

honestly, who was looking for suicide bombers and terrorists before 2001? the the government was looking into it, they werent do it as much as they are now.

Answer 4

The Silly Truth About NSA Spying: Short & Sweet
By L. Reichard White




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June 19, 2006

Now they're going to protect us by tapping our phones and reading our E-mail.

Right. And "The check's in the mail," "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you" - - -

And "SURE I'll respect you in the morning."

As the Senate Judiciciary Committee hearings on Bush's NSA plan to tap your phone, read your e-mail, secretely sneak into your house and bug your computer, etc. sink impotently into the sunset, there are a few things you might want to consider.

We'll let the President set the stage:

My problem is I can't explain to you how it [NSA spying] works -- in order to justify your question -- without telling the enemy what we're doin. And ah, this debate is an interesting debate. I'm troubled by it only because the enemy listens and they see what we're doin' and these are smart people and they will adjust. -President George W. Bush, Face The Nation, January 29, 2006
So, according to Mr. Bush, "these are smart people and they will adjust."

How might they do that?

Well, for starters, they could subscribe to Vonnage, Skype, France's Wengophone -- or any of those other VoIP services that use the internet for calls. That's right. For now, that's all they have to do to "adjust" to NSA spying.

See, because of the way the internet works, the old CALEA mandated hardware that allows the FEDS to easily listen in on your heart-to-hearts with mom and brother Bill doesn't work on VoIP to VoIP calls. And it will be difficult -- or perhaps impossible -- to change that situation. Skype is particularly good (or bad) so far, because it's seriously encrypted right "out of the box."

Before these troublesome VoIP services, this is how things worked:

With traditional phone networks, calls are routed through central circuit-switching stations, which connect long-haul phone networks and the wires that go into homes and offices. Typically, phone carriers have installed dedicated servers at or near the switches, which can isolate conversations from a specific phone number and send them to police agencies in a standardized format. The Call Is Cheap. The Wiretap Is Extra, KEN BELSON, nytimes.com, August 23, 2004
WHAT?? You didn't know about CALEA? And CARNIVORE? You didn't know the U.S. Government set up STASI [1] style Soviet listening nodes on all U.S. phone exchanges so our friendly Big Brothers could watch over us? Shame shame!! Now that you know, doesn't that make you feel all snuggly-buggly, warm, and safe inside?

But snooping all these extra phones -- our phones -- is highly counterproductive -- if it's really terrorists you're after, that is:

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence overheard al-Qaeda operatives discussing a major pending terrorist attack in the weeks prior to Sept. 11 ... Some of the clues lie buried in 350,000 pages of documents turned over by the CIA for the hearings ...
+
The intercepts of conversations are in 13,000 pages of material from the National Security Agency, the nation's eavesdropping service, U.S. officials say. Two U.S. intelligence officials said some were translated and analyzed before Sept. 11. Others went unread until later because of a shortage of translators. -U.S. had agents inside al-Qaeda, By John Diamond, USA TODAY, 06/04/2002
There aren't enough analysts on the face of the earth to analyze the amount of information we can collect. -Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Intelligence Cmte., June 8, 2002, 13:26:30 [2]
As Rummy revealed, "It's like trying to take a sip of water out of a fire hose."

More phone taps, then, is like looking for a needle in a haystack - - - by adding more hay. So this silly notion that tapping our phones will somehow protect us is on a par with the other urban protection myths spawned by the D.C. prevaricator corps -- and just this week, hyped by Mr. Cheney. If 911 and Katrina weren't enough, you can dis-myth yourself of the notion we're protected by these bozos here, here and here.

You're afraid to talk about these glaring holes in the NSA program because, like the president, you're afraid maybe the "terrorists" might find out something they don't already know? Do you suppose they know about those Echalon-interecepted conversations between Bush-the-Elder's dope-dealing buddy Manuel Noreiga and his Swiss bankers just before Operation Just Cause -- you remember, the ones we later heard on the 6 O'Clock News.

Answer 5

It works like this, when you're leaving a hot trail, throw them off and make like you saw the guy pass by not ten minutes ago. He went thataway! This sort of thing. You don't really take these guys seriously do you? It's up to the integrity of the little guy. Always. It's always gonna be that way. Whatsamatter? You never watched Charlie Chaplin, fer Petes' sake???!!!

Answer 6

There was international intelligence cooperation in this case BECAUSE of the protocols put into place after 9/11.

Look it up.

Answer 7

Yeah but one thing over in the UK they have a lot more Big Brother out there and don't have as much freedom as we do here in the USA.

Answer 8

They do their jobs, mostly it keeps us safe. We should just be thankfull. They can't afford to be unsure or wishy washy about things. So some things get overemphasized, sometimes they suspect people who have nothing to do with any crime. They have to be sure so we exchange some privacy for security. Mostly worth it I think.

Answer 9

Did you ever wonder why we in America haven't been attacked again? It isn't because of the whiny liberals. It isn't because France has got our back. It's because of the great job being done by law enforcement.

Answer 10

Are you kidding? The babies are screaming like banshees now. I love how the UK used the sneak and Peek program. These communist whiny a$$ babies over here and their ACLU buddies would all have massive strokes.