Two months ago, PBS’s “Frontline” chronicled the conception of the National Security Agency and how the institution continues to affect our daily lives in a must-see documentary called “United States of Secrets.” While watching this special, one automatically envisions the Orwellian future illustrated in “1984.”
“Frontline” amassed a surprisingly diverse set of interviewees for its documentary special. The pro-NSA camp was represented by former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and former NSA Chief Michael Hayden. In the opposition, journalist Glenn Greenwald, Department of Justice Attorney Thomas Tamm and a handful of NSA whistleblowers — not including Edward Snowden — cried foul over the practices of the agency.
The prevailing theme of the pro-NSA side of the row is that security trumps all, even the rule of law. In order to find threats against the homeland, the NSA collects data from citizens foreign and domestic. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent. The NSA does not extinguish the flames of fear of another domestic terrorist attack — it ignites them.
The documentary started at the first abuse of the NSA from the Nixon administration. Nixon used the agency to spy on his enemies. Once caught, he tamped down its power and sent it underground. No major news came from the agency until the aftermath of 9/11. The Bush administration called upon Hayden to outline steps, necessary under the circumstances, that the agency could take in order to protect the country. Hayden successfully brought the president a plan of action that expanded the reach of his organization, a plan that collected data on friend and foe alike.
What may be news to some is that in the NSA, a program called ThinThread was scrapped in order to give way to Hayden’s plan. ThinThread anonymized the personal information of people whom the NSA collected data on. Only when a court order was given could a suspect’s personal information be revealed. ThinThread was discarded because (in keeping with the NSA’s argument) sweeping, legally gray action must be taken in order to protect America.
One of the more rage-inducing moments of the documentary came from a standoff between Counsel Gonzales and Attorney General John Ashcroft. Ashcroft, now wary of the NSA, had to reauthorize the continuation of the NSA’s practices every 45 days. When he fell ill and was rushed to the hospital hours before the NSA needed his reauthorization, Gonzales and Card, the agency’s two top advocates, rushed to his bed. Though in pain, Ashcroft told the two that he would not lend them his signature.
In an act of illegal proportions, Gonzales, who had no right or authority to authorize the furtherance of the NSA’s practices, changed the reauthorization provision that was to be approved by the Attorney General so that it could be approved instead by Counsel Gonzales himself. And so the NSA’s rich history of recklessness continued.
This documentary was an abject indictment of Michael Hayden. The “Chief Snoop” continually perpetuated falsehoods and half-truths to the American public.
He lied to the public when he said that there were not internal apprehensions of data collection within his agency. He misled the public when he said that the agency does not spy on Americans. He and former President George W. Bush neglected to disclose the controversial aspects of the NSA during press conferences. Keep in mind that President Obama, despite his contradictory campaign rhetoric, continued the prying.
Which brings us to the present. According to the Washington Post, the administration hasn’t produced one instance of NSA records preventing terrorist attacks.
The best way to continue on a path of constitutional and legal irresponsibility is to make the population fearful of the most alarmist and terrifying consequences of what could happen as a result of refusing to comply with their protectors. During these trying times, remember: “War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.”
[Michael Beato is a UF economics junior. His columns appear on Tuesdays. A version of this story ran on page 6 on 7/8/2014 under the headline "NSA needs overhaul, culpability check"]
