PolicyPaper

CorryArcomano

ThedayofSeptember11th,2001,leftmanyinshockandcompletelyastounded.
TheterroristattacksthatcollapsedbothtwintowersshowedAmericans,andtherestof
theworld,thatthethreatofterrorhadreachedanewlevel,andhadtobestopped.This
iswheretheNSAfirstproposedtheideaofelectronicsurveillance,andoverthepast
decadeithasgrownintosomethingthatwecanrelyontogetthejobdone.Thereisno
questionthatelectronicsurveillanceisunderstrictreview,aspeopleoftenfindit
immoral.Yet,intheend,itisclearthatthisisaservicewecannotaffordtolose,and
thatwillcontinuetohelpus.TheUnitedStatesshouldbeallowedtocollectdigitaldata
withoutwarrantsinordertokeepussafe.
Terroristsdonthavearmiesthatcanbeeasilytracked,andwiththeincreasing
difficultyofinterrogationandagentinfiltration,ouronlyandmostsuccessfuloptionis
datatapping.Afterrecentevents,therehavebeenseveralveryparticularcaseswhere
agentshavebeencompromisedinthefield,themostprominentofwhichtookplacein
Iran.InABCnewsarticle,CIASpiesCaught,FearExecutioninMiddleEastauthors
MattColeandBrianRosswrotethat,TheCIAhasyettodeterminepreciselyhow
manyofitsassetswerecompromisedinIran,butthenumbercouldbeinthedozens,
accordingtoonecurrentandoneformerU.S.intelligenceofficial.(Cole)Thistook
placeafternamesofagentswereleakedontotheinternet.Withanewageof
technology,informationismucheasiertoobtain,causingoldermethods,suchasagent
infiltration,tobecomemuchmoredifficulttocarryout.Wecannotriskthelivesofour
agentstoobtaininformation,whenitcouldbeeasilyandsafelyobtainedthrough
electronicsurveillance.Theonlyotheroptiontosecurecriticalinformationliesinabrutal
methodofinterrogationknownasenhancedinterrogation.Inthearticle,CIATactics:
WhatIs'enhancedInterrogation'?whichtheBBCpostedtotheirwebsitetheystate
that,TortureisdefinedbytheUNConventionAgainstTorture,whichtheUShas
signed,asanyactbywhichseverepainorsuffering,whetherphysicalormental,is
intentionallyinflictedonapersoninordertogetinformation.(News)Theincreasing
controversyofenhancedinterrogationisleadingtowardstheclosingofamaximum
securityprisonknownasGuantanamoBay.AsitisoffUnitedStatessoil,thetorture
methodsusedtherearenotillegal.However,recentphotoshavebeenleakedtothe
internetdepictingseveralextremeandbrutaltorturetechniquesandsituations.Because
obtaininginformationinthiswayisnowconsideredimmoral,thisonceagainleavesus
toturnourheadstoamethodthathasbeenproventowork.Electronicsurveillance,
althoughmanyconsideritalastresort,isactuallymorebeneficialthanthealternatives.
Electronicsurveillancehasbeenableto,overthepasttenyears,beenableto
makealargedentintheterroristcommunity.AccordingtotheObamaAdministration,
theNSAssurveillanceprogramisawasteoftimeandmoney,yettheyneglecttolook

atthefactandevidencethatprovessuccessinstoppingattacksaroundthecountry.In
thearticle,NSADataCollectionWorkingWellpublishedbytheWashingtonPost,
authorandreporterEllenNakashimastatedthat(asof2013),NSAsurveillancetools
havehelpeddisruptterroristplotsoridentifysuspectsin54casesintheUnitedStates
andoverseas.Inmanyofthosecases,anagencyprogramthattargetsthe
communicationofforeigners,includingemails,hasprovedcritical.(Nakashima)This
referstocasesthatarebothhighandlowprofile,butprovesthesuccessbothwithin
andoutsideofourcountry.Therehavebeentwocasesthatarehighprofilethatcanbe
crediteddirectlytothesurveillanceprogram,bothofthemtakingplaceintheUnited
States.ThefirsttookwasthecaptureofaSomalicabdriver,BasaalyMoalin,whowas
convictedofsendingmoneytotheterroristgroupofAlShabab.Laterinthe
WashingtonPostsarticle,EllenNakashimastatedthat,U.S.officialsarguethat
Moalinsnumberprobablywouldnothavesurfacedatleastnotinatimelyfashion
haditnotbeenforthedatabase.(Nakashima)ThesecondcasetookplaceinTimes
Square,NewYorkCity,whereasuspectedterroristwasapprehendedbyofficialsafter
theNSAhaddiscoveredhisplanthroughtheirdatamonitoring.InInternational
BusinessTimesarticle,NSA'sDomesticSpyProfileauthorPemaLevywrotethat,
TheNSAmonitoredaknownextremistinYemenwhowascommunicatingwithaman
inKansasCity,Mo.ThisinformationledtheFBItoKhalidOuazzani,hiscoconspirators
andultimatelytheplottobombtheNYSE.(Levy)ThereisnoarguingthattheNSA
casehasbeenunsuccessful,astheevidenceprovesotherwise.Theseareonlytwo
examplesoftheextentoftheNSAssuccessinthisarea.Asweareincreasingly
gainingtechnologytoachievemore,itisundoubtablethatthesuccessratewill
skyrocket.
Wehavebeenundersurveillanceforoveradecade,andrecentamendmentsto
theFISAacthaveprohibitedillegalmonitoring.TheFISAact,orForeignIntelligence
SurveillanceAct,wasputintoplacetoprohibitandallowforcertainruleson
surveillance.Whenitwasfirstcreated,thereweremanyloopholestobefoundandit
gavegovernmentofficialsfreereignonallsurveillanceanddatamining.Amajor
argumentagainstsurveillanceisthatelectronicsurveillancebreaksourfundamental
righttoprivacy,yetrecentamendmentstotheFISAactprovethatthisisnottrue.Inthe
article,NSASurveillance:WhyItIsntABigDealauthorDavidFrancisstatesthat,
PresidentObamasaidhehasputstrictprotocolsinplacethatrequirejudicialreview
andawarrantforallPRISMtargets.Heandotherofficialsalsosaidthegovernmentis
notlisteningtoyourconversationsorreadingyouremail.Itssimplyidentifyingphone
numbersthatcouldbeconnectedtoterrorists.(Francis)Obamaisdisprovinga
commonmisconceptionthatthemonitoringconductedisillegal.Althoughour
informationisundoubtedlyintheirhands,therearecountermeasurestopreventthem
fromusingit.NotonlythisbutNSAworkerslivebyacodeofconductmorestrictthan

most.OntheNSAsofficialwebsite,theypostedtheofficialcodeofconductforall
employees.Theylistedover30strictrulestofollow,andinsummarystatedthat,All
employeeswillmaintainespeciallyhighstandardsofhonesty,impartiality,character,
andconducttoensuretheproperperformanceofGovernmentbusinessandthe
continualtrustandconfidenceofthecitizensoftheUnitedStates.(Security)
Employeeswhobreakthiscodeofconductareimmediatelythrownoutthedoor.We
shouldtrustthepeoplewhohavethisinformation,astheyhavestrictprohibitionsthat
countercommonthought.
Oneofthebiggestargumentsposedbytheopposingsideoftheargumentisthat
theNSAhasnotbeensuccessfulatall,andthatittherearemuchbetteralternatives.
TheNSAcannotbeexpectedtosolveeverysinglecasetoeverexistonthisplanet,yet
thereisproofthattheNSAisnotwastingtheirtime,andisbeingvigilantandsmart
abouttheireffortsinthewaronterror.TheargumentstatesthatWearespendingso
muchtimeinthatuselessinformationwhilewehavebetterandfasterwaystofindwhat
weneedtokeeppeoplesafe,yetelectronicsurveillancereallyisourlastoption.Earlier
inthepaperitwasstatedthattheonlyotheroptionsareagentinfiltration,amethodthat
isquicklydying,andenhancedinterrogation,whichhasbeenproventoleaduswith
falseinformation.Although,regrettably,theNSAwasunabletopreventtheParis
attacks,itiscrucialnottoforgetthattheNSAhasthwartedmultipleplotsandschemes.
AswellasmakingaboldclaimthattheNSAholdsnorecordofterroristattacksfound
bythisprogram,theevidenceprovidedistoonarrowtofitabroadoperation.One
cannotstatethatbecausetheNSAwasunsuccessfulinoneinstance,thatthisproves
theyareunabletothwartactuallargescaleterroristplots.Thisisequaltostatingthat,
becauseyourfavoritesportsteamlosesonegame,theyareguaranteedtoneverwina
gameagain.Intheend,itsclearthatthisargumentisnotbasedintruth,andthereis
clearevidencetoshowit.
9/11wasatragedy,yetbecauseofitwehavebeenpromptedtofightthewaron
terrormoreaggressivelyandwithundeniabledetermination.Wehaverisenfromthe
effectsof9/11togainmoreofanupperhandinfightingterror.Thisisdonenotby
fightingterrorwithterror,asthathasbeendeemedineffective,ratherbyfightingterror
withintelligence.Althoughelectronicsurveillanceisjustbeginningtogaintraction,as
thewaronterrorturnsdigital,wewillbewellofftodefendourselvesandothers.The
NSAhasnotonlydoneusafavor,buttheyhaveshownwhatcanbeachievedinafield
newtothisworld.We,astheUnitedStatesshouldcollectdigitaldatawithoutwarrants
inordertokeepussafe.

WORKCITED

Cole,Matthew,andBrianRoss."Exclusive:CIASpiesCaught,FearExecutioninMiddle
`East."
ABCNews
.ABCNewsNetwork,21Nov.2011.Web.15Apr.2016.

Francis,David."5ReasonsNSASurveillanceProgramIsNoBigDeal."
Business
Insider
.BusinessInsider,11June2013.Web.25Apr.2016.

Levy,Pema."FourTimesTheNSAHasBeenSuccessful."
InternationalBusiness
Times
.IBTimes,4Sept.2014.Web.25Apr.2016.
InterrogationisnoLongeranOption

Nakashima,EllenR."NSADataCollectionWorkingWell."
WashingtonPost
.The
WashingtonPost,8Aug.2013.Web.14Apr.2016.
Neal,Meghan."
NSA'sDomesticSpyProfile
."ViceMotherboard.VICE,13Jan.2013.
Web.12Apr.2016.

News,BBC."CIATactics:WhatIs'enhancedInterrogation'?BBCNews."
BBCNews
.
BBCNetwork,10Dec.2014.Web.15Apr.2016.

Security,DepartmentOfHomeland.
ETHICS/STANDARDSOFCONDUCT
2.2003
(2003):15.
NSA(gov)
.NSA,1Mar.2003.Web.25Apr.2016.