NSA Top Two Officials Retiring Isn't News, But Is An Opportunity To Reshape The Agency

from the but-that-won't-happen dept

Wed, Oct 16th 2013 3:28pm — Mike Masnick

There's been some recent chatter over a Reuters report highlighting that both of the top two officials at the NSA, director Keith Alexander and deputy director Chris Inglis, are retiring in the next few months. Lots of people are misreading this, believing that this is something new, and suggesting that both were either pushed out, or are doing this in response to all of the Snowden revelations. That's simply not true. Alexander's retirement has been widely reported since at least June (and has been covered in a number of other publications as well). Both retirements were planned long ago, and appear to be exactly on schedule, rather than as any reaction to things happening in the news.

This is unfortunate, as it really does seem like there should be some punishment for the widespread excesses and abuses that have been revealed by Snowden. However, what is important to recognize is that this does present a real opportunity for the President to reshape the NSA. It seems unlikely that this will happen, but the President has said that he wants to rebuild the trust of Americans in the NSA and the wider intelligence community, and the choices he makes for who will lead the NSA are a real opportunity to at least take a step in that direction. No one actually expects him to, say, pick a civil liberties activist, but there are people out there who have experience in the intelligence community and who also have shown a respect and appreciation for privacy and civil liberties. Furthermore, finding someone who can present the case for reform -- one which recognizes that "collect it all" is not just bad policy, but bad for actually finding useful information -- would be a big step forward.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: barack obama, chris inglis, civil liberties, keith alexander, leadership, nsa, nsa surveillance, privacy, trust

14 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2013 @ 3:34pm

Its all about who you know
How many top-notch mathematicians does Mr Obama hang out with�go drinking a beer with, after a hard day at the office?

�

�

I just bet Mr Obama hangs out with a ton of mathematicians� Why, they're his kind of folks. You betcha.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2013 @ 3:34pm

So... from bad to worse?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2013 @ 3:37pm

One can always hope for the best.

Given Obama's past acts, I have little hope that this will come out to be for the best. Obama has toted water for the NSA, purposely knew of some of the things that were pulled by the Senate Intelligence before the vote on renewing the Patriot Act, set up Clapper to be in charge of the investigation committee into NSAs excesses, only to have to change that when it was widely recognized by the public for just what it was. To later come in claiming to setup an independent investigation committee, loaded with insiders, answering still to Clapper, means much more in it's actions as to his viewpoints and willingness to keep the status quo.

Sorry but I have little faith in this government doing the right thing without it having to be forced to do it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2013 @ 4:22pm

I hope someone ends up suing him and Clapper (I think someone already is), and as a result of that they get to serve prison over it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2013 @ 5:29pm

The president is a liar, don't expect him to keep any promises or follow through what he say in public.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2013 @ 5:36pm

On their way to sweet positions in private industry no doubt ... you know, where they get government spying contracts 'n stuff.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pixelation, 16 Oct 2013 @ 10:15pm

Re:
"So... from bad to worse?"

This. Out of the frying pan, into the nuclear oven.
Obummer!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2013 @ 11:26pm

And no one is sent to prison? WOW
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2013 @ 1:57am

unfortunately, there aren't enough retiring. there will still be those left behind who will continue to piss up the peoples backs and tell them it's raining! in other words, the bullshit and lies will continue unabated!!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it

Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2013 @ 3:20am

NSA Top Two Officials Retiring Isn't News

That's SO TRUE !!!!!!
But it is an opportunity to talk about NSA ONCE AGAIN !! Got to keep that white noise generator running.

And when did something need to be news for TD to be all over it ?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2013 @ 5:53am

Re: Its all about who you know
You think everyone at that organization is required to have a working knowledge of math ... how cute.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2013 @ 5:55am

Re:
If you do not like it, then start your own blog.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
kitsune361, 17 Oct 2013 @ 8:20am

Looks like...
... It's time for Alexander to hit the million dollar talk circuit and talk about which "bearded mouth-breathers" on the internet he wishes he could send a drone after. Give those rooms full of lobbyists enough red meat to feed their confirmation bias that the military-industrial complex and government can do no wrong.

Maybe he'll get an adjunct professorship at an Ivy League school to teach a political science, law, or ethics class.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2013 @ 9:48am

Re: Looks like...
� time for Alexander to hit the million dollar talk circuit�

Time for the General to hit the talk circuit?

�As NSA Director Alexander Plans Departure, Here's How Former Top Spooks Cashed In On 'Retirement' �, by Andy Greenberg, Forbes, Oct 16, 2013:
� Luckily for Alexander and Inglis, they have a perk-filled escape route from the NSA controversy: A lucrative position at a Beltway contractor or consultancy. As much as 70% of the intelligence community�s budget�nearly $11 billion for the NSA alone last year according to one Snowden leak�goes to contractors�

To give a sense of Alexander�s choices, here�s how the last four NSA directors have spent their golden years�

No, I don't expect Alexander the Geek to be hitting the rubber-chicken-dinner circuit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]