Keith Alexander Says The US Gov't Needs To Figure Out A Way To Stop Journalists From Reporting On Snowden Leaks
from the because-the-first-amendment-means-as-much-as-the-fourth dept
Apparently not satisfied with just setting fire to the 4th Amendment, NSA boss Keith Alexander's next target is the 1st Amendment. In an interview with the Defense Department's "Armed With Science" blog, it appears that Alexander felt he'd have a friendly audience, so he let loose with some insane claims, including suggesting that the government needs to find a way to "stop" journalists from reporting on the Snowden leaks."I think it’s wrong that that newspaper reporters have all these documents, the 50,000—whatever they have and are selling them and giving them out as if these—you know it just doesn’t make sense," Alexander said in an interview with the Defense Department's "Armed With Science" blog.It's not the policymakers and the courts. It's the Constitution, and it says there's freedom of the press.
"We ought to come up with a way of stopping it. I don’t know how to do that. That’s more of the courts and the policymakers but, from my perspective, it’s wrong to allow this to go on," the NSA director declared.
Other parts of the interview continue to show Alexander spewing things that have already been debunked:
“When you look at the 9/11 commission, it faulted the intelligence community for not connecting the dots. We didn’t have the tools. These [programs we have now] are tools that help us connect the dots. We have learned that lesson once. We all vowed this would never happen again. We should commit to that course of action.”That's not true. The 9/11 commission argued, indeed, that the intelligence service failed to connect the dots, but it wasn't because they lacked the information. It's just that it wasn't properly shared. The way to fix that is not to collect more information and make it even harder to connect the dots. And yet that's been General Alexander's strategy all along.
Elsewhere in the interview, Alexander laughably tries to pretend that US Cyber Command, which he also controls, is focused on protecting "intellectual property." But that's also not true. As has been clearly stated and confirmed, it's focused on offensive attacks, which it does more than any other country (even as the US government tries to scold countries like China and Iran for their online attacks).
And then, I guess he figures that if he's going to lie about, well, everything, why not go all in, and just claim that these programs aren't "spying."
“They aren’t spying programs,” he says directly. “One is called the Business Records FISA Program, or Section 215, and the other is called the FISA Amendment Act 702 or PRISM.”Except that having that metadata is incredibly revealing and absolutely is a form of spying. If it's not, why won't General Alexander release his phone numbers, date, time, group and duration of all of his calls from the past year? Why not? Because he thinks that's private information. Because it is. And because General Alexander is a hypocrite.
The business records program, or Section 215, is probably the most misunderstood of the two programs. The metadata program takes information and puts it in a data repository. Metadata is the phone number, the date, time, group, and duration of the call.
“That’s all we have,” Gen. Alexander explains. “We don’t have any names or any content.”
“The oversight and compliance on these programs is greater than any other program in our government.”Hahahahah. No. This is also a lie. It's been shown that the courts and Congress have admitted they're limited by what the NSA tells them -- and the NSA goes out of its way to avoid telling Congress very much.
Alexander also mocks the recent claims about spying on French phone calls, using the exact same dodge as his boss, James Clapper. Both pretend that the news reports said that 70 million calls were recorded. Alexander mocks this by pointing out it would be impossible to have so many calls listened to, and to find enough translators to understand them. But the reports were about mostly metadata, and just some recordings. Pretending that the press said something that it didn't doesn't make Alexander look trustworthy. It makes it look like he's lying.
Not surprisingly, though hilariously, the blogger for the Defense Department's "Armed With Science," Jessica Tozer doesn't appear to challenge any of Alexander's claims. Instead, she repeats all the statements and mocks anyone who might challenge them:
Some people would rather believe a dramatic, convenient lie than a real, uncomplicated truth. Don’t be that person.I'd argue that right back at Tozer and Alexander, because Alexander is flat out lying in the interview, based on confirmed facts.
Don’t give credence to speculation, rumor, or hyperbole. Simply put, don’t give into the hype. When it comes down it, a nation without the NSA would be a nation left undefended.Um. It's absolutely a challengeable statement, but the Defense Department, obviously, isn't here for reasoned discussion on this issues.
And that, dear readers, is no lie.
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: journalism, keith alexander, nsa, nsa surveillance, reporting
Reader Comments
The First Word
“Hmmm...
How does it feel, Keith? If you've done nothing wrong you should have nothing to worry about! Let's see all your metadata!Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Hmm...
There's some tags missing.
Might I suggest the following?
4th Amendment Destroying
1st Amendment Hatred
Lying to the American Public
Mouthpiece of the NSA
Lies, lies and more lies
and Hypocrisy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
How far?
Fire them, bar them from government service or lobbying, possible criminal charges. They took an oath to 'protect and defend the Constitution'. They have done neither.
Does he really think we believe the lies?
Was he a KGB mole? Does he still report to Putin?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: How far?
The people of the United States elected a Chicago mobster for their president. It might have been a good choice: He did get Bin Ladin whacked.
But anyhow, what did it take for Al Capone to fire someone?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: How far?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: How far?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: How far?
Next you'll be wondering if they really did get Jimmy Hoffa.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: How far?
Sir, I respectfully submit to you that is probably abjectly false. Any good doctor knows that someone like Bin Ladin, who had kidney disease could not last very long running around in the mountains, living in a cave and using a washing machine to wash his blood clean, without getting a bad infection of some sort in the shunt he would have had either in his leg or arm!
It is safe to say, that Bin Laudin was probably "a long-time dead", before they killed they man they told us was bin Ladin. You do remember we have never seen a body! They conveniently buried him at sea before anyone saw who he was! It was a lie!
They just use Bin Ladin as "face" for the War on Terror! The American people are tired of a nameless, faceless war such as this so they invented Bin Ladin as the "enemy"!
Now if you notice, they are looking around for a new name and face to take the place of Bin Ladin. They just don't have one yet but they are looking..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: How far?
it is highly lucrative to be a psychopath for Empire...
face it, the gummint is the ultimate korporate kapture, and we mere citizens who bitch about the bill of rights, etc, are simply in the way...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: How far?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: How far?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: How far?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
There is nothing coming from the NSA that isn't wrapped up in deceit. There is nothing they explain you can believe. I would question at this point if they said gravity pulled things down.
I'm still waiting on the revelation that it isn't just metadata they collect off phone calls but everything including the speech.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Grant"?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What an incredibly persuasive analogy, how could anyone possibly argue with it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
You are taking things too far.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Claiming legality by using a bad law is just shy of being illegal. That's one of the reasons why the administration, the DOJ, and everyone else defending this is hollering 'no standing' to prevent it from examined in public court. They know the whole shebang could evaporate if what they really did was exposed.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"You the people have no need of privacy, and the government needs to intrude into every aspect of your lives to protect you from terrorism. We the government need to keep our actions private, by classifying them as secret, and you the people have no need to know what we are doing in your name."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
FTFY
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hmmm...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
NSA Director Alexander Helms High-Tech Torture Matrix: Vet Journo
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's gone "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" it been classified out of existence
It appears tht Lincoln got it wrong at Gettysburg. Alexander has changed it to:
There is no government "by the people" if they are not allowed to know what the government is doing because it classified. The true hypocrasy that keeps recurring is that he is no longer protecting the foundations of this once great country. He is waging a personal war against an enemy he can't actually name, so we keep getting the "BUT TERRORIST" argument. There always have been terrortists, there always will be terrorists. There will always be people who don't like the way things are. They believe they have a better way and are willing to kill to make the change to their way. Oh wait isn't that what a "targeted drone strike" means (why bother with those pesky trials and rules of evidence)?
Instead of protecting the foundations of this country, he is waging a personal unwinnable war against a vague enemy at taxpayer expense. The worst part is that (again at taxpayer expense and against their will) he's got the tools that the Nazis and Hoover would drool over.
The sad part is that the pesky entitlement programs are getting in the way of spending more taxpayer money on this unwinnable war. Its called target blindness and Air Force pilots crash their planes when they get it, Alexander is going to crash the country if he is not stopped soon.
Is there any hope that the next election will see a wave of congressional change that will result in the resolve to downsize the Alexander empire and return to protecting Americans by upholding the Constitution by the highest law enforcement agencies in the country?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: It's gone "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" it been classified out of existence
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: It's gone "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth" it been classified out of existence
This hope is doubtful at best as long as big corporate money consolidated in the hands of a very few elite people are able to use that money to hijack the election process starting at the primary level, making it such that our choices are limited to those that they want us to have. We need Citizen's United overturned... YESTERDAY.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Billions of reasons why Alexander has a pliant interviewer
She is "employed by Dynamics Research Corporation which has a 6 billion dollar contract to provide "Cyber Security Support".
This is corporate marketing/damage-control disguised as an interview with a news-maker.
I guess we can add DRC to the list of toady corporations allied with the NSA who are fine with destroying the US Constitution as long as it's profitable.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Billions of reasons why Alexander has a pliant interviewer
How does your country allow such a biased interview go on air?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Billions of reasons why Alexander has a pliant interviewer
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Billions of reasons why Alexander has a pliant interviewer
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Billions of reasons why Alexander has a pliant interviewer
Mayhaps, once upon a time, that may have rang true.
Alas, we have become a nation of propaganda.
Speaking in the name of freedom and human rights for all people, our nation deprives these rights behind the veil.
Our leaders may speak with golden tongues, but their hands rend the very ideals they purport to serve.
Not all is lost, some of us have awakened. And in that awakening we have committed to awake the world.
Let the nations of the world be put on notice, the people of earth seek not to live in strife. They seek not to hate their neighbors, those of differing colors and customs.
This digital age has provided the means to unify people. We will not stand by and let the actions of a few deprive the many.
In the words of Mr. Universe: "You can't stop the signal... Everything goes somewhere, and I go everywhere."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Billions of reasons why Alexander has a pliant interviewer
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
'Do not go to jail, do not go directly to jail. Pass GO. Collect hundreds of thousands of dollars when you do pass go and enter the private sector'.
The jail square could be removed and replaced with some sort of luxury holiday resort.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Comments
I didn't comment because it would have just been something stupid like, "FIRST AMENDMENT 4 LIFE!!!!1" or something. Would have loved to see some discussion over there though.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Comments
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
In an ideal world…
There would be no radio.
There would be no cameras.
There would be no internet.
We would not question authority.
We would do what we are told and believe authority had our best interests at heart.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: In an ideal world…
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
-A paragon of selfishness
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
background music
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: background music
This guy deserves to be locked up.
PS- love the "Anonymous Coward" tag
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Really
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
metadata
1) They collect it
2) They get upset if you want to take it away from them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
lies?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: lies?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: lies?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: lies?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_B._Alexander#Statements_to_the_public_regarding_NSA_operatio ns
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Gen. Alexander is a bat
MY COMMENTS:
Why are bells ringing as Gen. Alexander speaks? You can hear their softly echoic ringing as Alexander speaks. Those sounds were put there by the Defense Department's "Armed With Science" blog, and were generated for a reason...
Do they lend weight to Alexander's words? Do they give his flattish voice resonance and help make his words seem acceptable?
There was no reason for the bell sounds to be there naturally.
I've never heard of this kind of audio effect being used, and right now I am very suspicious of the NSA and the Defense Department, so I'm thinking they put the Bells in as a psychological "softener".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Goodnight USA
"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?"
Maybe someone very special knew of "Snow den" long before the 1980's. Maybe he was created for just such a purpose. And if one snowflake can produce so much mayhem imagine what a storm, a treasure, of them could do ...... and then the hail. Just a thought. I think the general needs to apologise, ...... and quick, for his horrendous abuse of the God-given US constitution. Then he should resign without a pension. ;o)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Alexander and Clapper
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Glenn Greenwald (heart) Techdirt
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/25/europe-erupts-nsa-spying-chief-government
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
than that of Lavrentiy Beria the infamous secret service
chief during Stalin's rule of the Soviet Union. Now, he
wants to destroy the freedom of the press. Alexander and
his minions are not different that other human beings
anywhere (it is anthropological) when given uncontrolled
power they become arrogantly dangerous. It is time to
stop the madness before it is too late!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Analysisofcapitalism
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
NSA can record all calls
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
'We'll First Get the Facts' says Gen. Alexander..
Overseas Intelligence and Intelligence in the USA made many reports to Authority prior that fateful Tuesday about suspicious stuff pointing to planes, hijackings and bombs.
The Authorities quashed it, letting 9/11 run. Why would they do this? The people who protect our interest, why quash their own Intelligence operatives bringing forward field intel, not just 'snoop' gathered from phones?
Gen Alexander then refers to the 9/11 Commission report taking a few references from it to bolster his smooth and melodically backed (notice the fluffy muzak in the background, real psyche op) employment of that Grand Lie as justification of his/their Empire.
Jeez if the Intelligence haven't worked out what happened on 9/11 by now, they've got no hope of spotting the enemy. The enemy of the people are running the Spy Operation. The same guys that gave the World 'A New Pearl Harbour', what do you think William Kristol and Robert Kagan?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century
Collateral Damage;
http://wikispooks.com/wiki/Document:Collateral_Damage_911
It's not rocket science. More a bit of inconvenient truth.
Also as to the lie of 'meta data'; New Zealand's Nicky Hagar gave evidence to the European Parliamentary inquiry into Echelon the 5 Powers spying alliance comprising USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The first link is Nicky describing how he gained the information sufficient to write his book 'Secret Power.' The second is his testimony to the Europeans 23/24th April 2001. Not long before that fate full Tuesday, and guess what? He said they the Echelon partners, particularly the USA were using it extensively for corporate and industrial espionage.
http://www.nickyhager.info/researching-echelon/
http://cryptome.org/echelon-nh.htm
It's a tool of the Banksters;
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30605.htm
Obviously the Banksters wanted 9/11. What do you think?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
how many operators are needed to run siri?
Makes me wonder how many operators are employed by apple to provide siri - must be millions!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]