Re:I asked the NSA for its file on me, and here's what I got...
by dragontamer on Monday August 19, 2013 @09:53AM
(#6237193)
Well part of that is how the NSA's mission. NSA is charged with both defense and offense. Defense side has brought us AES, SHA1, etc. etc. Offense side is well... the current controversy.
Anyway, your words are unfortunately generic, and can be applied to any federal government agency. Centralizing resources is almost always going to be either more efficient or more effective. It is important that the NSA is technically a military organization (with tons of civilian supporters). It is run by a 4-Star General, and their primary targets are military enemies. It is imperative for the NSA to be as powerful as possible from a collections standpoint.
The key therefore, is in the laws that restrict the NSA's behavior. The NSA is an outstandingly useful tool to the military... run under the same executive branch that the rest of the Military is run (Department of Defense). Unlike the CIA, which competes with the DoD for budget material, the NSA is most certainly a military tool.
A nation's citizens need to be comfortable with its military. Squadrons of F16s are almost never deployed against citizens, and the massive war machines (Fleets of Carriers, Napalm, etc. etc.) are similarly not to be used against one's own citizens. The NSA is on that list of extremely powerful, but useful tools of the Military's toolbox.
Anyway, your words are unfortunately generic, and can be applied to any federal government agency. Centralizing resources is almost always going to be either more efficient or more effective. It is important that the NSA is technically a military organization (with tons of civilian supporters). It is run by a 4-Star General, and their primary targets are military enemies. It is imperative for the NSA to be as powerful as possible from a collections standpoint.
The key therefore, is in the laws that restrict the NSA's behavior. The NSA is an outstandingly useful tool to the military... run under the same executive branch that the rest of the Military is run (Department of Defense). Unlike the CIA, which competes with the DoD for budget material, the NSA is most certainly a military tool.
A nation's citizens need to be comfortable with its military. Squadrons of F16s are almost never deployed against citizens, and the massive war machines (Fleets of Carriers, Napalm, etc. etc.) are similarly not to be used against one's own citizens. The NSA is on that list of extremely powerful, but useful tools of the Military's toolbox.