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NSA Pros And Cons

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The age of intelligence has grown at an extremely accelerated rate over the past few years in the United States. After the events of September 11, 2001, when the terrorist group Al-Qaeda attacked the World Trade Centers in New York, the surge of surveillance of the American public increased drastically. Measures to ensure our national security were put in place directly after the attacks such as the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the passing of the Patriot Act, and the rise of the National Security Agency, or NSA. The purpose of these decisions were to guarantee the safety of the American citizens from any act of terrorism. The products of this idea are something far from what the American citizens expected in terms of safety …show more content…

Looking back on the results of these types of programs, many wonder if the government has truly had success with these programs The intelligence programs centered around the NSA have grown at such a drastic rate that issues have risen around the legal circumstances of spying, the effectiveness of the program, and the reach of spying inside the country and the rest of the world.

One of the biggest arguments is whether all of this is truly legal. The NSA and Barack Obama have both openly admitted to the collection of nationwide phone call and email data that is analyzed for our safety. Although this is done with the best intentions, critics will say that this is too far, as well as unconstitutional. These acts carried out by the government are “violations of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which states that ‘the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches …show more content…

The growth of programs such as the NSA, CIA, and FBI in the United States have created a sense of security for many citizens, but critics suggest that these agencies have become too large for their own good. On December 25, 2009, a Nigerian man affiliated with Al-Qaeda named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to ignite explosives hidden in his underwear on a plane making its way to Detroit, Michigan. His plan was never executed and the accident was safely avoided, but it later came to surface that intelligence agents possessed information on Abdulmutallab that should have alerted them to this presence in the US. In a statement regarding the potential attack, President Barack Obama said “The U.S. government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack, but our intelligence community failed to connect those dots” (Obama). Statements directly from the President such as this do not create a very convincing story that the US is doing a very good job protecting its citizens. In between all of the useless information collected throughout the day, it is very well possible that critical information such as this can be lost in the endless emails and phone calls from the average American. In July 2010, The Washington Post published an article outlining how large these agencies have actually grown. In the

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The moment that the Twin Towers fell in New York, America became destined for change. In the wake of these attacks, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 was quickly passed through congress, and signed by then-president, George W. Bush. The act itself gives the FBI and other government agencies the ability to do and use certain methods, many of which are already used by other law enforcement organizations, to help prevent future terrorist attacks. Since then, this piece of legislation has been the center of much debate and controversy. But, there is ample reason to believe that the Patriot Act is needed and effective.

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September 11, 2001 is known as a remarkable day of history in the Untied States. Not long after the after mass of the terrorism, the USA Patriot Act was brought. The USA Patriot Act is a ten-letter acronym for the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act. (n.d.). The attacks of the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon on September 11th resulted in the legislative response of the Patriot Act.

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In 2001, following the most successful terrorist attack on U.S. soil in the history of the nation, the Bush Administration and Congress granted the National Security Agency (NSA) broad powers to collect both foreign and domestic intelligence to avoid a similar strike in the future. Ever since, the NSA has conducted covert measures to collect signal intelligence on a global scale. The extension of powers granted to the NSA has been met with significant controversy on both its legality and constitutionality. It is apparent that the NSA surveillance program is constitutional for citizens of the United States, because all stored data is encrypted upon collection, and warrants are needed to decrypt the stored data for review. However, the United

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It is a commonly known fact that “Uncertainty heightens fear.” The fear of the unknown, where or when or how the terrorists would strike next did permanent damage to the heart of america. Each attack was specifically planned to target symbols of American security and pride. In this way, the terrorists figured, they could force American into a mentality of constant fear, crippling their actions and influencing their decisions. Although a shadow of fear lingered over the United States for many years after the attacks, the sturdy american people fought their way back to a feeling of security and peace.

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The Patriot Act provides the United States’ law enforcement agencies broad power in both domestic and international surveillance. This act was designed due to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. President Bush requested this act to the United States Congress which they passed on October 26, 2001. The act was put in place quickly to stop terrorist within the United States border and be able to apprehend and prosecute the terrorist before they are able to act ("Patriot Act."). The Patriot Act was established to prevent terrorist attacks however; the Patriot Act violates the Constitution making the Act illegal.

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The USA PATRIOT (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001) was a necessary and effective piece of legislation that enhanced the security of the nation and will continue, in a modified form, to prevent future terrorist attacks although it was quite intrusive on American’s civil liberties. According to detailed study of the decade following 9/11, “If we just look at the decade between 2001 and 2011, we still see that the number of terrorist attacks has declined since Sept. 11.” So, in terms of achieving its goal, it has been successful. Signed into law by President George W. Bush in October of 2001 in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States during

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In many of these cases, the agents, without any authorization, forced the internet providers and communication companies to give the information. Moreover, FBI agents could use the Patriot Act “guise” for their own

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The other side of this argument is that mass surveillance is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. This is what Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy had to say on the matter. “’Americans deserve to understand more about the NSA's collection and use of their phone records, and in particular about the types of systemic problems revealed in these documents,’”(Risen 4). In a similar way according to Risen “the American public remains wary of the threat of terrorism but is also critical of government surveillance programs put in place”, and that “majority of Americans ‘oppose mass surveillance of people's Internet and phone usage for use in future investigations. ’“(Risen 6).

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Accordingly, the executive branch during the Bush administration felt it was their responsibility, duty and obligation to put forth those precautionary measures to prevent domestic terrorism from repeating. Proponents, like the Former President George W. Bush, have claimed that some of the most significant improvements created are as follows: the ‘Lone Wolf’ provision; Section 6001, Information Sharing; Section 203(b) and 203(d), Roving Wiretaps, Access to Records; Section 215, Foreign Intelligence Wiretaps and Searched; Section 218, Sneak & Peek Warrants, and the extension of Material Support; Section 805 (Abramson, Larry, and Maria Godoy). Information Sharing: Section 203(b) and 203 (d) Prior to September of 2001, there had been terroristic motivated attacks with specific intent to murder Americans and our allies. For example, “the World Trade Center (WTC) in 1993, the U.S. barracks in Saudi Arabia in 1996, U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998, the USS Cole in 2000 and the plan to use commercial airliners as weapons in 1994-95…” (Hansen) Most of the intelligence collected from the investigations of these attacks directed to the infamous terrorist, Osama Bin Laden.

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Without trying to risk anything, you will never be able to succeed. “To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing -Anonymous.” Like the quote said, risk must be taken. Without risks, you would not be at your full potential. In “The Most Dangerous Games”, by Richard Connell, the quote interlocks with Rainsford based on the decisions he made and risks he took.

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9/11, Criminal Justice Agencies and Homeland Security Thirteen years, two months and eight days have passed since September 11. Still, the remnants of a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers lingers among the public’s mind. Security has been beefed up with extreme standards, stressing the safety of the American public from eminent attacks. This has also created a boost in awareness to suspicious activities and personnel. To some, the ignorance is stronger than most because of the belief that the actions committed on 9/11 were meaningless, that it didn’t change a thing in American society.

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The truth is that “The US government, with assistance from major telecommunication carriers including AT&T, has engage in massive, illegal dragnet surveillance of the domestic communications and communication records of millions of ordinary Americans” (Rumold). People who have never committed any action that would flag a terrorist plot are having their communication information exposed to the government due to AT&T reporting all of their customer’s phone calls. Users, knowing their conversations are being recorded, have to live in fear because they have to be careful of every word they speak. This fear rejects the people from privacy and freedom because they have to continuously live in fear of their own government. AT&T surveillances user’s actions by “installing a fiber optic splitter at its facility at 611 Folsom Street in San Francisco that makes copies of all emails web browsing and other internet traffic to and from AT&T customers and provides those copies to the NSA”(Rumold).

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Given the robust nature of the homeland security system in the United States, the abilities to forecast and meet challenges that are presented to the nation will continue to be met. For all of the incidents that are prevented or dealt with in an acceptable manner, the incident that is most talked about is the one that slipped through the cracks. In order to prevent this from happening the homeland security machine needs to continue to be a well oiled machine that continually evolves and adapts to the changing

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Having America ahead of terrorists with technology will help counter or prevent there horrible attacks in America, as well as anywhere in the world. In the article Robert S. Miller(Director of the FBI) wrote, he states “ We have brought in professionals from private industry to help bring the Bureau into the digital age “. Having this advance technology will help America to stay ahead of terrorism and possibly prevent it from happening. America can also stand up to terrorism by preparing, we the american people, for terrorist attacks here and abroad. There is a method that is being taught to everyone, from the american citizen all the way up to the U.S military.

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(Bilton, 2013) Surveillance of search engines permits information to be monitored so that if any hazardous search word like how to make bomb is looked it up several times by someone then it can be identified (Anon, 2014). Also, watching over the public assists police to capture crime suspects so that government organizations can protect national security (mass surveillance 위키피디아) To be specific, after terrible incident occurred in September 11, 2001, government of United States enacted the Patriot Act which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. The act was signed by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001 in the name of declaring war with terrorism. (위키피디아) The law grants the right to Federal Bureau of Investigation to profile people who fit certain stereotypes so that potential crime and potential terror can be prevented.

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