Two More Interesting Items on Surveillance

James S. Robbins in NRO:

So how do the revelations in the Times help the terrorists? Think it through — if you were a terrorist and you believed (as most people seem to) that the NSA would ignore your communications if they crossed U.S. borders, your best move would be to set up communications relay stations inside the U.S. Terrorists are well known for their ability to find and exploit loopholes in our laws, and this would be a natural. For all we know our intelligence agencies have been exploiting these types of communications for years without the terrorists knowing it. Now they will fall silent, because now the bad guys know better. So New York Times writer James Risen will sell his book, the Times will increase circulation, politicians will beat their breasts and send out fundraising letters, and who will pay in the end?

You can answer that one.

Kevin Drum, in The Washington Monthly:

It seems clear that there's something involved here that goes far beyond ordinary wiretaps, regardless of the technology used. Perhaps some kind of massive data mining, which makes it impossible to get individual warrants? Stay tuned.

In the end, these two points illustrate perfectly why the NYT's disclosure is so devastating. First and foremost, our ability to exploit Al Qaeda communications has been dealt a severe blow. I'd give you a dollar to a donut Robbins is right on the money. The bad news is our abilities have been compromised. The good news is it will take AQ a lot of time and effort to reconstitute communications and develop alternate networks and/or means of coordinating activities.

I also believe Drum is on to something, as well. The NSA is, above all else, a technical organization. The NSA employs the best and brightest minds in the spook world to develop systems and methodologies to exploit and decipher communications, with an emphasis on decipher. Thank God the NSA is usually very closed-mouth and tight-lipped. If the the NYT's source (leaker) came out of NSA, that person is facing some serious jail time, as well he or she should. One just knows all Hell is breaking out in Fort Meade, as we speak.