[Washington Post] But the reason the president can't cite a specific time the phone meta-data program stopped a similar tragedy is because it hasn't.Duh. Intel doesn't work that way. For every "we attack at dawn from the southern sector using two divisions" piece of data there are literally millions of other pieces that might construct background, lay out an operations network, add (or subtract) persons from the organizational structure, track the movement of money, any one of the thousands of things that go into operating a terrorist -- or spy or sabotage network or even a Boy Scout troop. The WaPo writer is, I think, writing from a point of view in which he expects a result, rather than where evidence takes him. Or maybe it was Law Professor Geoffrey Stone who started from his conclusion and argued backwards.
Law professor Geoffrey Stone, a member of the presidential task force charged with reviewing NSA programs, told NBC News the group specifically looked for times when the program may have helped prevent a terrorist attack, but "found none." The task force's final report reflects that, saying:Our review suggests that the information contributed to terrorist investigations by the use of section 215 telephony meta-data was not essential to preventing attacks and could readily have been obtained in a timely manner using conventional section 215 orders.But the lack of evidence that the program is effective will probably not prevent the NSA's defenders from continuing to invoke 9/11 to protect the program. Another member of the task force, former acting CIA Director Michael Morell, on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, admitted the group had found that "the program to date has not played a significant role in stopping terrorist attacks in the United States," but earlier in his interview credited the NSA as one of the agencies responsible for the lack of successful terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11.
I have no well-formed opinion on NSA's domestic operations. When I was in the business they didn't have any. Period. My personal opinion is that they shouldn't -- except for when there's a foreign terminal in the conversation, and then with special handling.
But I still have a bit of an idea how intel works.