Be doubly scared of NSA

Oh, and thanks again, Obama and other Democratic FISA 45 percenters

If James Bamford, the man who has written the books three books on the secret dealings of the National Security Agency, was caught off guard by last week’s news of spying on Americans overseas by the NSA, you should be scared indeed:

Wired’s Noah Shachtman: It sounds like there were lots of people in the NSA that were spying on Americans.

Bamford: Well, I assume that they were. I mean, I don't think I managed to find the only two in the whole U.S. government that were doing it. No, I think I found two that were outraged enough to speak publicly about it. And I did actually interview other people, too — but they wouldn't go on the record or anything.

Shorter takes from Bamford:
• NSA director Michael Hayden has no backbone against Cheney et al;
• Hayden has compartmentalized the NSA to an extreme;
• TSP is just an umbrella name for a whole range of spy programs.

Here’s more about Operation Highlander, the illegal NSA spying on Americans run out of Fort Gordon, Ga.