Another Report on the NSA Data Mining Programs

An analysis of 225 terrorism cases inside the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has concluded that the bulk collection of phone records by the National Security Agency “has had no discernible impact on preventing acts of terrorism.”

In the majority of cases, traditional law enforcement and investigative methods provided the tip or evidence to initiate the case, according to the study by the New America Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit group.

  WaPo

Yeah, what do they know? Probably some liberal Islamist group.

The study, to be released Monday, corroborates the findings of a White House-appointed review group, which said last month that the NSA counterterrorism program “was not essential to preventing attacks” and that much of the evidence it did turn up “could readily have been obtained in a timely manner using conventional [court] orders.”

Yeah? What do they know?

Senior administration officials have defended the program as one tool that complements others in building a more complete picture of a terrorist plot or network. And they say it has been valuable in knocking down rumors of a plot and in determining that potential threats against the United States are nonexistent. Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. calls that the “peace of mind” metric.

See there? It’s able to determine that potential threats are nonexistent. Peace of mind.

“Although we might be safer if the government had ready access to a massive storehouse of information about every detail of our lives, the impact of such a program on the quality of life and on individual freedom would simply be too great,” the group’s report said.

OK, thanks, but apparently, we have NOT been safer. The Boston bombers didn’t seem to have any trouble getting their explosives set. Not to mention, we were already safe enough, had the agencies with the necessary information pre-9/11 been willing to share it.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.