The boys have their toys, and this is the best they can do.

[kpete]

He was a San Diego cab driver who fled Somalia as a teenager, winning asylum in the United States after he was wounded during fighting among warring tribes. Today, Basaaly Moalin, 36, is awaiting sentencing following his conviction on charges that he sent $8,500 to Somalia in support of the terrorist group al-Shabab.

Moalin’s prosecution, barely noticed when the case was in court, has suddenly come to the fore of a national debate about U.S. surveillance. Under pressure from Congress, senior intelligence officials have offered it as their primary example of the unique value of a National Security Agency program that collects tens of millions of phone records from Americans.


the rest:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsa-cites-case-as-success-of-phone-data-collection-program/2013/08/08/fc915e5a-feda-11e2-96a8-d3b921c0924a_story.html
via: http://www.eschatonblog.com/2013/08/unique-value.html

[Recursion]

1. I wonder what the outcry would be if they turned the surveillance on the IRA holdouts in Boston

and New York.

[BainsBane]

2. We actually had some very young men from Minneapolis blow themselves up

for Al Shabab back in Somalia. There was a trial here for someone who facilitated their recruitment and training. It was very sad, particularly for the Somali community.