Secrecy enables government officials to get away with gross lies

[noise]

Why is this necessary? The program grew out of a desire to address a gap identified after 9/11. One of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al-Mihdhar, made a phone call from San Diego to a known al- Qaida safehouse in Yemen.

NSA saw that call, but it could not see that the call was coming from an individual already in the United States. The telephone metadata program under Section 215 was designed to map the communications of terrorists so we could see who they may be in contact with as quickly as possible.

Transcript of President Obama’s Jan. 17 speech on NSA reforms

The NSA could have gotten a FISA warrant or told the FBI so they could get a FISA warrant. This didn't happen. Why? The public isn't allowed to know the answer to this question.

The CIA was required to tell the FBI that al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi were on their way to the US in early January 2000. This didn't happen. Why? The public isn't allowed to know the answer to this question.

The FBI intelligence side Bin Laden unit should have included the USS Cole investigators in the investigation since al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar were associated with the key Cole attack plotter Khallad Bin Attash. This didn't happen. Why? The public isn't allowed to know the answer to this question.

[Enthusiast]

1. "This didn't happen. Why?"

I suspect if we knew the answer to that question the entire house of cards would come tumbling down.

[bemildred]

2. Secrecy is essential to controlling the framing of a narrative.

Effective propaganda requires it.

[MisterP]

4. and maintaining the atmosphere of impunity

if you can *delay* having the book thrown at you until you're out of office that's another sort of impunity as well: almost 300 Reagan appointees were indicted or jailed, and the Republicans got sick of him by 1990--but now he's "the greatest Prexy EVA"

[bemildred]

5. Yes, "delay is denial", stalling is a favored tactic. nt

[PowerToThePeople]

3. Splinter them into a thousand pieces and scatter the remains into the winds. n/t