Difference between revisions of "National Security Agency"

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The U.S. '''[http://www.nsa.gov/ National Security Agency]''' (NSA) was established by a memorandum dated October 24, 1952, by President [[Harry S. Truman]]. The NSA was established as "the organization within the U.S. Government responsible for communications intelligence (COMINT) activities."[http://jya.com/nsa102452.htm] See [http://www.austinlinks.com/Crypto/charter.html original charter for the NSA].
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The U.S. '''National Security Agency''' (NSA)established by a memorandum dated October 24, 1952, by President [[Harry S. Truman]], is "the organization within the U.S. Government responsible for communications intelligence (COMINT) activities." [http://jya.com/nsa102452.htm]  
  
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----
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==Bush's Domestic Spies==
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Only months after the events of [[September 11, 2001]], President [[George W. Bush]] signed a presidential order in 2002 which "secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of [[terrorist]] activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials," James Risen and Eric Lichtblau [http://nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?ei=5094&en=c7596fe0d4798785&hp=&ex=1134795600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print reported] in the December 16, 2005, ''New York Times''.
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The NSA "has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible 'dirty numbers' linked to [[Al Qaeda]], the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications." [http://nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?ei=5094&en=c7596fe0d4798785&hp=&ex=1134795600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print]
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"While many details about the program remain secret, officials familiar with it say the N.S.A. eavesdrops without warrants on up to 500 people in the United States at any given time. The list changes as some names are added and others dropped, so the number monitored in this country may have reached into the thousands since the program began, several officials said. Overseas, about 5,000 to 7,000 people suspected of terrorist ties are monitored at one time, according to those officials." [http://nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?ei=5094&en=c7596fe0d4798785&hp=&ex=1134795600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print]
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===Related Links===
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*James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, [http://nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?ei=5094&en=c7596fe0d4798785&hp=&ex=1134795600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts,"] ''New York Times'', December 16, 2005.
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*Larry Abramson, [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5056518 "Bush Said to Approve Post-Sept. 11 Eavesdropping,"] [[NPR]], December 16, 2005.
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*[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5056871 "Domestic Spying and a Delayed Report,"] NPR, December 16, 2005.
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*[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5056874 "Politics with Juan Williams: Spying and the Patriot Act,"] NPR, December 16, 2005.
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*Will Bunch, [http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002576.html "The Big Stall: How Bush gamed the media to get re-elected in 2004,"] ''Attytood'', December 16, 2005.
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==NSA Overview==
 
The NSA is "the Nation's cryptologic organization. It coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. A high technology organization, NSA is on the frontiers of communications and data processing. It is also one of the most important centers of foreign language analysis and research within the Government."
 
The NSA is "the Nation's cryptologic organization. It coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. A high technology organization, NSA is on the frontiers of communications and data processing. It is also one of the most important centers of foreign language analysis and research within the Government."
  
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"Most NSA/CSS employees, both civilian and military, are headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, centrally located between Baltimore and Washington, DC. Its workforce represents an unusual combination of specialties: analysts, engineers, physicists, mathematicians, linguists, computer scientists, researchers, as well as customer relations specialists, security officers, data flow experts, managers, administrative and clerical assistants."[http://www.nsa.gov/about_nsa/index.html]
 
"Most NSA/CSS employees, both civilian and military, are headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, centrally located between Baltimore and Washington, DC. Its workforce represents an unusual combination of specialties: analysts, engineers, physicists, mathematicians, linguists, computer scientists, researchers, as well as customer relations specialists, security officers, data flow experts, managers, administrative and clerical assistants."[http://www.nsa.gov/about_nsa/index.html]
  
'''Director''': Lieutenant General [[Michael V. Hayden]]
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==Contact Information==
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Website: http://www.nsa.gov/
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*Director: Lieutenant General [[Michael V. Hayden]]
  
== Related SourceWatch Resources ==
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== SourceWatch Resources ==
 
*[[Central Intelligence Agency]]
 
*[[Central Intelligence Agency]]
 
*[[Department of Homeland Security]]
 
*[[Department of Homeland Security]]
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== External Links ==
 
== External Links ==
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===Profiles===
 
*[http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency Wikipedia]: National Security Agency.
 
*[http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency Wikipedia]: National Security Agency.
 
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/fighters/nsa.shtml BBC Profile of National Security Agency].
 
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/fighters/nsa.shtml BBC Profile of National Security Agency].
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*[http://www.intelligence.gov/1-members_nsa.shtml National Security Agency] at ''intelligence.gov''.
 
*[http://www.intelligence.gov/1-members_nsa.shtml National Security Agency] at ''intelligence.gov''.
 
*[http://www.totse.com/en/politics/national_security_agency/ National Security Agency]: "The largest and most secret of the intelligence agencies of the U.S. government, the National Security Agency (NSA), with headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, has two main functions: to protect U.S. government communications and to intercept foreign communications."
 
*[http://www.totse.com/en/politics/national_security_agency/ National Security Agency]: "The largest and most secret of the intelligence agencies of the U.S. government, the National Security Agency (NSA), with headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, has two main functions: to protect U.S. government communications and to intercept foreign communications."
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*[http://www.austinlinks.com/Crypto/charter.html Original Charter for the NSA].
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*[http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16programbox.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1134768842-EbAjG+d8LiFD5AA/1IQ41w "A Half-Century of Surveillance,"] ''New York Times'', December 16, 2005.
  
 
[[Category:Intelligence agencies]][[category:national security]]
 
[[Category:Intelligence agencies]][[category:national security]]

Revision as of 23:33, 16 December 2005

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), established by a memorandum dated October 24, 1952, by President Harry S. Truman, is "the organization within the U.S. Government responsible for communications intelligence (COMINT) activities." [1]


Bush's Domestic Spies

Only months after the events of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush signed a presidential order in 2002 which "secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials," James Risen and Eric Lichtblau reported in the December 16, 2005, New York Times.

The NSA "has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years in an effort to track possible 'dirty numbers' linked to Al Qaeda, the officials said. The agency, they said, still seeks warrants to monitor entirely domestic communications." [2]

"While many details about the program remain secret, officials familiar with it say the N.S.A. eavesdrops without warrants on up to 500 people in the United States at any given time. The list changes as some names are added and others dropped, so the number monitored in this country may have reached into the thousands since the program began, several officials said. Overseas, about 5,000 to 7,000 people suspected of terrorist ties are monitored at one time, according to those officials." [3]

Related Links

NSA Overview

The NSA is "the Nation's cryptologic organization. It coordinates, directs, and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S. information systems and produce foreign intelligence information. A high technology organization, NSA is on the frontiers of communications and data processing. It is also one of the most important centers of foreign language analysis and research within the Government."

  • Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)
  • Information Systems Security (INFOSEC) - "protecting all classified and sensitive information that is stored or sent through U.S. Government equipment."
  • R&D - Research and development programs: "cryptanalytic research led to the first large-scale computer and the first solid-state computer, predecessors to the modern computer."
  • NSA "employs the country's premier codemakers and codebreakers."

"Most NSA/CSS employees, both civilian and military, are headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, centrally located between Baltimore and Washington, DC. Its workforce represents an unusual combination of specialties: analysts, engineers, physicists, mathematicians, linguists, computer scientists, researchers, as well as customer relations specialists, security officers, data flow experts, managers, administrative and clerical assistants."[4]

Contact Information

Website: http://www.nsa.gov/

SourceWatch Resources

External Links

Profiles