PBS: NSA could have prevented 9/11 hijackings

[FrankRep]

PBS: NSA could have prevented 9/11 hijackings

Raw Story
January 27, 2009


The super-secretive National Security Agency has been quietly monitoring, decrypting, and interpreting foreign communications for decades, starting long before it came under criticism as a result of recent revelations about the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. Now a forthcoming PBS documentary asks whether the NSA could have prevented 9/11 if it had been more willing to share its data with other agencies.

Author James Bamford looked into the performance of the NSA in his 2008 book, The Shadow Factory, and found that it had been closely monitoring the 9/11 hijackers as they moved freely around the United States and communicated with Osama bin Laden's operations center in Yemen. The NSA had even tapped bin Laden's satellite phone, starting in 1996.

"The NSA never alerted any other agency that the terrorists were in the United States and moving across the country towards Washington," Bamford told PBS.

PBS also found that "the 9/11 Commission never looked closely into NSA's role in the broad intelligence breakdown behind the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. If they had, they would have understood the full extent to which the agency had major pieces of the puzzle but never put them together or disclosed their entire body of knowledge to the CIA and the FBI."

In a review of Bamford's book, former senator and 9/11 Commission member Bob Kerrey wrote, "As the 9/11 Commission later established, U.S. intelligence officials knew that al-Qaeda had held a planning meeting in Malaysia, found out the names of two recruits who had been present -- Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi -- and suspected that one and maybe both of them had flown to Los Angeles. Bamford reveals that the NSA had been eavesdropping for months on their calls to Yemen, yet the agency 'never made the effort' to trace where the calls originated. 'At any time, had the FBI been notified, they could have found Hazmi in a matter of seconds.'"

Former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer told PBS, "None of this information that we're speaking about this evening's in the 9/11 Commission report. They simply ignored all of it."

Not only was then-Director Michael Hayden never held accountable for the NSA's alleged failure, but he went on to oversee the Bush administration's vast expansion of domestic surveillance. In 2006, he was appointed as director of the CIA.

When asked whether the NSA's warrantless eavesdropping violated FISA law, Hayden insisted, "I have an order whose lawfulness has been attested to by the attorney general, an order whose lawfulness has been attested to by NSA lawyers who do this for a living. No, we're not violating the law. ... I'm asserting that NSA is doing its job."

NSA's power to eavesdrop on ordinary Americans has vastly increased since 2001, and the government's secret watch list now includes over a half a million names. PBS raises serious questions about whether important clues are still being missed simply as a result of the sheer volume of data being collected.

The Spy Factory will be shown over most PBS stations on February 3, 2009 at 8 pm.

The following preview was posted by NOVAonline at YouTube.


NOVA Investigates the NSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7kZhTjjYyY



SOURCE:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/PBS_NS..._but_0127.html

[HOLLYWOOD]

NSA, CIA, NRO, DIA, DIS, FBI SS, ECHELON, BYEMAN, NDA, NSC, hell... a long and distingushed list of Beauacracy , Incompetence, Waste, Egos, etc.

Surprisingly... NO ONE in ANY of the government agencies were EVER FIRED, NO ONE!


Just like government... never held accountable, just the individual, the citizen, the innocent.

[dannno]

I'll bet.

[Anti Federalist]

Former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer told PBS, "None of this information that we're speaking about this evening's in the 9/11 Commission report. They simply ignored all of it."

*sigh*

In five years another snippet of truth will come out.

Five years after that, another.

And when all of us are dead and gone, the whole truth of the matter will come to light, like Tonkin, or Northwoods or Pearl.

The response will be a collective yawn.

If it wasn't for my kids, I probably wouldn't bother.

[bustya]

*sigh*

In five years another snippet of truth will come out.

Five years after that, another.

And when all of us are dead and gone, the whole truth of the matter will come to light, like Tonkin, or Northwoods or Pearl.

The response will be a collective yawn.

If it wasn't for my kids, I probably wouldn't bother.

But we now have the internet, so truths are revealed much faster than before.

[Aratus]

!!!

[Reason]

So this aired earlier tonight? Does anyone know if this is posted anywhere online yet?

[lucius]

*sigh*

In five years another snippet of truth will come out.

Five years after that, another.

And when all of us are dead and gone, the whole truth of the matter will come to light, like Tonkin, or Northwoods or Pearl.

The response will be a collective yawn.

If it wasn't for my kids, I probably wouldn't bother.

agree

[Reason]

Part One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb7u5bDuc4k

Part Two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta2juBLbh20

Part Three
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrg9n5uMtrQ

Part Four
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN3S66FA8sI

Part Five
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y1o88Y30xM

Part Six
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yr_AtsGjlc

[Truth Warrior]

Of course the NSA could have. However, the plan and agenda was different.

[HOLLYWOOD]

Of course the NSA could have. However, the plan and agenda was different.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/spyfactory/police.html

I highly recommend everyone watch this mutliple times! Yes, you may catch the lies, misinformation, disinformation, etc... trust me, I know!

There are so many LIES in this documentary... not by PBS, by the clowns that are interviewed!

Hayden is a LYING F#$KIN NAZI!

Eric Hastletine of the NSA, a F#%KIN LIES throughout his comments!

Tim Sample former Staff Intel... is a F#$KIN LIAR!

here's a point of interest: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread275335/pg1

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/raven-rock.htm

[Brian4Liberty]

My god! Government failed? Unbelieveable!!!

Let's give them more money, and more power, and maybe, just maybe, but probably not, (well, most assuredly not) they will get it right next time.

[mczerone]

So what?
We also could have prevented 9/11 by not having such an interventionist foreign policy. But that reasoning wouldn't give the current government an excuse to enlarge its security force.

[Truth Warrior]

Q - What is Project ECHELON?


ECHELON is the term popularly used for an automated global interception and relay system operated by the intelligence agencies in five nations: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (it is believed that ECHELON is the code name for the portion of the system that intercepts satellite-based communications). While the United States National Security Agency (NSA) takes the lead, ECHELON works in conjunction with other intelligence agencies, including the Australian Defence Signals Directorate (DSD). It is believed that ECHELON also works with Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the agencies of other allies of the United States, pursuant to various treaties. (1)

These countries coordinate their activities pursuant to the UKUSA agreement, which dates back to 1947. The original ECHELON dates back to 1971. However, its capabilities and priorities have expanded greatly since its formation. According to reports, it is capable of intercepting and processing many types of transmissions, throughout the globe. In fact, it has been suggested that ECHELON may intercept as many as 3 billion communications everyday, including phone calls, e-mail messages, Internet downloads, satellite transmissions, and so on. (2) The ECHELON system gathers all of these transmissions indiscriminately, then distills the information that is most heavily desired through artificial intelligence programs. Some sources have claimed that ECHELON sifts through an estimated 90 percent of all traffic that flows through the Internet. (3)

However, the exact capabilities and goals of ECHELON remain unclear. For example, it is unknown whether ECHELON actually targets domestic communications. Also, it is apparently very difficult for ECHELON to intercept certain types of transmissions, particularly fiber communications.

http://www.nsawatch.org/echelonfaq.html

[HOLLYWOOD]

good links:

http://www.character-education.us/echelon.htm

http://www.crazylinux.net/photos.htm


NSA UK Site in the northern Midlands- Menwith Hills:


NSA Pine-Gap: Alice Springs, Austrailia


NSA et-al Misawa, Japan


NSA et-al Buckley ANG, Aroura, CO


Sulfur Springs, WV
www.fas.org/sgp/library/maret.doc

Read This to get an insight to the Wranglings
http://www.nogw.com/download/2006_haydens_heroes.pdf

Q - What is Project ECHELON?

ECHELON is the term popularly used for an automated global interception and relay system operated by the intelligence agencies in five nations: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (it is believed that ECHELON is the code name for the portion of the system that intercepts satellite-based communications). While the United States National Security Agency (NSA) takes the lead, ECHELON works in conjunction with other intelligence agencies, including the Australian Defence Signals Directorate (DSD). It is believed that ECHELON also works with Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the agencies of other allies of the United States, pursuant to various treaties. (1)

These countries coordinate their activities pursuant to the UKUSA agreement, which dates back to 1947. The original ECHELON dates back to 1971. However, its capabilities and priorities have expanded greatly since its formation. According to reports, it is capable of intercepting and processing many types of transmissions, throughout the globe. In fact, it has been suggested that ECHELON may intercept as many as 3 billion communications everyday, including phone calls, e-mail messages, Internet downloads, satellite transmissions, and so on. (2) The ECHELON system gathers all of these transmissions indiscriminately, then distills the information that is most heavily desired through artificial intelligence programs. Some sources have claimed that ECHELON sifts through an estimated 90 percent of all traffic that flows through the Internet. (3)

However, the exact capabilities and goals of ECHELON remain unclear. For example, it is unknown whether ECHELON actually targets domestic communications. Also, it is apparently very difficult for ECHELON to intercept certain types of transmissions, particularly fiber communications.

http://www.nsawatch.org/echelonfaq.html

[Aratus]

the flyover more than opened up old wounds, it brought to the surface many of the old questions...