RE: <nettime> Kinder, gentler NSA admits human frailties

["felipe rodriquez" <felipe@xs4all.nl>]

>An admission by the US National Security Agency (NSA) that its computer
>networks were crippled for three days last week is a puzzling development
>for an organisation normally loath to admit so much as its own existence.
>Nevertheless, the agency issued a press release on Saturday admitting that
>its systems were down for three days, but hastening to add that they had
>since been repaired satisfactorily.

Of course their computers are failing; thats because NSA is afraid that
its budget will be cut and scrutinized. And if that would happen, their
computers would be failing even more often. Messages from NSA about
failing sattelites and computers are nothing more than concealed budget
requests, or at least meant to prevent further cuts to their budget. Next
thing you know is that they'll be in front of some senate committee
linking their technical problems with tight budgets, and how that could
harm USA's national security because they may miss some terrorist's
message about a bomb somewhere. 

Another reason why we're suddenly hearing more from NSA is damage control. 
There are investigations ongoing in the USA that seek to find out if NSA
has been snooping US citizens, which is illegal. This is a potentially
very harmful process for NSA. By publishing press releases, about
different topics, they try to avert attention and control damage, because
if they continue to be silent and secretive they make themselves
vulnerable and suspicious. A lot of ordinary people have almost never
heard about NSA, and if there would be a senate committee investigation
into illegal eavesdropping, that could have potentially disastrous results
and turn the US population against the organization. So they need to
profile themselves, and profile their organization's importance in issues
of national security, in order to make a public outcry less severe when
information about illegal eavesdropping by NSA starts to come out. 


	Felipe Rodriquez

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