Monday, March 24, 2014

Our navel-gazing spy agencies miss the big picture

Seems the CIA, NSA and every other acronym in the government’s alphabet soup of spy agencies missed the Russian invasion of Crimea. The Ruskies somehow cloaked their communications, and ooops, slipped into another country before our spooks had their second cup of coffee. They could probably write a five-page report on what I had for lunch yesterday, but couldn’t see one of the world’s largest militaries mass at their border and invade a neighboring country.

Could it be that their attention was focused inward, instead of on the real threats that exist in the world? The expenditure of billions of dollars and many thousands of man hours spying on innocent Americans is, beyond the legal and constitutional ramifications, a huge waste of time and energy and one that undoubtedly distracts our spies from focusing on actual threats.

A few members of congress are asking for an investigation into our surveillance agencies and their activities. I wish I could be optimistic about this, but I know what’s going to happen. If an actual investigation becomes a reality, the agencies and the president will only allow it if everything is kept secret. National security, you know. We will continue to be kept in the dark, maybe thrown a few bones of “reform,” and then the spooks will return to business as usual. And our country will once again not see the forest for the trees.

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