[antimedia] antimedia: It looks like the administration....

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Posted by antimedia:
It looks like the administration....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1155530513.shtml


   ....is [1]learning its lessons. According to this lengthy article by
   WaPo, the investigation into the London terror plot was so secretive
   that even FBI agents involved in surveillance had no idea why they
   were doing the surveillance.
   The investigation was so secretive, according the Post, that some
   government employees were angered at not being informed.

     Several sources suggested last week that the extensive secrecy
     irritated some officials who were kept out of the loop at
     intelligence and law enforcement agencies, but declined to discuss
     the tensions in detail. Michael P. Jackson, Homeland Security's
     deputy secretary, said the secrecy "wasn't controversial. It was
     operational security."

   It's no mistake that the New York Times didn't reveal the plot ahead
   of time. Apparently their sources were left out of the loop. (That
   should give you some hint where the leaks were coming from.)
   Another detail that is coming out of the reporting is the deep
   involvement of the NSA in the investigation.

     More than 200 FBI agents and scores of analysts and other personnel
     would be assigned to the operation in late July and early August,
     mounting dozens of clandestine surveillance and search operations
     on individuals with possible links to the London plotters,
     officials said. Among the individuals were people who had been
     called or e-mailed by suspects or their relatives and
     acquaintances, as the FBI combed through layers of the group's
     "social network" inside the United States.

   The article doesn't mention the NSA, but where do you think the email
   and phone call tips came from?
   Here's how I'm certain it works, based upon my work in signals
   intelligence in the Navy. The NSA collects huge amounts of signals
   traffic. Specialized software sifts through the data, organizing and
   categorizing it. Then agents, trained in looking at the data, run
   queries looking for specific anomalies or for known terrorists' (or
   suspects') names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. When the
   anomalies pop up, they look further, and, when warranted, provide
   information to the FBI or various intelligence agencies which is used
   to generate FISA warrants and launch intensive investigations of
   identified targets.

References

   1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/12/AR2006081200924.html