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> Most of the work they do is spying on foreign governments in order to inform U.S. policy. Really? I'm not disputing this, but I'd love to see some evidence b

by coldpie 11y ago

> Most of the work they do is spying on foreign governments in order to inform U.S. policy. Really? I'm not disputing this, but I'd love to see some evidence backing it up. What I remember from the Snowden disclosures is the vast majority of the leaked information actually did relate to violent threats to national security. Am I remembering wrong, or did I miss something?

nickff 11y ago
The NSA was founded in the early 1950s to be the primary signals intelligence (SigInt) branch of the US Government, largely to gather information which would be of strategic importance in the Cold War. You might look at the NSA as a SigInt counterpart to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which runs most of the spy satellites and other strategic imagery. The Wikipedia article on the NSA is quite good.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency
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strictnein 11y ago
They're also charged with ComSec. If your main source of info on the NSA are the Snowden leaks, you're not getting the full picture. If you're really interested in the subject of the NSA's history, and what it does, James Bamford's work is pretty interesting. Very dry books, tinged with his politics (more so Body of Secrets [1] than the Puzzle Palace [0]), but interesting none-the-less. [0] The Puzzle Palace http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Palace-National-Intelligence-Or.. http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Palace-National-Intelligence-Or.... [1] Body of Secrets http://www.amazon.com/Body-Secrets-Ultra-Secret-National-Sec.. http://www.amazon.com/Body-Secrets-Ultra-Secret-National-Sec.... Body of Secrets is an easier read, because it's written more around historical events. The Puzzle Palace got a little too in the weeds for my liking. One of its primary sources were a ton of unclassified internal memos, newsletters, etc, and he goes into things like who ran grounds security at the NSA's Fort Meade location.

by coldpie 11y ago

nickff 11y ago

The NSA was founded in the early 1950s to be the primary signals intelligence (SigInt) branch of the US Government, largely to gather information which would be of strategic importance in the Cold War. You might look at the NSA as a SigInt counterpart to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which runs most of the spy satellites and other strategic imagery. The Wikipedia article on the NSA is quite good.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

strictnein 11y ago

They're also charged with ComSec. If your main source of info on the NSA are the Snowden leaks, you're not getting the full picture. If you're really interested in the subject of the NSA's history, and what it does, James Bamford's work is pretty interesting. Very dry books, tinged with his politics (more so Body of Secrets [1] than the Puzzle Palace [0]), but interesting none-the-less. [0] The Puzzle Palace http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Palace-National-Intelligence-Or.. http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Palace-National-Intelligence-Or.... [1] Body of Secrets http://www.amazon.com/Body-Secrets-Ultra-Secret-National-Sec.. http://www.amazon.com/Body-Secrets-Ultra-Secret-National-Sec.... Body of Secrets is an easier read, because it's written more around historical events. The Puzzle Palace got a little too in the weeds for my liking. One of its primary sources were a ton of unclassified internal memos, newsletters, etc, and he goes into things like who ran grounds security at the NSA's Fort Meade location.