4 ms·

I don’t think there’s any question as to the quality of cia intelligence. If anything Snowden really proves us the scale of their gathering and capabilities.

dhimes 8y ago
So that leaves the questions of veracity and motive.
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  Same motive your local cops have when they leak all kinds of information about this gang banger or that one to the local media in advance of him/her being charged. Increases likelihood of conviction. Of course in this case, there would be no charges, or trials or anything of that nature, but I'd think the same principle is at work. It puts pressure on certain people when they let everyone know that they know. (Along with the not so subtle subtext reminding everyone that their information gathering reach is long, and their memory longer.)
resters 8y ago
The gathering methods are encompassing and technically adept, but that does not mean that the announcement reflects data that actually exists. Nor does it answer the question of why the agency chose to selectively promote the claim, which is the main issue. We know from many other examples that hard data is used to sell and add credibility to analytical opinions that are at best informed hunches. Yet we are led to believe that the data speaks for itself.
chrisseaton 8y ago
> I don’t think there’s any question as to the quality of cia intelligence. If anything Snowden really proves us the scale of their gathering and capabilities. Weren't Snowden's releases about the NSA, not the CIA?
- meowface 8y ago
  Yes. There was a CIA tool leak later, by an unknown person (but they have a suspect [1]), but it appears to be unrelated to Snowden. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-identifies-suspect-in-major-leak-of-cia-hacking-tools/2018/05/15/5d5ef3f8-5865-11e8-8836-a4a123c359ab_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-id...
  - DonHopkins 8y ago
    And it's totally unrelated to RMS, who only encourages NSA and FBI agents to follow Snowden's example: [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider ]]] [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]] [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]
- resters 8y ago
  Many of the programs are shared across agencies so the revelations told s lot about the sigint capabilities of all of the agencies.

dhimes 8y ago

So that leaves the questions of veracity and motive.

bilbo0s 8y ago
Same motive your local cops have when they leak all kinds of information about this gang banger or that one to the local media in advance of him/her being charged. Increases likelihood of conviction. Of course in this case, there would be no charges, or trials or anything of that nature, but I'd think the same principle is at work. It puts pressure on certain people when they let everyone know that they know. (Along with the not so subtle subtext reminding everyone that their information gathering reach is long, and their memory longer.)

resters 8y ago

The gathering methods are encompassing and technically adept, but that does not mean that the announcement reflects data that actually exists. Nor does it answer the question of why the agency chose to selectively promote the claim, which is the main issue. We know from many other examples that hard data is used to sell and add credibility to analytical opinions that are at best informed hunches. Yet we are led to believe that the data speaks for itself.

chrisseaton 8y ago

> I don’t think there’s any question as to the quality of cia intelligence. If anything Snowden really proves us the scale of their gathering and capabilities. Weren't Snowden's releases about the NSA, not the CIA?

meowface 8y ago
Yes. There was a CIA tool leak later, by an unknown person (but they have a suspect [1]), but it appears to be unrelated to Snowden. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-identifies-suspect-in-major-leak-of-cia-hacking-tools/2018/05/15/5d5ef3f8-5865-11e8-8836-a4a123c359ab_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-id...
- DonHopkins 8y ago
  And it's totally unrelated to RMS, who only encourages NSA and FBI agents to follow Snowden's example: [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider ]]] [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]] [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]
resters 8y ago
Many of the programs are shared across agencies so the revelations told s lot about the sigint capabilities of all of the agencies.