> Most countries have intelligence apparatus of course, no reason the USA shouldn't have something fulfilling the NSA's role. This isn't terribly compelling to

> Most countries have intelligence apparatus of course, no reason the USA shouldn't have something fulfilling the NSA's role. This isn't terribly compelling to me. I've never understood why we don't question the validity of both the NSA and the CIA, post-Cold War. Especially when our government just invented an entire war paradigm based on vague threats and the "terrorist" label, which can be applied to anyone the government wants at will. The old paradigm of state secrets is, IMO, outdated and no longer useful. We should be marching towards total transparency of government. With the Internet and cellphones and cameras everywhere, governments can no longer hide in darkness. They have done very bad things in our name. We know better today, and shouldn't have to accept that this is just the way it is.