Quote:
Originally Posted by Lamplighter
It seems outlandish to spend so many resources on fear,
...yet they still MISSED the Boston Marathon bombing.
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Boston Marathon is simply one example. Could easily be the outlier in the data.
But from most every leak is a pattern. Most all averted terrorist attacks were from similar sources that also saw and suspected 11 September. Information that resulted in a memo on the president's desk warning of such an attack. And it was ignored.
Most terrorism was averted by using conventional investigative techniques. Most every failure was due to people not following up on their information (ie underwear bomber). If all this high tech spying on Americans was so useful, then where are all the leaks reporting on those successes? Even bin Laden was located using more conventional techniques.
Conventional investigations: Diana Deans and three other officers - discovered the bomb for LAX. Therefore the word went out from President Clinton to look for other attacks. Using conventional investigation techniques, they probably averted the bombing of Time Square, of Toronto, of the Radisson Hotel in Amman Jordan, and the bombing of the USS The Sullivans. Because top management put out the word and took seriously information from conventional investigation sources.
These advanced investigation tools have proven useful AFTER other information targets a specific threat. IOW every one should require a bench warrant. Currently, even that legal requirement has been bypassed because, well, this is the problem. We still have not defined the definition of the word 'privacy'. And have too many lawmakers who are so wacko extremist that no time remains to address this now serious problem.