
NSA could have prevented 9/11 hijackings (2009) - mgadams3
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/PBS_NSA_tracked_911_hijackers_but_0127.html
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ryanx435
there is a great exploration of why government agencies could, in fact, NOT
have prevented the 9/11 hijackings in the book I am currently reading [Where
good ideas come from, by Steven Johnson]. specifically in chapter 3, The Slow
Hunch.

The premise of his argument is that various individuals within government
agencies had access to intelligence that pointed to a terrorist plot, but
there was no collabortion between the individuals and so the pieces never got
put together. Each agent had a different and unique view of the plot, but not
the whole picture. The lack of communication and intel sharing between all of
the various agents made it impossible to get grasp on the enormity and urgency
of the situation, and so very little was done about it.

The book itself is a very interesting read and I highly reccommend it.

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anthonymonori
I'm not against online surveillance, as far as we get notified about it! I see
it as a intrusion of privacy that all my data is being monitored without me
knowing about it! If it doesn't get into the wrong hand and does not gets
abused, it's fine - but I do not trust the government right now.

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xssbitch
The next 9/11 could be tomorrow. I'd certainly rather have PRISM running with
even a slight chance of preventing it than see 2,000 americans die.

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mtgx
But it hasn't stopped anything, and it won't. It will only get abused.

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joefarish
I'm not defending PRISM but how do you know it hasn't stopped anything?

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dfxm12
This exchange reminds me of this excerpt from _The Simpsons_ :

Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm.

Lisa: That's specious reasoning, Dad.

Homer: Thank you, dear.

Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.

Homer: Oh, how does it work?

Lisa: It doesn't work.

Homer: Uh-huh.

Lisa: It's just a stupid rock.

Homer: Uh-huh.

Lisa: But I don't see any tigers around, do you?

It's a funny thing, we'll never be able to prove one way or another, because
if the government reveals any plots they've foiled, it could give out
classified details of the system. So in the end, we're left simply to trust an
entity that would like to spy on us... It's like a racket.

