
Al-Qaida said to be changing its ways after leaks  - ics
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NSA_SURVEILLANCE_AL_QAIDA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-06-26-03-27-41
======
miles
Gotta love this bit:

 _The officials wouldn 't go into details on how they know this_

C'mon guys, put a _little_ more effort into your disinformation campaign! I
mean, even Bloomberg carried this the other day:

U.S. Surveillance Is Not Aimed at Terrorists
[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-23/u-s-surveillance-
is...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-23/u-s-surveillance-is-not-aimed-
at-terrorists.html)

C'mon! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5BMQ-
xpTog](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5BMQ-xpTog)

~~~
tzs
What part do you find hard to believe? That a spy agency might have access to
information that you do not? Or that spy targets would not make use of leaked
information about how the spy agency operates? Or that a spy agency might not
want to tell you how it acquired some information?

~~~
buddylw
There is quite a big difference between what a spy agency might have access to
and what it releases in an AP article. The latter is motivated by self
preservation. Truth, when it happens, is a coincidence.

------
fnordfnordfnord
Let me guess, they no longer sign emails with "Death to America"

And this _" The officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized
to speak about the intelligence matters publicly."_

Shouldn't that be "traitorous leakers"?

~~~
themgt
Definitely. By letting al-Qaida know that we know that they know that we're
spying on them - irregardless of the PR benefits for the NSA - these rogue
leakers have caused irreparable harm to our nation and will certainly be
pursued with as much vigor as Mr. Snowden /hamburger

------
Mikeb85
Not unexpected from the US government, claim Al-Qaeda is benefiting from the
leaks without offering any sort of proof beyond conjecture...

I'm sure that, prior to the leak, terrorists were having Skype conferences
from their living rooms, while posting their activities on Facebook and
exchanging bomb recipes on Gmail....

And then of course, the Boston bombing suspects were identified to the US
government by Russian agents, and they couldn't prevent that attack. Either
the NSA, CIA and FBI are staffed by imbeciles, or someone's lying to the
people...

------
x0x0

       It is the first time intelligence officials have described which groups are 
       reacting to the leaks. The officials spoke anonymously because they were not 
       authorized to speak about the intelligence matters publicly
    

Ooh. Gonna be holding my breath waiting for the Obama administration to
diligently find these leakers. Unless -- and I'm sure this is coincidence --
prosecutions are correlated with in what light leaks frame the administration?
Nah, couldn't be.

------
zwegner
So now that The Terrorists are changing it up, might as well dismantle the
surveillance state, huh? What good does capturing all this data do if they're
not going to get anything useful?

The cognitive dissonance required to justify these programs is just
staggering.

------
malandrew
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the source of this article originally said
"People on the internet start using encryption and other privacy-protecting
techniques to keep their communications secret from the NSA" and the media
spun it to be "[Al Quaida/Terrorists] on the internet start using encryption
and other privacy-protecting techniques to keep their communications secret
from the NSA" because that gets more eyeballs.

------
livestyle
Love the propaganda.

------
paulwithap
My high school pot dealer refused to do any deals over the phone. I highly
doubt terrorist plots were being hatched over Skype.

------
gulfie
And anyone who is now suddenly communicating differently is flagged as a
posible terrorist, or at least someone who has something that needs
investigating. Watching the progress of communication patterns changing must
be fascinating. If the alternate forms of communication are also compromised
that'll be even better.

Action and reaction.

------
charonn0

        [...]the NSA will catch up eventually, he predicted, because there are only
        so many ways a terrorist can communicate. "I have every confidence in 
        their ability to regain access."
    

So now NSA is the injured party?

~~~
ethanazir
Al-Qaida don't need to communicate: read the Qu'ran; if you believe it says
take up arms then you're in; no need to e-mail anybody.

~~~
ethanazir
Allah don't have cell phone; use prayer rug.

~~~
jonah
Especially if it's this man's rug:

[http://www.leonardcarr.com/the-story-of-the-locksmith-a-
trad...](http://www.leonardcarr.com/the-story-of-the-locksmith-a-traditional-
sufi-teaching-from-idries-shah/)

------
ipsin
Abhorrent conduct can also have benefits: News at 11.

When the CIA stopped(?) waterboarding suspects, I bet they got fewer terrorism
leads, too.

There are some lines we never should have crossed.

------
TheRubyist
Even Al-Qaida is trying to discredit his move ?

~~~
Zircom
Al-Qaida is not a person. Either you accidentally used the wrong pronoun, or
perhaps you're confused as to what Al-Qaida refers to.

~~~
oblivionawaits
He may have been making some kind of joke based on the way they treat Al-Qaida
like it is some kind of centralized entity and how everyone involved acts the
same way.

~~~
Zircom
Actually, judging from his comment history, I'm just thinking English may not
be his first language.

~~~
TheRubyist
Indeed.

------
mindslight
I just wish our local terrorists, the US Government, would do the same.

------
ethanazir
Why no body post on al-qada facebook page no more?

------
throwaway10001
AP - The Official NSA Public Relations Organization

Yeah, Al Qaeda didn't know that NSA listens and reads to their communications.
That's why Bin Laden used couriers to personally deliver thumbdrives and had
no telephone or internet.

~~~
codex
True, but it would likely be impractical to use couriers to communicate
between Al Qaeda H.Q. to any Al Qaeda cells in the U.S., or even in an
adjacent country.

~~~
throwaway10001
But Snowden offered them nothing new, so they must trying to avoid detection
as much as they can.

