Every HN NSA thread has someone defending spying as something moral and ok, only taking issue with mass surveillance. So I doubt this comment will get much support.
The more I read about the history of IC, the more I agree with the "causing more damage than they prevent". History is completely littered with good examples. For every success such as intercepted Nazi radio comms in WW2 there are countless interferences in international politics with temoporary economic benefit and long term poltical turmoil (Iran assassination, trained Al Queda fighters, CIA-supported Indonesian mass killings of communists, etc).
