US spy chief defends ‘noble’ mission, denounces leaks

Published September 26, 2013
Commander of US Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency (NSA) General Keith Alexander speaks during the fourth annual Cybersecurity Summit September 25, 2013 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. - Photo by AFP
Commander of US Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency (NSA) General Keith Alexander speaks during the fourth annual Cybersecurity Summit September 25, 2013 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. - Photo by AFP

WASHINGTON: The head of the National Security Agency on Wednesday defended US surveillance programmes as part of a “noble” mission to protect the nation and said reports on them were “sensationalised.”

“The future of this country depends on our ability to defend against cyber attacks and terrorist threats, and we need the tools to do it,” said General Keith Alexander, chief of the NSA.

The agency heads the PRISM programme and other vast data collection efforts revealed in recent months by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Alexander, speaking at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, said there have been relatively few terror attacks on US soil since September 11, 2001 despite growing threats around the world.

“This is not by accident. It’s by a lot of hard work,” he told the forum.

“Twenty-two cryptologists lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’re the heroes, not the (people behind) media leaks.” Alexander appealed to the public to support the surveillance effort, which is coming under scrutiny in Congress, and argued that the facts about the programs have been distorted.

“It’s been sensationalized and inflamed in much of the reporting,” he said.

“What’s hyped up in a lot the reporting is that we are listening to your conversations, that we’re reading your emails. That’s not true... We understand our job is to defend this country. It’s a noble mission.”

Alexander repeated his assertion that more than 50 terrorist threats around the world have been foiled as a result of the intelligence gathered from the programs, which have been harshly criticised by US allies ranging from Germany to Brazil.

The thwarting of the attacks “would not have been possible without that capacity, and our allies have benefited from that,” he said.

The NSA has been in the centre of a firestorm since the Snowden leaks which revealed wide-ranging programmes which scoop up data on telephone calls and Internet activity.

On Snowden, Alexander did not mention him by name, simply calling him “the leaker,” adding that “we trusted him and he betrayed our trust. That won’t happen again. That doesn’t make him a hero.” President Barack Obama has called on US intelligence agencies to release more classified documents to shed light on the spying effort, which he has defended as a legitimate bid to prevent terror attacks.

Alexander said US technology firms have been unfairly maligned in the reports.

These companies “are providing what the courts are directing them to provide. Our industry folks are taking a beating on this and it is wrong.” The comments came a day after stinging criticism of the programs from Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat who heads the chamber’s judiciary committee.

Leahy told a Washington forum that the program allowing “bulk collection of Americans’ phone records must end” and other programs must see closer scrutiny.

“Congress did not enact FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) in order to give the government dragnet surveillance powers that could sweep in the data of countless innocent Americans,” Leahy said, according to a copy of his remarks on his website.

Opinion

Editorial

Closed doors
08 Jan, 2025

Closed doors

SOMETHING is afoot in Islamabad, but few seem willing to venture a guess about what is really going on. It is ...
Debt burden
08 Jan, 2025

Debt burden

THE federal government’s total debt stock soared by above 11pc year-over-year to Rs70.4tr at the end of November,...
GB power crisis
08 Jan, 2025

GB power crisis

MASS protests are not a novelty in Pakistan, and when the state refuses to listen through the available channels —...
Fragile peace
Updated 07 Jan, 2025

Fragile peace

Those who have lost loved ones, as well as those whose property has been destroyed in the clashes, must get justice.
Captive power cut
07 Jan, 2025

Captive power cut

THE IMF’s refusal to relax its demand for discontinuation of massively subsidised gas supplies to mostly...
National embarrassment
Updated 07 Jan, 2025

National embarrassment

The global eradication of polio is within reach and Pakistan has no excuse to remain an outlier.