NSA Surveillance: Are The Worries Justified?
(Washington Post, Letters to the Editor, 2/14/06)
The Feb. 5 story {on warrantless wiretapping turning up "few" leads} did not warrant its position on the front page.
First, I hope that only a "few" terrorists and their supporters are in this country. But further, I have worked in the data-mining industry for some years, and I understand the proverbial search for a needle in a haystack.
Mining data requires screening vast amounts of information by computers that are programmed to select the data by algorithms, content and relationships. If these processes are looking only at terrorist-related activities, they do not violate my individual rights, because data related to personal and family matters or businesses would be discarded. The final step, human analysis, makes the selected data valuable or scrap.
Fair questions regarding the National Security Agency surveillance should focus on the scope of the analysis, the population analyzed, removal of validated false leads and data-retention guidelines. But the veracity and need for the NSA program should not be questioned in a time of war.
-- Tom Worosz, Annandale VA
For more information on what constitutes "terrorist-related activities" according to Mr. Worosz, please visit the following on-line
glossary of terrorism, provided by the Dept. of Homeland Security.
MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Basehttp://www.tkb.org/Glossary.jspExcerpts:Anti-Globalization: Anti-globalization terrorists oppose the increasing integration of the world into a single free market. They believe that the impact of global capitalism on both the average individual and national culture is negative. Anti-globalization terrorists most often attack corporate and U.S. targets.
Leftist: Leftist terrorists include all groups that are on the liberal end of the political spectrum without being explicitly anarchist, communist or socialist. Leftists often see themselves as defending the equality, freedom, and well-being of the common citizens of a state.
Other: Terrorist groups that do not fit any of the TKB's ideological classifications are defined as "other."
Paper Terrorism: Paper terrorism involves the use of fraudulent legal documents and filings, as well as the misuse of legitimate documents and filings, in order to intimidate, harass and coerce public officials, law enforcement officers and private citizens.
About MIPT: The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing terrorism on U.S. soil or mitigating its effects. MIPT was established after the April 1995 bombing of the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, and it is funded through the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Grants and Training (G&T).
The United States Congress directed MIPT to conduct “research into the social and political causes and effects of terrorism” through our automated information systems and to “serve as a national point of contact for antiterrorism information sharing among Federal, State and local preparedness agencies, as well as private and public organizations dealing with these issues.”
MIPT firmly believes that the accurate dissemination of knowledge on terrorism is a critical ingredient for combating terrorism. Serving the needs of emergency responders, counterterrorism practitioners, policymakers, and the public, MIPT offers access to a wealth of information resources including its knowledge base initiatives, its website, and its library collection.
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