NSA Programs Almost Never Used for Terror Probes

NSA Surveillance Rarely Useful, Study Shows

NSA Programs Almost Never Used for Terror Probes

by Jason Ditz

A review of government claims by the New America Foundation has come to the conclusion that NSA chief Keith Alexander’s testimony as to the utility of NSA bulk surveillance was “overblown” and “misleading.”

The study showed that virtually all of the 225 terrorism investigations run by the US since 9/11 have centered on “traditional investigation methods.”

This was in keeping with similar findings fromPresident Obama’s own review panel, which said the surveillance had been of little or no real benefit.

Incredibly though, the New America data suggests that not only was the NSA data not vital, it was rarely even used for terrorism investigations, with only 1.8% (2 out of 225) of investigations involving NSA bulk data collection in the first place.

http://news.antiwar.com/2014/01/12/nsa-surveillance-rarely-useful-study-shows/