National Safety Agency

National Security Agency

The largest as well as most clandestine word tool of the United States—the National Security Agency (NSA)—was born 24 Oct 1952 alongside President Harry S. Truman’s signing of National Security Directive 6.

The centerpiece of the U.S. word community, NSA is a technological powerhouse equipped alongside surveillance tools—both human as well as computer—to intercept electronic transmissions roughly the globe. The means is engaged inward collecting raw intercepts, slap-up ciphered material, as well as producing ciphers to protect U.S. coded communications.

The NSA is habitation to an astonishing collection of hyperpowerful computers, advanced mathematicians, as well as linguistic communication experts. The NSA’s real beingness was the stuff of conspiracy theories for many years; moreover, many of its historic activities stand upwards lone equally conspiracies inward their ain right.


Size as well as budget prepare the NSA apart equally the most influential amidst word agencies. Its annual budget is disguised, though it measures inward billions of dollars; most NSA appropriations are hidden inward the budgets of other agencies.

The NSA’s 38,000 employees occupy a chemical compound of over lx buildings—offices, warehouses, factories, laboratories, as well as living quarters—located off a forbidden highway leave of absence ramp inward Maryland.

The location itself is a secret, as well as earthen embankments, thick trees, as well as mazes of barbed wire guard the NSA as well as its activities from intrusion, either physical or visual. Motion detectors, hydraulic antitruck devices, as well as telephoto surveillance cameras run together to alarm the NSA’s paramilitary reply squad to whatever potential safety compromise.

The NSA was established external to the legislative process—no constabulary created it, as well as no laws principle the range of its responsibilities. No constabulary prohibits the NSA from engaging inward whatever activity; at that spot are alone laws to prohibit the loose of whatever information most the agency.

The NSA’s mission as well as responsibilities are unknown to anyone external to the agency, including members of Congress. The cite itself— National Security Agency—remained a clandestine until the belatedly 1950s.

“Until so its name, the identity of its director, as well as fifty-fifty its beingness were considered to a greater extent than sensitive than top clandestine as well as were known alone to a handful inward government”. In add-on to the conspiracy surrounding the NSA’s existence, several of its specific operations are worthy of note.

The Cold War

During the mutual frigidness war, NSA intelligence-gathering efforts focused on detecting the capacity as well as location of Soviet weapons. Listening posts along the Soviet edge failed to yield word most operations deep within the country, so the NSA responded past times developing the U-2, a high-altitude surveillance jet designed to wing good to a higher house the accomplish of the enemy’s retaliatory capabilities.

This airplane flew missions deep into the Soviet interior (at altitudes exceeding 70,000 feet) from 4 July 1956 until 1 May 1960, when Francis Gary Powers was shot out of the Soviet sky.

Eisenhower idea it impossible for a U-2 airplane pilot to live on a crash; he also doubted the survivability of the airplane as well as its equipment. When information ceased to live transmitted from Powers’s U-2 flight, listening station operators assumed the airplane to live destroyed as well as Powers to live dead.

The management issued a encompass storey to veil the truthful nature of the mission. To Eisenhower’s surprise, the Soviets recovered Powers, the plane, as well as its word payload—information intended for the NSA.

When the Soviets announced the recovery, Eisenhower as well as his management responded alongside a multitude of lies as well as contradictory stories to protect U.S. word operations. More likely, the cover-up was to disguise Eisenhower’s hands-on occupation inward the project.

The Vietnam War

Operation Desoto placed NSA technicians aboard U.S. Navy destroyers to intercept radio transmissions as well as radar signals at problem spots roughly the globe. In 1964 the USS Maddox was dispatched to monitor a North Vietnamese radar installation.

To ensure success, the NSA preferred that the radar station live switched to total mightiness at the fourth dimension of the destroyer’s passing past times as well as a raid was staged against the isle to practice the postulate for the radar station’s use. Assuming the destroyer to direct maintain played some occupation inward the incident, the North Vietnamese launched 2 counter attacks inward the next 4 days.

“As far equally the American people as well as Congress knew, the North Vietnamese had carried out purely unprovoked attacks inward ... international waters against an American shipping on peaceful patrol”. An overwhelming bulk inward Congress straight off approved the Tonkin Gulf Resolution; thence the NSA’s clandestine state of war led to directly U.S. interest inward Vietnam.

Telecommunications Surveillance

“[T]here is no comprehensive ‘right to know’ included, either explicitly or implicitly, within the First Amendment”. These words of Lieutenant General William Odom, quondam manager of the NSA, dot the agency’s mental attitude toward private liberty.

The most egregious of NSA activities, Operation Shamrock, was inherited at the agency’s creation inward 1952. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a directive permitting the occupation of electronic surveillance for national defense.

This enabled the armed forces to run alongside international communications companies to obtain access to the cable traffic of private citizens, companies, as well as governments. Technology quickly enabled computers to scan this information, as well as the NSA incorporated the picket lists of the CIA, FBI, Secret Service, as well as other agencies into their surveillance activities.

Operation Shamrock was taken to novel extremes when Attorney General Robert Kennedy used it against domestic targets inward his travail against organized crime. Kennedy also tracked citizens as well as businesses transacting alongside Cuba. In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson monitored domestic dissidents opposed to his Vietnam policies alongside Project Minaret, a partition of Shamrock.

Under President Jimmy Carter, the NSA listened to band conversations on the isle of Republic of Cuba using a real large surveillance balloon floating over the Florida Keys. These unconstitutional activities violated the Fourth Amendment stipulation that citizens direct maintain a correct to live costless of unreasonable searches as well as seizures.

The NSA’s listening capabilities direct maintain reached novel highs. NSA engineers before long “work inward clandestine to prepare computers capable of performing to a greater extent than than i septillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) operations every second”.

Such processors are necessary to handgrip the immense communications traffic produced roughly the public today. Considering General Odom’s words, i may assume the NSA uses its technological capacity to monitor weather condition roughly the globe, including private conversations.