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Posted on 05/13/2014 4:04:19 PM PDT by robowombat
“We Kill People Based on Metadata,” Admits Former CIA/NSA Boss Written by Alex Newman
font size decrease font size increase font size Print E-mail “We Kill People Based on Metadata,” Admits Former CIA/NSA Boss Essentially confessing to mass murder and multiple other crimes, retired Gen. Michael Hayden, the former boss of both the NSA and the CIA, admitted that the Obama administration has been murdering people around the world based solely on the so-called metadata collected by U.S. intelligence agencies. The controversial insider’s remarks confirmed growing fears and warnings by critics of the out-of-control federal government that, despite efforts to downplay its unconstitutional spying and assassination programs, Americans have much to be concerned about.
Hayden, a retired general and operative for the globalist Council on Foreign Relations, led the National Security Agency starting under the Clinton administration until 2005 — the same NSA that whistleblower Edward Snowden had recently exposed lawlessly spying on Americans in violation of federal law and the U.S. Constitution. Before taking over in 2006 at the Central Intelligence Agency — the outfit that has carried out much of the federal mass-murder via drone program — Hayden oversaw the massive expansion of NSA’s targeting of Americans.
While credible analysts and critics widely suspect federal officials are still hiding the truth, proponents of the illegal NSA espionage schemes tried to downplay its actions as the “mere” collection of metadata, rather than the actual content of calls and e-mails. Thanks to Hayden’s remarks last month at Johns Hopkins University’s Foreign Affairs Symposium, though, Americans can begin to understand the enormity of the danger — even in the unlikely event that authorities are telling the truth about how far the assaults on constitutionally protected privacy rights actually extend.
“We kill people based on metadata,” Hayden admitted. The startling confession, which has sparked headlines around the world, came after Hayden agreed with another participant at the symposium that metadata can reveal “everything” about a surveillance target. The other participant, Georgetown University Law Center professor David Cole, had quoted NSA General Counsel Stewart Baker as saying, “Metadata absolutely tells you everything about somebody’s life. If you have enough metadata, you don’t really need content.”
Hayden agreed, calling the description on the usefulness of metadata “absolutely correct.” Elements of the NSA’s Orwellian, Fourth Amendment-shredding espionage regime targeting hundreds of millions of Americans officially came to light after former contractor Snowden leaked documents about it. The revelations sparked a massive public outcry, which officials tried to downplay by claiming that the only information being collected on Americans without warrants or even probable cause was metadata. That collected data, though, includes details such as who is communicating, when, where, for how long, with whom, and more.
Of course, it is now public knowledge that the Obama administration has murdered thousands of people around the world including women, children, and even an American teenager, using its drones and missiles. In fact, the White House even claims to believe it has the legal authority to murder its victims despite never charging or prosecuting them for a crime — much less securing a conviction in a court of law. Immediately following the shocking admission and a brief pause, though, Hayden tried to suggest that the mass-murder program relying on metadata does not apply domestically.
“But that’s not what we do with this metadata,” the former CIA and NSA boss said after pausing for a moment, perhaps realizing the gravity of the admission he had just made. “It’s really important to understand the program in its entirety, not the potentiality of the program, but how the program is actually conducted.” In other words, after admitting that the federal government murders people based on metadata — can you imagine if Putin admitted doing that? — Hayden quickly tried to claim that the information collected on Americans is not used for that purpose. At least not yet.
It was not clear whether such data played a role in Obama’s selection of the multiple Americans, including a 16-year-old boy in Yemen looking for his father, murdered by drone thus far. At the event, the ex-CIA and -NSA boss then continued trying to soothe public fears over the awesome powers usurped by the federal government.
According to Hayden’s version, the NSA has been obtaining phone records from companies since October of 2001. Much of the unconstitutional snooping regime has been justified under the misnamed “Patriot” Act. The NSA then “puts them in a lockbox” that is supposedly “under very strict limitations” in terms of access. Hayden then gave a hypothetical example of how a phone number connected to a supposed “terrorist” could be checked with lawlessly collected metadata to supposedly advance “national security.”
“What it cannot do are all those things that ... allows someone to create your social network, your social interactions, your patterns of behavior,” Hayden continued after dropping the bombshell confession. “One could make the argument that could be useful, [or] that could be illegal, but it’s not done. In this debate, it’s important to distinguish what might be done with what is being done.” With NSA bosses having been exposed lying even to lawmakers under oath, however, analysts say taking them at their word would be foolish at best.
Of course, the cat Hayden let out of the bag on metadata being used to select murder targets was not entirely a surprise to analysts who have been closely following developments in the growing cloud of scandal surrounding the NSA. In February, journalists Glen Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill, citing Snowden’s leaks and comments by U.S. officials, had reported essentially the same thing: that metadata collected by the NSA is used to pick targets for extermination. Numerous innocent people have “absolutely” been killed under the program, according to a former drone operator quoted in their Intercept report.
In reality, since no trials were ever conducted and all people are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, critics say all of the victims thus far have been innocent — at least as far as the law is concerned. Estimates suggest thousands of people from Pakistan and Yemen to Afghanistan and Somalia — many of them simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, known as “collateral damage” — have been murdered by drones so far. Obama personally approves each assassination, the Nobel Peace Prize recipient confessed publicly.
Despite officials hiding behind the half-baked veneer of the terror war, the details and admissions offered by Hayden should be extremely alarming to everyday Americans. Indeed, in recent years, the federal government has produced official documents claiming that essentially anyone with an opinion it disagrees with may be a potential “terrorist.” That includes pro-life activists, liberty lovers, constitutionalists, libertarians, conservatives, Christians, environmentalists, states’ rights proponents, advocates for national sovereignty, veterans, Orthodox Jews, and more.
While the NSA lawlessly gathers the data, the CIA has been leading much of the assassination program. As The New American reported in 2011, the agency’s mass-murder-via-drone program accelerated quickly under the Obama administration as victims from Africa to Asia were executed by missiles dropped from the sky. Even Americans are fair game, the administration claims. The developments were so extreme that a former senior intelligence official told the Washington Post that the CIA had been turned into “one hell of a killing machine.” Critics said that in addition to a brazen violation of the U.S. Constitution, the global murder programs may constitute war crimes as well.
In his May 10 report about the symposium and Hayden’s admission there, Georgetown University’s Cole noted that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have come together to rein in some of the worst NSA abuses uncovered thus far. The effort, which would put a few tepid restrictions on the NSA’s ability to continue violating Americans’ rights, is known as the “USA Freedom Act.” However, he added in the New York Review of Books, much more needs to be done to properly deal with the issue. “The biggest mistake any of us could make would be to conclude that this bill solves the problem,” Cole said. Photo of Michael Hayden: National Security Law Journal
Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, education, politics, and more. He can be reached at anewman@thenewamerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @ALEXNEWMAN_JOU.
Kinda curious, how did Obama win your trust?
I have a problem with killing US Citizens without due process.
bkmk
Actually, yes, some SERIOUS problems, in that fedgov will NOT RESTRAIN ITSELF and limit targets to what they SHOULD be. They are all too willing to obey Obummer and spy on/target/kill because HE said so. Because his targeting list supercedes the clear language of the Constitution and other, legitimate laws of the Land.
Better question would be: why don’t you HAVE a problem with it???!!!???
Problem? Naw! Just go around killing Americans who fit a certain profile. Most of them are likely to be guilty of something.
Is there anything to prevent employers from deciding not to give you a job or fire you because of what they learn about you from analyzing metadata?
Might insurance companies raise your rates or not insure you because of what metadata tells them about you (e.g., he buys a six pack of bud every few days at the supermarket, so he’s a high drunk driving risk)?
Might banks charge more to loan you money, or not loan you money at all based on what they find out about you?
Only the hundreds of innocents who were murdered because your leader, the Great Emperor Zero, decided to fire hell fire missiles even though innocent civilians were present. GWB never okay-ed that kind of drone firing.
I sure hope they are.
“The targets were killed because they’re terrorists.
The way you stop terrorists from finding a safe place to hide is to harm or kill those providing safe haven and protection to the terrorists.
This is how the U.S. has always dealt with pirates. It is appropriate for us to deal with terrorists in the same manner.
Does anyone have a problem with this?”
Evidently, a fair number of forum members have qualms.
First, win the war. Then, worry about morality.
Anybody who believes it’s more important to be moral, than to win, has it backwards.
If we don’t win the war, it doesn’t matter if we’ve been moral or not. Because we won’t survive long enough to be moral, or immoral, or anything.
YouTube, 4 min:
Senator Cruz has to ask Holder FOUR TIMES if Holder considers it legal and OK to DroneBlast an American’s a$$ out of a Starbucks INSIDE of the USA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-e0OiCuBYI
FOUR TIMES he had to ask.
You have to admit, the question was a bit vague. He didn’t even say if the American was a republican or democrat.
You’re kind is winning the war alright. You have the Constitutional Republic on its knees.
First time I’ve seen the reverse misspelling of the word your.
You’re like one in a trillion.
Ah. Auto correct on my phone got ahead of itself.
The list, Ping
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Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!
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The pogroms just keep on coming
The old expression was: “Stop! You’re killing me!” Usually told in the context of joke-telling.
Now the expression will become: “Stop the metadata! Obama is trying to kill me.” Told in the context of murderous Federal Oppression.
Good Lord, this was the plot line of tonight’s “Person of Interest” TV show.
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