NSA Responds: You couldn't possibly understand it, and we're not about to explain it to you.

[kpete]

More Bullshit from an agency that's clearly unused to being questioned about anything it does.

The NSA has issued a statement in response to Barton Gellman's article in the Washington Post:

Regarding that FISC Court's decision that the NSA's data collection procedures violated Americans' Constitutional rights? Gosh, they didn't want to have to explain that one. But for what it's worth:

The FISC’s finding was with respect to a very specific and highly technical aspect of the National Security Agency’s 702 collection. Once the issue was identified and fully understood, it was reported immediately to the FISC and Congress. In consultation with the FISC, the Department of Justice, NSA, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence worked to address the concerns identified by the FISC by strengthening the NSA minimization procedures, thereby enhancing privacy protections for U.S. persons. The FISC has continued to approve the collection as consistent with the statute and reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

It was "very specific and highly technical." In other words, you couldn't possibly understand it, and we're not about to explain it to you. Oh, and once the issue was identified and fully understood (no telling how many months or years that means), it was "reported immediately." Go back to your Facebook.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/16/1231651/-The-NSA-Responds-to-the-Washington-Post-Article
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/16/1231651/-The-NSA-Responds-to-the-Washington-Post-Article

[Th1onein]

1. knr and wow, just wow. The hubris is amazing.

[HooptieWagon]

2. defund them immediately.

Then investigate any pol or judge who took brib-...errr, campaign contributions, from the private contractors.

[JoePhilly]

3. "Once the issue was identified and fully understood"

That phrase clearly refers to the NSA's own understanding, and indicates that it took the NSA a fair amount of time to "identify and fully understand" this "very specific and highly technical aspect" of the program.

The NSA response does not say the issue was too complex for us to understand, it says it was was very complex issue for THEM to figure out.

Having said that, I do understand that the level of outrage needs to be maintained. And claiming that a phrase is used in an entirely different fashion than how it was actually used, is certainly an appropriate way to do that.