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N.S.A. Newsletter Articles Detailing Employee Life Are Published The Intercept Publishes N.S.A.’s Internal Articles Detailing Employee Life
(about 2 hours later)
WASHINGTON — In March 2012, the National Security Agency’s Top Secret internal newsletter published a David Letterman-style list of reasons that officials should read it. No. 7 was that “you might find out what those shadowy people on the other side of the partition are really up to.”WASHINGTON — In March 2012, the National Security Agency’s Top Secret internal newsletter published a David Letterman-style list of reasons that officials should read it. No. 7 was that “you might find out what those shadowy people on the other side of the partition are really up to.”
That tongue-in-cheek comment became reality the next year after Edward J. Snowden included thousands of newsletter items in the huge archive of N.S.A documents he disclosed about the agency’s programs and operations.That tongue-in-cheek comment became reality the next year after Edward J. Snowden included thousands of newsletter items in the huge archive of N.S.A documents he disclosed about the agency’s programs and operations.
On Monday, the news website The Intercept said it would publish the entire archive of the newsletter and began by posting more than 150 articles from 2003, the newsletter’s inaugural year, along with a handful of later items, with only a few names of lower-level agency personnel redacted.On Monday, the news website The Intercept said it would publish the entire archive of the newsletter and began by posting more than 150 articles from 2003, the newsletter’s inaugural year, along with a handful of later items, with only a few names of lower-level agency personnel redacted.
“We encourage other journalists, researchers, and interested parties to comb through these documents, along with future published batches, to find additional material of interest. Others may well find stories, or clues that lead to stories, that we did not,” wrote Glenn Greenwald, who was one of the original recipients of Mr. Snowden’s disclosures and later helped found The Intercept.“We encourage other journalists, researchers, and interested parties to comb through these documents, along with future published batches, to find additional material of interest. Others may well find stories, or clues that lead to stories, that we did not,” wrote Glenn Greenwald, who was one of the original recipients of Mr. Snowden’s disclosures and later helped found The Intercept.
The newsletter is called SIDtoday; the acronym refers to Signals Intelligence Directorate, the N.S.A. component responsible for electronic spying. It offers a mixture of mundane accounts of employee life at the agency with operational updates and programmatic information that is written in plain English, making it more accessible than other, more technical and jargon-filled documents in the Snowden archive.The newsletter is called SIDtoday; the acronym refers to Signals Intelligence Directorate, the N.S.A. component responsible for electronic spying. It offers a mixture of mundane accounts of employee life at the agency with operational updates and programmatic information that is written in plain English, making it more accessible than other, more technical and jargon-filled documents in the Snowden archive.
A N.S.A. spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the publication.A N.S.A. spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the publication.
Several of the newsletter items published on Monday add new details to the public understanding of previously known events.Several of the newsletter items published on Monday add new details to the public understanding of previously known events.
For example, one article described the American and British ambassadors to the United Nations expressing thanks to the agency for providing what the latter called “insights into the nuances of internal divisions among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council” during the diplomatic negotiations ahead of the Iraq War.For example, one article described the American and British ambassadors to the United Nations expressing thanks to the agency for providing what the latter called “insights into the nuances of internal divisions among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council” during the diplomatic negotiations ahead of the Iraq War.
Another article described the N.S.A.’s contribution to a high-profile rescue mission for Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been captured in Iraq on March 23, 2003, and taken to a hospital in Nasiriya. It says the N.S.A. had obtained blueprints of the hospital from a Japanese firm that had built it and sent them to the commandos “literally minutes before the aircraft departed with the strike team.”Another article described the N.S.A.’s contribution to a high-profile rescue mission for Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been captured in Iraq on March 23, 2003, and taken to a hospital in Nasiriya. It says the N.S.A. had obtained blueprints of the hospital from a Japanese firm that had built it and sent them to the commandos “literally minutes before the aircraft departed with the strike team.”
A third article was a first-person account by a N.S.A. analyst about the day the United States military took custody of six Algerian men in Bosnia whom it brought to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The day included a last-minute change of the route taken by the convoy carrying the prisoners; the N.S.A. was watching for signs of any potential ambush.A third article was a first-person account by a N.S.A. analyst about the day the United States military took custody of six Algerian men in Bosnia whom it brought to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The day included a last-minute change of the route taken by the convoy carrying the prisoners; the N.S.A. was watching for signs of any potential ambush.
One of the Algerians was later the named plaintiff in a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 2008 establishing that detainees at the American naval base in Cuba had a constitutional right to habeas corpus hearings. Another of the men was at the center of a high-level internal argument among Obama administration lawyers over whether keeping him in wartime detention violated international law.One of the Algerians was later the named plaintiff in a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 2008 establishing that detainees at the American naval base in Cuba had a constitutional right to habeas corpus hearings. Another of the men was at the center of a high-level internal argument among Obama administration lawyers over whether keeping him in wartime detention violated international law.
The Algerian men were accused of plotting to attack the American Embassy in Bosnia, and the account in the N.S.A. newsletter shows that people inside the government assumed that this was true.The Algerian men were accused of plotting to attack the American Embassy in Bosnia, and the account in the N.S.A. newsletter shows that people inside the government assumed that this was true.
“Because much of the evidence against them came from U.S. intel, the Bosnian government didn’t have access to it, and after a couple of months in custody, the six prisoners were scheduled to be released without trial,” the account said, adding that a commander decided to take them into custody rather than let them go back to their families.“Because much of the evidence against them came from U.S. intel, the Bosnian government didn’t have access to it, and after a couple of months in custody, the six prisoners were scheduled to be released without trial,” the account said, adding that a commander decided to take them into custody rather than let them go back to their families.
But after they won the right to habeas corpus, an American judge — who did have access to classified intelligence — ruled that the evidence of any embassy plot was too thin to support the accusations. He ordered five of the six men freed but permitted the last one to be held on other grounds; that man was forcibly repatriated to Algeria in 2013.But after they won the right to habeas corpus, an American judge — who did have access to classified intelligence — ruled that the evidence of any embassy plot was too thin to support the accusations. He ordered five of the six men freed but permitted the last one to be held on other grounds; that man was forcibly repatriated to Algeria in 2013.