Former NSA veteran: Snowden ‘permanently damaged’ agency

A former long-time National Security Agency official says Edward Snowden’s leaks have “permanently damaged” the agency. 

“Now the country is engaged in painful soul-searching about whether NSA has gone too far and whether we should invite leaker Edward Snowden back for a ticker-tape parade,” Jerome “Jack” Israel wrote in an op-ed published Monday in The Baltimore Sun. “On the latter, Mr. Snowden has set the agency back perhaps a decade or more through the unrelenting disclosure of sources and methods.”  

Israel worked at the NSA for 25 years and worked as technical director of analysis and production in the early 2000s. Afterward, he served as the FBI’s chief technology officer, and chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security, according to his LinkedIn profile.

{mosads}At the NSA the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Israel recounted, analysts decided to tap into the Internet to trace al Qaeda.

“This was a huge [Signals Intelligence] success,” Israel wrote, adding that the NSA expanded its understanding and knowledge of “terrorism, terrorist intentions and the location of our enemies.” 

In the wake of documents Snowden has leaked since last June, the Obama administration is now figuring out how to change NSA operations so that it doesn’t overstep privacy rights.

Israel said the NSA, as a result, might not be able to again achieve success similar to that after 9/11. 

“On the former — has NSA gone too far? — a thoughtful scrutiny is in order and continues. But NSA doesn’t defend itself well out of a constant fear of giving away secrets. The real question is whether the agency could pull off another major SIGINT success like it did after 9/11. Probably not. Mr. Snowden has done enough damage. A few changes in the law based on challenges from numerous groups and senators will do the rest.”