Following is a book review whose subject deserves attention.
The Shadow Factory by James
Bamford, published by Doubleday
2.5 of 5 stars
If you didn't know the United States
Government is listening to all you voice communications and reading
all your emails and monitoring all the web sites you visit, then
shame on you. Do you think the government didn't watch Arron Burr and
other long before and after? Governments have always watched their
own. Back in the day they use to go to the library and see what you
were reading now it is easier to pull that information off the fiber
optics the telecommunications industry charges you to use.
The Shadow Factory delineates
the external and internal monitoring changes made post 9/11 by the
various US alphabet agencies at the behest of the Bush
administration. It has often been said by supporters of this type of
broad reach surveillance that "If you're not doing anything
wrong, you have nothing to worry about." This is a book review
so I won't argue that point but here is a link that will
http://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/government-might-know-youre-reading.
In the early parts of The Shadow
Factory Bamford succeeds in presenting a story line that stands
on solid ground and feels like fact. As the book progresses though
the factual feel begins to slip away and we're left with what seems
to be “water cooler talk.” I wish he had been able to maintain
that earlier story strength.
For me the real success Bamford has is
in portraying the poor management and often mismanagement of these
various spy projects/systems. The incestuous moneyed relationships
between government agencies and their contractors that he presents
are enough to make Monsanto and the Department of Agriculture blush.
I recommend that you read the early
sections of The Shadow Factory.
George W. Parker