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Speaking truth to power National Security Agency whistleblowers share their stories and accept awards from the Committee for the Republic. BY C at h e r i n e T r i f i l e t t i
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hen William Binney, had gone to Congress claiming he needed Kirk Wiebe, and big bucks to make big changes at the NSA Thomas Drake were in terms of its intelligence-producing confronted with wrongdoing capabilities.” while working at the National Binney called it an “empire building Security Agency in early 2000, process” that wasted billions of taxpayer they couldn’t turn a blind eye dollars and diverted the energy of NSA as many of their colleagues analysts. Ultimately, Trailblazer proved to had. They were forced to ask be a complete failure. themselves if the pursuit of In seeking the truth and a shred of justice would be worth the risk justice, Wiebe, Drake and Binney filed a of their careers and reputations. report with the Department of Defense Three NSA whistle blowers J. Kirk Wiebe, William Binney, and Thomas Drake, each Wiebe explained: “Speaking in 2002 detailing the negligence they had received a Defender of Liberty award. (Photo by Fran Griffin) truth to those in powerful witnessed at the NSA. The FBI and other positions within government can be a lonely Trailblazer program. Unlike ThinThread, federal agencies responded swiftly, raiding each act.” But that didn’t stop them. Hayden’s initiative amassed an enormous of their homes. The ensuing process left Drake On September 15, 2015 the three men volume of information requiring that city- charged with treason against the nation he had gathered at the National Press Club to receive sized storage facilities be built to house it. worked so diligently to protect. “Defender of Liberty” awards from the President of the Committee for the Despite the dire consequences they faced as Committee for the Republic–a predominantly Republic, William Nitze, said: “the NSA, not whistleblowers against powerful U.S. government, Republican group that educates citizens about only did not need to collect massive amounts Wiebe, Binney and Drake remained steadfast in the dangers of empire-building for the U.S. of data on U.S. citizens stored in their servers, defense of their rights as citizens. After years of persecution, Wiebe, Binney and but that massive data collection itself has made At the conclusion of the award ceremony, Drake were presented accolades for speaking it impossible for NSA to do its job by focusing Drake told the audience: “I’m going to keep out against the NSA. The only thing more on the most probable threats. In simple terms, standing up. I’m going to keep raging against gripping than the personal stories they shared the larger and less differentiated the haystack, the lies, against the corruption...because it really were the abuses they unearthed. the harder it is to find the needle.” does matter. In the end, we are our own moral As the Internet blossomed in the mid Wiebe, who was familiar with both programs, agents and the call that I make at this time is that ‘90s, the NSA was faced with the challenge went as far as to say 9/11 could have been we all exercise our moral agency together and of filtering national security threats from prevented if the Agency had put their energy into individually wherever we are.” He continued massive amounts of American citizens’ personal culling important data under the ThinThread with one final plea: “Do not, do not go silent communications. In 1997, Binney–an NSA template. “During those five years focused on into the night.” technical director at the time–believed there Trailblazer, NSA analysts were largely blind to the was a way to “save privacy and still succeed at burgeoning world of network communications “A Good American” doing intelligence.” and the continuously emerging and evolving Directed by Friedrich Moser In response to the NSA’s need for an threats using them,”Wiebe said. updated solution, Binney developed a costIn addition to being inefficient, Trailblazer William Binney’s remarkable tale is now documented in a movie, which recently effective prototype, ThinThread. His program disregarded basic privacy for U.S. citizens as laid screened in Washington. The film provides had the ability to sort through metadata out by the Fourth Amendment. Wiebe recalled a deep-dive into Binney’s patriotic crusade to improve the security of the United States and flag relevant communication without that ThinThread was rejected because “it while upholding the constitution and his compromising the privacy of citizens promised threatened the opportunity for large businesses personal quest for liberty as a whistleblower. by the Constitution. to obtain lucrative contracts in an attempt to For more information visit: General Michael Hayden, the NSA solve one of NSA’s biggest challenges of the www.agoodamerican.org Director at the time, ignored the effort and Information Age.” He went on to say: “It also instead chose to proceed with the costly threatened General Hayden’s credibility as he
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| m ay
2016
| washingtonlife.com
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NSA