> Historically, we have been able to intercept those communications, read them, and interrupt our adversaries from the bad things they are plotting.
I challenge this assertion. It has happened in some cases, but the claim that surveillance is an effective way to stop terrorism has failed to be backed up with many success stories.
> If our adversaries' communications are completely impossible to intercept, we have lost one of the most valuable tools in our ability to prevent them from doing bad things.
The most organized adversaries' communications are already impossible to intercept. They know they are under surveillance and are taking measures to counter that surveillance. The people that surveillance affects most are innocent people.
In a different perspective (and I'm going to speak in an American context because I'm American and the article is about the American president) there are some things that are worth the lives of Americans. Our nation was founded with a rebellion and many Americans died in that struggle. They died for freedom, to gain rights. American history is full of people dying to protect the rights of Americans.
And from another perspective, terrorism is a hugely overblown concern. More Americans die in car accidents every year than have died from terrorism in the entire history of the United States[1]. 33561 people died in car crashes in the US in 2012[w]: that's like the September 11 attacks happening almost once a month. The fact that we're spending $10.8 billion in a year on the NSA[3] to prevent a handful of deaths that it may not even prevent, and less than 10% of that ($815 million) on the NHTSA[4] shows that our priorities are not where they should be.
I challenge this assertion. It has happened in some cases, but the claim that surveillance is an effective way to stop terrorism has failed to be backed up with many success stories.
> If our adversaries' communications are completely impossible to intercept, we have lost one of the most valuable tools in our ability to prevent them from doing bad things.
The most organized adversaries' communications are already impossible to intercept. They know they are under surveillance and are taking measures to counter that surveillance. The people that surveillance affects most are innocent people.
In a different perspective (and I'm going to speak in an American context because I'm American and the article is about the American president) there are some things that are worth the lives of Americans. Our nation was founded with a rebellion and many Americans died in that struggle. They died for freedom, to gain rights. American history is full of people dying to protect the rights of Americans.
And from another perspective, terrorism is a hugely overblown concern. More Americans die in car accidents every year than have died from terrorism in the entire history of the United States[1]. 33561 people died in car crashes in the US in 2012[w]: that's like the September 11 attacks happening almost once a month. The fact that we're spending $10.8 billion in a year on the NSA[3] to prevent a handful of deaths that it may not even prevent, and less than 10% of that ($815 million) on the NHTSA[4] shows that our priorities are not where they should be.
[1] http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/wrjp255a.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in...
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Highway_Traffic_Safety...