Management

Uncanny Echoes of the NSA Debate From the 1970s

Before the Church Committee reports were released, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller described the shocking CIA abuses it chronicled as "not major."

Tech

Analysis: The Wrong Way to Figure Out If the NSA Is Abusing Its Power

Simply comparing the number of queries to the number of rules violations doesn't really tell us very much.

Oversight

Analysis: Who Should Lead a Probe Into NSA

An exhaustive investigation is long overdue.

Management

Let's Give Every NSA Employee an Anonymous Whistleblowing Opportunity

A reform that would protect classified information even as it helped tip off Congress and the public to surveillance abuses.

Defense

Analysis: Obama Has Already Broken His Pledge on Surveillance Reform

Last week, he promised an "independent" review by "outside experts." Then he assigned insider James Clapper to lead it.

Oversight

Analysis: How Secrecy Has Already Corroded Our Democracy in Concrete Ways

The renewal of the Patriot Act is a case study in how opaque policy and law destroy a people's ability to self-govern.

Defense

King George's Revenge: Is Britain Using Our Tax Money to Spy on Us?

Compelling reasons to worry that the NSA is outsourcing Big Brother to the Mother Country -- or will one day

Oversight

Senate Majority Whip: FISA Court Is 'Fixed' and 'Loaded'

Dick Durbin wants to add a civil-liberties advocate to the court's proceedings and to limit the NSA's data collection.

Oversight

Commentary: On Spying, Obama Just Isn't That Into the Democratic Coalition

His alliance with House Republicans proves that partisanship isn't as all-encompassing as is sometimes implied.

Defense

Analysis: The Case Against Universal National Service

A one-size-fits-all program could never be implemented justly.

Management

Why the FBI Shouldn't Be Trusted to Investigate the Death of Ibragim Todashev

For at least 20 years, its inquiries have never found fault with a fatal shot taken by an agent.

Tech

Three Former NSA Employees Praise Edward Snowden, Corroborate Key Claims

The men, all whistleblowers, say he succeeded where they failed.

Defense

Analysis: Why Are People So Distrustful of Big Government?

For some, it's a long history of abuses carried out in the name of national security.

Oversight

Daniel Ellsberg on the High Costs of Executive-Branch Secrecy

The president and his underlings, "given a chance to paralyze opposition by practicing secrecy and deception, will use that power."

Defense

Analysis: Some Leaks Are More Illegal Than Others

A double standard vilifies leakers of classified material who aren't advancing establishment interests.

Oversight

Secrecy Undermines the Ability of Congress to Function as the Framers Intended

The national-security state is removing important moral and strategic policy questions that face our polity from the realm of democratic debate.

Oversight

Commentary: President Obama Doesn't Welcome Debate, He Actively Thwarts It

When the White House says it values debate on balancing civil liberties and national security, it's being disingenuous.

Management

Analysis: Your Tax Dollars at Work: The DEA Renovates Its Propaganda Museum

A federal agency can be many things. A credible purveyor of its own history is not one.