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However, as Banford points out, this data was never shared with the CIA or FBI. This book, Bamford's 3rd about the NSA, covers the ominous rise in electronic surveillance of Americans & foreigners alike in the period since 9/11.At the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NSA was in a period of relative restraint, following the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the late 1970s, when Congress had been scandalized by the degree of spying on Americans that was being done by the CIA and NSA. Considering how little restraint Congressional oversight committees in charge of intelligence & communications have exercised over the intelligence community in the last few years, this expansion of power is truly terrifying.I recommend this book highly, with one word of warning: you may need a stiff drink afterwards. If it had been, these agencies could have stopped the arrival of more affiliated terrorists at our borders, and located those already here.Yet, instead of identifying & disciplining those in charge of the espionage organizations whose "empire building" hoarding of information allowed a band of foreign extremists to kill over 3,000 US citizens, the Bush administration supported these agencies' demand for the expansion of their information-gathering mandate through the Patriot Act, warrantless wiretapping and astronomical increases in their budgets.Bamford shows how the NSA today gathers virtually ALL of our phone calls, faxes and Internet communications, much of it with the use of software & hardware supplied by private contractors, some of them foreign (especially Israeli) in origin. Under FISA, the NSA was not supposed to collect data on phone calls & other electronic communications in which one or both ends of the communication occurred on US soil, except with a warrant issued by a special FISA court. Nevertheless, even during this period, the NSA had been collecting calls from known terrorists abroad to recipients in the US, including several of the terrorists who later carried out the 9/11 attacks.
You'll come away from this book with a sense of fear, wondering if we are stuck on a path towards losing our civil liberties and privacy, or if the past 10 years were an abherration like the 1960's and 70's. Bamford appears incredibly focused on the agency's operations regarding Islamic terrorists, with scant coverage of what is going on against adversaries like Russia, China, and France. Bamford's latest book on the NSA is an extremely dark-expose on the operations of this enigmatic agency. My only criticisms of the book are the nature of the coverage. Bamford definitely wrote this book not just to inform the public, but to get us thinking too. From the agency's technical and bureaucratic problems to the "illegal" wiretapping and eavesdropping on Americans and foreigners, Bamford provides new details on this agency that nobody else would provide. Even street addresses and e-mails of various parties are provided(including bad guys).
The *facts* reported are real--those reviewers who say that they are not are expressing *opinions* based upon their own political leanings, personal beliefs and/or self-interests. Gives details that geeks will enjoy about how and where taps and intercepts and done on fiber--and some generalities about data warehousing and data manipulation techniques. Please let the reader determine the goodness/badness of the Israel, contractor, FISA court, off-shoring, and other issues that are reported upon and then susbsequently editorialized about. First, I am a great admirer of Mr. Mr Bamford is one of the best investigative reporters extent--and he does himself a disservice when he chooses to lower himself into the lowest common denomintor [gutter] of those that mix facts with personal opinions--regardless of it being currently fashionable to do so.I do not fault him entirely, as this editorializing should have been redlined by his editors. For those in the telecom/data-processing/data manipulation world this is a reference book--ie, a must read. Shame on them--one can only surmise that their own politics outweighed their sense of professional responsibility.In the future, one hopes that he [and his editor] returns to form.
Saperstein, I know who you are. With all of the "news-o-tainment" video, audio, and print journalism there still are some of us that desire the best investigative reporters to REPORT. Bamford is facts. As for the Narus principal, see Hamlet/Gertrude--and oh, how appropriate is it that the line is from Hamlet).This is a good read for anyone wanting to know the extent to which the Fed's curtailed our seemingly "guaranteed" Constitutional Rights in the name of "protecting us from terrorism". In a world filled with Keith Olberman and Bill O'Reilly and their ilk--what is desired from a reporter such as Mr.
Bamford's work.Now, onto the review.This is a book that begins with a lead-up to 9/11/2001 and concludes with a forecast of future technology that can/will be used for surveilance--both domestic and international. Again, an excellent reference work on the former--but less so on the latter.Now, for the down side. Excellent refeence work. (Yes, Mr. The names, dates, places are given as to individuals and their various positions and initiatives with regard to these Rights.
His books are always a treasure trove. In keeping with James Bamford's other NSA books this book is full of details and great writing. Bamford keep writing. I'm glad I bought and read it. Easy to understand narrative and always hard to let go once the reading begins. Bamford always stuffs his books with facts and information that otherwise would take much effort to find by a laymen.
For all of these reasons, the Shadow Factory is a must read. [3] The documents include the written evaluation of Hanjour's flight skills prepared by the Jet Tech instructor who tested him. The same was true during review of systems knowledge.I doubt his ability to pass an FAA [Boeing 737] oral at this time or in the near future." Later, the instructor made a final entry, concluding his evaluation: "He will need much more experience flying smaller A/C [aircraft] before he is ready to master large jets." [4]Another Jet Tech employee who knew Hanjour later expressed amazement "that he [Hanjour] could have flown into the Pentagon. He hired a private contractor. 11 Hijacker in Early 2001," FOX News, May 10, 2002; also see Jim Yardley, "A Trainee Noted for Incompetence," New York Times, May 4, 2002.[7] Kellie Lunney, "FAA contractors approved flight licenses for Sept. What is even more incredible, he accomplished all of this on the first attempt.
Unfortunately, Bamford came up short on 9/11.The author's depiction of Hani Hanjour, the alleged hijacker pilot of AA Flight 77, as a capable and determined terrorist is sharply at odds with a multitude of open-sourced press accounts, which consistently portray Hanjour as a rather inept and borderline personality. According to one account, as a young man Hanjour did not even aspire to fly planes but was satisfied merely to become a flight attendant; that is, until his older brother pushed him to aim higher. Hastie described him as "a weak student" who was "wasting our resources." [2] Bamford's willingness to believe that Hanjour was skilled enough to fly a Boeing 757 was apparently based on a set of documents (see note #1, p. Sure, and turtles have wings and elephants can fly.There are other problems. [8] Although Hanjour presented his FAA license the airport manager insisted for safety reasons that an instructor first accompany him on a test flight to confirm his flying skills. Because the Israelis retained the source codes for their proprietary surveillance technology, we must assume they have a back door and are listening to every word of every phone conversation and email in America that is of interest to them. We now understand that Hanjour acquired his license to fly small planes by exploiting a legal loophole. This happened at Freeway Airport near Bowie, Maryland, about twenty miles from Washington.
His pattern of behavior was on-again off-again, and this played out everywhere he went. 11 suspect," GovernmentExecutive[.]., June 13, 2002.[8] Thomas Frank, "Tracing Trail of Hijackers," Newsday, September 23, 2001. One instructor, Duncan Hastie, who trained Hanjour at Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) in Scottsdale, Arizona, refused to readmit him a second time when Hanjour sought to return. Rather than persist in one flight training program through to the end Hanjour would quit after a few weeks, then move on to a different school. Apparently Bamford is also unaware that Hanjour flunked a flight test just three weeks before 9/11 while attempting to rent---not a jet aircraft---but a single engine Cessna. THE SHADOW FACTORY tells the story of warrantless wipetapping -- how the Bush administration trampled on the US Constitution.
[7]It is important to realize that even if Hani Hanjour had some training in a Boeing 737 simulator this would not have prepared him to accomplish a series of top-gun maneuvers in a Boeing 757, which is a significantly larger and less maneuverable aircraft. 60-62).Were it possible to speak with James Bamford I would congratulate him for his fine work on the NSA. Both firms are little more than subsidiaries of Israel's intelligence community. [1] Even then, Hanjour's flight training was spasmodic and ineffectual. The story is a shocker.
After completing a remarkable 330 degree downward spiraling turn and some other daredevil maneuvers that would have challenged a commercial pilot, Hanjour plowed Flight 77 into the west wing of the Pentagon at more than 500 mph. Yet, how many Americans have a clue that Israel engages in wholesale spying on America.I have no doubt that insiders leaked the details to the author because they were so apalled by what is happening. The book should have received five stars. 90) the two calls that Barbara Olson supposedly made from AA Flight 77 to her husband Ted, who served as Bush's solicitor general. For example, Bamford mentions (p.
The further revelations in the second half of the book that the NSA and the telecoms outsourced the actual eavesdropping chores to two Israeli high tech firms, Narus and Verint, is over the top. Apparently the author is unaware that these calls have since been discredited. Fluency in English is required by law to hold a US pilot's license. Notes:[1] Amy Goldstein, Lena H. When Hanjour had trouble controlling and landing the aircraft Marcel Bernard, the chief instructor at Freeway, flatly refused to rent him the plane. Sun and George Lardner, Jr., "Hanjour an Unlikely Terrorist," The Cape Cod Times, October 21, 2001.[2] Ibid.[3] The set of documents is posted at: [.].[4] Ibid.[5] "Report: 9/11 Hijacker Bypassed FAA," AP story, June 13, 2002.[6] "FAA Probed, Cleared Sept. Chevrette told FOX "I couldn't believe that he had a license of any kind, with the skills that he had." [6] Hanjour's English was so bad it took him five hours to complete the exam mentioned above that normally should have taken only about two.
In the next breath I would encourage him to probe 9/11 more deeply. The evaluation does mention that Hanjour was intelligent, but it also states---and Bamford ignored this---that Hanjour "made numerous errors during his performance and displayed a lack of understanding of some basic concepts. For the details see David Ray Griffin's latest book THE NEW PEARL HARBOR REVISITED (pp. Shocking indeed. Yet, just three weeks later, this flunky supposedly performed like an ace. [Since] He could not fly at all." [5] As reported by FOX News, Hanjour's atrocious English and general ineptitude prompted an administrator at Jet Tech, Peggy Chevrette, to question the authenticity of his pilot's license. Nor was he ambitious.
353) submitted as evidence in the trial of Zacharias Moussaoui.
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