Saturday, March 07, 2009

National Security Agency Behemoth?


How big can the National Security Agency get? Two news reports suggest General James L. Jones is consolidating power. America's Cyber Security Chief stepped down as a result. Reuters reported:


Former Silicon Valley entrepreneur Rod Beckstrom said in a resignation letter published by the Wall Street Journal it was a "bad strategy" to have the National Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Defense, play a major role in cybersecurity.

The other story highlighted a recommendation to move America's nuclear labs under the NSA, thus under the Defense Department. WaPo reported:


The nation's nuclear weapons laboratories would be spun out of the Energy Department and become the center of an independent Agency for National Security Applications.

Though still in its initial stage, the OMB idea of putting the nuclear complex under the Pentagon has already drawn widespread criticism from Capitol Hill and elsewhere.

The militarization of America continues. Is General James L. Jones the driver or benefactor? Or is he a fractal, revealing patterns in America's Government Industrial Monstrosity, Eisenhower's MIC on steroids?

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