The NSA Leaks Put Our ‘Methods’ At Risk, But Bragging About Monitoring Al Qaeda Emails Doesn’t? | Techdirt

Techdirt points out the obvious: how can the entire legislative branch be crowing about detecting an imminent terrorist threat through intercepted emails and not be divulging sources and methods? Snowden pointed out that the NSA is spying on millions of innocent Americans but government leaders can tell Al Qaeda and the world that we’re reading their emails and it’s somehow okay?

Anyone else get the idea that the American public is being played for fools here?

The intercepted conversations last week between Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the head of the global terrorist group, and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, revealed one of the most serious plots against American and other Western interests since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, American intelligence officials and lawmakers have said.

So… revealing that we collect data on everyone somehow turns Snowden into a traitor, while having officials in the government tell the NY Times that we directly intercepted emails between Al Qaeda’s top leaders is somehow perfectly fine? How does that work?

via The NSA Leaks Put Our 'Methods' At Risk, But Bragging About Monitoring Al Qaeda Emails Doesn't? | Techdirt.