U.S. Intelligence Officials Defend Surveillance Programs as Preventing 'Over 50' Attacks

摘要

A pair of controversial National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs that collect phonenmetadata and user data from online services have helped prevent “potential terrorist events over 50 timesnsince 9/11,” NSA Director Keith Alexander told a House Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday. Atnleast 10 of those threats involved U.S. targets, though Alexander and other intelligence officials only disclosedndetails of two new cases Tuesday. The programs are “immensely valuable for protecting our nationnand securing the security of our allies,” Alexander said. Most members of the committee defended thenprograms Tuesday, with Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a former FBI agent, inviting Alexander and other officials to dispel the “laundry list” of “incomplete information” that has circulated since news of thenprograms leaked earlier this month.