The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America

[Octafish]

4. Christopher Pyle sheds light on the rationale...

The Company took a big interest in the US citizens opposing war on Vietnam. Today the secret government agencies monitor those opposing war on Iraq and the journalists with whom they talk. What's more, the Tip Secret Bigwigs get to make a lot of money in the process.

70% of the $80+ billion intel budget goes 2 private contractors not bound by constitutional amendmts

EXCERPT...

CHRISTOPHER PYLE: Well, what we’ve seen in the ensuing years has been a vast explosion in intelligence-gathering capabilities. But the most significant part of that is the fact that civilian corporations are now doing the government’s work. Seventy percent of the intelligence budget of the United States today goes to private contractors like Booz Allen, which employed Edward Snowden. This is a major change in the power of surveillance. It now goes not only to the government, but to private corporations.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, you seem—in a recent article, you seem to raise what you think are the real issues in these Snowden leaks. You mention, one, the inability of Congress to actually do legitimate oversight over intelligence. You say that the secrecy system is out of control. And you also say that the system is also profoundly corrupt because of all this use of private contractors who make huge amounts of money that no one can actually hold them accountable for. Could you talk about those issues?

CHRISTOPHER PYLE: Yes. The forerunner of the PRISM system that Snowden disclosed was called Trailblazer. It wasted $1 billion on private contracts. It replaced a much less expensive system called ThinThread, which had more privacy protections and had been developed inside the government. Now, the reason that private contractors get this business is because members of Congress intercede with them with government agencies. And we now have a situation where members of the Intelligence Committee and other committees of Congress intercede with the bureaucracy to get sweetheart contracts for companies that waste taxpayers’ money and also violate the Constitution and the privacy of citizens. This is a very serious situation, because it means that it’s much more difficult to get effective oversight from Congress.

CONTINUED...

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/6/13/chris_pyle_whistleblower_on_cia_domestic

It is most heartening to know some can still think for themselves, villager.