On minute 38 out of 48 (listening on 2x speed), and so far there's nothing worth hearing in here.. the first 18 minutes is one of them explaining what a signal is and how the NSA keeps the world safe and follows the law, then another one of them talks in general about, yeah someone got a signal and it lead to Bin Laden. How? No further details...
Edit to add: The last 10 minutes have the guest talking about the day of the raid, how only about 50 people in the NSA were aware it was going to happen, how one of the guests' wife figured out he was part of the operation - he was away the whole weekend, and she heard about the raid in the news, the emotional impact (release of tension), how they informed a junior analyst or two that their work contributed to that operation, their pride, and again how the NSA keeps the world safe, while following the law!
The aim of this podcast is definitely PR and recruiting.
Unsaid is of course that the USA accused, found guilty, and executed someone without trial, where evidence is shown of their guilt. Sure on balance I think Bin Laden is responsible for 9/11, but I think the source for this belief is the US government.
> Unsaid is of course that the USA accused, found guilty, and executed someone without trial, where evidence is shown of their guilt. Sure on balance I think Bin Laden is responsible for 9/11, but I think the source for this belief is the US government.
The United States declared war on Al-Qaeda, and killed it's leader in response to an attack on 9/11 that leader claimed credit for. Domestic courts don't factor in here. Any country is lawfully allowed to kill enemy combatants or military leadership in a war.
Wild that the NSA has a podcast. Part of me always wanted to work for them, and I still dream of cyber warfare, but the allure of big tech money and the Virginia location always pushed me away. Maybe some day.
Same dream here - they work very interesting problems at very interesting scale, but I can see 3-4x the comp while working from anywhere? Not even a chance. I do sometimes fantasize about making a career shift when the cash comp isn't that important to me and the kids are out of the house, but as of now I value afternoon coffee breaks with my kids just too darn much.
I heard that the breakthrough in finding Bin Laden came from a Pakistani doctor who just walked in and told them where to look. I haven't seen any further details, so I wonder if it's being played down or was a false rumor to begin with.
I wonder if this helps NSA in their recruiting process - there might be a bunch of disinterested, bored FAANG folks who could 10x their impact by serving their country instead.
Adding to the GDP is probably better in the long run but at this current moment where the tech world is, I think adding to the counterintelligence world has a better impact.
Thanks for this likable podcast. It makes me feel a helluva lot more viable to exist when the NSA/other government agencies make it such a livable country. -- DJ
I was disappointed that we never got an apology, or a plaque or wall or whatever they give out for heroes. Because all the foreign aid workers that have been killed due the CIA operation to pinpoint bin Laden via his kids DNA, definitely deserve one.
Assuming you're serious, why would the CIA apologise to foreign aid workers? Maybe you can petition Médecins Sans Frontières to make a plaque, but the US security services are mandated to deal with pretty discrete and clear issues. Their remit was to find Osama. Random foreign aid workers (particularly non US citizens) are - vis-a-vis the CIA/NSA - justifiable collateral in these sorts of operations. That's just how it is, mate.
> Learn from a counterterrorism expert who was in the room when the word came in that Osama bin Laden was Killed In Action.
There’s a very famous photo of Obama, Biden, the Joint Chiefs, and National Security advisors in the White House Situation Room watching the raid unfold in real-time…but sure, I guess it’ll be pretty neat also to get the names of the folks working on the other side of town who got a phone call from someone on the staffs for one of the people in that photo.
> There’s a very famous photo of Obama, Biden, the Joint Chiefs, and National Security advisors in the White House Situation Room watching the raid unfold in real-time…
How convenient there was a photographer in the fucking situation room! Such a coincidence.
From the NSA, this seems like historical revisionism as it contradicts the bin Laden story widely accepted.
The short version is: 9/11 happens. The Taliban offer to hand over bin Laden and George W. Bush refuses [1]. Bin Laden escapes into Pakistan. We then start a completely pointless war in Iraq against someone who played no part in 9/11. There was a letter from many conservative leaders prior to 9//1 calling for the invasion of Iraq [2]. Interestingly, then Senator Biden predicted in 1998 he'd vote to topple Saddam Hussein in 1998 [3].
There is no partisan divide on US foreign policy.
Anyway, bin Laden builds a massive compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about a half mile from the ISI (Pakistan's intelligence agency). Like, it stood out like a sore thumb. It was so much larger than the surrounding houses. And there he sat for years. He had no Internet access. He communicated with the outside world via couriers. Those couriers would take USB drives and travel to distant Internet cafes and such to communicate on bin Laden's behalf.
One of those couriers was identified through torture ("interrogation") of people held at Guantanemo Bay. The CIA followed said courier and found the compound in Abbottobad and, well, the rest is history.
So where does the NSA fit into this? It seems like good ol HUMINT (human intelligence) to me.
They don't claim that NSA found Bin Laden. They say that they were part of a multi-agency effort that took 9 years to find him. And they say that human intelligence led them to who the courier was.
> The short version is: 9/11 happens. The Taliban offer to hand over bin Laden and George W. Bush refuses [1]
I looked at your link. It seems you missed a huge asterisk on that from your own article:
> the third most powerful figure in the ruling Taliban regime told reporters that the Taliban would require evidence that Bin Laden was behind the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US
George W. Bush did plenty of bad things, so much so that your misleading point about him not accepting the surrender of Bin Laden was unnecessary to fabricate and only serves to destroy the credibility of everything else you wrote. Sometimes you need to let peoples' misdeeds speak for themselves, not embellish to add to your narrative.
Iraq was never about 9/11. The error of Iraq happened because the US followed one HUMINT source Saddam was developing WMD. Considering bin Laden was in Pakistan, it would presumably require a multi-source confirmation.
[+] [-] netsharc|1 year ago|reply
Edit to add: The last 10 minutes have the guest talking about the day of the raid, how only about 50 people in the NSA were aware it was going to happen, how one of the guests' wife figured out he was part of the operation - he was away the whole weekend, and she heard about the raid in the news, the emotional impact (release of tension), how they informed a junior analyst or two that their work contributed to that operation, their pride, and again how the NSA keeps the world safe, while following the law!
The aim of this podcast is definitely PR and recruiting.
Unsaid is of course that the USA accused, found guilty, and executed someone without trial, where evidence is shown of their guilt. Sure on balance I think Bin Laden is responsible for 9/11, but I think the source for this belief is the US government.
[+] [-] acoard|1 year ago|reply
The United States declared war on Al-Qaeda, and killed it's leader in response to an attack on 9/11 that leader claimed credit for. Domestic courts don't factor in here. Any country is lawfully allowed to kill enemy combatants or military leadership in a war.
[+] [-] pushupentry1219|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] bitshiftfaced|1 year ago|reply
Wasn't this a military operation? He was killed in a raid on the compound.
[+] [-] zeroCalories|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] adrianpike|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] dyauspitr|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] plasma_beam|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] avazhi|1 year ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] wrp|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] ahazred8ta|1 year ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ahmed_al-Kuwaiti
[+] [-] textlapse|1 year ago|reply
Adding to the GDP is probably better in the long run but at this current moment where the tech world is, I think adding to the counterintelligence world has a better impact.
[+] [-] monksy|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] djaouen|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] anonu|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] nceqs3|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] sitkack|1 year ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_fake_vaccination_campaign_...
https://www.csis.org/blogs/smart-global-health/fake-cia-vacc...
> Terrorists began murdering polio vaccine workers, mostly women volunteers, as the Taliban banned immunizations in the areas under its control.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/lasting-fallout-fake-vaccinati...
[+] [-] avazhi|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] GaggiX|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] dgfitz|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] nativeit|1 year ago|reply
There’s a very famous photo of Obama, Biden, the Joint Chiefs, and National Security advisors in the White House Situation Room watching the raid unfold in real-time…but sure, I guess it’ll be pretty neat also to get the names of the folks working on the other side of town who got a phone call from someone on the staffs for one of the people in that photo.
[+] [-] santoshalper|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] dgfitz|1 year ago|reply
How convenient there was a photographer in the fucking situation room! Such a coincidence.
[+] [-] olliej|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] TheBlight|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] hulitu|1 year ago|reply
Which one of them ? /s
[+] [-] frank_bb|1 year ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Sad90sNerd|1 year ago|reply
If you still believe that Sadam Hussan had weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Queda then I have a domino theory Ukraine war to sell you.
...Remember kids, jet fuel and office furniture melt steel beams.
[+] [-] jmyeet|1 year ago|reply
The short version is: 9/11 happens. The Taliban offer to hand over bin Laden and George W. Bush refuses [1]. Bin Laden escapes into Pakistan. We then start a completely pointless war in Iraq against someone who played no part in 9/11. There was a letter from many conservative leaders prior to 9//1 calling for the invasion of Iraq [2]. Interestingly, then Senator Biden predicted in 1998 he'd vote to topple Saddam Hussein in 1998 [3].
There is no partisan divide on US foreign policy.
Anyway, bin Laden builds a massive compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about a half mile from the ISI (Pakistan's intelligence agency). Like, it stood out like a sore thumb. It was so much larger than the surrounding houses. And there he sat for years. He had no Internet access. He communicated with the outside world via couriers. Those couriers would take USB drives and travel to distant Internet cafes and such to communicate on bin Laden's behalf.
One of those couriers was identified through torture ("interrogation") of people held at Guantanemo Bay. The CIA followed said courier and found the compound in Abbottobad and, well, the rest is history.
So where does the NSA fit into this? It seems like good ol HUMINT (human intelligence) to me.
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.te...
[2]: https://www.militarist-monitor.org/images/uploads/PNAC_Lette...
[3]: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4842886/user-clip-1998-biden-...
[+] [-] rtsil|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] dataflow|1 year ago|reply
I looked at your link. It seems you missed a huge asterisk on that from your own article:
> the third most powerful figure in the ruling Taliban regime told reporters that the Taliban would require evidence that Bin Laden was behind the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US
[+] [-] speakfreely|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] jonnybgood|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] khuey|1 year ago|reply
A bit disingenuous to say that and leave out that the most generous version of that offer was to hand Bin Laden over to a third country.
[+] [-] dgfitz|1 year ago|reply
You just described counterintelligence propaganda.