NSA’s big phone spying win: One Somali cab driver

The Washington Post | Posted by: Matt Cover on August 9, 2013 7:38 am

 

                 

 

He was a San Diego cab driver who fled Somalia as a teenager, winning asylum in the United States after he was wounded during fighting among warring tribes. Today, Basaaly Moalin, 36, is awaiting sentencing following his conviction on charges that he sent $8,500 to Somalia in support of the terrorist group al-Shabab.

Moalin’s prosecution, barely noticed when the case was in court, has suddenly come to the fore of a national debate about U.S. surveillance. Under pressure from Congress, senior intelligence officials have offered it as their primary example of the unique value of a National Security Agency program that collects tens of millions of phone records from Americans.

WATCH: Obama says you can’t have 100% privacy

 Officials have said that NSA surveillance tools have helped disrupt terrorist plots or identify suspects in 54 cases in the United States and overseas. In many of those cases, an agency program that targets the communication of foreigners, including e-mails, has proved critical.

But the importance of the phone logs in disrupting those plots has been less clear — and also far more controversial since it was revealed in June.

 Senator Barack Obama Had Some Very Relevant Ideas About Reforming NSA Domestic Spying (businessinsider.com)

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