United States of Secrets - Frontline PBS

[awepittance]

pt 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUe6qyEXoJQ

pt 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qIamc4j-wA

 

When NSA contractor Edward Snowden downloaded tens of thousands of top-secret documents from a highly secure government network, it led to the largest leak of classified information in history — and sparked a fierce debate over privacy, technology and democracy in the post-9/11 world.

Now, in United States of Secrets, FRONTLINE goes behind the headlines to reveal the dramatic inside story of how the U.S. government came to monitor and collect the communications of millions of people around the world—including ordinary Americans—and the lengths they went to trying to hide the massive surveillance program from the public.

“This is as close to the complete picture as anyone has yet put together — and it’s bigger and more pervasive than we thought,” says veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk (League of Denial, Bush’s War).

In part one, a two-hour film premiering Tuesday, May 13 at a special time (9 p.m.), Kirk goes inside Washington and the National Security Agency, piecing together the secret history of the unprecedented surveillance program that began in the wake of September 11 and continues today – even after the revelations of its existence by Edward Snowden.

Then, in part two, premiering Tuesday, May 20 at 10 p.m., veteran FRONTLINE filmmaker Martin Smith (The Untouchables, To Catch a Trader) continues the story, exploring the secret relationship between Silicon Valley and the National Security Agency, and investigating how the government and tech companies have worked together to gather and warehouse your data.

“Through in-depth interviews with more than 60 whistleblowers, elected officials, journalists, intelligence insiders and cabinet officials, we have woven together the secret narrative that reveals the scale and scope of the government’s spying program,” says Kirk. “We’ve gone deep inside the story, from what really happened at the NSA and the White House in the days after 9/11, through the Bush and Obama administrations, directly into the stunning revelations from Edward Snowden.”

With extraordinary access to key participants, the series exposes what came to be known as the “The Program”: a massive domestic surveillance dragnet designed to disrupt terrorist attacks before they occurred by collecting the communications of American citizens. From the start, “The Program” sparked outrage inside the NSA and Justice Department, and has since been attacked as unconstitutional and illegal.

Insiders like congressional intelligence committee staffer Diane Roark took their concerns directly to leaders in Washington and NSA Director Michael Hayden: “I said it was unethical, immoral, politically stupid, illegal and unconstitutional, and should stop — and when this comes out, all hell is going to break loose,” Roark tells FRONTLINE.

As FRONTLINE reports, for Roark and others who objected and spoke out, the consequences were devastating both personally and professionally. Many found themselves under criminal investigation: their security clearances revoked, their homes raided by armed federal agents, and their lives destroyed.

In part two of the series, producer Martin Smith investigates the ways Silicon Valley has played a role in the NSA’s dragnet, and blurred the boundaries of privacy for us all.

“As big technology companies encouraged users to share more and more information about their lives, they created a trove of data that could be useful not simply to advertisers—but also to the government,” Smith says. “Privacy advocates have been worried about this since the early days of the Internet, and the Snowden revelations about the scope of government spying brought their fears into high relief.”

How did big tech companies react when the government asked them to turn over data on millions of ordinary American citizens? And what do companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo! really know about you?

“If the FBI came to your door and demanded photos of your wedding, the names and daily habits of your children, the restaurants you frequent, who you’ve called and texted for the past month, and where you’ll be staying on your upcoming vacation, you’d call your lawyer,” Smith says. “But that’s exactly the sort of information we’re all sharing by living our lives digitally — and the government has taken notice in a big way.”

Part political thriller and part spy novel, United States of Secrets series is the definitive history of domestic surveillance in a post-9/11 world, from the investigative team behind FRONTLINE’s award-winning Money, Power & Wall Street. With new revelations about government spying coming out almost daily, the series will be gripping viewing for those who want to understand the context of the Snowden affair—and what it means for all Americans.

In tandem with the broadcasts, FRONTLINE will publish the latest installment of “The FRONTLINE Interviews” — an online collection of revelatory, extended video interviews with the intelligence insiders, cabinet officials and government whistle-blowers featured in the film.

 

[roasty]

[YO303]

It's amazing how edwardo snowden was predicted 2 decades ago by Canadian rapper, makes you wonder if we are living in the matrix

[doublename]

The cowardice of The New York Times, it's almost enough to make me start donating to Infowars or some shit.

[Braintree]

I wonder how they managed to convince those people to be interviewed.

[awepittance]

I wonder how they managed to convince those people to be interviewed.

good question, most of the NSA officials seemed pretty sociopathic and creepy as fuck. Michael Hayden almost somehow beats Dick Cheney's creep factor, that weird mouth tic / self satisfied grin thing he does after he talks is very disturbing.

[Braintree]

It is truly disturbing, if only the for the fact that they are so unapologetic about their actions. Haven't seen part 2 yet, and still processing the first, but they all act like cliche movie villains. Unbelievable.

[kcinsu]

I think they just really believe it was the right thing to do. The last thing Hayden says in the second part... About if there is an attack, they are blamed for not doing enough, and if there isn't an attack, they are criticized for doing too much... To him its a simple black and white decision... Better to do too much than risk an attack. The problem is that the world isn't black and white, yet this is how they seem to operate. They believe it so fully, that they see no problem in getting interviewed because they are right,and this is their chance to explain why they are right. They can't imagine it looking bad, because to imagine that, would be to imagine they are wrong.

 

Great documentry.

[awepittance]

agreed, and what's most obvious is that no matter how much surveillance you have in the world heinous and high casualty acts of terrorism are still extremely possible. It's really sad how game theorists have put themselves into this false paradigm that more surveillance = more safety

[awepittance]

jesus christ the part at 51:17 (in part 2) where they process Obama's voice through the glitchy delay with that music, so good.

also 1:32:58 (part 1) = haunting as fuck

[marf]

id watch a frontline episode on bronies just to listen to that narrator

[doublename]

The voice of God

[awepittance]

bump

[kcinsu]

I'm currently reading No Place To Hide by GG. Fascinating.

[awepittance]

http://www.glenngreenwald.net/#BookDocuments

here are all the raw documents contained in the book + more

[luke viia]

watched part 1 the other night, good summary of the story so far. the interviews were pretty illuminating. gonna watch the second bit soon. thanks for the heads up about these, JE

[Hautlle]

FYI these are available in HD via the pbs.org site http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/united-states-of-secrets/ Part 2 on YouTube is only 240p and it was killing my eyes while chromecasting it.

 

Not sure if it will work outside the US though, as I had to verify my local PBS channel.

 

Good watch, going through the 2nd part now.

[goDel]

Thanks.

 

20 mins into the first part. It's good they actually try to give insight into how and why the NSA operates as it does. Without implicitly attaching some judgement. Good or bad, it's all up to the viewer to make up his/her own mind. Well done.

 

On a tangent: recently read an article about how easy it is to tap into people's smart phones out in the open. You're basically giving all your info away whenever you join some open wifi network. And the tools to tap into peoples smart phones on wifi are all out there. Anyone could do it. Pretty scary.

 

No wonder the NSA would think they could get away with what they are doing. Seeing the scale with which people are giving away their information already, I can almost understand their point of view. I don't agree though. But I could understand.

[luke viia]

yeah, i'm sure they just felt left out to some degree, lol. but can you understand the blatant lying to congress and the quasi-legal route Addington & Cheney (and co.) used to make these programs "legitimate"? i can't :P

[goDel]

Well.. To be fair, I was only 20 mins in at the time. Things hadn't turn crazy bat shit yet. The things people can get away with in the name of safety. Too bad the NYT only started publishing after the reelection of Bush.

 

Good documentary though. I'm interested in O's memoires about the presidency. If he's smart though, he'll wait ten years before releasing it. You can't put out the garbage while it's still being produced and sold as haute cuisine. Heck, he might even have to wait till Bush jr. is two meters under ground. Writing anything which would justify reality, means putting Bushs head on a stick.

[Guest Atom Dowry Firth]

putting Bushs head on a stick.

 

Watching this film and seeing how things actually played out behind closed doors - seeing how Bush was actually 100% aware of the illegality and the full capabilities of the program while brazenly lying about it to the public, I'm amazed this hasn't happened already to be honest.

 

Obama changing his mind about transparency and dismantling the program after all his pre-election promises is not entirely dissimilar to Isildur getting seduced by the power of the One Ring and deciding to keep it for himself in Mount Doom. Good doc, thanks

[calx]

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

[awepittance]

 

Watching this film and seeing how things actually played out behind closed doors - seeing how Bush was actually 100% aware of the illegality and the full capabilities of the program while brazenly lying about it to the public, I'm amazed this hasn't happened already to be honest.

 

Obama changing his mind about transparency and dismantling the program after all his pre-election promises is not entirely dissimilar to Isildur getting seduced by the power of the One Ring and deciding to keep it for himself in Mount Doom. Good doc, thanks

 

i think one of the best quotes in the documentary that explains Obama 'changing his mind' is in Richard Clarke's words 'no president wants to give up powers they've inherited when they get into office'. The craziest thing is that the only reason we know the history of that Cheney/addington legal fight (and a lot of the details shown in the doc) is because of a leaked document by Edward Snowden. Surely Obama read this same internal memo about the history, saw all the crazy shit cheney tried to do but somehow ended up agreeing that it wasn't blatantly illegal or unethical.

[luke viia]

I have a hard time taking anyone seriously when they apologize for Obama's (administrations') behavior on this topic (not directly at anyone ITT, just in general). His stance on privacy was one of the main -- only -- reasons I voted for him in 2008. It was fucking infuriating realizing it was all being taken back and actively lied about in the years following all that golden rhetoric. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, can't get fooled again. I'm trying to privately put food on my family over here.

[awepittance]

bump