Politicians move to protect NSA surveillance as officials dodge questionsMadison Ruppert On one hand, some senators are pushing for legislation that would bring true reform to the NSAs spying program while others are promoting legislation that would actually expand surveillance powers. Meanwhile, NSA officials are hardly being transparent. When lawmakers questioned officials about the NSAs collection of Americans data on Thursday, their questions were never answered directly. Even The Washington Post took notice of the glaring fact that NSA Director Keith Alexander dodged questions posed by senators. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) was especially harsh on Alexander and the intrusive, constitutionally flawed surveillance system built by the NSA. Indeed, the NSA misled the public by putting out a fact sheet with a significant inaccuracy in June. One might add that the NSA also deceived other government entities, drastically undermining any possibility of real oversight. Furthermore, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper blatantly lied about the surveillance programs while under oath, something for which he has never been held accountable. While a few senators have presented some strong opposition to NSA surveillance, the fact is that the majority of those on the Senate Intelligence Committee continue to defend it. As The New York Times reports, most of the senators on the committee used the hearing on Thursday to largely defend the programs and criticize the disclosures. Sen. Saxy Chambliss (R-Ga.) claimed that people could die because of Edward Snowdens leaks, according to the Times. Chambliss also asked Alexander to describe the value of NSA surveillance. In my opinion, if we had had that prior to 9/11, we would have known about the plot, Alexander said. However, as the Times also points out, Officials have struggled to identify terrorist attacks that would have been prevented by the call log program, which has existed in its current form since 2006. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Ore.) along with Wyden have openly questioned the claims about the systems ability to foil terror plots. We have not yet seen any evidence showing that the NSAs dragnet collection of Americans phone records has produced any uniquely valuable intelligence, the senators said in June. Still, Alexander had no problem exploiting fear to justify the program. Alexander warned that if Congress hampers the NSAs ability to gather information, it could allow for terrorist attacks in the United States similar to last weeks massacre in a mall in Nairobi, Kenya, The Hill reported on Wednesday. If you take those [surveillance powers] away, think about the last week and what will happen in the future, Alexander said. If you think its bad now, wait until you get some of those things that happened in Nairobi. Id love to hear your opinion, take a look at your story tips and even your original writing if you would like to get it published. I am also available for interviews on radio, television or any other format. Please email me at Admin@EndtheLie.com Please support our work and help us start to pay contributors by doing your shopping through our Amazon link or check out some must-have products at our store. This article first appeared at End the Lie. 