Last Week Tonight With John Oliver: General Keith Alexander Extended Interview (HBO)
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Talk about weird. 
steve2470
For what's it is worth - NSA have been spying on everyone, everywhere for at least 40 year now - and it is suprising it took that long for americans in US, to discover the ugly truth about NSA as it did... Every since NSA was started to ayedrop on Soviet communications - they have also been ayedrop on everyone else, who might be of interest - even if it was just people on the left side of the political spectrum.. Of course with the help of different organizations in different countries - who in many cases was left outside of ordinary law and order - for decades... Even Norway had a secret police, who for more than 40 years was collecting information of everyone to the left of center - even as they looked the other way with right wing organizations at the same time... And the whole thing was blowing up in everyones face at the start of the 1990s - when it was discover by the new news casts who then started to came out as the media was more liberated - how nasty the history really was... Peace activists - people who was part of legal political party's was also been watched - and in periods of their life, getting their phones tapped - their letters and other things going true the mail system opened and the intent being read and copied - before they might have been given the letters and other things.. Even had police cars following them when they walked the streets in some cases... They even had specially military groups, called STAY BEHIND, who was prepared to get people who might had been friendly to the Soviets if Norway was ever attached - to either arrest, to send out of the country for interrogation - or to be killed by this groups.. And they was so powerfully - that the military could in some cases have exercises where the Prime Minister and other ministers was whiskered out of the country in less than 12 hours even to UK, and the different ministers and even the Prime minister was not even sure where they was - and who the gentlemen was - before they arrived in UK to be told they had been part of a escersises to make sure the prime minister could be safe if war ever broke out... At least the prime minister was given a decent meal - and maybe a shower - and a bed on a nice hotel before he was traveling back to Norway 
Norway was also rather important when it came to spying on the Soviet Union - as we have a long border with Russia - and also have the benefits of beeing able to use modern radar equipments (and a lot of other elint equipments) to more or less regulary spy in Russia - even if most of the equipment was not under norwigian direct control - this was equipments who was rather expensive - and Norway in the 1950s-1960s and 1970s - and in most cases even in the 1980s was far from that rich - not even moderate rich as a state back then - and had to priortize hard - and then it was US, and NATO who was footing most of the bill building and maintaining the equipment who was situated near the border with Russia - Or at places where they could be used to spy on Russia - and who still have a role in NATO - looking after Russias activity in the Barents sea and other places...
After the cold war - NSA had to justfy itself in a new way - and spying on everyone, everywhere was that reason - but all the time between 1989-1999-2001 they had to change its role, and countinue to justfy itself.. After 9/11 they was given the golden opurtinity to do that - justify itself on a large scale - now as defender of USA against everyone who might have evil in their mind.... And they have tools who I suspect even the old KGB would evny them having... The only thing needed in all this - to really make NSA, and the rest of the alfphabet soup - to be like KGB was in old times - is more in the organisation of things - than everything else...
Diclotican
I'm glad you're at DU. 
Happy spring to you.
