How come the NSA has never done anything of any value?

[The_Casual_Observer]

Or is all there success too secret to reveal? Why do I doubt it?

[ThomWV]

1. I Will Only Say This

You can not even concieve how much heavier our losses in Viet Nam would have been without the NSA.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Considering the fact that the Vietnam war was a total mistake

and was probably extended by the work of agencies like the NSA, the value is questionable.

[Jara sang]

5. What proof do you have this statement?

[ThomWV]

9. I Worked For Them During That Time and In That Place

I know what information was generated and how it was used. It, the NSA, saved more American lives than could be inscribed on three Walls.

This is not a debate about the legitimacy of the Viet Nam war, just a statement about the utility of information generated by the NSA during that time and its effectiveness.

[Jara sang]

13. That is really not much of an argument.

I mean, I could just as easily say that the M-113 Armored Personal Carrier or Bell UH-1 saved more lives than the NSA. Industries and agencies that gear for war don't "save lives" in any stretch of that definition.

[rooboy]

3. A major part of the NSA's activity is corporate espionage...

I saw a documentary once where NSA intelligence undercut a French company which was bidding for a major contract against an American one. They intercepted the fax and advised the US company of the offer, so the US company could beat the French. Somehow this information leaked out and the French company sued (successfully, if I recall correctly)...

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. They don't seem to be doing much in the way of helping

anybody when it comes to outsourcing to India. But that's different, it isn't Northrop Grumman.

[tn-guy]

6. Does anyone know....

Can anyone point to an authoritative source on who decoded the Verona documents? Wasn't the NSA involved in that?

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. I doubt it.

If they did it was a one in a million stroke of luck. Heroic code breaking is largely a myth. In reality
the kind of people hired to do this work rarely if ever have any success. Largely, the kind of thing that goes on in those places is as worthless as the work that has been done on missile defense.

[tn-guy]

10. Well who did do it?

I'm serious. Does anyone know which agency actually did the work to decode the Verona documents? Was it done by straight cryptanalysis or did we somehow get cribs?

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. Who cares?

If they took credit for it/ sombody has given them credit, it's guaranteed that they didn't do it.

[tn-guy]

12. Just curiosity, I guess

The intercepts are fascinating from a historical perspective, much like the story of the Enigma or JN-25 decoding during WWII. I just can't remember how and by whom they came to be decoded. I guess I'm having a senior moment. I was hoping someone could fill me in.

[McCamy Taylor]

7. Everything they do is illegal so they cant claim credit for anything.