Edward Snowden’s Leak of The NSA Spy Program

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Edward Snowden’s Leak of The NSA Spy Program
Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner in which he coined the term “Land of the Free”. Many Americans are now questioning if America is still “land of the free”. In June of 2013, information leaked by Edward Snowden on the National Security Agency and its programs caused a storm of questions and strong opinions for and against the security of individuals. The leak uses factual information of top-secret government spy programs that are considered by many Americans to be an invasion of privacy and a violation of freedom. Due to many Americans feeling violated by top-secret government spy operations, Edward Snowden’s leak on the National Security Agency programs have and will continue to radically change the power the government holds because citizens are now empowered to fight against unjust government practices.
During the early twentieth century U.S. officials realized the need for security agencies and intelligence programs to detect threats in both foreign, and internal affairs. Early agencies adopted by the U.S. Army were used for code-cracking purposes between enemies of the U.S. in World War I and II. Throughout various presidents and military a variety of intelligence programs were established, but they had a major flaw. The flaw was the lack of a unified effort to collect and monitor information. In 1952 President Truman wrote a memo on the purpose to establish the centralized NSA was, “to provide an effective, unified organization and control of the communications intelligence activities of the United States conducted against foreign governments”(Jurist 1). The National Security Agency was established in 1952. The program was started with secrecy as its p...

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...r privacy invaded by secret government programs is the opposite of freedom. There's the argument that America’s freedom is preserved by the spying, but that is not really true. There is little to no evidence that any attacks have been prevented due to NSA operations. A country with true freedom should allow American’s to control who has access to their own communications data. Without our own control we become citizens without any freedom to communicate and all of our privacy is now violated. Edward Snowden is and should be a hero, not just to American people, but every person in the world. A leak of this scale will radically change government power in America and many other countries worldwide. U.S. citizens have the right to fight against unconstitutional acts and they need to stop the NSA’s power abuse before the U.S. government becomes a dictatorship.

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