We just had an expert speaker at PHC debate camp. I’ve typed up some of the key themes that mattered to debaters.
Mr. McPeak – M.A. in Strategic Intelligence, 25+ years in intelligence.
Patriot Act: Goal of Financing
Terrorist Groups (like ISIS) have to get people to where the fighting occurs. Battle lines are in Nigeria, Syria, and other places. This takes money for weapons, sure, but you have to feed people every day to keep them alive. Fightings wars are costly.
ISIS isn’t a country or a nation. They have to raise the same amount of money, but there is no country called “ISIS-land” or “Al Qaeda”.
How do they get their money?
- Stealing
- Taxes
- Drugs
- Islamic Charities
Follow the money! If you can cut it off, expose corruption at the source, and so on.
Critical Infrastructure Protection
What is U.S. critical infrastructure?
Banking
Electricity – the ability to power computers, refrigerate, and so on. People try to avoid having “critical infrastructure” called “critical infrastructure” because that has many legal costs associated.
The 4th Amendment and 1st Amendments are at Risk
Once the Government gets the right to WEIGH the rights, it makes us less secure in our property, words, communication, and so on.
Intelligence Oversight is a FT Job
If ANYONE inside the NSA thinks there may be a 4th amendment violation, you’re required to report it, and have a list of names and numbers to go up the chain. It’s very serious. Everyone is trained and re-certified on the 4th Amendment once a year. It’s not like the media says…
NSA Director’s Response to Not Stopping 9/11
He roughly said: “You want me to explain to the American people why we haven’t surveilled 19 people here legally?” And nobody knew what to say and moved on to the next person.
With that said, the intelligence agencies have broken down some walls to share more information.
What is National Security?
There’s a “National Security Policy,” which states exactly what the goal is, while preserving something. There are also National Security Policy Directives (NSPDs) that give certain special directives to agencies.
There’s an Abortion Application
Privacy is used (and twisted) by the Supreme Court to say that a girl who intends to abort, even if it’s discovered, her parents cannot be told. Theoretically, this prevents security.