Obama: NSA Debate Was ‘Not Worth’ the Leaks

Declares NSA Surveillance 'Definitely Legal, Definitely Necessary'

Fresh off his overhyped and underwhelming “reform” speech Friday, a new interview by President Obama showed exactly how annoyed he is by the public debate on the NSA surveillance.

Declaring the surveillance “definitely legal, definitely necessary,” Obama said that while the debate had raised some “legitimate policy questions” it was “not worth” the damage done by leaks of all of his “legal” global surveillance schemes.

Obama went on to insist that public debate about NSA surveillance could’ve been possible without “giving some 29-year-old free rein” to tell the American public exactly what NSA surveillance actually amounted to. He gave no indication what the other “way” was.

In public conversations, Obama has claimed the public debate was a great thing, but has struggle to disguise his disdain at the notion of “ordinary folks” knowing the details of his secret policy decisions.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.