“Barack Obama announced the first public review of US surveillance programs since 9/11 on Friday, in what amounts to the president’s first concession that the mounting public concern in response to disclosures by whistleblower Edward Snowden justifies reform. After weeks in which the Obama and senior intelligence officials have insisted that the privacy of US citizens was sufficiently protected, the president announced a series of measures aimed at containing the controversy prompted by the Guardian’s revelations. At a White House press conference – his first full question-and-answer session in three months – Obama said that revelations about the National Security Agency’s activities had led Americans to question their trust in government and damaged the country’s reputation abroad. But he made it clear that the programs themselves would remain in place………………”

There is only one question that matters here: would Mr. Obama have started reform of the NSA surveillance system without the actions taken by Edward Snowden? Probably not.

Cheers
mhg