Whether or not that justifies mass surveillance is a different question. I don’t think so. The NSA is a really, really big place. You could work there for a lifetime and not engage in illegal surveillance. I think getting rid of the bad parts shouldn’t require us to get rid of the good as well.
Yep, I agree with that last sentence. The only thing on that list that I think has to do with a significant national security threat is the nuclear command and control systems part. And we could have that without the mass surveillance.
One of the big Snowden revelations was that NSA can literally do whatever they want without needing any kind of government or public approval. There is zero transparency and accountability.
I know you’re being facetious when you say “literally whatever they want” but that’s not true even in jest. Congress approves their budget, they have to justify it like every other part of the government. I think the NSA should have less power and more accountability, but they’re not dictators.
Of course it's true. Most of congress doesn't even have security clearance to know what exactly the NSA is doing, and the ones that do technically have the clearance can really only questions things they are already aware of - there is no onus on the NSA to report anything themselves. Just look at the response by congress and the whitehouse to the Snowden leaks - they all claimed to be completely unaware of what was going on. If you actually read Snowden's book and leaks you will see very clearly that the NSA can launch a program that is classified from congress, that they literally do not need to report on to anyone including the president.
https://www.nsa.gov/Cybersecurity/Overview/
Whether or not that justifies mass surveillance is a different question. I don’t think so. The NSA is a really, really big place. You could work there for a lifetime and not engage in illegal surveillance. I think getting rid of the bad parts shouldn’t require us to get rid of the good as well.