''The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America'' is a book on the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
by author
James Bamford
James Bamford (born September 15, 1946) is an American author, journalist and documentary producer noted for his writing about United States intelligence agencies, especially the National Security Agency (NSA). ''The New York Times'' has calle ...
.
Fort Gordon, Georgia
Bamford's book contains a description of a processing center at NSA's Fort Gordon, Georgia facility, and
Operation Highlander, with which it was associated. The staff there analyzed satellite telephone signals (like
Inmarsat
Inmarsat is a British communications satellite, satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with groun ...
) from all over the Middle East. They performed various operations such as matching up phone numbers with names of organizations or individuals, recording messages, finding the locations of cellphones,
call chaining analysis, language identification and translation, and assigning 'importance' numbers to the "cuts" (recordings).
Bamford's book contains the statements of people who worked there, including Adrienne J. Kinne and John Berry. Berry says that the operation never violated Americans' rights and contributed a good deal to the war effort. Kinne says that they were listening to the phone calls of Americans in the Middle East making calls back to the States, including NGOs, aid workers, and journalists at the
Palestine Hotel. Kinne contrasts her years of work before 9/11 in SIGINT and the careful attention paid to
USSID 18 with her work after 9/11 and the way USSID 18 was essentially ignored. Kinne later became part of
Iraq Veterans Against the War.
The NSA and US Army Intelligence and Security Command (USAINSCOM) Inspectors General investigated her allegations. They found no evidence to support Kinne's allegations of improper intelligence activities. Kinne says the NSA IG never even interviewed her. Both the NSA and Army investigators attempted to conduct interviews with Kinne, but Kinne would not agree to be interviewed. The Congress also questioned the NSA and the Army about the matter.
Did NSA Lie, Cover-Up? Senators Open Second Probe, ABC News
By BRIAN ROSS and ANNA SCHECTER, Oct 13 2008
References
Further reading
* Christensen, Chris. "Review of The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America by James Bamford." (book review) ''Cryptologia
''Cryptologia'' is a journal in cryptography published six times per year since January 1977. Its remit is all aspects of cryptography, with a special emphasis on historical aspects of the subject. The founding editors were Brian J. Winkel, Davi ...
''. October 2009. Volume 33, Issue 4. p. 356-358. , , Accession Number, 44192638. Detailed record at Academic Search Complete, EBSCOHost
EBSCO Information Services, headquartered in Ipswich, Massachusetts, is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a private company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. EBSCO provides products and services to libraries of many types around the worl ...
.
External links
*
''After Words'' interview with Bamford on ''The Shadow Factory'', October 18, 2008
2008 non-fiction books
Books about the National Security Agency
Doubleday (publisher) books
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