Five dumbest defences for NSA spying

CINDY COHN AND NADIA KAYYALI

DEBUNKED: How often are the NSA's defenders going to repeat the same talking points?

Over the past year, as the Snowden revelations have rolled out, the US Government and its apologists have developed a set of talking points about mass spying that the public has now heard over and over again. From the President, to Hilary Clinton to Representative Mike Rogers, Senator Dianne Feinstein and many others, the arguments are often eerily similar.

But as we approach the one year anniversary, it's time to call out the key claims that have been thoroughly debunked and insist that the NSA apologists retire them.

So if you hear any one of these in the future, you can tell yourself straight up: "this person isn't credible," and look elsewhere for current information about the NSA spying. And if these are still in your talking points (you know who you are) it's time to retire them if you want to remain credible. And next time, the talking points should stand the test of time.

1. The NSA has Stopped 54 Terrorist Attacks with Mass Spying

The discredited claim: NSA defenders have thrown out many claims about how NSA surveillance has protected us from terrorists, including repeatedly declaring that it has thwarted 54 plots. Representative Mike Rogers says it often. Only weeks after the first Snowden leak, US President Barack Obama claimed: "We know of at least 50 threats that have been averted" because of the NSA's spy powers. Former NSA Director General Keith Alexander also repeatedly claimed that those programs thwarted 54 different attacks.

Others, including former Vice President Dick Cheney have claimed that had the bulk spying programs in place, the government could have stopped the 9/11 bombings, specifically noting that the government needed the program to locate Khalid al Mihdhar, a hijacker who was living in San Diego.

Why it's not credible:These claims have been thoroughly debunked. First, the claim that the information stopped 54 terrorist plots fell completely apart. In dramatic Congressional testimony, Senator Leahy forced a formal retraction from NSA Director Alexander in October, 2013:

"Would you agree that the 54 cases that keep getting cited by the administration were not all plots, and of the 54, only 13 had some nexus to the US?" Leahy said at the hearing. "Would you agree with that, yes or no?"

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Five dumbest defences for NSA spying