This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Re "NSA: Utah center is backup data farm" (Tribune, June 17):
I recently visited a house in Traverse Ridge whose balcony commanded a clear view of the National Security Agency building looming in Camp Williams' foothills. Heaven only knows, I thought, what its workers will do to us.
I have no words to express how appalled I feel about NSA's domestic spying and gathering of data on a monumental scale. Many citizens say the spying is OK because they have nothing to hide and will not associate with terrorists.
However, these definitions are subjectively political. We have no clue how future administrations will define treason, terror or national security threats.
Neither Republicans nor Democrats in Congress have moral authority to investigate. Since 9/11, both parties bought into domestic spying when, like scared children at night, they willingly approved anything in pursuit of dubious security.
Congress and the states will need to pass at least three constitutional amendments to define privacy, intelligence and what the government can and cannot do in domestic and international spying. Whether they have such political will and courage remains to be spied.
Rick Soulier
Provo