NSA Chief Says "Maybe" One Terror Plot Foiled

Maybe one or maybe none.

The budget of the NSA is $10 billion per year and they can't even confirm that all of the telephone data mining has made a single contribution to the security of the nation.  This despite the administration and the NSA had previously claimed that the agency has foiled 54 plots.

From Libertyblitkreig blog:

Pressed by the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at an oversight hearing, Gen. Keith B. Alexander admitted that the number of terrorist plots foiled by the NSA’s huge database of every phone call made in or to America was only one or perhaps two — far smaller than the 54 originally claimed by the administration.

From Washington Times:

Leahy asked Gen. Alexander to admit that only 13 of the 54 cases had any connection at all to the U.S., “Would you agree with that, yes or no?”

“Yes,” Gen. Alexander replied.

In response to a follow-up question, Gen. Alexander also acknowledged that only one or perhaps two of even those 13 cases had been foiled with help from the NSA’s vast phone records database. The database contains so-called metadata — the numbers dialing and dialed, time and duration of call — for every phone call made in or to the U.S.

But wait,  Homeland Security has claimed that it foiled 45 plots!  Which is it? 

The Daily Beast, reported that the entire Department of Homeland Security is given credit for foiling 45 terror plots since September 2001 or about 3 plots per year.  I doubt if these are entirely different than the 54 plots falsely claimed as "resolved" by the NSA and the administration.   

Since the Homeland security budget for 2013 is $56 billion dollars, the cost per foiled plot is  $18 billion dollars. Worth it?  How many of those plots were solved by ordinary police work and citizen tips?  I'll bet that a majority were solved the old fashioned way at a far more modest cost.  How many security agencies do we need??

Add that to the fact that the TSA, with $6 billion budget, has NEVER identified even a single terrorist from airport screening.

Shut 'em all down. We're broke already!