The NSA’s primary way of fighting terrorism, as previously noted, was through the collection and surveillance of every citizens’ communications data – known as “The Program” according to the documentary. However, not only is “The Program” unconstitutional and illegal, it has also proven to be less than helpful in contributing to the counter-terrorism efforts. While several top government officials – including President Obama, former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Cheney, former NSA Chief Michael Hayden, and others – claim that many threats have been averted thanks to “The Program,” a report found, according to Anna Mulrine, that “traditional investigative methods, such as the use of informants, tips from local communities, and targeted intelligence operations, provided…for investigations in the majority of cases, while the contribution of NSA’s bulk surveillance programs to these cases was minimal…playing an identifiable role in initiating, at most, 1.8 percent of these cases” (Mulrine, Anna). She goes on, with a quote from a source saying “’it can’t justify the gathering of these millions of records when it can be done another way where the government doesn’t have to obtain all of that information’” (Mulrine, Anna).…
