TOW #14: "The Al Qaeda Switchboard", Lawrence Wright

Whether or not one believes that the N.S.A has the right to view phone records and other forms of personal data in the United States, he/she must begin to see why others have opposing views on the subject. Lawrence Wright, writer for The New Yorker, and author of “The Al Qaeda Switchboard” wrote his essay  for citizens of the United States to see another side of the Edward Snowden scandal. Wright uses historical references as well as rhetorical questioning to show that N.S.A surveillance can only prevent terrorism if the agencies that have access to the surveillance use it correctly.

Wright uses historical references to provide background information that allows the reader to understand why he is showing the need for N.S.A surveillance to be used correctly. Wright retells events from 9/11, “What the report actually says is that the C.I.A. and the N.S.A. already knew that Al Qaeda was in America, based on the N.S.A.’s monitoring of the Hada phone. If they had told the F.B.I., the agents would have established a link to the embassy-bombings case, which “would have made them very interested in learning more about Mihdhar.” Instead, “the agents who found the source were being kept from obtaining the fruits of their work.” By retelling the events that led up to 9/11 and his use of quotes, Wright is able to convince the reader that the surveillance has the ability to work, but it did not because the agencies did not share the information correctly. Wright was able to show that the surveillance could have worked to prevent 9/11 if it was used correctly, so he changes the audiences’ views to now question if the N.S.A surveillance is being used correctly rather than if it should be allowed at all.

Wright also asks rhetorical questions to call out the mistakes that the agencies made with the information that they collected from surveillance before 9/11. Wright informs the reader that the CIA knew that Al Qaeda members were in the United States, and that the CIA did not inform the FBI of this. Wright then asks, “What did the agency intend to do about the Al Qaeda operatives in America?” Wright asks this question to show that the surveillance did its purpose, but the CIA made the mistake of not sharing this information with other agencies. By asking what was the CIA was trying to do, the reader again takes his/her focus off of should their be N.S.A surveillance and now questions if the surveillance is being used correctly because the C.I.A knew that there were Al Qaeda members in the U.S and did not act accordingly toward them.

Wright was able to achieve his purpose of proving that the agencies need to be more of a topic of discussion amongst the public, rather than the N.S.A’s ability to use surveillance on Americans by his use of historical references and by asking rhetorical questions.