{"id":798,"date":"2026-09-09T19:45:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798"},"modified":"2026-09-09T19:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:45:31","slug":"the-legacy-of-9-11-a-surveillance-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798","title":{"rendered":"The Legacy of 9\/11: A Surveillance Society"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

When the attacks of September 11, 2001, stunned America 25 years ago, the Prospect<\/em> had just moved to Washington and brought on a new executive editor in Harold Meyerson. In about a week, we managed to assign and edit an issue that was one of our best ever. The cover line was \u201cDefending an Open Society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Shoot Him!\u2019: Police Threaten Third-Country Nationals Imprisoned in African Hotel<\/a><\/p>\n

The articles in that issue challenged the widespread assumption that we were now in a new normal, in which the vulnerability of an open society had been horribly revealed. Painful as it might be, America supposedly had to sacrifice some liberty to regain some security.<\/p>\n

Then as now, that premise was disastrously wrong. But over 25 years, America ended up needlessly sacrificing both.<\/p>\n

More from Robert Kuttner<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

At the time, it seemed that the ability of a cell of terrorists to pass unnoticed, and to seize and weaponize not one but four jetliners almost simultaneously, demonstrated the pathetic vulnerability of the United States. But as testimony to the 9\/11 Commission later revealed, American counterintelligence knew everything it needed to know in 2000 and 2001 to prevent the 9\/11 attacks. The problem was that the White House under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney was obsessively focused on Saddam Hussein and didn\u2019t want to know about al-Qaeda in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Richard Clarke, director of counterterrorism for the National Security Council, had urgently requested a meeting of NSC principals on January 25, 2021, in a memo during Bush\u2019s first week in office, to develop a comprehensive strategy against jihadists in America. He was rebuffed. Over the next several months, Clarke\u2019s team assembled evidence of a planned attack, pilots being trained, and sleeper cells, but the White House kept fending him off.<\/p>\n

Had the Supreme Court not intervened to steal the election for Bush, and had Al Gore been president, Clarke\u2019s urgent warning would almost surely have been taken seriously and 9\/11 never would have occurred. We had all the counterintelligence surveillance we needed. We just didn\u2019t have a president who was paying attention.<\/p>\n

In the panic that followed the attacks, a wish list of every previously rejected bad idea for warrantless surveillance and spying on Americans was hastily assembled. This became the USA PATRIOT Act. It was rushed through Congress in a fervor of misplaced patriotism and signed on October 26. It passed the House 357-66, and the Senate 98-1. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, the lone Senate dissenter, warned in a powerful floor speech, \u201cPreserving our freedom is one of the main reasons that we are now engaged in this new war on terrorism. We will lose that war without firing a shot if we sacrifice the liberties of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other odious items in the administration\u2019s anti-terrorism bill, as Georgetown Law professor David Cole wrote in the Prospect<\/em>\u2019s 9\/11 issue, were provisions to make aliens \u201cdeportable not for terrorist activity but for peaceful and nonviolent associational activity \u2026 It would authorize the Immigration and Naturalization Service to detain immigrants indefinitely on the attorney general\u2019s say-so, even when they have a legal right to live here permanently and cannot be deported. And it would resurrect the doctrine of ideological exclusion by allowing aliens to be denied entry for their speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more What Voter Suppression Looks Like in Practice<\/a><\/p>\n

All of this, of course, prefigured President Trump\u2019s grotesque anti-immigrant measures.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, one of the genuine vulnerabilities that did need attention\u2014international money laundering by terrorists\u2014was remedied by the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. But the same politicians who support surveillance of citizens and consumers are big supporters of crypto, which is a gift to terrorists and criminals who launder money.<\/p>\n

One of the little-noticed consequences of the post-9\/11 hysteria has been a diabolical symbiosis between government surveillance and corporate surveillance. What Shoshana Zuboff was the first to call surveillance capitalism has now become ubiquitous, as platform monopolies like Amazon and Google vacuum up customer data to sell targeted ads, screw rivals, and use personalizing pricing.<\/p>\n

As the big tech monopolies pursue these surveillance strategies, experience gained in the national security establishment is highly prized. At least 200 people from counterintelligence posts have gone to work for Google, Facebook, and Amazon.<\/p>\n

They include Caroline Atkinson, President Obama\u2019s deputy national security adviser for international economics (2011\u20132015). She subsequently became head of global policy at Google. Robert Kimmitt, general counsel and executive secretary of the National Security Council, went to Facebook. Brian Walsh, special assistant to the president and senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council, went to a senior post at Amazon Web Services. And dozens more.<\/p>\n

And the revolving door works both ways, with Trump\u2019s top science, technology, and national security staff coming from Big Tech. What both sectors have in common is a commitment to surveillance.<\/p>\n

Read more Cattle Ranchers Have a Beef With Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

None of this makes Americans more secure. It makes us more vulnerable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
\n
\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the little-noticed consequences of the post-9\/11 hysteria has been a diabolical symbiosis between government surveillance and corporate surveillance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[394],"class_list":["post-798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tap","tag-tagged-9-11-big-tech-congress-corporate-power-cryptocurrency-executive-branch-intelligence-money-laundering-national-security-on-tap-revolv"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Legacy of 9\/11: A Surveillance Society - Frontier Housing Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Legacy of 9\/11: A Surveillance Society - Frontier Housing Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the little-noticed consequences of the post-9\/11 hysteria has been a diabolical symbiosis between government surveillance and corporate surveillance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Frontier Housing Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-09T19:45:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\"},\"headline\":\"The Legacy of 9\\\/11: A Surveillance Society\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-09T19:45:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798\"},\"wordCount\":829,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/803971fd0fac0e7937d4d5fa1b738b02.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Tagged: 9\\\/11,\u00a0Big Tech,\u00a0Congress,\u00a0corporate power,\u00a0cryptocurrency,\u00a0Executive Branch,\u00a0intelligence,\u00a0money laundering,\u00a0National Security,\u00a0ON TAP,\u00a0revolving door,\u00a0surveillance,\u00a0Terrorism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"TAP\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798\",\"name\":\"The Legacy of 9\\\/11: A Surveillance Society - Frontier Housing Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/803971fd0fac0e7937d4d5fa1b738b02.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-09T19:45:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/803971fd0fac0e7937d4d5fa1b738b02.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/803971fd0fac0e7937d4d5fa1b738b02.webp\",\"width\":2121,\"height\":1414},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?p=798#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Legacy of 9\\\/11: A Surveillance Society\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Frontier Housing Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/frontierhousingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Legacy of 9\/11: A Surveillance Society - Frontier Housing Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Legacy of 9\/11: A Surveillance Society - Frontier Housing Report","og_description":"One of the little-noticed consequences of the post-9\/11 hysteria has been a diabolical symbiosis between government surveillance and corporate surveillance.","og_url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798","og_site_name":"Frontier Housing Report","article_published_time":"2026-09-09T19:45:31+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247"},"headline":"The Legacy of 9\/11: A Surveillance Society","datePublished":"2026-09-09T19:45:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798"},"wordCount":829,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/803971fd0fac0e7937d4d5fa1b738b02.webp","keywords":["Tagged: 9\/11,\u00a0Big Tech,\u00a0Congress,\u00a0corporate power,\u00a0cryptocurrency,\u00a0Executive Branch,\u00a0intelligence,\u00a0money laundering,\u00a0National Security,\u00a0ON TAP,\u00a0revolving door,\u00a0surveillance,\u00a0Terrorism"],"articleSection":["TAP"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798","name":"The Legacy of 9\/11: A Surveillance Society - Frontier Housing Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/803971fd0fac0e7937d4d5fa1b738b02.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-09T19:45:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/803971fd0fac0e7937d4d5fa1b738b02.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/803971fd0fac0e7937d4d5fa1b738b02.webp","width":2121,"height":1414},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?p=798#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Legacy of 9\/11: A Surveillance Society"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/","name":"Frontier Housing Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13a8c63a4bd3b73600b541c1532fc247","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frontierhousingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}