The director of the National Security Agency put forth his best argument for its surveillance programs, but the Internet doesn't appear to be buying it.
Gen. Keith Alexander talked about how the NSA saves lives and called NSA workers "heroes" in a half-hour long YouTube video produced by the Department of Defense as part of its "Armed With Science" series.
In the video, embedded above, Alexander makes disparaging remarks about former defense contractor Edward Snowden, while not mentioning him by name, saying the leaks will likely cost lives. The DoD uploaded the video to YouTube on Thursday and it had received more than 12,000 down votes as of Monday morning.
See also: Why We Need an Invasive NSA
"They do more to save our lives than anybody else that I know," Alexander says in the video, referrring to NSA employees. "This leaker is not a hero. He will have cost lives."
The description of the video on YouTube states that its aim is to "get the story straight" regarding the NSA's "criticized foreign intelligence and cybersecurity programs." These once-secret programs have come into the public eye since June when The Guardian and other publications began producing reports based on the trove of documents Snowden leaked.
"It's not just the United States we help protect," Alexander says in the video. "The metadata and content programs that we have actually help our allies more than they help us."
Alexander cites 54 "terrorist-related events," 41 of which were overseas, in which the NSA was able to alert local authorities. Recent leaks, however, showed that the NSA's surveillance program has extended to at least 35 world leaders.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, a key U.S. ally, called President Barack Obama last Wednesday and asked him to explain reports that she was being surveilled. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney denied the spying allegations. "The president assured the chancellor that the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor," he told the Associated Press.
Alexander also contends that the surveillance programs have helped the U.S. fight terrorism both home and abroad, saying NSA intel "turned the tide" in war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan by helping uncover crucial details about how terrorists operate and move information.
"General Dave Petraeus will tell you it's one of the greatest things that's ever happened," Alexander says.
A recent report by The Washington Post based on Snowden-leaked documents shows that the NSA has aided the CIA in its controversial drone strike program against suspected terrorists.
Aside from the NSA surveillance programs, Alexander discusses the U.S. Cyber Command, which he also heads, in the DoD video.
"Just about everything in our lives runs on computer networks, and most of those are not as secure as they need to be," Alexander says. "The problem with the iPhones and all the current phones is they're not as secure as your landline."
As thousands clicked the thumbs-down button for the video on YouTube this weekend, thousands more protested the NSA's surveillance programs Saturday with a real-life demonstration in Washington, D.C., organized by the cleverly-named website StopWatching.Us.
The DoD video ends on a different note, as the interviewer asks Alexander where he would go if he could travel anywhere in space and time. He answers that he would travel to the future and bring back knowledge of how to cure deadly diseases.
See it all for yourself in the video embedded above. You'll need to go to the video's page on YouTube for the most recent information on its thumbs-up and thumbs-down votes.
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