The NSA's Asculum

279 B.C. saw the plains of southeastern Italy shake to the thunder of charging war elephants.  Alexander the Great's cousin had arrived in force - at the request of the Magna Graecia cities worried about the upstart Rome - asking for the protection of a Hellenistic Prince.  His pride flattered, and with 50 elephants on loan from Ptolemy of Egypt, he arranged his hosts against his non-Greek (and therefore technically "barbarian") foe.

Hellenistic warfare relied upon the phalanx, a great column perhaps 20 rows deep wielding enormous spears of 15 to 18 feet.  Four rows of spears emerged from the front of the Phalanx, and the weight of numbers - with the glinting points of the spears - had swept the Persian hordes before it sixty years ago.

By his cousin.  That must have been a bone of contention.  After all, was he not the King of a mighty land, just has his great cousin had been?  Did he not face  βάρβαρος (barbarians - non-Greek speakers), just like his great cousin had?  And did he not have a host of native allies, just as his great cousin had?

And indeed, he conquered Consul Publius Decius Mus' four legions.  But his own Phalanx - the core of his power - was also grievously bloodied.  His captains, observing the field of victory, congratulated King Pyrrhus on his victory.  The Roman chronicles recorded his reply.

Ἂν ἔτι μίαν μάχην Ῥωμαίους νικήσωμεν, ἀπολούμεθα παντελῶ  (One more such victory and I shall be undone.)

The NSA just won their Congressional battle of Asculum.  The House of Representatives voted down a proposal to strip them of their power to collect domestic data on American citizens without a warrant.  The NSA won this clash of philosophies. The vote was 205 in favor of stripping them of their power, and 217 opposed. 

A month ago the vote would have been 100 in favor and 323 opposed.  A lot sure has happened in the last 30 days.

Like the Romans of 279 B.C. who learned to deal with the seemingly invincible War Elephants, bipartisan supporters of civil liberty have learned to deal with the "ZOMG why do you want to help terrorists attack us" argument.  And so the NSA's defenders found themselves cut to pieces, even if they are left standing on the field of "victory".

As Pyrrhus could have told them, enjoy it while it's there.  They won't see it again.

The reason is that nobody trusts the Administration, who have been shown to be serial liars (Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the IRS).  And nobody trusts the NSA, whose leader has lied unconvincingly to Congress on what the NSA is up to.  Even when he didn't lie, he was unconvincing to many:

“National security is of paramount importance, yet the NSA’s dragnet collection of Americans’ phone records violates innocent Americans’ privacy rights and should not continue as its exists today,” Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) said after the vote.

And so to the NSA's "victory".  The Tea Party saw it's legions joined by Democratic allies, and almost succeeded in defunding the surveillance beast.  So riddle me this, Secret Agent Man, what is to stop them from pushing this front and center as John Boehner plays chicken with the debt ceiling.  You want our votes, you give us this vote.  We'll get Democrats to pass the defunding.

One more such victory and Director Clapper shall find himself undone.  Indeed, it's likely that the only reason that he hasn't been forced to fall on his (political) sword is because the Obama Administration does not want a bruising Senate confirmation battle.  Yet.

Because Ptolemy took his War Elephants back.  He had grander designs than a client empire in far off Italia.  That wasn't something high on his priority list of "Must Haves".  Sure, if it's easy, go ahead and grab it (with our help - don't forget we helped you).  But when it starts to look like a losing cause, those elephants (or political favors) look like they're better applied elsewhere.

Especially when his own Party is starting to desert him.

A bipartisan almost-majority nearly decided that the risk of terror attack was a less clear and present danger than the risk of disgruntled voters.  After a high-visibility terror attack.  An attack, I might point out, that the NSA didn't stop.  And remember, we're coming up to an election next year.  The commercials write themselves.



King Pyrrhus slunk away with his tail between his legs after seeing the massive army that the Romans raised for the next campaign year.  He had barely beat them the previous year with a stronger army; now his allies were deserting him and he couldn't replace his losses.  The Romans, proud of and used to their traditional prerogatives, mobilized against him.  And so like Brave Sir Robin, he sailed away into the history books.

A Pyrrhic Victory references this long ago battle of Asculum.  It means a battle tactically won at such cost that it was strategically lost. It is said that the Supreme Court reads the election returns.  Now that the NSA is a domestic political entity, they will do so, too.  How this will play out is hard to tell, but the NSA has lost a strategic battle, and lost it badly.