The Problem with NSA

It's not that they tapped Angela Merkel's phone, it's that they couldn't keep it secret.  America has long profited from  snooping.  H.O. Yardley's black chamber decrypted everyone' diplomatic cables from the Washington Naval Conference in the 1920's.  The American delegates, armed with Yardley's decrypts, were able to make the conference come out favorable to US and British interests, not so favorable to the Japanese.  Breaking the Japanese "purple" cypher in WWII led to decisive victory at Midway, and the killing of Japanese admiral Yamamoto. 
  But we were able to keep these deals secret.
  Today, NSA issues clearances to flakes like Snowden, and when they flake out and spill all, it hurts.  It's not all about technology.  People count too.
   It's also about need-to-know.  Snowden was given access to a whole bunch of stuff that he had no business seeing.  So was Bradley Manning.