Deseret News | Camp Williams to house spies

Reader comments
Camp Williams to house spies

Way to go Utah | 12:51 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

"The site beat out 38 others nationwide"
_______

That is quite a compliment for Utah to beat out 38 other possible places.

Way to go.

David Montgomery | 1:22 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

What a great place to have such a center. NSA uses linguists among other things to do their work and Utah has more diverse languages than any other state due to it's returned missionaries having served in foreign countries.

If you want a good job, speak the right language, and have no criminal record and haven't lived in a communist country, you might be one of the lucky ones to land a job when the hiring starts.

I Spy a rotten tomato | 2:05 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Tax payers paying $1.5 billion (initially) so the Government can spy on us??? I have nothing to hide but I don't like the idea of the Government knowing every web site we visit and scanning our e-mails. This just gives the Government more control over our lives in what's covered up as "protecting us".

Comments continue below

Ted | 2:10 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

One major contributing factor is the extraordinary foreign language talent in the region.

Way to go? | 2:13 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

A huge drain on the power grid, a big target for our enemies, and what does the average Utahn get for it?

giggles | 2:51 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

wonderful another way for them to destroy our privacy and peek into our lives

ProudtobeAmerican | 3:26 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Way to go: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." -- JFK

Anonymous | 3:35 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

The NSA is not the FBI, they do not target you and they really are not interested in domestic issues.

They are monitoring international data and business transactions. They monitor communication and data from satellites and decrypt encrypted foreign transmissions. If this relates to any of your tinfoil-hat wearers, then you deserved to be spied on.

How about a little gratitude for helping keep our nation safe?

zuch | 3:51 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Way to go:
A 35-60 MW load will not negatively impact the power grid in that area.

What does Utah get? Read the article again to see how many people will be employed.

I think it's a great thing and I am glad the federal government is decentralizing these types of operations.

Windy | 4:26 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

As windy as it is at Camp Williams I'm sure they will use 100% wind power to power those computers....

Don't ya think?

Bill Gronberg | 4:35 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Utah can be glad that Hillary Clinton is not President. Her number one aid probably would be former President Bill Clinton. He may still remember that in the 1992 presidential election he came in third behind Ross Perot here in Utah. President Obama came in second here and knows there is plenty of good talent here to help him safeguard the nation.

I smell a good job | 5:26 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

This is great and right up my alley. It's even coming sooner than expected. Of course, it'll be delayed a year or two, but that's still not too bad.

Anonymous | 10:26 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

No more encroaching on our rights.

Demand a government that fits inside the CONSTITUTION.

Some peoples kids--- | 10:44 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Sheesh--- encroaching on our rights. What are you people thinking????
Do you even know what the NSA is??
Do you have a clue that we have been listening to the messages and conversations of other nations for years??
I was stationed on the border of the former USSR in Iran when the Shah was in power -- gathering intelligence to safe guard the citizens of this great nation.
Turn off Sean Hannity and think for yourselves.
Hate mongering is not a positive action.

To I Smell a Good Job | 10:47 p.m. Oct. 23, 2009

Good luck in landing a job. You need to go through a very rigorous security clearance first and that could take over a year.

1984 | 12:51 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

1984 in the making.
Welcome to Oceania my friends.
War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.

Orwell has been prophetic indeed.

Privacy | 1:52 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

In my experience the only people that are worried about privacy are people that have something to hide!

Dirt | 4:54 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

These future employees could be used full time to uncover the dirt behind Utah politicians!

S2 | 6:12 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

USSID 18 is the governing document that prohibits intentional collection, processing and storage of US communications, whether collected from the airwaves at home or abroad. Congressional oversite is the last place that becomes effective. The people who work side-by-side with each other, every level of management, and countless numbers of people who see, process and audit storage of data are conscientious American citizens who have sworn an oath to defend American's rights. They take it very seriously, and those internal checks are very effective. Been there, done that.

I am skeptical of the likelihood that linguistic abilities are going to be utlized in any major way at this site. The numbers of potential employees discussed indicate more skills and utilization of electrical engineers, signals/network analysts, cyber-sleuths, and those that manage, monitor, and evaluate their work.

Finding a sponsor, besides the military, to investigate and grant the security clearances is pretty difficult. Great grades in school, adherences to clean living, including debt and personal integrity, and critical thinking skills are the best means to attract potential recruiters' attention. Likely plan on moving out East for a spell as well.

Freedom Needs Protecting | 6:34 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

This is the new way the military needs to adapt to changing threat environment to safeguard our freedoms. Encroaching on your rights? Anymore than a cop pulling you over and giving you a ticket? Does that encroach on your rights? What are your rights? Living in a free country is not a guarantee... it must be guarded, and provided there are checks and balances, as well as vigorous oversight by Judicial and Congressional branches of government, the military (Executive branch) must be allowed to adapt to protect us. This is great news for Utah and Utah jobs.

Great | 6:37 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

Our nephew works for that agency. Hope he can move away from The Beltway, and work here.
He says they have no time to fiddle with the 99% (read your email, etc.), there are plenty of foreign threats and wackos to keep them more than busy.
The data coming in before 9/11 was tens of thousands of leads every day, to sort and try to find the real threats in.

patriot | 6:56 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

Utah with tons of American patriots, I'm not surprise at the decision. Let our boys filter out our enemies, go work boys, keep the homeland safe

Utah- It's Just The Beast | 8:35 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

Some very simple comments this AM. I can't believe that a fear mongering state as big as Utah (Repubs) with the largest percentage of republicans in America, would be rewarded with any national project of this size. Geographics no doubt played a big part in the decision. You little people and your decietful ways don't need to worry about this agency they are not interested in you, they are after bigger fish to fry. So relax pot heads, gang bangers, cheats and thieves they are after the big worldwide fish!

RW CLEVE | 9:15 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

I think health care, poverty and getting out of places we don't belong in this world could benefit a lot more from the money that will be sunk into this. What does the average Utahn or American citizen get out of this...? I am sure a whole lot more government waste, red tape and debt! Who approves this kind of stuff anyway? The haves, of course! And don't even get me started on the RFID chips. I gotta go and work on trying to subsidize my income on my day off so I can keep my head, just above water! Final comment,as Yakov Smirnov used to say, "Wow, what a country!" I am out!

BobP | 10:54 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

Maybe I can get a job. I speak two languages other than English. But then they don't hire foreigners.

Chuckle | 10:58 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

Thanks for the laughs from all of the posters who actually think a facility of this caliber is being built for the govt to read their personal emails. And also find it funny that our elected officials are so welcoming of this project while at the same time anti-fed govt on soooo many things. This will be good for the area.

McSame | 11:05 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

We already have this and it is called the National Security Agency or NSA and has 10,000 employees or maybe even 100,000. saw it on PBS "NOVA" series I think. Gov't. WASTE FRAUD AND ABUSE.

NSA Rules Have Changed | 11:14 a.m. Oct. 24, 2009

Americans are clearly being spied on. There are numerous lawsuits against telecoms that have allowed NSA to hose up ALL Internet communications in a given facility. What happens to that data is anyone's guess once they have it, laws notwithstanding. In either case, to skirt domestic laws, they give the UK or Israel access to the same facilities, then legally accept the information from the UK as a foreign intel source. And if laws are broken, how would one know since they go crying national security and hide behind a veil of secrecy laws when you try to investigate.

As far as I'm concerned, NSA "protects us" from the trouble we get ourselves into by deploying our troops around the world where they are not welcome.

PRO-NSA | 7:13 p.m. Oct. 24, 2009

NSA performs a vital mission to keep our country safe. We are fortunate to have them coming here and they deserve all the support they ask for to to help get their job done.

Ignore the fringe kooks who do not understand what NSA does, or the fact that the world is full of people plotting to harm the U.S. and everyone here (including the kooks).

Thank you for your service, NSA!

LOL!! | 7:28 p.m. Oct. 24, 2009

"Spies Like Us?"

nottyou | 6:42 a.m. Oct. 25, 2009

This is money well spent. The NSA & CTU are vital for keeping us safe and I'm grateful people like Jack Bauer are serving our country. Please people, separate fantasy from reality and don't worry about someone spying on your email account. I would however be concerned about your phone being tapped.

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.