Playing to the Edge Quotes

“I can’t tell the difference between unlucky and unskilled because the results are the same,”
― Michael V. Hayden, Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror

“The world is not getting any safer, and espionage remains our first line of defense. The”
― Michael V. Hayden, Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror

“We set up an effort, the Geocell, staffed it with smart young folks, teamed them up with imagery analysts from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and then wired them directly to tactical units in the field. Old SIGINTers will tell you that this was just a version of what they used to call traffic analysis. If it was, it was on a massive dose of steroids. We put the Geocell in the basement among the heating ducts,”
― Michael V. Hayden, Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror

“Every nation is required to balance the needs of security with the needs of liberty. Thanks to James Madison and a bunch of his friends, we have planted our flag well on the side of liberty in that difficult question. But if a nation feels itself threatened, feels its children are at risk, it tends to move its banner closer to the requirements of security than those of liberty. That’s what all of us feared when we told our families that we would wake up Wednesday to a different America. You and I have a role here. You and I can and will preserve American liberty and we will do it by making America feel safe again.”
― Michael V. Hayden, Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror