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NSA center hidden inside Army base The flap about President Bush's authorization of warrantless surveillance is likely to bring attention to an NSA installation in central Washington state. The Yakima Research Station's satellite dishes can be spotted from Interstate 82, the Yakima Herald-Republic reports. But almost nothing else is known about it. The National Security Agency is so secretive that the joke is that the initials stand for "No Such Agency." President Harry Truman authorized its creation more than half a century ago at the beginning of the Cold War. "It doesn't make noise, doesn't send smoke," James Bamford, author of "The Puzzle Palace," told the newspaper about the Yakima installation. "It's almost invisible. The whole agency is virtually invisible." Bamford said that the Research Center is part of Operation Echelon, a network of listening posts around the world. The Research Center has almost the perfect cover. It's hidden inside the giant Yakima Training Center, a 260,000-acre Army base used mainly for artillery training. |
