# Thin Thread > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Thin Thread," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thin-thread/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *Competing NSA programs at the center of the post-9/11 mass-surveillance turn. Per John Kiriakou, on September 11, 2001 NSA Director Michael Hayden implemented Operation Thin Thread — which 'vacuums up every phone call, every text message, every email, every bit of metadata from every American' — and reportedly called 9/11 'the greatest possible gift to NSA.' Three NSA officers (Bill Binney, Kirk Wiebe, and Ed Loomis) had built a competing program, Stellar Wind, that could collect the same data while protecting Americans' identities; Hayden chose to grab everything instead. Kiriakou says it was Tom Drake's effort to report the illegality that destroyed Drake.* - **Agency:** NSA - **Thin Thread:** Implemented by Michael Hayden on 9/11; bulk collection on all Americans - **Stellar Wind:** Privacy-protecting alternative built by Binney, Wiebe, and Loomis - **Hayden's reported line:** '9/11 was the greatest possible gift to NSA' - **Whistleblower:** [Tom Drake](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thomas-drake) **Thin Thread** and **Stellar Wind** were competing NSA programs at the center of the post-9/11 mass-surveillance turn. [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) recounts the broader story in connection with NSA whistleblower [Tom Drake](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thomas-drake). In the documentary *Silenced*, Drake himself says that, tasked with surfacing dormant NSA systems after 9/11, he personally brought the Thin Thread program to senior leadership's attention shortly after the attacks.[1] ## Thin Thread and Hayden Per [Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), on September 11, 2001, NSA Director Michael Hayden implemented Operation Thin Thread. Kiriakou says Hayden called 9/11 *"the greatest possible gift to NSA"* — meaning, in context, that *"now that the gloves are off, we can intercept anything we want anywhere in the world."* Thin Thread, in his description, lets the agency *"vacuum up every phone call, every text message, every email, every bit of metadata from every American anywhere in the world"* — in violation of the NSA's own charter, which prohibits spying on Americans. The justification: Americans *"may be talking to terrorists, so we have to grab everything and then sort out the details later."*[2][3][4] ## Stellar Wind — the road not taken [Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) says three NSA officers — Bill Binney, Kirk Wiebe, and Ed Loomis — had developed a competing program, Stellar Wind, that *"would be able to collect the same kind of data while protecting Americans."* Hayden, in his account, decided against it: *"No, we want to grab all of it."*[5] Kiriakou has given a different account of Stellar Wind elsewhere, describing it not as a rejected privacy-protecting alternative but as a companion technology the NSA developed alongside Thin Thread, using AI to discern which of the vacuumed-up communications represented a genuine threat.[6] ## Tom Drake The choice to collect everything is what led [Tom Drake](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thomas-drake) to try to report the illegality. He went to his boss (*"mind your own business"*), then to the Inspector General (who was not read into the compartment and *"never heard of any of these programs"*), then to the General Counsel (*"I advise you to keep your big mouth shut"*), then to the Pentagon Inspector General — who reported him to the FBI. Drake was ultimately charged with multiple felonies including espionage.[5][7] Kiriakou identifies Stellar Wind as the program [Edward Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden) later leaked publicly.[5] ## See also - [Tom Drake](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thomas-drake) - [Edward Snowden](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/edward-snowden) - [Patriot Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/patriot-act) - [Section 702](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/section-702) - [FISA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fisa) ## Sources 1. SILENCED (2014) - The War on Whistleblowers (Feature Documentary) w/ John Kiriakou Tom Drake (2025-10-14), at 15:24. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7UXdr1l1lY&t=924s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-14-jspione-silenced-2014-the-war-on-whistleblowers-feature-documentary-/ 2. Joe Rogan Experience #2392 — John Kiriakou (2025-10-10), at 2:24:58. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZqADzuu73g&t=8698s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-10-joe-rogan-experience-2392/ 3. Joe Rogan Experience #2392 — John Kiriakou (2025-10-10), at 2:25:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZqADzuu73g&t=8730s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-10-joe-rogan-experience-2392/ 4. Joe Rogan Experience #2392 — John Kiriakou (2025-10-10), at 2:26:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZqADzuu73g&t=8763s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-10-joe-rogan-experience-2392/ 5. Joe Rogan Experience #2392 — John Kiriakou (2025-10-10), at 2:26:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZqADzuu73g&t=8796s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-10-joe-rogan-experience-2392/ 6. John Kiriakou – Enhanced Techniques & Whistleblowing (2024-12-10), at 39:25. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkkqwGDDbE0&t=2365s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-12-10-pete-a-turner/ 7. Joe Rogan Experience #2392 — John Kiriakou (2025-10-10), at 2:27:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZqADzuu73g&t=8829s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-10-10-joe-rogan-experience-2392/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/thin-thread/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt