For four years, President Barack Obama's approach to counterterrorism has been defined by his embrace of paramilitary power — the drones and the commando teams whose ruthless pursuit of al-Qaida helped cripple the terrorist network through a global targeted killing campaign.
Months into his second term, however, Obama faces a rash of disclosures that have revealed the extent to which his administration also has relied on a less conspicuous capability: a massive electronic surveillance net cast within the U.S. that appears to have gathered data on almost anyone with a computer or phone.
The dimensions of the programs are only beginning to emerge. But leaks of a secret surveillance court order and highly classified government slides indicate that the FBI and National Security Agency have assembled detailed call records on millions of Americans and tapped into the servers of technology companies that handle the bulk of the nation's email and online video traffic.