'Dozens' of Attacks Have Been Thwarted, Says NSA Chief

After millions of people's records were scooped up

The head of the National Security Agency said Wednesday that his agency's extensive electronic surveillance programs have played a critical role in thwarting "dozens" of terrorist attacks aimed at U.S. targets and abroad.

Gen. Keith Alexander, in making the assertion, cited the two intelligence collection programs that have been the focus of public scrutiny in recent days, one that allows the government to collect the call records of millions of Americans from U.S. telecommunications companies and another that collects Internet records.