> Because the review panel is a joke.

This is exactly right. This is a case of the government reviewing itself by packing the review board with insiders and sympathizers. Nobody who disagrees with the NSA's behavior has been selected for this panel.

Blogger Emptywheel has been following this much more closely than the general media:

Advocate of Secret Infiltration, Cass Sunstein, on Obama’s “Committee To Make Us Trust the Dragnet” [1]

The No-Technologist Technology Review Panel [2]

3 Tech Issues the Non-Technologist NSA Technical Committee Needs to Address [3]

[1] http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/08/22/advocate-of-secret-infi...

[2] http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/08/27/the-no-technologist-tec...

[3] http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/08/28/3-tech-issues-the-non-t...