Another reason was the US and UK had got the German OKW-Chi work on from the Target Intelligence Committee teams (TICOM) on the Russian Fish system.
A Soviet military teleprinter that used packet switching was then open to the US and UK in 1945 thanks to German efforts during ww2.
Later efforts by German teams in the UK helped with the Caviar project but only got Soviet administration messages.
All that German material given to the UK in 1945 by the Germans was still been sorted by the UK into the early 1950's.
Russia has its own systems and was under constant decryption efforts by Germany in ww2 and then UK and German staff after ww2.
The same methods just kept on giving the US and UK what they needed for years and they where not going to tell the world about how easy it was or the ww2 german staff that where helping in mid 1945.
Think of it as a Operation Paperclip for ww2 German intelligence assets that kept on working in 1945 :)

In the early 1940's yes. By the 1950's the UK had an entire new generation of skilled people working on jet, nuclear and electronic brain projects. The GCHQ had moved onto helping the US with its difficult Korean war issues. By the 1950's Turing's role in ww2 and his 1950's travel was seen a huge security risk.
Any documents and hardware from the 1940's was also seen as a security risk. Why tell the world how the UK had won ww2 by reading German Red, Tunny material in realtime? Its a good trick that the UK could keep working with Tempora https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Re China and the risks of intelligence, bugging and manipulation?
"remove high-end servers" and "replace them with a local brand" :) (05/27/2014)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/...

AC amendments are not self signed letters from officials with dreams about changing circumstances.

AC: A self signed letter from an official due to some imagined totality of circumstances does not remove the US protections regarding unreasonable search and seizure.
The US Constitution is not some living document an official can alter with some new view of what is legal reasonableness.

The people who had the letter shown to them and their legal team would be put under more extra special top secret surveillance.
All members of the US press who showed any interest in the case, legal team or letter would be under more surveillance.
Any member of the public who linked, hosted or commented on the story would be under surveillance.
ie everybody would then share in the sealed secret court fun of that original NSL. RICO Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act like :)

Re "I really wish someone would have the balls to stand up to the blatantly unconstitutional bullshit prevalent in the system."
A few groups in the USA have:
"In 2005, Library Connection, received a National Security Letter (NSL) from the FBI, along with its accompanying perpetual gag order, demanding library patrons’ records." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Yes Operation Fast and Furious
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Different oversight and historical accountability.
If the front and back license plates, driver and passengers are going to get tracked in some federal database best to use a federal database that lawyers, the press, politicians and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cant really question or even know about.
It also hides the requests for optical character recognition, facial recognition system away from the teams of journalists who look deep into state, federal gov and mil procurement databases for just such public contracts.
The US press and legal teams at a state and federal level where able to track cellular phone surveillance device due to paper work.
By using different federal enforcement projects to buy and run tracking systems the public databases and open court material can be kept more clean from legal teams and the press.

The US has its own unique nuclear issues. Some locations where selected on older planning ideas and more is now understood about the deep geology.
Just thinking about reports on earthquakes and flooding is expensive as the press and locals do read the reports and ask more difficult questions.
The need for pressure-venting flaps and what role they could have or how they would work when needed?
The costs of parts, the ability to fit, look after and even buy quality parts is the main issue in the US.
The site locations of basic emergency and limited redundant systems has been set over decades and is costed. The locations of US cooling, power, electrical sub systems as a back up to the main systems when they fail is price set as US standards and tested over decades.
The US has a lot of old questions about its old designs and just keeping or getting needed spare parts that meet low US standards is difficult.
If the US now has to pay to upgrade or even rebuild parts of its nuclear sites to fancy new standards? Find the cracks, report the cracks, fix and then pay to have teams look for new cracks as part of ongoing ongoing preventative maintenance?
The easy way out is just another round of decades of US paper licence extensions.
If the public saw press images from foreign inspections at US sites? Or understood the role of US insurance for US nuclear sites?
Best to keep the paper licence extensions, keep all foreign inspections focused to non proliferation issues and veto any talk of costly international upgrades.
No need to waste profits on new ideas as the needed maintenance costs are already too expensive. Upgrades as needed for parts only and the locals keep their jobs. The nuclear priesthood did a great job with the US nuclear paper licence extensions. The next part is the looking after profits and any keeping new nuclear standards voluntary.

Re: "But, honestly, that same amount of money will get you a MUCH better NEW laptop and there are ways to secure a system around AMT."
The issues with the newer systems is the remote low level access thats part of the "NEW laptop" or computer system.
If a person is seen and tracked outside away from their networked computer that would give time to access that networked computer.
Some of the needed tools are are built into the hardware as sold and powered waiting for the remote commands.
After a system is altered all the owner would see in their own logs is the soft sleep or shutdown and their own use.
Projects like this remove some of that built in, waiting, easy remote access as sold. A remote system that could have granted easy network access might now need physical access or other network access that might be more a bit more difficult to hide.

Re: "It long past the point where the world needs a reliable supply of non-US based technology components, i now consider almost everything originating from the US as being irrevocably compromised"
Yes this is the first small positive steps that keep the networked computing side. The user gets new firmware, hardware and an OS thats more understood. The hardware also has some of the more remote friendly aspects looked at.
The next step for nations is a box with a chip and motherboard that is fully understood as designed. Beyond that is paper, a typewriter, one time pads and number stations.
Projects like this will help a lot of people and nations :)