Why Did NSA Spy On UN? Not To Counter Terrorism, Secret Documents Show - CSM

[WillyT]

Why did NSA spy on UN? Not to counter terrorism, secret documents show.
A report in the German news magazine Der Spiegel claims that documents obtained by Edward Snowden show that the NSA has spied on the UN and European Union.
By David Cook - CSM
August 26, 2013

<snip>

The National Security Agency (NSA) has bugged United Nations and European Union internal communications, according to secret documents obtained by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and disclosed by the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

The story, published Sunday, charges that the NSA “infiltrated the Europeans’ internal computer network between New York and Washington, used US embassies abroad to intercept communications, and eavesdropped on video conferences of UN diplomats.” Among the UN activities targeted by the NSA, Der Spiegel says, was the UN’s Vienna-based nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The report also asserts that there are “secret eavesdropping posts in 80 US embassies and consulates around the world,” which the NSA operates along with the Central Intelligence Agency. The program is referred to as the “Special Collection Service.”

The UN responded to the report on Monday. UN spokesman Farhan Haq said that the United Nations will "reach out" to US officials about the reports of eavesdropping, as it has in the past when such allegations have been raised, the Associated Press reported.

Mr. Haq noted that “the inviolability of diplomatic missions, including the United Nations and other international organizations, whose functions are protected by the relevant international conventions like the Vienna Convention, has been well-established international law.” He added, "Therefore, member-states are expected to act accordingly to protect the inviolability of diplomatic missions."

President Obama defended NSA surveillance programs in his Aug. 9 press conference as necessary to protect the nation and its citizens against terrorist attacks. It is “intelligence that helps us protect the American people and they're worth preserving,” Mr. Obama said. The authors of the Der Speigel report say the surveillance aimed at the UN, EU, and various nations is “intensive and well-organized – and it has little or nothing to do with counter-terrorism.”

<snip>

Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2013/0826/Why-did-NSA-spy-on-UN-Not-to-counter-terrorism-secret-documents-show

[Fumesucker]

1. K&R

[Hydra]

2. Total information awareness

Because they all might be terrorists. We have to check to make sure.






<--- scary that I feel the need for this

[Fuddnik]

3. They have always spied on the UN.

James Bamford talked about these programs in "The Puzzle Palace" back in the '80s. First in San Francisco, then NYC.

The main reason the US pushed for UN Headquarters in the US was to make it easier to spy on them.

[Progressive dog]

4. So they created the NSA because of terrorism.

I did not know that, until Der Spiegel told me. I'll bet there will be more revelations of equal magnitude coming.

[DevonRex]

5. Is this a generational disconnect?

Is there anything else the young people of today aren't aware of that their parents have always known?

Yes water is wet.
Hitler was a real person, not just part of Godwin.
There was a WW1 and WW2, then Korea and Vietnam.
The Cold War was real and came very close to destroying the planet.
Spies spy. We spy on them. They spy on us. Everyone knows it.

Read The Puzzle Palace. It looks like you'll be shocked. Then read Bamford's subsequent books. It'll take you about a week, maybe 10 days. But you'll come away with a lot of fact and you'll have a better idea of what NSA does.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

8. No, no! You don't understand!

The point is this: everything bad that happens in the world is on account of the U.S.

There were no spies before American started spying, just as there were no terrorists before we sent soldiers and drones to kill them.

So all we have to do is to make sure America stops protecting itself and the world will suddenly be at peace.

And anyone who doesn't believe this is obviously a third-way authoritarian Obama apologist who is obviously receiving a paycheck from shadowy Republican billionaires to post on this highly-influential discussion blog, since no one in their right mind (other than about 80% of the Democratic party that doesn't seek out political website discussion groups in non-election season) would possibly disagree with such obviousness.

It's all a conspiracy, I tell ya! A Conspiracy by those Lame Stream Democrats to keep the True® Democrats® down! So like all True Democrats®, vote against the Democratic Party. Voting in Republicans is the only way to teach those Democrats a lesson to all those non-Democratic Democrats for not nominating Chomsky to go down in flames as our Presidential Candidate in the election!

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

/ Just in case anyone is clueless...

[DevonRex]

11. That just about sums it up.

And I'm actually a very liberal Democrat on most things. But on this stuff? Let's just say I will never put the USA at a disadvantage. And Putin is a very dangerous man. Still and again. It's no coincidence that he's involved with Boston, Snowden, and Syria.

[deurbano]

13. Bamford on Snowden ("Whistleblower"):

<<Q: What do you make of Edward Snowden’s actions?

A: With regard to the information he released on domestic surveillance, I consider him a whistleblower. He revealed details of massive violations by the NSA of the privacy rights of all Americans. The NSA has no constitutional right to secretly obtain the telephone records of every American citizen on a daily basis, subject them to sophisticated data mining and store them forever. It’s time government officials are charged with criminal conduct, including lying to Congress, instead of going after those exposing the wrongdoing.

Q: What has changed the most about the NSA since your last book, “The Shadow Factory,” came out in 2008?

A:]The agency has expanded enormously, in terms of size, power and invasiveness since “The Shadow Factory” was published. As I wrote in my Wired magazine cover story last year, the agency has been going on a massive building spree, expanding eavesdropping locations around the world, including one for 4,000 intercept operators at its facility near Augusta, Ga. In addition, it is in the process of building a gigantic one million square-foot surveillance center in Utah where it will store billions of records, phone calls, email and Google searches, many of them involving Americans.

The agency has also increased enormously in power. In my current July 2013 cover story in Wired, I write about Gen. Keith Alexander, the director of NSA, and how he has become the most powerful figure in the history of American intelligence. Never before has anyone in America’s intelligence sphere come close to his degree of power, the number of people under his command, the expanse of his rule, the length of his reign or the depth of his secrecy. As a four-star Army general, his authority extends across three domains: He is director of the world’s largest intelligence service, the National Security Agency; chief of the Central Security Service; and commander of the U.S. Cyber Command. As such, he has his own secret military, presiding over the Navy’s 10th Fleet, the 24th Air Force and the Second Army.>>

http://blog.sfgate.com/bookmarks/2013/07/01/interview-with-nsa-expert-james-bamford/

[DevonRex]

15. Yes, he said that. I've followed Mr. Bamford for decades now.

Read Mr. Bamford and you'll get an idea of some of the actual work NSA does. You'll also get a heavy dose of his opinions. I trust people to form their own.

I won't tell you what NSA does or what MI does. You could find a whole lot out online, though. If you had a starting point. Bamford can give you one.

[deurbano]

16. Well, alright then. And no, in my case, it is not a generational disconnect. I'm almost 59.

My parents built a fallout shelter in our backyard.... and I'm familiar with the Cold War. I've been against the growing surveillance state--- and in favor of greater transparency-- since I was old enough to know about it. I don't understand the ability to become so cavalier about actions that are illegal and immoral.

[DevonRex]

17. Yes, there is reason to be concerned.

I will never say there isn't.

But I'll leave you with this thought. Did you know you can purchase your very own SIGINT setup? You can. For your personal use. With multiple stations or just one. With encryption and decryption capabilities. Set up for SATINT, COMINT, ELINT, FISINT, TCP/IP. It'll even do lobs.

Personal use, corporation use, private security use. Think about that for a little while. We're to this point already. Let that sink in.

[Maedhros]

6. This is why they call us "Progressives"

We want to change things for the better, even things that have been happening for a long time. Even things that our parents have always known were wrong.

[on point]

7. Laws don't apply to PTB doncha know???

[MNBrewer]

9. drip, drip, drip

[Hotler]

10. "President Obama defended NSA surveillance programs in his Aug. 9 press conference....

as necessary to protect the nation and its citizens against terrorist attacks. It is “intelligence that helps us protect the American people and they're worth preserving,”

Dear Mr. President,
Protecting us is what your job was from the begining yet you turned a blind eye to the fuckers onWall St. that helped crash this country.

[riverbendviewgal]

14. correct

The question I have is, why?

[Overseas]

12. K&R.