NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake Testifies at EU Hearings

[2banon]

The European Parliament/Committees conducted a series of hearings in Brussels last week. Among others, the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) held several hearings.

Speakers included former NSA Whistle-blower Thomas Drake, gave a riveting testimony specifically summing up what is wrong with the system and why it matters..

It should also be mentioned a statement submitted by Thomas Snowden was read to the committee.

Here's an excerpt from Drake's testimony:

I used to fly as a crypto-linguist on RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in the greater European theater during the latter years of the Cold War. My primary target of interest was East Germany. The Stasi became monstrously efficient using surveillance to enable their pathological need ‘to know everything’ – their very operating motto. However, I never imagined that the US would use the Stasi playbook as the template for its own state sponsored surveillance regime and turning not only its own citizens into virtual persons of interest, but also millions of citizens in the rest of the world. Do we really want to become subject to and subjects of a secret surveillance state?

In a surveillance state everybody is suspicious and laws protecting privacy and citizen sovereignty are regarded as inconvenient truths bypassed in the name of keeping the rest of us safe and secure as justification for the wanton and surreptitious bulk copy collection and unbridled access to vast amounts of data about our lives. Unfortunately, this surveillance regime has now grown into a globe girdling system that has gone far beyond prosecuting terrorism and other international crimes and wrongdoing.

Your Committee faces the challenge of dealing with a secret hidden shadow surveillance state dissolving the very heart of freedom and liberty and our respective citizen rights and using this power to expand sovereign-free zones – even when it undermines the very fabric of society, breaks trust between nations and endangers the very mechanisms we use for commerce and trade.

Read full text and/or watch video

[WillyT]

1. K & R !!!

[2banon]

2. Thanks WillyT...

..original dropped like a lead balloon and disappeared before I could blink an eye.. appreciate your help in giving this another opportunity to share with others interested/concerned about this issue.

[nilram]

5. ditto

[Uncle Joe]

3. Drake looks like a legitimate whistleblower that was wrongfully prosecuted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Andrews_Drake

Thanks for the thread, 2banon.

[2banon]

11. Drake followed all the rules...

as others did, and their own freedoms and lives were ruined or destroyed, when they should have been given honors for reporting waste fraud and abuse..

[SaveOurDemocracy]

4. Bookmarking to watch/read when eyes are not so sleepy. Thanks for the link.

[WillyT]

6. Me Too !!!

[pacalo]

7. His statement was excellent.

[Th1onein]

8. Interesting. Thanks for posting this.

I love Thomas Drake. A real hero.

[Octafish]

9. Police State

It's most telling that Mainstream Media -- the same corporations that say Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone; Iraq had WMDs twice; and that undeserving homeowners were responsible for the $16 trillion dollar bankster bailout -- won't touch the NSA story.

[2banon]

10. I'm actually hearing more mention...

mostly linked to the Guardian, but other U.S. publishers of note are actually doing some regular reporting recently, however not in depth.

The occasional "in depth" reporting only goes so far... largely avoiding the "why it matters" question, too often quoting polls or "the person on the street" reaction to NSA data collection, quoting "I've got nothing to hide" meme. We're never going to hear how data collection could easily be manipulated and other wise abused targeting political dissenters, harrassment/blackmailing political appointees/officials and so forth, as has been in the past.

History is forgotten/deleted and so the Police State is able to flourish and become more and more strengthened while our "freedoms" are systematically wiped away.

Among other extremely important and revealing points, Drake's testimony does an excellent job in highlighting and underscoring what exactly is at stake and how it impacts each of us.

[Octafish]

12. NSA spying is fascistic and few know why...

...Washington's blog explains:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/government-lies-about-spying-again-and-again-heres-whats-really-going-on/5352951

Thanks for a very important thread, 2banon. William Binney, Russell Tice and Thomas Drake all collaborate Snowden and the NSA "Turnkey Tyranny."

http://www.democracynow.org/topics/nsa/2

[2banon]

18. Love the headline: Government Officials Fail Honesty Standards of 12 Year Olds

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Thank you for the post and links...

rec

[2banon]

17. welcome!

[BelgianMadCow]

14. Always glad to see the EU do something good

now, to get more out of it then a committee hearing. I think we will, because for example in Germany the NSA thing headlines every other day even in the conservative newspapers.

Thanks for posting!

[2banon]

15. Reading about Germany's current equivalent: the BND

reading about it just a few days ago, but darn if I can remember the source, might have been the Guardian under their NSA Files section.

Essentially describing the BND every bit as pernicious as the NSA, though NSA has larger global reach than the BND.. but they're doing the same, and citizens are reacting as one would only dream would occur here.

[2banon]

16. Yeah... I stumbled on the hearings vis a vis the Guardian

Apparently the EU has conducted, and will be conducting more hearings on the subject. Although, I rather suspect these are likely to be nothing more than dog and pony shows - in the end..

but maybe not. One can Hope.. right?