Newly Released Docs Leaked by Edward Snowden Reveal Extent of US, British Spying

[Matsuda]

The National Security Agency and its British counterpart, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), have been using their spy capabilities to target not just enemy governments, but allies, aid groups, and corporations with no obvious links to terrorism or threats to the United States or the United Kingdom.

The new report, published jointly in the New York Times, The Guardian, and Der Spiegel, relies on new documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden clearly showing that the spy agencies targeted “communications of senior European Union officials, foreign leaders including African heads of state and sometimes their family members, directors of United Nations and other relief programs, and officials overseeing oil and finance ministries, according to the documents.” The news outlets did not publish any of the documents, in whole or in part.

Targeted allies also include German diplomatic installations in Africa, a French defense contractor, and Israeli government e-mail. Other targets included Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) in the UK, the French oil and gas giant Total, and an “Estonian Skype security team.”

Leigh Daynes, an executive director of Médecins du Monde, told The Guardian that he was "shocked and surprised by these appalling allegations of secret surveillance on our humanitarian operations,” adding that “[t]here is absolutely no reason for our operations to be secretly monitored. Like other humanitarian actors, we adhere strictly to the fundamental principles of independence, neutrality, and impartiality in our work.”

The EU's competition commissioner and current European Commission vice president, Joaquin Almunia, is also listed as a target. He is the top EU official charged with pursuing an antitrust investigation against Google. Almunia told the Times that he was “strongly upset” about the spying.

As Der Spiegel noted:

The entry "EU COMM JOAQUIN ALMUNIA" appears in an "informal" analysis of the communication paths between Belgium and Africa prepared in January 2009. At the time, the peak of the euro crisis, Almunia was still the EU economics and finance commissioner, and he already had his own entry and personal identification code in the British target database, with the codename "Broadoak."

The entry "EU COMM JOAQUIN ALMUNIA" appears in an "informal" analysis of the communication paths between Belgium and Africa prepared in January 2009. At the time, the peak of the euro crisis, Almunia was still the EU economics and finance commissioner, and he already had his own entry and personal identification code in the British target database, with the codename "Broadoak."

The most egregious example of the spies' capabilities is demonstrated in the complete transcripts of text messages from Mohamed Ibn Chambas, an official of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He is also the current African Union-United Nations joint special representative for Darfur. According to Der Spiegel, the GCHQ targeted his phone in August 2009 as part of a “test run,” suggesting that this capability has been exercised more than once.

“Am glad yr day was satisfying,” Chambas texted one person. “I spent my whole day travelling... Had to go from Abidjan to Accra to catch a flt to Monrovia... The usual saga of intra afr.”






Source

[Turk]

Newly released documents have revealed more targets of British and American intelligence agencies, including a senior European Union official, Israeli government offices, foreign companies and aid organisations.

The Guardian, New York Times and Der Spiegel have published details of documents leaked by the fugitive US intelligence contractor, Edward Snowden, which show that the agencies - the US National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart GCHQ - had a long list of surveillance targets.
The reported extent of the surveillance has upset many US allies and fuelled a heated debate about the balance between privacy and security, as Snowden remains living in Russia under temporary asylum.
The newspapers reported that in January 2009 GCHQ and the NSA had targeted an email address listed as belonging to the Israeli prime minister, who at the time was Ehud Olmert.
Spies also monitored email traffic between then-Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak and his chief of staff, Yoni Koren, the newspapers said.
Other targets were said to include the United Nations Children's Fund, French aid organisation Medecins du Monde, French oil and gas firm Total, and French defence company Thales Group.
Joaquin Almunia, the European competition commissioner who oversees anti-monopoly investigations and has been involved in a long-running case involving Google, was another to appear in GCHQ documents, although it was not clear who ordered the surveillance.

European Commission says claims deserve condemnation if true

The European Commission said if the claims were true, they would deserve the strongest condemnation.
"This is not the type of behaviour that we expect from strategic partners, let alone from our own member states," a spokesman said.
The NSA denies carrying out spying activities aimed at benefitting US businesses.
"We do not use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of - or give intelligence we collect to - US companies to enhance their international competitiveness or increase their bottom line," a spokeswoman said.
"The intelligence community's efforts to understand economic systems and policies, and monitor anomalous economic activities, are critical to providing policy-makers with the information they need to make informed decisions that are in the best interest of our national security."
GCHQ said only that it operated under a strong system of checks and balances.

Obama wants to restore Americans' trust in program

Meanwhile, US president Barack Obama has given a press conference at the White House where he said some checks were needed on his government's surveillance system.
Mr Obama said he would spend the next few weeks sorting through the recommendations of a presidential advisory panel on how to rein in the NSA in the wake of Snowden's disclosures.
He said it is possible that some bulk phone data collected by intelligence agencies could be kept by private companies instead of the US government as a way of restoring Americans' trust in the program.
Mr Obama said the US could not "unilaterally disarm", but information could be collected with more checks and balances.
The president also refused to be drawn on the possibility of amnesty or a presidential pardon for Snowden, who has been indicted on espionage charges.
"As important and as necessary as this debate has been, it is also important to keep in mind that this has done unnecessary damage to US intelligence capabilities and US diplomacy," he said.

ABC/wires
By Europe correspondent Barbara Miller and wires
Posted 29 minutes ago
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-21/new-documents-reveal-extent-of-us-british-spying/5170920

Edited December 20, 2013 by Turk

[Mr Orus]

Threads merged.

[Matt]

This's what all USA about.

[truemate]

^^ they even wont spare their allies..... BETRAYALS ..LAW BREAKERS

US, UK spied on an Israeli PM’s office
New Documents Reveal Surveillance On Heads Of Global Aid Organizations, An EU Official

N.S.A. Spied on Allies, Aid Groups and Businesses
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/world/nsa-dragnet-included-allies-aid-groups-and-business-elite.html?_r=0