-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Today's Lesson from Animal Farm by George Orwell The pigs had an even harder struggle to counteract the lies put about by Moses, the tame raven. Moses, who was Mr. Jones's especial pet, was a spy and a tale-bearer, but he was also a clever talker. He claimed to know of the existence of a mysterious country called Sugarcandy Mountain, to which all animals went when they died. It was situated somewhere up in the sky, a little distance beyond the clouds, Moses said. In Sugarcandy Mountain it was Sunday seven days a week, clover was in season all the year around, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges. The animals hated Moses because he told tales and did no work, but some of them believed in Sugarcandy Mountain, and the pigs had to argue very hard to persuade them that there was no such place. ===== Spy vs. Spy US Recalls 3 CIA Agents from Germany Now they'll miss Oktoberfest. BERLIN - The United States has recalled three CIA agents at Germany's insistence in a fresh sign of mounting tensions between two close allies over the boundaries of espionage in the post-Cold War era. The repatriation of the three Americans, described as a married couple and their supervisor working undercover out of the U.S. Consulate in Munich, came after they were accused of using false pretenses to recruit local nationals for purposes of spying, German officials said. It marked only the second time in the postwar era that Germany has sought the removal of American spies. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government agreed not to expel the three agents but only with the understanding that the Clinton administration would order their withdrawal, which was carried out over the past five months, German officials said. The U.S. Embassy declined to comment. The latest controversy, first reported by the German television network ZDF, reflects a growing sensitivity in Germany over the need to reassert its sovereignty and drastically curtail the large U.S. intelligence presence here that in the peak days of the Soviet threat exceeded more than 25,000 people. For nearly five decades, Germany served as the natural battleground for an East-West intelligence war waged between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the German nation divided into rival camps, matters of ultimate authority were determined in Washington and Moscow rather than in the German capital. But now, nine years after East and West Germany were reunited under a single government and the ''Four Powers'' surrendered their occupation rights, German officials complain that the pervasive nature of foreign intelligence networks built up during the Cold War is making it difficult to reclaim total control over a country that lies at the strategic heart of Europe. As economic rivalry escalates among the Western allies, some Germans fear that the United States is employing its agents and eavesdropping facilities in pursuit of commercial advantages. The United States denies using its assets to snoop on trade and technology, and insists that any intelligence-gathering on German soil is directed against mutual threats such as terrorists, weapons smuggling, and money laundering by criminal syndicates. Ernst Uhrlau, the chancellor's adviser on security matters, says he is convinced that ''no American espionage is taking place that is directed against German interests.'' But other German intelligence experts have expressed concern about the large and continuing presence of ''friendly services.'' Germany's main counterintelligence agency has recently undergone a major restructuring that has shifted its eastward focus from the Cold War days toward a more vigilant attitude against all foreign espionage operations, including those of the United States as well as Russia. Over the summer, the government expelled several Russian spies accused of stealing economic and space technology secrets. ''There is no question of equating the United States with Russia, because we have a special partnership with Washington and we want to keep it that way,'' a senior German diplomat said. ''But we believe that the size and resources of the American intelligence community are vastly over-represented in our country and should be reduced in a big way.'' The friction between the two allies concerns different judgments about targets as well as methods. In the days when Germany shared the U.S. priority of thwarting a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, there was no question of challenging the purpose of gathering information on a common enemy. But now, German officials tend to express greater skepticism about the objectives of their American counterparts. For example, a major CIA target in Germany is said to be watching the movements of Iranian intelligence agents in Frankfurt, which is purported to serve as the base of operations in Europe. But German officials take a more benign view and perceive Iran as a potential partner that can be encouraged to moderate its attitudes toward the West through a broader web of economic ties. In 1997, Germany ordered an American diplomat to leave the country after he was accused of trying to suborn a senior official in the Economics Ministry into providing information about German companies that exported high-technology items to Iran. It was the first time that a U.S. diplomat had ever been expelled from postwar Germany on spying charges, and the matter would normally have been handled with maximum discretion between two friendly nations. But German officials say it became a public embarrassment because then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government was angry that the United States was dragging its heels on earlier promises to reduce its intelligence community in Germany. Since Mr. Schroeder's governing alliance of Social Democrats and Greens took power last year, U.S. and German officials say intelligence cooperation has improved. But Berlin is still frustrated that Washington is not moving fast enough to scale down its spy operations. And Mr. Schroeder is said to be personally angry that the Clinton administration has refused to hand back top-secret archives from East Germany's foreign spy operations that were acquired by the Central Intelligence Agency after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In addition, Germans have long been suspicious of the eavesdropping capabilities of the enormous U.S. radar and communications complex at Bad Aibling, near Munich, which is considered one of the largest facilities operated by the National Security Agency outside of the United States. ''The Americans tell us it is used solely to monitor communications by potential enemies,'' said a senior German official, ''but how can we be entirely sure that they are not picking up pieces of information that we think should remain completely secret?'' International Herald Tribune, September 30, 1999 Chinese Finance China Plans to List More Bank Shares Why not? The banks have negative net worth. Might as well raise capital. China plans to list shares of more banks as part of the development of its capital markets, an important step in the transformation of China's banking sector into a competitive, independent industry. Gao Xiqing, vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said yesterday that Beijing hoped to use the stock market to boost profits at state run banks. He also said the government planned to allow more private companies to list, hoping to foster the growth of smaller high-tech businesses. "We already have over 30 banks in China, domestic banks. Quite a few are planning to go public," he said. China has only one listed bank, the Shenzhen Development Bank based in south-ern Guangdong province. The Shanghai Pudong Development Bank recently issued shares for a future listing. Mr Gao's comments underline an emerging consensus among financial sector policy makers that there should be a fundamental adjustment in the ownership structure of state-owned banks - but, they stop short of saying this will mean the government relinquishing control. Dai Xianglong, the central bank governor, said recently that there should be no ideological objection to changing the form of ownership. "Whether state commercial banks will be turned into joint equity banks with government holding the majority stake, I don't think there is a policy impediment." But, he said, a prerequisite was cleaning up the bulk of the non-performing loan problem in the state banks first. Zhou Xiaochuan, president of the China Construction Bank, one of the big four state-owned commercial banks that control about 80 per cent of the banking business in China, broadly echoed that position earlier this week. Analysts have argued that a change in the ownership of the banking sector is essential in the transition of Chinese banks from bureaucratic government instit-utions to competitive businesses. The government appears increasingly to have come round to the argument that the rigours of a shareholder structure, and in particular a partial public offering, could increase efficiency and force improved management at the banks. Separately, Mr Gao of the CSRC said the government was looking at ways to list more private and small companies. "We are discussing with various government agencies to find out if it's possible to amend the law so that private companies and start-ups with smaller capitalisation, and probably less profitability, can go public," he said at the Fortune Forum meeting in Shanghai. The Financial Times, September 30, 1999 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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