>© Copyright GRANMA INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL EDITION. La Havana. Cuba >Total or partial reproduction of the articles in this Website is autorized, >as long as the source of the copyright > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >- > >The latest U.S. invention: >an espionage multinational > >• With the support of 120 satellites, Echelon has the entire planet under >the surveillance of intelligence services > >BY MICHEL F. FRIMAN (Special for Granma International) > >EVEN better than the CIA. With twice as many employees (38,000) and with a >much greater annual budget (more than $4 billion USD), this is the most secret >of all U.S. intelligence services. And it is invisible. > >It is invisible since it can, without moving from its soundproof offices in >Fort Mead, in the state of Maryland, intercept, receive, decipher, classify >and file—thanks to an exceptional informatics system—any type of electronic >communication throughout the world. Telecommunications of a military, >strategic or diplomatic nature are of course included, just like in the good >old days, but now information of a commercial, industrial, financial, >scientific nature, as well as private personal calls, are under surveillance. > >The National Security Agency (NSA) has access to 2 billion messages on a >round-the-clock basis every day and "creates its market" with the help of a >powerful system of artificial intelligence based on key words, tones of voice, >names, etc. It is estimated that more than 10,000 conversations reported on >daily. In some countries, callers may have no idea that if there is a delay in >the dial tone, and that someone or something other than the operator or the >repair service could be a party to their conversations. > >For its plan codenamed P-415 Echelon, the NSA has a network of around 120 spy >or communication (Intelsat) satellites which send data received to about 50 >stations throughout the world, in approximately 20 countries. These facilities >then transmit what is received to the main NSA headquarters in Fort Mead. Very >simple. > >Is this a case of "anti-Yankee paranoia?" No. The White House can spy on >everything, or almost everything, as Vincent Jauvert, journalist for a >well-known French weekly magazine, has been pointing out since December 1998, >in one of the first pieces of investigative journalism about the NSA. > >It is likely that the United States could have continued undisturbed with its >global operation, if an explosive report had not reached the desk of an office >of the European Parliament in Brussels, which held a public hearing on the >subject on February 22 and 23. The NSA’s enormous Echelon network, in all >probability known to only few experts in the world, abruptly emerged from the >shadows into the public domain. > >In this affair, it has not only become apparent that Western Europe is one of >the United States’ targets, but also that Great Britain, traditionally >considered Big Brother’s natural ally, is now in a difficult position. It has >been revealed that the NSA installed, with London’s agreement, a major >listening station in Manwith Hill, northern England. > >It is suspected that other Anglo-Saxon countries, such as Australia, Canada >and New Zealand, could be links in the Echelon Plan, an authentic >multinational intelligence service. There are links in Germany and Japan for >use only by the United States. > >The Campbell Report is named after journalist Duncan Campbell, an electronic >communications expert and television producer in Edinburgh, Scotland, who >carried out the research at the request of the European Parliament and its >freedom commission, and went personally to Brussels to present the conclusions >of his inquiry. His report immediately provoked an avalanche of protests and >statements confirming the unease and concern of European political leaders, >including right-wingers. It is anticipated that debates will be held in >national parliaments, particularly in France and Great Britain. > >But the shock waves are real and have had such repercussions that British >Prime Minister Tony Blair felt it necessary to stress he had not betrayed his >European friends. For some time now, businesses in France, particularly the >larger ones, have been authorized to "codify" transmissions they believe to >contain "sensitive" information, according to a recent statement by the >minister of justice, who denounced "this economic espionage." For the Belgium >government, the affair is "unacceptable." > >Nevertheless, Nicole Fontaine, president of the European Parliament, expressed >her anger at the fact that confirmation of the existence of Echelon had not >given rise to immediate official protests by European governments. > >The main European press gave full coverage to the matter. In France, Le Monde, >an influential daily, dedicated more than two pages to the revelation. The >newspaper’s editorial emphasized, "The United States is, in this affair, >seriously guilty of abusing its position of power." > >Prior to the Campbell Report, the NSA’s Echelon Plan was nothing more than a >hypothesis from the perspective of official European media. It was dismissed >as "only suspicion" in Brussels in 1998. Nevertheless, by this stage the >European Parliament was condemning the NSA for "infringing on the privacy of >communication by non-U.S. citizens, including governments, companies and >European nationals." Secret Power, a book published by New Zealand researcher >Nicky Hager in 1998, contains revelations that astonished European members of >Parliament. > >Duncan Campbell provided confirmation of the existence of the Echelon Plan. At >the beginning of February, for the first time, several parts of the Echelon >Dossier were declassified at the request of a research team from George >Washington University. The NSA was forced to respond under the Freedom of >Information Act. In 1999, Australia officially acknowledged its participation >in the Echelon Plan. > >The NSA is not a new organization. It is a hangover from the cold war when the >United States faced its Soviet enemy. A French journalist, Serge Garde, wrote >in L’Humanité that the cold war "trivialized the unacceptable." Actually, the >first global network of listening stations goes back to 1947, with the UKUSA >agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom. Five years later >the NSA was set up as a classic information center, with military and >diplomatic goals. Later it became one of the most sophisticated modern >espionage systems, present even below the oceans, thanks to devices placed on >under sea cables. According to Campbell, since 1985 the USS Parche submarine >has been involved in surveillance operations on cables on the Mediterranean >sea bed, between Europe and Africa. > >With the NSA, industrial espionage appears to have become child’s play. For >example, in 1994 the French group Thompson-CSF negotiated an enormous contract >with Brazil for the supply of a radar system designed to monitor rainfall in >the Amazonian jungle. The NSA intercepts all the negotiations and informs its >"friends". As a result, France lost the contract worth $1.4 million USD to a >competitor, the Raytheon Corporation of the United States. > >A year later, France and Airbus, the European aeronautic consortium, lost >another contract, to Saudi Arabia in this case. Who were the happy winners? >Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. The U.S. government denied any involvement in >the affair. > >In 1993, the outcome of certain meetings of GATT (currently known as the World >Trade Organization) unexpectedly favored the United States. The French >participants had been under surveillance. > >In terms of the Internet, a U.S. invention par excellence, the majority of its >global network passes through the United States and it is there that the NSA >and its Comint (Communications Intelligence) appear to have no problem. Their >software is easily adapted to reading messages received. And as if it is >necessary, according to the Campbell Report, decoding software supplied by >certain manufacturers may be employed. > >Last December, the U.S. Congress announced it would hold hearings on the >activities of the NSA, which is accused of having wiretapped U.S. citizens. >The law in that country officially forbids these activities, but it does not >provide for the case of electronic communication. > >In the meantime, the NSA has said nothing. After all, that is its job. It does >not talk, it confirms nothing, just the same as the Department of State, >particularly when it comes to their European friends. > >Could it be that the abbreviation NSA stand for "Never Say Anything"? > >At the end of his term of office, President George Bush also put transparency >into practice, especially when he made statements at NSA headquarters. He >argued that as president of the United States, he could assure the public that >listening devices were a vital element in the process of decision-making in >international matters. It couldn’t be clearer... Some years later, NSA >Director John MacConnell, quoted by Vincent Jauvert, claimed that there was no >foreign political event in which the NSA was not directly involved. > >Is there any morality in all of this? "U.S. allies do not pass up the >opportunity to use their own means of access to the Comsat (Intelsat) network >to pirate Comint data," Laurent Zecchini stressed in the daily Le Monde. But >does that justify these actions? If the entire world is spying on the entire >world, then where are we heading to? > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Editorial office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Business officeL: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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