NSA Monitored Calls of 35 World Leaders 310
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "The Guardian reports that the NSA monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another U.S. government department. According to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden, the NSA encourages senior officials in its 'customer' departments, such the White House, State and the Pentagon, to share their 'Rolodexes' so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems. The NSA memo dated October 2006 that was obtained by the Guardian suggests that such surveillance was not isolated, as the agency routinely monitors the phone numbers of world leaders – and even asks for the assistance of other U.S. officials to do so. However, the memo acknowledges that eavesdropping on the numbers had produced 'little reportable intelligence.' At the daily briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Jay Carney again refused to answer repeated questions about whether the U.S. had spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's calls in the past."
So.. NSA is doing its job? (Score:2, Interesting)
This is the NSA fufilling its role.. full stop. If you're not a US citizen and you're doing something of interests to our intelligence services you should be targeted.
If you're a citizen of an Echelon [wikipedia.org] country, you have no room to talk because your nation is a partner. (To be honest, I thought Echelon was Anglosphere only, but there's the Netherlands in the fray.. wow. )
And do not for a second act as though other nations don't do this. You can start with Frenchelon [wikipedia.org]. And to those who bleat about economic and industrial espionage, the French have been known for this since the seventies.
What are other nations doing? (Score:3, Interesting)
A vast pile of documents are then sent.
In some safe house an inner group of political leaders meet as another group of political suits 'act' on the world stage with their leaky phones.
Giving the NSA and US just what it wants/expects to hear?
All the same countries faced the same intercept threats from communists, fascism, their own press and political rivals yet show zero skill when using the US global telco networks?
Are all the signals intelligence staff of 35 nations really more loyal to the USA than their own leadership?
Or are we seeing 35 nations playing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Quicksilver_(WWII) [wikipedia.org] with a US gov so entranced with its own intercept skills? With little to no human spies left for "reality" what is the US really gathering other than what 35 govs select to talk about on phones they know are junk.....
Re:Who's surprised? (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong, I adamantly oppose the NSA spying on American citizens. However, this article is focused on world leaders of other countries.
Re:NWO (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, it's unlikely that the Republic of Iowa would be devoting resources to spying on Chancellor Merkel. There's probably some point where one government is too big, too rich, and too powerful.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the population of Iowa is about the same as the the entirety of the United States when it was formed. Some system designs don't scale indefinitely.
Re:Nothing of Value (Score:1, Interesting)
No, this is pretty much normal spying.
Heh, I bet you when they report Germany spied on Obama's phone, US will order a nuclear strike in a show of outrage. It's only "normal" spying because we do it and not them.
Yeah, riiiight.. we'd order a nuclear strike. Cause we throw nukes around like candy. Grow up.
Re:This is news to who? (Score:2, Interesting)
Why did he EVER take a job with the NSA if he thought all forms of electronic intelligence were bad and worthy of spilling the details about to the whole world?
Because the CIA fired him for those very reasons. He's not a hero, he's just an attention whore like Assange. Both do things in the name of the moral high ground ... yet utterly ignore the fact they do shit to harm all sorts of people.
I'd bet the only reason we heard about domestic spying FIRST from Snowden is because some newspaper reporter looking at the documents found them and wanted to run with it first, not because Snowden pointed it out. He's just another Bradley Manning, all pissed off he wasn't getting his way and determined to stick it to the man.
He is by definition a traitor and is just trying to use someone else's crimes (domestic spying by NSA and its ilk) to divert attention from his own treason.
Re:Nothing of Value (Score:4, Interesting)
No, he quite distinctly had 2 points.
1. Hypocrisy
2. Free-slinging of nukes as a foreign policy.
#2 is hyperbole, but there's nothing wrong with identifying hyperbole and asking for a more restrained perspective.
Re:Nothing of Value (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd say that Germany wanting their own internet now [reuters.com], joining the BRICS countries [indrus.in] to do so is something of value.
It's time that the world realizes that internet is incompatible with having a bully with power over it.
Re:The French Also Spy on the US (Score:4, Interesting)
Those comments are distracting. Just because others do it, does not make it any better.
The answer to spying is not reverse spying (ala "give me my secret information back") but to exert pressure. Spying is a sign of mistrust and means communication is poor.