People's Democracy

America’s Global Spy Programme

Yohannan Chemarapally

THE revelations by the American whistleblower, Edward Snowden, that the US administration has been illegally listening in on the phone conversations of its own citizens and snooping on the worldwide internet communications for many years now, is yet another graphic illustration that the US has no respect either for sovereignty of countries or for fundamental democratic rights of even its own citizens. Snowden had leaked information on secret US government surveillance programmes with the code names PRISM and “Boundless Informant”. This is probably the biggest expose so far on the American government’s use of subterfuge to conduct illegal acts on a massive scale. Well meaning American citizens like Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning had struck a blow for individual freedom when they took a calculated risk and released classified documents. The Watergate Papers led to the downfall of Richard Nixon and documents released by Manning through the auspices of Wikileaks exposed American war crimes and complicity of Washington with authoritarian regimes.

MASS

SURVEILLANCE

Despite evidence to the contrary, the Obama administration is vainly trying to claim that only a very limited number of individuals have been targeted for surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA). The director of the US National Intelligence Agency (NIA), James Clapper had denied at a hearing in the US Senate in March this year that the NSA was engaged in collecting “any type of data” on millions of Americans. After Clapper’s claims were dramatically exposed in the second week of June, he had to admit that he was economical with the truth. He said that he “responded in what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful, manner in saying ‘no’” to the allegations that the government was engaged in mass surveillance. The NIA works under the direct supervision of Clapper.

President Barack Obama has defended Clapper and has been insisting that the surveillance is not aimed at American citizens. The White House spokesman said that the president had “full faith” in Clapper and “his leadership of the intelligence community”.

The Democrats and Republican leaderships have closed ranks on the issue and have sought to justify the actions of the NSA. Powerful sections of the American media have also supported the surveillance programmes that have expanded far beyond the borders of the country as the US seeks to establish “full spectrum dominance” over world affairs following the end of the cold war. These moves were accelerated after the global “war on terror” started in the beginning of the last decade.

Earlier this year, US Intelligence officials told the US Senate that military units have been set up to wage cyber war to destroy computers and computer-controlled infrastructure in countries deemed hostile. Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA told the US Senate that 13 offensive US cyber teams have been set up. They operate from the premises of the NSA and have an annual budget of $199 million. Clapper, the NSA chief, has acknowledged that the US faces no serious cyber threat from any nation, yet the Obama administration has authorised the writing of computer viruses. The most notorious incident so far was the unleashing of the “Stuxnet” virus in coordination with Israeli security agencies against the computers operating the Natanz nuclear reactor in Iran. The US had also designed the “Flame” virus to spy on Iranian officials. Under Obama, the US government has claimed the right to launch pre-emptive cyber strikes. 

The Obama administration is busy preparing criminal charges against Snowden who has been characterised as a “traitor” and a “Chinese agent” by the American political establishment. The young Snowden currently holed up in Hong Kong has said that he is not unduly threatened by the smear campaign launched by the Obama administration and right wing politicians in the US. He acknowledged his fears about either being assassinated or being forcibly deported to the US to face a treason trial, similar to the one currently being faced by another courageous American, Pvt. Bradley Manning. “It is important to bear in mind that I am being called a traitor by men like former Vice President Dick Cheney. This is a man who gave us warrantless wire tapping scheme as a kind of atrocity warm-up on the way to deceitfully engineering a conflict that has killed over 4,400 and maimed nearly 32,000 Americans, as well as leaving over 100,000 Iraqis dead”, Snowden told the Guardian newspaper.  

Snowden said that President Obama’s assertion that only non-US citizens are being targeted for surveillance is not true. The Associated Press (AP) has reported that the NSA “snatches data as it passes through the fiber optic cables that make up the Internet’s backbone” and “copies Internet traffic as it enters and leaves the United States”. The NSA retains all data it accumulates in case it could become relevant to investigations on “national security matters”

Snowden’s disclosures show that the US security apparatus has built up the world’s largest and most sophisticated cyber warfare machine. Washington has been using this capability to the hilt not only against countries like China and Iran, which are considered as threats, but also against its own citizens. Snowden revealed that the US had hacked into hundreds of civilian computers in mainland China and Hong Kong since 2009. He told the Guardian newspaper that one of key factors that motivated him to blow the whistle was to expose the “hypocrisy of the American government when it claims that it does not target civilian infrastructure, unlike its adversaries”. Li Haidon, a specialist on America in the Chinese Foreign Affairs University wrote in the China Daily that for months Washington has been accusing Beijing of engaging in cyber espionage “but it turns out that the biggest threat to the pursuit of individual freedom and privacy in the US is the unbridled power of the government”.

The Chinese authorities in a way were forewarned. In the second week of May, the Bloomberg news agency admitted that it was accessing personal data of clients through its data terminals. Bloomberg along with Reuters controls 70 per cent of the global financial data market. Bloomberg has close connections with the US political and business establishment. Chinese users of Bloomberg data terminals included big corporate houses, commercial banks and securities firms. The Snowden expose shows that all the big American Internet companies willingly cooperated with the NSA.

Only days before Snowden’s bombshell revelations in the run-up to the summit meeting between President Obama and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, American officials were describing China as the biggest cyber threat to the US and the world. A Pentagon report in May directly accused the Chinese security and military agencies of hacking into military and corporate computer. President Obama had sought to make the issue a top priority in the discussions with his Chinese counterpart. But after the blowback unleashed by Snowden’s expose, the Obama administration tried to relegate the issue to the backburner.

ANGRY

REACTIONS

The Chinese government has reacted angrily to the latest developments. Beijing has warned that electronic surveillance on such a large scale will “test developing Sino-US ties”. Beijing strongly rejected the insinuation that Snowden was a “Chinese spy”.

The spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said the allegation was “completely groundless” and instead urged the US to pay more attention “to the demands of the international community’s concerns and demands and give the necessary explanation”. The widely read Global Times, known to be close to the government in Beijing, observed that Snowden’s real “crime” was that he blew the whistle on the US government’s violation of civil rights. William Binney, a former NSA official, has estimated that the agency collected over 20 trillion pieces of information on millions of people, Americans as well as foreigners. Snowden himself has asserted that he had the authority to “tap anyone, including the President of the United States”.

International public opinion has been outraged by the sheer brazenness and magnitude of US spying. The Indian National Security Adviser, Shiv Shankar Menon has asked his American counterpart for an explanation as to why India was number five on the US surveillance list. The Indian external affairs ministry’s official spokesman said that it would be “unacceptable” if Indian privacy laws were violated by the NSA. But it is also a fact that there is close cooperation between Indian and American Intelligence Agencies. The Americans have on several occasions provided valuable tip-off’s to their Indian counterparts. Recent reports in the Indian media have suggested that the Indian security establishment is trying to replicate the American system of widespread eavesdropping by gathering all Internet usage. India also cooperates closely with another security state – Israel. Two Israeli companies, Verint and Narus, having ties with their country’s security agencies, have been working for the NSA.

The European Union’s Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding has demanded the same rights for Europeans as those accorded to US residents when it comes to data protection.  Even close allies like the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, have raised questions. The Pirate Party, which has a strong representation in the Berlin Municipality and is a growing force in German politics, held a demonstration on June 19 with protestors holding banners “Yes We Scan”, mimicking Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan “Yes We Can”.

President Obama got a lukewarm welcome during his recent visit to Berlin and other capitals. A leaked map from the NSA’s “Boundless Informant” programme showed that Germany was particularly targeted for surveillance.  President Obama without giving any concrete instance told the German Chancellor that the NSA’s global surveillance succeeded in aborting around 50 terror strikes. Counter terrorism experts however say that NSA surveillance efforts had no significant role in foiling terror attacks. The conviction of Najibullah Zazi in 2009, who is alleged to have planned to bomb the New York subway system and the arrest of David Headley in 2008, according to reports in the British media, resulted from tip offs from UK Intelligence. The Obama administration has been highlighting these two cases as illustrations of the efficacy of data mining.

Both domestically and internationally, most people and governments have concluded that the Obama administration is not a harbinger of change and is no different from Bush administration. In fact, President Obama has abrogated even more powers to his office than his predecessor. The drone programme has been expanded with bases in Africa and Asia. The drone attacks have killed many thousands since Obama took office. More whistle blowers and journalists have been targeted under Obama than during the period Bush-Cheney were in office.

APPALLING

CRIMES

The ongoing trial of Bradley Manning for leaking US State Department cables that shed light on many appalling US war crimes and diplomatic skuldugery is an example. Because of Manning, the international community saw the video of US Apache helicopter targeting and killing defenseless journalists and civilians in Iraq. When Manning released his cables, he said that he was doing so for “people to see the truth” adding that without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public”. Manning has pleaded guilty to 10 charges that could put him behind bars for up to 20 years. The Obama administration wants even more stringent punishment, charging him among other things with espionage and “aiding the enemy”. If convicted on these charges the young Manning will be facing a life sentence without parole. Manning has been in solitary confinement in an 8ft by 6ft cell since his arrest. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Ernesto Mendez said last year that Manning has been subjected to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”.

Meanwhile, Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder, responsible for disbursing the data to the world at large, finds himself holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than a year with very little hope of being allowed out of the UK. The Obama administration, according to reports in the American media, has organised a secret grand jury to try him for his alleged treasonable conduct. Assange was given asylum by the Ecuadorian government but the UK is still refusing him permission to leave. The Ecuadorian foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, who was in London for talks on the issue, said that Assange is resigned to spending another five years inside the stifling confines of the embassy. The authorities in London say that they have to first extradite Assange to Sweden where he faces charges relating to sexual misdemeanors. Assange and his supporters worldwide say that the charges against him in Sweden are a ploy to hand him over to the US so that he too can face the harsh US criminal justice system along with Manning. Snowden has already been declared a “wanted man” by the US establishment and the media. He too, like Assange, would try his best to stay out of the reach of the US Federal agencies.