Slashdot Mirror
Snowden: NSA Spying On EU Diplomats and Administrators
An anonymous reader writes "According to a report dated 2010 recently provided by [former NSA contractor Edward] Snowden to the German news magazine 'Der Spiegel', the NSA has systematically been spying on institutions of the EU in Washington DC, New York, and Brussels. Methods of spying include bugging, phone taps, and network intrusions and surveillance according to the documents."
All part of a grand tradition.
Could we just get the list of who the NSA isn't spying on? It seems to be much shorter.
Only on
Our government is a bit like a sociopath. We are nobody's friend. Everyone is merely a potential enemy. We spy on everyone. No exceptions. I'm sure we even spy on the UK and Canada as utterly pointless as that may be. If we ever ended up at war with either Canada or the UK then we'd almost certainly be better off losing anyway.
Of course, from Washington's POV the problem is not so much that we spy even on our friends, but that someone blabbed about it. They won't think about changing their behavior toward our allies. About acting honorably at least toward our allies. Rather they will think more about how badly they can punish the leaker. I can only imagine how badly they are itching to get Snowden's ass to gitmo and torture him to death in very creative ways.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
Actually, countries likely have a mutual spying agreement. USA spies on $COUNTRY, $COUNTRY spies on USA, and they share information. Both never technically spy on their own citizens and therefore obey their own constraints, yet they effectively have full unchecked information invasion on their own people.
Guantanamo is likely against international law.
Drone attacks based on 'behaviour patterns' is probably that too.
Let alone the whole NSA spying program, which at least violates human rights.
Why would wiretapping diplomats be off-limits for rouge states?
it is after all their job to spy.
Is anyone honestly going to claim no one else is spying? Who thinks the EU doesn't spy on the US? etc?
Everyone is spying on everyone else. Its part of diplomacy.
Why? countries lie. Countries manipulate. And no one really trusts anyone in the end. So you spy.
Every nation spies on every other nation to the extent that they care and have the resources. This is why the US catches Russian sleeper agents occasionally... or busts Chinese spies. This happens all the time. And the general convention on the matter is that if we don't punish their spying we won't punish their spying.
How many spies has the US executed recently? None. And we could by international law. Same thing with the spies they catch. They aren't killed. They're exchanged.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
It's interesting how the "revelations" from "former" CIA employee and short-term NSA external contractor are so ground-breaking and not just what people who don't own a TV have known for years. Bread and circus, knew the Roman Empire, keep people from revolt. Snowden is a circus. Putin said it best when he pointed out that FSB had no interest in Snowden, it would be like trying to skin a pig: Lots of screams but no wool.
Yeah, I know this is too true information even for slashdot, I'm guessing this will be modded down.
9/11: Never forget it was a false-flag operation
European online editions of newspapers have it all over their title pages. Scores of EU politicians and servants indignated. I suddenly wonder if, ironically, this could be one of the many little pushes the EU needs to attain more internal unity. Sad it should be brought along by the discovery of a new intimate foe... But then again, the sun has been going down over the US for some time already now.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
In all honestly I think we can defend ourselves perfectly well without spying on Britain and hacking their computers.
It's not about morals, it's that at some point, the threat from having a dark, hidden organization inside the government, operating away from the light of disclosure, becomes greater than the threat of foreign countries invading. It's been a long time since Britain attacked us.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Which reminds me that one of the Senators calling for Snowdon's blood used to finance the IRA. Puts it in perspective doesn't it? A leak versus giving money to terrorists, who bought their explosives from Libya. Explosives manufactured in Eastern Europe in the depths of the cold war. I know which one looks a lot more like treason to me.
"The EU never was a Union. It has always been a trade treaty and some fools tried to make more out of it."
The intent of the EU / EC / ECSC was always to form a political union. Granted it is not there yet, but the founding fathers where quite clear on this, and any state joining signs up for this long term goal.
I can guarantee you that a lot of citizens who are involved with anything dealing with more than two EU members are quite happy with the Union influencing the local legislation.
I for example have been living in 4 different member states, and often spend weekends with the in-laws in a fifth. The Union's influence on local legislation using directives and the Euro is absolutely essential for making life bearable for millions of people. As an example, due to the EU influence on the local legislation, a person moving to another state does for example no longer have to exchange their drivers licence any more (in my case, I would have had to change it 3 times during the last 5 years if the old rules would have applied). In addition, no paperwork has to be filled in if you get a job in another member state, this saves tons of money for business and a lot of time for citizens who have to deal with the mess otherwise. I could probably write a full book on how the influence on local legislation simplifies matters a lot.
"Civis Europaeus sum!"
More than half of the discussion I hear recently is about how awful it is that the US is spying on other countries. I'm baffled by this. Of course we spy on other countries. And they spy on us. And each other. That's what the CIA/NSA/KGB/etc are for. That's their role, am I incorrect?
The issue isn't "ermagherd, we're spyin' on other countries!". It's "holy fuck, our own government is spying on its own citizens, even though they are expressly forbidden from doing so".
I probably would have flown to Laos.
Unlike HK or Moscow, the CIA would not think twice about illegally kidnapping him from Laos.