Latest Leak Showing US Spying On EU Embassies Not That Surprising
from the is-this-a-surprise dept
Over the weekend there were a few more "Snowden" leaks released, starting off with evidence that the US intelligence community (possibly involving the NSA, CIA and FBI) had been bugging a whole bunch of EU officials, including in their US embassies, but also in Europe as well.![](https://i.imgur.com/TqWErT8.jpg)
Of course, that doesn't make things comfortable for the US, who will now certainly have to explain itself to a large number of allies.
The eavesdropping on the EU delegation to the US, on K Street in Washington, involved three different operations targeted on the embassy's 90 staff. Two were electronic implants and one involved the use of antennas to collect transmissions.This kind of stuff just confirms more typical intelligence agency activities. The original leaks about surveillance specifically on the public remains a much bigger concern, though I do wonder if revealing spying on allies may lead to some chillier reactions to various agreements like the upcoming TAFTA negotiations.
[....] The operation against the French mission to the UN had the covername "Blackfoot" and the one against its embassy in Washington was "Wabash". The Italian embassy in Washington was known to the NSA as both "Bruneau" and "Hemlock".
The eavesdropping of the Greek UN mission was known as "Powell" and the operation against its embassy was referred to as "Klondyke".
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Filed Under: allies, cia, diplomatic problems, ed snowden, espionage, eu embassies, leaks, nsa, nsa surveillance, surveillance
Reader Comments
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The hypocrisy on display is astounding.
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Once you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.
frauds and con artists, the lot of them...
art guerrilla
aka ann archy
eof
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I'll bet the EU has been spying on the U.S. as well...
So both sides need to STFU and figure out how to fight terrorism without the 24-7 spy mode...
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You do not spy on allies, for crying out loud. If you are spying on allies, then it is clear you do not trust them so why are they allies?
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Alliances change, and just because another country supported you on one issue doesn't mean they will on another.
Hence the need for contingency planning.
For example the US set up colour coded war plans for conflict with various nations, including allies - as an example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Plan_Red. I would be surprised if other countries hadn't done so.
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I'm shocked to find that spying is going on in here!
After all, in the 18th Century this was done on an industrial scale with the Viennese "Geheime Kabinets-kanzlei" operating so efficiently they were opening, copying and resealing all diplomatic mail in Vienna without disrupting the normal mail delivery. See wikipedia
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Actually, this is a VERY big deal...
If the NSA is using lifecycle attacks, or even if there are just credible rumors of the NSA using lifecycle attacks, US network hardware and security companies are now in the same position that Huawei is in.
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The Law of The West
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And now Snowden can be prosecuted for a good reason.
This revelation does not benefit the American public.
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Re: And now Snowden can be prosecuted for a good reason.
Boo hoo hoo.
Seriously, next time someone gets stuff like this, they might just find it simpler to sell to Russia or China. But then hey, it's not like half of America would actually recognise what ethics are.
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Re: And now Snowden can be prosecuted for a good reason.
This is less important to your personal ideas of privacy and rule of law but much more important to those overseas. Your nation's leaders are doing their best to run your countries name into the ground. So far the're doing a good job. No-one trusts the US anymore.
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Re: And now Snowden can be prosecuted for a good reason.
Care to elaborate?
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Re: And now Snowden can be prosecuted for a good reason.
BTW, it does help the american public in such a way that there is now proof that at least one american still has some actual values. Too bad he's stuck in russia now.
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The Germans and French are not happy.
Here's hoping this derails the impending 'trade' agreement.
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Paranoia
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But you Americans probably didn't learn that in school (wonder why)
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pretend to be outraged
This is not some sort of "everybody does it" situation -- just compare the defence budgets.
It will not serve the long-term interests of the US for popular European opinion to see the US as a bully and a liar. Really.
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Re: pretend to be outraged
No, I don't think they should just "sit back and take it." I'm just saying that the "outrage" is pretty over generated, as this kind of espionage is nothing new -- and it's almost certain that the same countries do it back to the US as well.
This is not some sort of "everybody does it" situation -- just compare the defence budgets.
Defense and intelligence are not the same thing...
It will not serve the long-term interests of the US for popular European opinion to see the US as a bully and a liar. Really.
As if that wasn't already the case?
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Just sayin'
We know what you did last summer.
NSA
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mess
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