A trap of limitless possibilities

Special services always strive to “listen” to both compatriots and foreigners, but only the United States can afford to do this in full. Question: Why?

On Saturday, October 26, thousands of Americans came to the Capitol Hill to Congress, demanding to stop surveillance of citizens conducted by the National Security Agency (ANB). Among the posters “Stop watching us!”, “Stop mass espionage!”, “Turn off a big brother!” The slogan "Thank you, Edward Snowden!" Moreover, they thanked the former engineer of the CIA and the NSA, who found political asylum in Russia, and liberals and conservatives.

The march and rally, as well as the transfer to the Congress of the petition, which was signed by 570 thousand Americans, passed without obstacles from the police. The culmination of the rally was the moment when Jesselin Radak from the project “Project: Government responsibility” took out a pretty rumpled piece of paper and read out the assembled greeting from Edward Snowden: “Not a single telephone conversation in America is left without the Vedas of the NSA, all your steps on the Internet pass through the hands of the NSA. Our representatives in the Congress assure that this is not surveillance. But they are wrong. " And further: “There is no place for mass surveillance in our country. The time has come for reforms. The election is coming soon. Politicians, we follow you! "

Snowuden's greeting caused a rapid approval of the demonstrators - mostly twenty years of youth. After such statements, it seems that a fugitive engineer of the NSA is not alien to political ambitions. It is interesting how Radak, a former employee of the Ministry of Justice, received a personal message from Snowden, given the fact that the location of the fugitive in Russia is carefully hidden from everyone, and the main figure through which the contacts pass, - lawyer Anatoly Kucheren?

American intelligence officers, including the former Snowden Chef, Director of the NSA Kit Aleksander, believe that the current secret information leaks are “the most serious in the history of the United States”. The next portion of Snowden's revelations published by the British “Gardian” about the wiretapping of American intelligence leaders of 35 foreign powers led to a scandal at the EU summit in Brussels. EU leaders accepted a statement in which they indicated that the distrust of the United States that arose in Europe in connection with the wiretap of telephone conversations could negatively affect the fight against terrorism.

“The United States and Europe confront general challenges. We are allies. However, such an alliance can be built only on trust. That is why I repeat again: there should not be espionage directed against friends, ”said the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.

The German press reports that the United States has been listening to the chancellor since 2002, and President Obama knew about the wiretap since 2010. Thus, the truth of the owner of the White House, who in a telephone conversation told Ms. Merkel that he knew nothing about surveillance. It is curious that during the conversation, Obama also assured the Chancellor that now there is no surveillance of her and in the future it is excluded. And what about the past?

Another Revelation of Snowden - French Le Monde reported a large -scale wiretapping by American intelligence of telephone conversations of the French. For 30 days, more than 70 million Frenchmen were “under the cap” of the Americans. The head of the US National Intelligence James Clapper denied this information. Nevertheless, American ambassadors in Berlin and Paris were called to the carpet. The heads of external and domestic intelligence of Germany, as well as representatives of the European Union, should arrive in Washington for explanations this week. American telecommunication companies participating in the surveillance program are threatened with multimillion -dollar lawsuits. German Chancellor Merkel and France President Hollande demanded the conclusion of an agreement with America on the inadmissibility of mutual espionage.

Meanwhile, the exposure continues. Two foreign diplomats in Washington were called to the office of the director of national intelligence, where they were told about what other revelations can be expected from Snowden. These are documents on the cooperation of the NSA with a number of foreign intelligence agents, including from countries that you can not officially classify the allies of America. The fugitive can also have secret data on the collection of information regarding China, Russia and Iran. A high -ranking source in the White House, which is referred by the CBS television channel, expressed himself very figuratively: “After a conversation with our allies, they had a more understanding of what Snowden has in the hands. But we do not know which boot will fly next. ”

The White House reaction can be called restrained. Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said that Obama ordered the audit of the existing intelligence practice, but did not bring any specific details. In turn, the official representative of the State Department Jen Psaki confirmed that the intelligence tactics are subject to review: “We must be sure that we collect information that we really need, that we collect it not because we have such opportunities.”

Another point of view: everyone always monitors everyone. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Olbright, speaking the other day at the Washington Center for American Progress, said that French intelligence was listening in the past. In this regard, the American media lead the words of the former Foreign Minister of France Bernard Kushner: “Let's be honest, we are also wigging. We just don’t have such opportunities like the Americans, and we envy them. ”

The leaders of national intelligence and the NSA called for hearing to the Senate Law Committee carefully avoided pronouncing Snowden's name, calling him "a person who caused serious damage to our work." Snowden, according to scouts, revealed to the enemies of the country the methods of work of special services. The head of the ANB Aleksander resigned in the spring of next year, however, according to the official version, it is in no way connected with the exposures of Snowden. At the hearing in Congress, the chief of the Anb said that in 10 years only 12 serious offenses in the work of his department have been recorded. This is the conclusion of an independent control commission. Even earlier, a special court also did not find any violations in connection with the collection of data on telephone and Internet contacts. The court was not right, convinced by the chairman of the law committee, the Senator-Democrat Patrick Lih. The author of the bill on the protection of personal electronic correspondence requires the adoption of new rules that control intelligence. But the bill has serious opponents, in particular, the chairmen of intelligence committees in both chambers of parliament. They are convinced that wiretapping helped America avoid a repetition of September 11.

The country was already passing through this almost 40 years ago. The Senate Commission Sticked up in the wake of the Watergate scandal in 1975, investigated the activities of the CIA and the FBI, published 14 reports. Facts about conspiracies to eliminate foreign leaders organized by American intelligence agencies, including the attraction of the mafia to organize the murder of Fidel Castro; On the opening of parcels and removing copies of the US postal service. Martin Luther King, who is today in America, is considered a historical figure, Nobel laureate, the director of the FBI Hoover called the "most dangerous blackness of the country." As the commission found out, the FBI tried to destroy the human rights activist’s family, blackmail and physically intimidated, even sent him a letter with a “proposal” to make suicide.

The commission in time put the secret activities of the special services under state control. The adoption of the law on foreign intelligence and the special court that controls it also became the result of the commission. Today the topic is again relevant. For 40 years, technical methods of data collection have stepped forward, intelligence went too far again, and the existing control is clearly not enough, they say in Washington. And they recall Snowden.

The personality of the informant from the NSA to the USA is perceived differently: for some he is a hero, for others-a traitor. Snowenomania and snowophobia coexist in America. Regardless of the assessments of the personality of a fugitive engineer, his scandalous revelations shocked Washington and world politicians. Perhaps only the head of the Indian government, 81-year-old Manmohan Singh “does not worry” in connection with the wiretaps of the NSA. The Indian Prime Minister has neither a mobile phone nor e-mail, his spokesman explained.