FROM: http://rt.com/news/163396-nsa-snowden-p ... -scandals/
Published time: June 03, 2014 20:04
Edited time: June 03, 2014 22:03
June 5th marks the 1 year anniversary since the first trove of Snowden leaks was realeased.
Tags
CIA, Human rights, Intelligence, Israel, Obama, Russia, Scandal, SciTech, Security, Snowden, South America, USA
The Snowden revelations hit like a bomb, sending out shrapnel which risked severing US ties with friendly and not-so-friendly states alike. Here are the top eight bilateral debacles sparked by NSA spying, whose fallout could be felt for years to come.
8. Afghanistan and Bahamas: Wiretap paradise
One is an economically prosperous island paradise which doesn’t even have a military, the other a landlocked and war-torn nation racked by poverty and an extreme climate. So what could they have in common? Both countries have almost all of their domestic and international calls recorded and stored by the National Security Agency (NSA) for up to 30 days. Rumblings in the Bahamas have been muted, as a nation with roughly the population of St Louis can’t make too many waves with its northern neighbors. The Bahamian minister of national security said he does intend to launch an inquiry into the NSA’s surveillance, though behind the scenes arm-twisting might keep it under wraps. As for Afghanistan, so many literal bombshells have come their way over the past decade, a figurative one is probably the least of their worries). The biggest political fallout from all comes from already NSA-weary western allies, who are asking Washington one simple question: why do you need to record the phone calls of law-abiding citizens in a neighboring state who have about as much experience with terrorism as they do with shoveling snow?
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Reuters / Omar Sobhani
7. Here’s to the Reset!
American spies operating out of the UK intercepted the top-secret communications of the then-Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, during the 2009 G20 summit in London. Barack Obama definitely came out of the situation looking as two-faced as Harvey Dent, as Medvedev’s missives were seized just hours after his first meeting with the US president, where they struck a warm tone and promised a “fresh start” in US-Russia relations. The leaks came just before Obama met incumbent President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of what just might be the last G8 summit in history. One only need to follow the arc of the last 12 months to realize that the US-Russia reset was not only on its last legs by that point, but a sarcophagus was being built around it.
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Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.(Reuters / Dmitry Astakhov)
6. Spying on Israel
"America's aircraft carrier in the Middle East" was seemingly taken for a ride when it was discovered that the NSA had been spying on the country’s leadership for years. "The secret is out," Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said. "The US is systematically spying on the defense and diplomatic leadership here in Israel. Is this how friends treat each other?" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained silent at first, and then asked for “an examination of the matter,” proving himself to be uncharacteristically taciturn in contrast with not only other politics from the Jewish state, but other state leaders targeted by US snooping. Perhaps Bibi knew something the rest of them didn’t.
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.(Reuters / Abir Sultan)
5. What was that you said about Chinese hackers?
The US has been beating the China cybercrime drum for years, so when it was revealed that the US was not only spying on the country’s top leaders, but also Chinese telecom giant Huawei, national banks,and the Chinese Trade Ministry, well, Washington had a lot of explaining to do. The United States tried to split hairs, claiming that everyone engaged in military espionage and that intellectual property theft was the real issue. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Yang Yujun, however, certainly didn’t see it that way, accusing the US of “double standards” and "hypocritical conduct” regarding the internet.
The fallout can still be felt today. After the US Justice Department (DOJ) accused five Chinese officers of hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets and pass them on to Chinese state-owned enterprises, the Chinese Foreign Ministry showed the spying scandal had not been put to bed.
Washington “shouldn’t be rigorous on others, while being lenient itself,” ministry spokesman Qin Gan said. When it comes to the ceaseless war of words between Washington and Beijing, Snowden certainly appears to have gifted China with a thesaurus.
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Huawei headquarters in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.(Reuters / Bobby Yip )
4. Que diabo??? Brazil gets quite irate
Most leaders did their best to keep up appearances after finding themselves with NSA egg dripping down their faces, but Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff threw everything but the kitchen sink at her northern neighbor for spying on her, the country’s citizens, and its strategic industries. Rousseff canceled an official trip to Washington, blasted the US on the floor of the UN for breaching international law, and called on the world body to oversee a new global legal system to govern and safeguard the internet. For Rousseff, the issue was cut and dry: “The right to safety of citizens of one country can never be guaranteed by violating fundamental human rights of citizens of another country." Ouch.
Brazil's Senate unanimously adopted a bill which guarantees online privacy of Brazilian users and enshrines equal access to the global network. The so-called “internet constitution” could ultimately form a cornerstone of a world wide web truly global in vision and scope.
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Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff.(Reuters / Ueslei Marcelino)
3. Ich bin ein Berliner?
For a child of the German Democratic Republic who grew up under the shield and sword, revelations that the NSA was tapping her phone were particularly hard on Chancellor Angela Merkel.To add insult to injury, the US government has refused to grant her access to her NSA file or even answer formal questions from Germany about its widespread snooping. To this day, some in the German government are doing their best not to rock the boat, while others believe Washington has long since lost its mooring. In April, the German government opened parliamentary investigations into NSA spying. The question on whether or not to let Snowden into the country to testify is still a political hot potato. Germany is still trying to push on a bilateral no-spy agreement with Washington, though Obama virtually said the prospect of such a pact was virtually dead in the water.But while the rifts are yet to echo beyond the electorate, there are many voices arguing US and UK meddling risk alienating Europe’s powerhouse economy. Berlin’s already scrapped a 50-year-old surveillance pact with the transatlantic duo following the snooping revelations. As John Kennedy once said: “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’” Indeed.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel.(Reuters / Fabrizio Bensch )
2. You don’t know how lucky you are…
Perhaps one of the biggest political rifts inspired by the Snowden scandal had nothing to do with actual NSA spying, but rather the fate of the whistleblower himself. After revealing his leaking while ducking out in Hong Kong, Snowden managed to flee the city state despite having an invalidated passport. While the former NSA contractor has set his sites on sunnier South American pastures, he ended up stranded in the transit zone of a Moscow airport. At the time Putin said Snowden could stay in the US if he stopped damaging “US interests.” After nearly a month in limbo and mutual diplomatic posturing, Moscow granted Snowden temporary asylum, immediately prompting an angry reaction from US Senator John McCain, who demanded that Washington reexamine its relations with Russia. Snowden’s legal representative shot back, saying Russia was not “a US colony” and could not expect “legally groundless” extradition requests to be recognized.
Obama would later snub Putin by canceling a visit to Moscow on the eve of G20 summit in St. Petersburg last September. Russia said the move proved Washington was not yet ready to deal with Moscow on an “equal footing.” Snowden certainly didn’t start the US-Russia drift, nor did he create the massive rift that erupted this past February over Ukraine. But as things have gone from bad to worse between the two former Cold War rivals, Snowden’s definitely played a part in that drama, though it was never his choice. When asked what he was doing in Russia by those on Capitol Hill who accused him of spying for the enemy, his answer was simple: “Ask the State Department.”
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US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden speaking during a dinner with US ex-intelligence workers and activists in Moscow on October 9, 2013.(AFP Photo / Wikileaks)
1. City on a hill, landside on the horizon?
At the very epicenter of the NSA spying scandal has been the US public itself, which seems to have been overwhelmed by the lengths to which its leaders have flirted with being a security state at the expense of a free one. In late January, Pew found that 70 percent of Americans did not believe they should surrender their freedom in order to be safe from terrorism. Those surveyed were virtually split, however, over whether Snowden's disclosures helped or harmed the US. On May 22, the US House of Representatives passed the so-called NSA reform bill, which is intended to reign in the agency’s dragnet domestic surveillance programs. Critics say the bill was gutted like a fish on the House floor, leaving the document incapable of reining in agency abuses. While Americans are still coming to grips with what it means that all of their virtual communications are fair game for NSA snooping, Glenn Greenwald, who helped Snowden leak the sensitive documents, says the game changer is on the horizon, as he prepares to reveal a list of those in the US who were targeted by the agency. As for Snowden, his goal was always to start the conversation, and whether America changes course or pushes full steam ahead, he’s got no regrets.
"It's important to remember that people don't set their lives on fire and burn down everything they love for no reason," Snowden said. "I’ve gained the ability to go to sleep at night, and I feel comfortable that I’ve done the right thing."
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A woman wearing oversized sunglasses lettered with the words "stop spying" listens to speakers during the Stop Watching Us Rally protesting surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency, on October 26,
2013, in front of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.(AFP Photo / Allison Shelley)
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Comments (31)
Suyanto Ng 04.06.2014 04:57
In NSA world, no one trustable as they look, even NSA itself.
david 04.06.2014 04:47
Prior to wikileaks and Snowden, we Linux users were telling you windows users that your OS was stuffed full of spyware and backdoors. We were soundly ridiculed. Now the truth is out and it seems that most people just shrugged and carried on as before.
And that is the greatest tragedy of all, not that "they" are spying on us, but that most people are so apathetic and lazy, that they can't be bothered to resist and can't bothered to educate themselves to a better place.
Jeff 04.06.2014 04:47
I would have to also think it possible that these leeks where do put people in fear and let it be known that the American government will trample you and has dirt on every human on earth. I am not afraid it is clear to me we have grace and we are evolving faster than them, and it's in our nature to survive. I will stand for peace.
JailBanksters 04.06.2014 04:44
I loved this bit:
"The US is systematically spying on the defense and diplomatic leadership here in Israel. Is this how friends treat each other?"
Well No, you fire Missiles at them !!
Agantiched 04.06.2014 04:27
sdsdsds
black 04.06.2014 04:26
Jack Bauer would disagree. Stepping on people's freedom is a necessary step to ensure public safety.
Richard Toibin 04.06.2014 04:07
Good Morning World, Ed Baby blew it in his first american interview when he said "..as I rise, rose" in relation to his position in the insecurity-services.
He is a complete plant, anyone who has ever been a danger to their evil plans has been terminated.
All about their desire to create a world of fear, a world of cowards....
Shine On Sisters & Brothers, Truth is Truth, Our Creator Loves us.. Let those have eyes see their lies.
greencrow 04.06.2014 03:15
The biggest scandal involving Snowden is how he bought into the official (19 muslims in a cave) version of 9/11 during his TV interview with Brian Williams. This means he's "one of them"...and the whole Snowden thing is a farce.
PAPOOSELAKESURFER 04.06.2014 03:09
In my opinion it is inaccurate to say the U.S. is spying on everybody. GCHQ and NSA (one and the same) report to the Bilderburgers, keeping track of the White House and Congress as much as anyone else. The One World Government has been on top burner for the Rothschilds since before they financed the revolution against the Czar and pocketed his deposits after he and his family were executed.
Frank Wolstencroft 04.06.2014 02:39
This is an inter agency war.
Edward Snowden is a CIA agent sent to spy on the NSA, to find out what they know about the CIA involvement in nein eleven.
James Reese 04.06.2014 02:04
Conspiracy theorists don't seem so crazy any more.
The USgovt doesn't seem so transparent any more.
Russia seems to have traditional and cultural values.
Russia seems to conduct business honestly and fairly.
And RT seems to be the best at reporting the stories.
This is how Snowden affected me.
JJ 04.06.2014 02:01
In short , the war monger US is double headed snake......
There no reason to trust US anymore .......
unlike the suits , they are living hope or doom of a country .