Lawless NSA Global SpyingUsed responsibly, theyd relieve hunger, shelter the homeless, heal the sick, and educate young people hungry for knowledge. On June 1, 1952, Harry Truman authorized NSA. On October 24, revised National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) 9 followed. On November 4, 1952, NSA was established. In 1957, its existence was briefly mentioned in the US Government Organization Manual. It called NSA: a separately organized agency within the Department of Defense under the direction, authority, and control of the Secretary of Defense for the performance of highly specialized technical functions in support of the intelligence activities of the United States. Its headquartered at Fort Meade, MD. Its operations are highly classified. General Keith Alexander heads them. Spies R Us, defines them. By law, NSAs mission is limited to monitoring, collecting and analyzing foreign communications. Its dual missions include: Rule of law principles are systematically spurned. Its more true now than ever. Its far worse than most people imagine. Anything goes reflects policy. NSAs a power unto itself. It does whatever it wants covertly. It spies globally. Big Brother is real. NSA reflects it writ large. Virtually everyone can be watched everywhere all the time. Its done with technological ease. No ones safe anywhere any time. Theres no place to hide. NSA calls its mission cryptology that encompasses both Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and Information Assurance (IA) products and services, and enables Computer Network Operations (CNO) in order to gain a decision advantage for the Nation and our allies under all circumstances. Spies R Us explains it better. Telecom, Internet and thousands of other corporations cooperate. Theyre complicit as willing partners. Theyre involved extrajudicially. They operate secretly. Theyre unapologetic. In the 1950s and 60s, NSA spied on all US incoming and outgoing telegrams. In the 1970s, an independent Church Committee investigation discovered clandestine operations for the first time. Change was demanded. Lawless spying is intolerable. Decades earlier practices pale compared to what now goes on. Subverting fundamental law constitutes tyranny. Today it exists writ large. America never was democratic. Its not now. Its secretive, ruthless, and unprincipled. Its hegemonically out-of-control abroad. Its domestic policies reflect police state lawlessness. Fundamental international, constitutional and US statute laws dont matter. Diktat power rules. Presidents, Congress and federal courts are complicit. According to Representative Loretta Sanchez (D. CA), whats been publicly revealed reflects the tip of the iceberg. She was astounded about information disclosed privately. She cant speak to what she now knows. Its vital others explain what everyone has a right to know. Sunshine is our first line of defense. Constructive change depends on how its used. NSA does more than spy. It lawlessly hacks computer and telecommunication networks. It does so globally. It focuses heavily on strategically important countries. Mathhew Aids a US intelligence expert. On June 10, hisForeign Policy Article headlined Inside the NSAs Ultra-Secret China Hacking Group. It actively engage(s) in cyber-espionage. It does so covertly and lawlessly. Rogue states operate that way. Americas by far the worst. Obama officials point fingers the wrong way. They accuse China of active cyber-espionage against America. Beijing hit back publicly. Senior Chinese officials accused Washington of hypocrisy. Beijings top Internet official, Huang Chengquing, said China has mountains of data revealing widespread US hacking. Its designed to steal government secrets. According to Aid, NSAs Office of Tailored Access Operations (TAO) successfully penetrated Chinese computer and telecommunications systems for almost 15 years, generating some of the best and most reliable intelligence information about what is going on inside the Peoples Republic of China. Most NSA employees and officials know little or nothing about TAO. (E)xtraordinary sensitivity of its operations keeps them secret. Only those needing to know have full access. Special security clearances are required to gain access to the units work spaces inside the NSA operations complex, said Aid. The door leading to its ultramodern operations center is protected by armed guards, an imposing steel door that can only be entered by entering the correct six-digit code into a keypad, and a retinal scanner to ensure that only those individuals specially cleared for access get through the door. TAOs mission involves collect(ing) intelligence information on foreign targets by surreptitiously hacking into their computers and telecommunications systems, cracking passwords, compromising the computer security systems protecting the targeted computer, stealing the data stored on computer hard drives, and then copying all the messages and data traffic passing within the targeted email and text-messaging systems. The technical term of art used by NSA to describe these operations is computer network exploitation (CNE). Last October, Obama authorized selecting overseas targets for cyber-attacks. He did so by secret presidential directive. Hes playing with fire. His Offensive Cyber Effects Operations (OCEO) claims to offer unique and unconventional capabilities to advance US national objectives around the world with little or no warning to the adversary or target and with potential effects ranging from subtle to severely damaging. Washington will identify potential targets of national importance where OCEO can offer a favorable balance of effectiveness and risk as compared with other instruments of national power. It suggests operating domestically the same way. Keith Alexander heads US Cyber Command (Cybercom). Hes authorized to conduct these attacks. TAO personnel are responsible for developing information needed to destroy, damage, or otherwise compromise targeted sites. According to Aid, TAO is the now the largest and arguably the most important component of the NSAs huge Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) Directorate. (O)ver 1,000 military and civilian computer hackers, intelligence analysts, targeting specialists, computer hardware and software designers, and electrical engineers. Their job is identifying computer systems and supporting telecommunications networks for attack. TAO is an industry unto itself. Its a virtual wunderkind of US intelligence. They go places, get things (and do what) nobody else in the IC (intelligence community) can. It keeps growing in size and scope. Its a global monster. Its exponentially expanding. Its so huge and menacing its no longer possible to hide. Chinas acutely aware of its activities. President Xi Jinping knows the threat. So do Russia, Iran, and leaders of other countries. Theyre reacting defensively and offensively. Two sides can play this game. Cyber-attacks constitute war by other means. Fallout can be disastrous. Americas an out-of-control menace. Its lawless, unprincipled, uncompromising, and unrelenting. It threatens freedom and world peace. According to Wired.com, a recent Pentagon report recommended nuclear war in response to cyberattacking America. Former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller now write Times op-eds. He does so irresponsibly. He supports Big Brother lawlessness. Perhaps he has something to hide. Hes been on the wrong side of issues for years. He disgraces his profession doing so. On June 16, he headlined Living with the Surveillance State. Spying is good, he suggests. Sacrificing privacy and other freedoms are small prices to pay. Preventing terror attacks matter most. No threats exist. Claiming otherwise doesnt wash. Keller didnt explain. The danger, he says, is not surveillance per se. He claims most people decided.that life on the grid entails a certain amount of intrusion. He arrogantly believes most people share his view. Were adjusting to life in a surveillance state, he says. Big Brother writ large reflects police state lawlessness. No one understanding the stakes is comfortable. Real danger, says Keller, exists without rigorous, independent regulation and vigilant oversight to keep potential abuses of power from becoming a real menace to our freedom. Hes more out of touch than he admits. Democracys more illusion than reality. So-called checks and balances. They eroded long ago. Theyre nonexistent. Diktat power runs America. Congress and federal courts are complicit. Tyrannys the law of the land. Police state statutes eroded most freedoms. Anyone can be targeted for any reason or none at all. Thousands of political prisoners rot in Americas gulag. Its the worlds largest by far. Permanent war is longstanding policy. So is torture, neoliberal harshness, out-of-control corruption, and whatever monied interests say goes. Americas social contract is being destroyed. Its happening in plain sight. Thirdworldizing America is policy. A race to the bottom reflects it. Reality for most people is nightmarish. Todays young generation has no future. Inequality is institutionalized. Wealth, power and privilege alone matter. Popular needs go begging. Mass surveillance reflects what Chomsky calls keeping the rabble in line. Media scoundrels like Keller dont explain. I dont think were on a slippery slope to a police state, he claims. Perhaps he didnt notice one already exists. Times columnist Tom Friedmans no better. His articles reflect hack journalism. Hes unprincipled and wrongheaded. He supported Bushs Iraq war. Hes unconcerned about imperial aggression. He suggests Americas designated enemies border on insanity. Hes silent on Israels worst crimes. He supports Big Brother lawlessness. He did so in his article headlined Blowing a Whistle. Yes, I worry about potential government abuse of privacy from a program designed to prevent another 9/11 abuse that, so far, does not appear to have happened. But I worry about another 9/11. Fact check Gross privacy abuses exist. Free expression is compromised. Dissent is an endangered species. 9/11 is the Big Lie of our time. It was state-sponsored terrorism. It was a false flag. Overwhelming evidence proves it. Friedman claims Americas an open society. Hes paid to lie. He and other media scoundrels substitute managed news misinformation for truth and full disclosure. Snowdens no heroic whistle-blower, he says. Big Brothers protecting us, he believes. Sacrificing freedom for alleged securitys worth it, he claims. Hes unaware of any abuses. Hes more out of touch than Keller. Americas freedom rests in peace. It lies in historys dustbin. Police state lawlessness replaced it. Blowing that whistle matters most. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/ linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 