national security

"The motivation behind America's extensive eavesdropping is unclear. The explanations the White House has been forced to offer are far from explanatory, and the diorthosis President Barack Obama has promised seems all but skin-deep.  The apparent application of a double standard only reinforces the image of a Janus-faced America. In the sunlight, it preaches; in the dark, it pries. On the offensive, it orates; on the defensive, it equivocates. The wayward practice has now backfired, and the damage is increasing...  Trust is the first and foremost casualty. Common sense dictates that trust is a two-way street: One has to trust in order to be trusted. It is particularly true in friendships and alliances. America obviously failed to follow the simple rule.  If Washington did not knit the worldwide wiretapping web just because it could, then its pillage for information unveils an Uncle Sam too deeply entrenched in suspicion and isolation to treat anyone as a real friend. Ironically enough, the bugging undermines the very thing it is supposed to protect -- national security. As America pins its security on alliances, the tapping tale would sour its relationship with allies -- and thus erode its security bedrock -- more than any terrorist would be capable of."

Al Jazeera America has done some great work in obtaining the official NSA talking points via a Freedom of Information Act request. As might be expected, the agency tells its people to use the attacks on September 11, 2001 to manipulate public opinion into accepting unacceptable levels of surveillance.  One of the highlights, actually lowlights, of the document is what the NSA refers to as a “soundbite that resonates.” Here it is: "I much prefer to be here today explaining these programs, than explaining another 9/11 event that we were not able to prevent."

The spat between the US and Germany is getting worse by the minute. Following yesterday's meaningless escalation by the Treasury accusing, via official pathways, Germany of being the main culprit for Europe's lack of recovery (and Germany's subsequent retaliation), it is Germany's turn now to refocus public attention on Big Brother's spying pathology when a union representing Germany's journalists advised its members earlier today to stop using Google and Yahoo because of the latest report implicating the NSA in eavesdropping on Google and Yahoo.

• US Blasts Germany's Economic Policies (WSJ)
• Citigroup, JPMorgan Said to Put Currency Dealers on Leave (BBG)
• Watchdog: Syria Destroys Chemical-Arms Equipment (WSJ)
• Kynikos Alumni Start Hedge Fund Betting on Declining Stocks (BBG)
• China state media calls for stern action after Tiananmen attack (RTRS)
• IMF warns of financial shock risk to Africa (FT)
• Insurers Oppose Obamacare Extension as Danger to Profits (BBG)
• BoJ content to ignore Fed tapering and go its own way (FT)
• U.S. attorney wants DOJ to take civil action against BofA (RTRS)
• NSA Fallout Hits AT&T's Ambitions In Europe (WSJ)

In the latest blow, and a new low, for the US spying agency, earlier today Italian magazine Panorama blasted a preview of an article due for publication tomorrow, with the simple premise: "NSA had tapped the pope." According to a Reuters report, the "spy agency had eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly including when former Pope Benedict's successor was under discussion, but the Holy See said it had no knowledge of any such activity. Panorama magazine said that among 46 million phone calls followed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in Italy from December 10, 2012, to January 8, 2013, were conversations in and out of the Vatican." But while it is unclear just what divine information the NSA had hoped to uncover by spying on the Vatican, what is an absolute headbanger, is that according to Panorama one of the reasons for the illegal wiretaps was to be abreast of "threats to the financial system." We can only assume this means keeping on top of Goldman's activities around the globe: after all, when one intercepts god's phone calls, one is mostly interested what the bank that does god's will is doing.

"We now rely on social structures that barely existed 150 years ago. The order and functioning of modern societies, economies and militaries depend upon tight coordination of logistics and operations. Disrupt the synchronization, and the whole system of systems becomes unreliable—thus diminishing the nation’s power and influence."

"The century-old dream and nightmare of crippling a modern society by wrecking its infrastructure—or just by disturbing its synchronization of functions—is now a reality others are dreaming of employing against the United States"

"The NSA and USCYBERCOM operate under multiple layers of institutional oversight that reinforce our commitment to privacy and civil liberties."

"Far from imperiling civil liberties and privacy, the tight links between the NSA and our growing cybercapabilities help to ensure professional, sober and accountable consideration of potential impacts from our operations."

"Building that extended cyberenterprise now is indispensable to our ability to deter and defeat enemies in cyberspace so that they do not threaten our security, prosperity and way of life."

• Morning Humor from Hilsenrath - Fed Balance Sheet Not Seen Returning to Normal Until at Least 2019 (WSJ)
• Health Policies Canceled in Latest Hurdle for Obamacare (BBG)
• Was there anything RBS was not manipulating? RBS Said to Review Currency-Trading Practices Amid Probe (BBG)
• Sebelius to Testify Before House Panel (WSJ)
• And more humor: Spain's Statistics Institute Confirms End of Recession (WSJ) ... and now we await the triple dip
• Finally some credible reporting on Yellen's "foresight" - Yellen feared housing bust but did not raise public alarm (Reuters)
• Japan government moves closer to Fukushima takeover (FT)
• China to step up own security after new NSA allegations (Reuters)
• Blackstone Vies With Goldman in Spain Rental Housing Bet (BBG)
• In new U.S. budget talks, Republican proposal has flipped the script (Reuters)

• U.S. spy chiefs face Congress amid spying rift with Europe (Reuters)
• Deutsche Bank income hit by €1.2bn of legal provisions (FT)
• China's second tapering attempt fails: China central bank seeks to reassure money markets after rate spike (Reuters)
• UBS Takes Action Against Staff in Foreign-Exchange Probe (WSJ)
• Saudi Arabia frees man jailed for Mohammad tweets (Reuters)
• Tax Revolts Hit Hollande as Farmers, Soccer Clubs Protest (BBG)
• German parliament to meet over U.S. spying scandal (Reuters)
• Google Nears Smartwatch Launch (WSJ)
• How to end gridlock in DC? Pork projects (Reuters)
• UBS ordered to increase capital reserves (FT)

Continuing to play Obama like a fiddle, the Snowden revelations have done more to change US foreign policy in a few short months, than all laws passed since the advent of the Patriot Act. In the latest example of just this, moments ago, USA Today first and the WSJ and others subsequently, reported that according to Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and an NSA supporter, the National Security Agency has stopped gathering intelligence on allied political leaders, a practice that has drawn global criticism. "The White House has informed me that collection on our allies will not continue, which I support," according to Feinstein. It was not immediately clear if this is an implicit admission that the White House actually did know about the NSA's spying on foreign leaders over the past decade, and lied about being unaware. Recall that Obama denied just this last night, but at this point the pit of lies is so deep, few actually care or are keeping track.

• Budget deficit priorities people: U.S. NSA spied on 60 million Spanish phone calls in a month (Reuters)
• Stuck in countless scandals, Obama does what he does best: speak. Obama To Speak At Installation Of FBI Director James Comey (TPM)
• Five killed as car ploughs into crowd in Beijing's Tiananmen Square (Reuters)
• U.K. Storm Brings Power Cuts, Snarls Transport in South (BBG)
• China Signals ‘Unprecedented’ Policy Changes on Agenda at Plenum (BBG)
• Sandy's Legacy: Higher Home Prices (WSJ)
• Merkel Enters Concrete SPD Talks as Finance Post Looms (BBG)
• Keep arming those Syrian al-qaeda rebels: Car bombs kill scores in Baghdad, in sign of crisis in Iraq (WaPo)
• J.P. Morgan's Mortgage Troubles Ran Deep (WSJ)
• Detroit’s public library contains story of city’s decline (FT)
• Argentina elections: President loses in Buenos Aires province (BBC)
• Phone-hacking: trial of Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks to begin (Guardian)

Hypocrisy as a Weapon

Update: As of 6:30 pm Eastern, the NSA's website has been down for 5 hours.

Following our earlier comments on the vulnerabilities of the Obamacare websites, the fact that the United States National Security Agency suddenly went offline Friday is still surprising. As RT reports, NSA.gov has been unavailable globally as of late Friday afternoon, and Twitter accounts belonging to people loosely affiliated with the Anonymous hacktivism movement have suggested they are responsible. It is perhaps not entirely coincidental that there is a major “Stop Watching Us” rally scheduled for Saturday in Washington, DC. We wonder if the 'hackers' had a German or French accent...?

Charts Show that U.S. Policy Has Increased Terror Attacks

It’s all for play isn’t it when the French Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls summons the US Ambassador?

You May Think You Have Nothing to Hide ... But You Are Still Breaking Laws Which Government Spying Could Discover and Use Against You