NSA conspires with Isreal against AMERICANS.

by Stephen Lendman
Millions worldwide owe Edward Snowden sincere gratitude. He
revealed what's vital to know. He connected important dots to do so.
He revealed unconstitutional NSA spying. He did it courageously.
When governments operate lawlessly, exposing wrongdoing is crucial.
Doing it entails risks.
Snowden did so anyway. He did it because it's the right thing to do.
On September 11, London's Guardian published important new
information. It did so from documents he provided. More on that
below.
On September 12, Russia Today (RT) headlined "EU lawmakers
nominate Snowden for Sakharov human rights prize."
European parliamentarians established it in December 1988. They did
so to honor individuals and organizations championing human rights
and freedom of thought.
Nelson Mandela and Russia's Anatoly Marchenko were its first joint
recipients. In 1992, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo became the first
organization given the coveted award.
It's generally granted on or around December 10. It's the day in 1948
when the UN General Assembly ratified the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. It's commemorated worldwide as Human Rights Day.
Perhaps Snowden will be this year's recipient. Washington will go all
out to prevent it. EU Parliament United Left/Nordic Greens
representatives Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms said:
He "deserves to be honored for shedding light on the systematic
infringements of civil liberties by US and European secret services.
(He) risked his freedom to help protect ours."
Swedish Pirate Party representative Christian Engstrom co-nominated
Snowden. He paid "a heavy personal price" for acting heroically, he
said.
He deserves recognition for doing so. On September 16, an "official
presentation of all the candidates will take place," said RT. In October,
the winner will be announced.
On or around December 10, an awards ceremony is scheduled in
Strasbourg. Snowden rightfully deserves to be honored.
New information London's Guardian published provides more reasons
to do so. It headlined "NSA shares raw intelligence including
Americans' data with Israel."
In other words, the agency and Israel both spy on Americans. They do
it lawlessly. They do it because who'll stop them. It's sanctioned at
the highest levels of both governments.
NSA "routinely shares raw intelligence data with Israel." It does it
"without first sifting it to remove information about US citizens," said
the Guardian.
A "top secret" document Snowden revealed explains. Details are
included in a memorandum of understanding. It's between NSA and
its Israeli counterpart.
It's called Unit 8200. It's sometimes called the Israeli Sigint (signal
intelligence) National Unit (ISNU). It was established in 1952. It
monitors and collects military intelligence.
It operates a massive global spy network. It intercepts international
communications. It has covert operations in Israeli embassies
worldwide.
It operates like NSA. It does so lawlessly. Raw intelligence NSA
supplies Israel shows it "hand(s) over intercepted communications
likely to contain phone calls and emails of American citizens," said
the Guardian.
"The agreement places no legally binding limits on the use of the data
by the Israelis."
Information Snowden revealed exposed numerous Obama lies. He
claims NSA doesn't spy on Americans. Their privacy is respected.
False! NSA spies at home and abroad. No domestic privacy
safeguards exist. Personal information about Americans is shared
with other governments.
Israel is one of many. In March 2009, a memorandum of
understanding explained intelligence sharing "ground rules."
It includes alleged "protection(s) of US persons." It cites
constitutional rights to privacy and "need for Israeli intelligence staff
to respect" them.
It doesn't matter. NSA spies unconstitutionally. Fundamental rights
are ignored. Israel operates the same way. It does what it wants with
impunity.
Memorandum language discloses that Israel gets "raw Sigint" data. It
says:
It "includes, but is not limited to, unevaluated and unminimized
transcripts, gists, facsimiles, telex, voice and Digital Network
Intelligence metadata and content."
Information shared isn't "filtered in advance by NSA analysts to
remove US communications."
"Although the memorandum is explicit in saying the material had to
be handled in accordance with US law, and that the Israelis agreed
not to deliberately target Americans identified in the data, these rules
are not backed up by legal obligations," said the Guardian.
The document states:
"This agreement is not intended to create any legally enforceable
rights and shall not be construed to be either an international
agreement or a legally binding instrument according to international
law."
An NSA spokesperson lied claiming shared intelligence complies with
privacy laws and norms. The Guardian poses specific questions
pertaining to NSA intelligence sharing.
The agency stonewalled. It refused to answer. Its memorandum of
understanding lets Israel retain "any files containing the identities of
US persons" up to a year.
It doesn't matter. It bears repeating. NSA and Israel's counterpart do
whatever they wish. They operate extrajudicially. They do it covertly.
They've always operated this way.
US government communications obtained through raw intelligence are
supposed to be "destroy(ed) upon recognition."
They pertain to ones "either to or from an official of the US
government."
They include communications of "officials of the executive branch
(including the White House, cabinet departments, and independent
agencies), the US House of Representatives and Senate (member and
staff) and the US federal court system (including, but not limited to,
the supreme court)."
It bears repeating. It doesn't matter. The CIA considers Israel its main
regional spy threat.
Washington's Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Israel
"conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the
United States of any US ally."
The Pentagon accused Israel of "actively engag(ing) in military and
industrial espionage in the United States."
Its operations are highly sophisticated. In terms of technical
capability and human resources, it rivals America's best.
It has access to the highest US political, military, and intelligence
sources. It steals everything it can get its hands on.
It ignores fundamental laws, rules, agreements and norms. It fits the
classic definition of a rogue state. So does America.
NSA is legally bound to target only foreign-based persons and
organizations without an individual warrant. It's permitted to collect
meta-data containing Americans' emails and telecommunications
related to foreign targets.
NSA ignores its own mandate. It does whatever it wants. It operates
lawlessly. So does Israel.
Memorandum of understanding language "mentions only one check
carried out by the NSA on the raw intelligence."
It says "the agency will 'regularly review a sample of files transferred
to ISNU to validate the absence of US persons' identities.' "
"It also requests that the Israelis limit access only to personnel with
a 'strict need to know.' "
Israel's allowed "to disseminate foreign intelligence information
concerning US persons derived from raw Sigint by NSA" provided it
does so "in a manner that does not identify the US person."
It permits releasing the identity of US individuals with NSA's written
permission.
The Guardian obtained a related top secret document. It's dated
2008. A senior NSA official said Israel aggressively spies on America.
"On the one hand," he said, "the Israelis are extraordinarily good
Sigint partners for us, but on the other, they target us to learn our
positions on Middle East problems."
"A NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) ranked them as the third most
aggressive intelligence service against the US."
"One of NSA's biggest threats is actually from friendly intelligence
services, like Israel."
"There are parameters on what NSA shares with them, but the
exchange is so robust, we sometimes share more than we intended."
The Guardian asked Obama officials how often US data is found in raw
intelligence. No response was gotten.
An NSA statement said:
"We are not going to comment on any specific information sharing
arrangements, or the authority under which any such information is
collected."
"The fact that intelligence services work together under specific and
regulated conditions mutually strengthens the security of both
nations."
"NSA cannot, however, use these relationships to circumvent US legal
restrictions."
"Whenever we share intelligence information, we comply with all
applicable rules, including the rules to protect US person
information."
NSA lies. It does so consistently. It's been caught red-handed many
times. Director of National Intelligence head James Clapper is an
admitted perjurer.
Nothing US administration or intelligence officials say has credibility.
Misinformation, deception and willful lies substitute for truth and full
disclosure.
Israel operates the same way. They're rogue imperial partners. They
do what ever they want. They do it with impunity. They've always
done things this way. Claims otherwise ring hollow.