Big Brother Spying in America. Perilously Close to a “Totalitarian State”
US spy agencies trample on Bill of Rights protections. Their spying domestically and abroad is pervasive.
Anything goes is official policy, rule of law principles circumvented. Edward Snowden earlier said he hoped his revelations would make people worldwide aware of how their freedoms and protections are compromised.
Mass surveillance goes on in ways few people realize. Numerous techniques are used – metadata collected unrelated to national security without court authorized warrants.
Phone conversations are recorded, emails collected and stored. New WikiLeaks documents revealed that the CIA (and presumably the NSA, FBI and other US spy agencies) can circumvent encryption, turn television sets into listening devices, and monitor people in ways Orwell never imagined.
If its information is accurate, Langley has over 1,000 malware systems and other software, able to infiltrate and control personal electronics.
Documents WikiLeaks obtained perhaps came from the agency’s Center for Cyber Intelligence – operating in Langley, VA and Washington’s Frankfurt, Germany consulate.
Via Twitter, Snowden said the document trove “looks authentic.” Sophisticated spying capability leaves everyone vulnerable, including foreign leaders and the president of the United States.
William Binney is a cryptanalyst, mathematician, creator of the NSA’s global surveillance system turned whistleblower. Agency activities are unconstitutional, he stressed.
Earlier he said we’re perilously close to a “totalitarian state.” The NSA and other US intelligence agencies can spy on virtually everything we do.
Information obtained is laundered, making it look legitimate. Binney calls it “a total corruption of the justice system…a totalitarian process, (meaning) we are now in a police state.”
Monday on Fox News, he said Trump is “absolutely right” to claim he was wiretapped and monitored. “His phone calls, everything he did electronically, was being monitored.”
Everyone’s electronic communications are monitored and stored. Big Brother is real. Binney called the FISA court “irrelevant.” What’s going on is “outside of the courts…outside of the Congress.”
He designed the system enabling this type sophisticated spying on anyone. America’s intelligence community was likely behind sensitive leaks about Trump, gaining firsthand knowledge of his communications by monitoring him electronically.
It’s unclear whether Congress will subpoena spy agency officials to testify under oath about Trump’s accusations – and if so, how far will it go in exposing what likely went on.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.