21 NATIONS LINE UP BEHIND UN EFFORT TO STOP NSA

 21 NATIONS LINE UP BEHIND UN EFFORT TO STOP NSA

COUNTRIES WHICH WANT TO REIN IN NSA SPYING COLLECTIVELY HAVE BIGGER ECONOMIES THAN THE U.S. AND ITS SPY BUDDIES

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/

Posted on October 26, 2013 by WashingtonsBlog

Foreign Policy reports that 21 nations have joined the push for the adoption of a United Nations General Resolution protecting internet privacy against NSA spying.

They include the following nations:  Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guyana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Norway, Paraguay, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and Uruguay.

Those names don’t mean too much in a vacuum … so let’s look at the size of their economies (using International Monetary Fund figures for 2012):

COUNTRY	RANK (WORLD’S BIGGEST ECONOMIES)	GDP ($USD IN MILLIONS)
Germany	4th	3,429,519
France	5th	2,613,936
Brazil	7th	2,253,090
India	10th	1,841,717
Mexico	14th	1,177,398
Indonesia	16th	878,536
Switzerland	20th	631,183
Sweden	22nd	523,804
Norway	23rd	499,633
Argentina	26th	475,211
Austria	28th	394,868
South Africa	29th	384,315
Venezuela	31st	381,286
Hungary	58th	125,660
Ecuador	63rd	84,040
Cuba	70th	60,806
Uruguay	77th	49,920
Bolivia	93rd	27,232
Paraguay	95th	26,073
Liechtenstein	149th	5,113
Guyana	157th	2,828

TOTAL: $15,866,168 (remember: all figures in this post are in millions.)

In comparison, the U.S. – the world’s largest economy – has a GDP of $16,244,575 … larger than the 21 countries.

But we can’t look at this fight in a vacuum … the rest of the “Five Eyes” of allied spies – Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand – are backing the U.S.  As is Israel (and see this).

So let’s add them to the U.S. side of the ledger:

COUNTRY	RANK	GDP
U.S.	1st	16,244,575
United Kingdom	6th	2,476,665
Canada	11th	1,821,445
Australia	12th	1,541,700
Israel	39th	257,480
New Zealand	55th	169,831

TOTAL: $22,511,696

But China and Russia hate NSA spying so much that they have joined the  new BRICS consortium – along with India, Brazil and South Africa – which is building its own Internet infrastructure to avoid NSA spying.

So let’s add them to the total opposing NSA spying:

COUNTRY	RANK	GDP
21 Countries		15,866,168
China	2nd	8,221,015
Russia	8th	2,029,813

TOTAL: $26,116,996

The bottom line is that there is currently more money aligned against U.S. spying than for it.

Notes: The above analysis is admittedly over-simplified.  But it still shows the general shift of economic power away from American spy imperialism.

For example, concentration of economic power is important.  The U.S. – as the world’s largest economy – would presumably have more power than several nations whose GDP cumulatively equals the U.S.

Japan – the world’s 3rd largest economy – has been a close ally of the U.S. for some time.   Japan hasn’t weighed in on the spying issue, but if we count Japan’s GDP onto the U.S. side, it would swing the economic balance in favor of the U.S.

In addition, the U.S. has by far the world’s largest military, which – for now – gives it additional influence.

-------------  

Technical note: For the couple of nations for which IMF figures were not available, we used the CIA Factbook.

=============

THE NSA IS A DISGRACE

THE NSA IS A DISGRACE

by Jerry Robinson on October 25, 2013  [[See the RT VIDEO  at the end]]

http://ftmdaily.com/daily-briefing/global-anger-at-america-is-growing/

The shameful actions taken by the NSA have exposed the common virtues of “blind allegiance” and “unbridled patriotism” held by many U.S. citizens towards their government as a complete sham.

by Jerry Robinson, FTMDaily.com Editor-in-Chief  [[HERE ONLY EXTRACTS with my  comments in double brackets. Sorry: You have to pay for the sources in blue-below to Jerry Robinson: hiding sources is his business]]

According to a newly leaked NSA memo written halfway through George W. Bush’s second term, the U.S. has monitored the phone calls of at least 35 world leaders. The NSA apparently obtained these phone numbers by encouraging all government departments to share their ‘rolodexes’ with the intelligence gathering agency.

One leader recently mentioned among those targeted by the NSA’s vast eavesdropping program was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to the report, Merkel’s own mobile phone was tapped by the NSA.  This is in addition to another recent report that the NSA secretly hacked into the email account of former Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto. The Mexican government has condemned the revelations as “unacceptable, illegitimate and contrary to Mexican law and international law.”

Recently, when Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff learned of the enormous surveillance her government and people were being subjected to by the NSA, she cancelled a planned trip to Washington in protest and then used her speech at this year’s United Nations General Assembly to deliver a scathing message of condemnation against the U.S. and its covert snooping operations.

Another recently leaked document showed that France was heavily targeted by the NSA. According to a report, released in the French newspaper, Le Monde, the NSA recorded data from over 70 million phone calls and text messages of French citizens from December 10, 2012 to January 8, 2013. This is in addition to other revelations that the NSA had secretly monitored the office of the French Foreign Ministry. Additionally, Le Monde reported that the NSA intercepted 124.8 billion phone calls and 97.1 billion computer data items globally during a one month period in early 2013.

THE BLOWBACK IS JUST BEGINNING

So far, European lawmakers have responded to the recent allegations through legislative measures designed to shield citizens from online surveillance. One such proposal would “require American companies like Google and Yahoo to seek clearance from European officials before complying with United States warrants seeking private data.” Those U.S. companies who failed to comply would face stiff fines that could reach into the billions of euros. This proposed measure, which would require the full support of the European Parliament, has already faced severe red tape through fierce U.S. lobbying pressure and intervention from British Prime Minister, David Cameron. 

[[Brits, Brits…  always sabotaging the EU autonomy: almas de lacayo, cuando entenderán que Inglaterra ya no es una Monarquía que los obliga a oler pedos ajenos, ni es una cárcel del BP Co. Comment by HAZ]]

When it was revealed that the NSA was spying on international bank transfers, including EU citizens’ bank data held by the Belgian company SWIFT, the European Parliament angrily responded by passing a resolution calling for the  suspension of an EU-US bank sharing data deal.

[[Los cangrejos del NSA se aburrieron de violar la intimidad de Americanos y extranjeros que pasan por sus aeropuertos y esta vez fueron más allá del negocio turbio de la venta de scaners, esta vez ingresaron a un negocio que nada tienen que ver con el mito/terror Bin Laden. Esta si es una real desgracia. No me explico cómo no cerraron embajadas USA en Europa por lo menos un mes en señal de protesta.. es lo que pidieron org de base en Brazil. Pero existe un discreto amor por la legalidad frente al indiscreto atropello a la dignidad ajena. Haz]]

But these are likely just the beginnings of the fallout that America will face from its enemies and allies over the disgraceful actions taken by the NSA. I truly believe we have yet to see the full impact that Edward Snowden’s courageous act will have upon America. But America doesn’t quite seem to grasp just how angry the world has become over these egregious violations of national sovereignty.

In a recent USA Today op/ed piece defending the NSA’s vast phone tapping surveillance system, Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein (R-CA), claimed that “the call-records program is not surveillance.”. Former NSA contractor and whistleblower, Edward Snowden immediately fired back in a recent statement claiming:

“Today, no telephone in America makes a call without leaving a record with the NSA. Today, no Internet transaction enters or leaves America without passing through the NSA’s hands. Our representatives in Congress tell us this is not surveillance. They’re wrong.”

Obama himself has declared that all nations spy on each other. And when pressed by reporters, Obama mouthpiece (White House Press Secretary) Jay Carney stated:

“We have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations.”

Maybe so. Maybe not. I think it is a bit absurd to think that other nations, like Brazil and Mexico, have the vast intelligence capabilities owned by the United States. Is embarrassing: is  not the United States that has beaten its chest over the themes of liberty, freedom, democracy, and national sovereignty?

American citizens have never quite understood the concept of “blowback” That is, when you  drop bombs on innocent civilians in the cover of night, people get angry. When you invade other nations in the name of “democracy,” and leave them in worse shape than you found them, people get angry. When you invade other people’s privacy, they don’t like it; it is a very simple concept. However, America is creating millions of new enemies within former allied nations all in a quest for increased “national security.”

THE NSA IS A DISGRACE

The sooner the NSA is permanently dismantled, the better. And the quicker that the American people recognize the courage displayed by Edward Snowden for standing up to the American empire, the better. Sadly, American politicians have sought to skirt the issue, or change the topic.

For example, Tea-party Republicans seeking to abolish Obamacare maintained full support for the NSA and America’s growing police state while, the corporate-controlled mainstream media has attempted to convince the American people that NSA surveillance is normal.

The shameful actions taken by the NSA have exposed the common virtues of “blind allegiance” and “unbridled patriotism” held by many U.S. citizens towards their government as a complete sham.

If history provides any indication, a miscalculation of America’s true intentions in its Orwellian surveillance state will carry severe repercussions. And if my faith in the sanity of the human race prevails, future generations will applaud America’s decision to arrest and prosecute all of those involved within the NSA hierarchy to the fullest extent of the law for their treasonous actions against America and the world.

The NSA Tyranny: Where’s the Outrage? MUST WATCH VIDEO  with interviews to Miko Peled: Apartheid in Israel : Dispelling Myths, and to Seymour Hersh on Obama drone policy.

IN:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cTtp8KBg7hU

==========