NSA considered spying on Canadians without this country’s consent, top-secret directive says



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OTTAWA — The U.S. National Security Agency considered spying on Canadians without the knowledge or consent of its intelligence partners in this country, according to a top-secret draft NSA directive.

The 2005 memo, leaked to The Guardian newspaper by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, details how the NSA considered “unilaterally” targeting the citizens and communication systems of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The countries are part of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-gathering pact that also includes the U.S. and United Kingdom. The directive refers to partner nations as “second-party” countries.

“Under certain circumstances, it may be advisable and allowable to target second party persons and second party communications systems unilaterally when it is in the best interests of the U.S. and necessary for U.S. national security,” says the directive, classified as “NF” for No Foreign and is titled Collection, Processing and Dissemination of Allied Communications.

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“Such targeting must be performed exclusively within the direction, procedures and decision processes outlined in this directive.”

The document states the proposed U.S. spying on its Five-Eyes partners can take place even when the partner government has explicitly denied the U.S. permission to do so, says The Guardian. “The memo makes clear that partner countries must not be informed about this surveillance, or even the procedure itself.”

In a later part of the draft cleared for release to the Five-Eyes countries, the document suggests there may be circumstances in which Canada, Australia and New Zealand should co-operate to allow the U.S. to target their citizens.

The public release of the directive is part of a series of calculated leaks over the past year in which Snowden has exposed a vast campaign by the NSA, assisted by Five-Eyes partners, to snoop on U.S. and global electronic communications in the name of counter-terrorism.

 

“The slow release of secret documents by Snowden [via journalist Glenn] Greenwald is having a cumulative effect which may reach a tipping point,” says Tom Quiggin, an Ottawa security and intelligence expert.

“The NSA runs the risk of losing the confidence of its allies and forcing allied agencies into distancing themselves from the NSA and the U.S. government.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Internet and telecommunications companies such as Cisco are now reporting slipping international sales directly attributable to the drip-drip-drip of Snowden’s unauthorized disclosures.

Microsoft moved this week to assure international customers by pledging to fight in court any attempt by U.S. intelligence agencies to seize its foreign customers’ data under American surveillance laws, one of a series of steps aimed at reassuring nervous users abroad.

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith told Reuters the company will dramatically increase the amount of encryption it uses for internal traffic, following similar moves by Google and Yahoo after reports the NSA had illicitly tapped into their facilities overseas.

The NSA runs the risk of losing the confidence of its allies and forcing allied agencies into distancing themselves from the NSA and the U.S. governmen

The Five-Eyes coalition was formed under the 1946 UKUSA Agreement, which was believed to limit the ability of the partner countries to spy on each other. Ottawa’s Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), the country’s premier intelligence agency, maintains a close partnership with the NSA.

The original 1946 UKUSA agreement between the U.S. and Britain was previously designed only for “foreign intelligence” operations. The draft directive appears to indicate that the agreement has changed, according to The Guardian.

“(The 1946 UKUSA) agreement has evolved to include a common understanding that both governments will not target each other’s citizens/persons” says the directive. “However, when it is in the best interest of each nation, each reserved the right to conduct unilateral Comint (communications intelligence) action against each other’s citizens/persons.”

In a later part of the draft cleared for release to the Five-Eyes countries, the document suggests there may be circumstances in which Canada, Australia and New Zealand should co-operate to allow the U.S. to target their citizens.

International law does not provide much guidance on transnational peacetime spying, says Craig Forcese, a leading expert on national security law at the University of Ottawa.

“International law rules pertaining to spying are best described as a checkerboard of principles,” he wrote in a recent blog posting. “The clearest principle is a simple expression of sovereignty preoccupations: don’t spy on the territory of another state, in violation of its laws.

“Beyond that, there is no simple rule governing the international legality of spying. This may not be a happy situation, but it is fair to say that this is the world that states have quite clearly set out to create. After all, all states spy at one time or another.”

In the long run, the real damage may be to U.S. society, concludes Quiggin.

“Ironically, it was similar spying and information collection activities of the British Crown that lit the fires of revolution in America in the 1760s. Using a new law called the ‘Writs of Assistance,’ the King’s men were able to search the homes, papers and belongings of anyone without warning and seize all information and goods,” in pursuit of smuggled contraband.

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Ontario has it's own secret police, lawyers refer to them as "The Gestapo" and when they refer to "The Gestapo" they are referring to the 48 Secretive Cult like private corporations who bilk Ontario TaxPayers for billions of dollars in their war on society, snatching children from parents by fabricating evidence.


The average person has no comprehension that these criminals have their own judges, who go from being lawyers fabricating evidence for the Gestapo one day and the next day, making crown wards of the same cases they worked on the day before.


They have their own secret courts, with publicity bans, that is designed to intimidate just like Hitler's black shirts.


Just like Hitler's Gestapo, these lowest forms of life intimidate their own staff and contaminate dam near everyone they come into contact with, encouraging them to fabricate evidence to "help them out".


This Ontario Gestapo, costs Ontario Billions and the Ontario Government needs one hell of a wake up call as to the staggering costs that this out of control rogue cult is causing to Ontario.


In Ottawa there are two classic examples of Criminals Running a racket by fabricating evidence.


The worst of the worst, is Marguerite Lewis, a lawyer for the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa.


This is one of most vile examples of humanity one could ever wish to encounter.
She is known locally as "The Baby Snatcher".


She is a true disciple of Gobbels, the bigger the lie, the easier it is to convince, a judge, especially one of the many former lawyers for the same corrupt cult who get their lawyers appointed to the bench.


In any other area, ethical judges refuse to hear cases involving their old law firms, but not the underbellies of the legal profession who have no calms about making decisions for their "former employer.


They have their own secret courts, publicity bans, legislation coming out their rear ends to protect themselves from "negative publicity".


I've got news for them. The public especially those who are victims of these criminals mascarading as Child Protection Workeres that their days are coming to an end.

It's only a matter of time before there is a national outcry regarding their billions, and billions of dollars flushed down the drain that belonged to taxpayers.


It's cost to society is staggering police costs, court costs, welfare costs, the cost in all the fatherless children who grow up without a father.


Then there is the abuse, Foster Parents are a very high risk of being child abusers. These criminals prefer to take children from loving devoted parents and putting them with known child abusers.


If want to meet a member of the Ontario Gestapo, visit your local Children's Aid Society where adoption and foster parenting are all part of their corrupt racket that requires endless fabrication of evidence and abuse of children not to mention parents.


www.StopCas.ca