National Security Agency (NSA)

Headquartered in Fort Meade, Maryland, the NSA describes itself as an organization which specializes in cryptology and is responsible for protecting U.S. government information systems and analyzing international communication activity to protect the nation’s vital interests. The NSA, however, has found itself implicated in two scandals arising from the terrorist campaigns that the Bush Jr. administration has launched at the global level under the banner of a war on terrorism, of which the true objective is to extend U.S. hegemony worldwide. On December 17, 2005, George W. Bush publicly acknowledged that following the events of September 11, 2001 he had personally authorized the secret monitoring of U.S. citizens. On a live radio and television broadcast at the White House, Bush commented on information published by the New York Times the day before. According to the paper he authorized the monitoring the conversations of U.S. citizens and foreigners residing in the United States after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers without securing the needed judicial authorization. On March 3, 2003, the British newspaper The Observer quoted a memorandum written by a NSA official which described the instructions received by agency personnel to step up monitoring operations, especially those aimed at members of the UN Security Council (with the exception, of course, of the United States and the United Kingdom). The aim was to obtain up-to-date information on the stance of these delegations with respect to a possible military action in Iraq. This information leak clearly shows that the delegations that were to be spied on at the UN building in New York were those of Angola, Cameron, Mexico, Guinea and Pakistan – countries that had not expressed themselves either in favor or against the military action.

The United States –in the lead– along with the United Kingdom and Spain were trying to secure those votes in support of an invasion.

The memorandum informs senior NSA officials that the device installed by the agency would not only provide them with information about these delegations’ vote but also about the “policies,” “negotiating positions,” “alliances” “dependencies” and the “complete range of information” that could allow the United States to obtain results favorable to its goals and avoid surprises. Dated January 31, 2003, the memorandum began to circulate four days after the head of UN inspectors, Hans Blix, submitted his report on Iraq’s compliance with UN Resolution 1441.

According to The Observer, the memorandum is signed by Frank Koza, head of the NSA’s Regional Objectives Department, which spies on countries considered to be of strategic importance to the United States. Koza specifies that the information will be utilized to give the United States the capacity to respond quickly to key delegations.

Sources:

www.rebelion.org www.nsa.gov