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Thread: Snowden leaks confirm existence of ECHELON

  1. #1

    Snowden leaks confirm existence of ECHELON



    NSA documents obtained by whistleblower Edward Snowden confirm the existence of ECHELON, a secret surveillance network spying on satellite communications. Set up by the US and the UK in the 1960s, ECHELON was the precursor of today’s global dragnet.

    The revelations vindicated the work of British investigative journalist Duncan Campbell, who first wrote about ECHELON’s existence in 1988 and continued writing about the program for the next 27 years.

    NSA newsletters cited by The Intercept confirm that the program was set up in 1966, just a year after the first communication satellites were launched into Earth orbit. The dragnet was codenamed FROSTING, and consisted of two sub-programs. While TRANSIENT was targeting Soviet Union’s satellite communications, Western satellite signals were to be harvested by ECHELON. Eventually, all satellite surveillance was merged into FORNSAT, a global program exposed by the Snowden revelations.

    Writing in The Intercept, Campbell explained how he stumbled upon the existence of ECHELON during a 1987 trip to the US. A computer systems manager named Margaret Newsham, formerly employed by Lockheed Martin on a NSA contract, told him about the existence of a colossal surveillance scheme operated by the NSA and the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ.

    Newsham had been assigned to a NSA crew at Menwith Hill, a facility in Yorkshire, England that served as one of the bases for ECHELON operations. When she was invited to listen in on a live phone call and recognized a voice of US senator Strom Thurmond, she realized that NSA had crossed a line.

    “Constitutional laws had been broken,” Newsham told Campbell.

    The documents Newsham shared with Campbell showed how ECHELON, also called Project P415, intercepted satellite connections and sorted phone calls, telex, telegraph and computer signals. The program’s design demonstrated that targeting senior US politicians was not an accident, she said. It was the Big Brother: automated, global electronic surveillance listening in on everybody.

    “Its immensity almost defies comprehension,” Newsham said. “It is important for the truth to come out. I don’t believe we should put up with being controlled by Big Brother.”

    Campbell then reached out to his sources in the UK intelligence community, receiving confirmation that ECHELON indeed existed. According to one GCHQ source, the NSA built facilities in the UK in order to dodge US laws, and paid for the bases under a secret agreement.

    ...
    http://www.rt.com/usa/311489-snowden...nfirm-echelon/
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Paul View Post
    The intellectual battle for liberty can appear to be a lonely one at times. However, the numbers are not as important as the principles that we hold. Leonard Read always taught that "it's not a numbers game, but an ideological game." That's why it's important to continue to provide a principled philosophy as to what the role of government ought to be, despite the numbers that stare us in the face.
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  3. #2
    Well, okay. Time for a lawful and peaceful revolution then.

    Certainly no other way to deal with a problem of this magnitude.

    BTW, can you explain why you haven't agreed and accepted these points of unity that are prime constitutional intent.

    Do you agree and accept that the framers of the founding documents intended for us to alter or abolish government destructive to our unalienable rights?

    Do you agree and accept that the ultimate purpose of free speech is to enable the unity adequate to effectively alter or abolish?

    Anti-fed is right, the constitution does not fail, we fail it, except for me. So I'm working to remind folks of exactly what failure is while I point out solution specific to the problems they bring up.

  4. #3
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    the time for a lawful and peaceful revolution was about, oh, I'd say 1913 or 1914.

  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by UWDude View Post
    the time for a lawful and peaceful revolution was about, oh, I'd say 1913 or 1914.
    You are absolutely correct, and the states were trying for it.

    There were applications by 2/3 of the states for an Article V convention in 1911.

    Conspiracy took out 40 of the weathiest people against the federal reserve act in April of 1912 with the Titanic. That really shocked the states and the people.

    A lawful and peaceful revolution is better late than never.
    Last edited by Christopher A. Brown; 08-04-2015 at 05:14 PM.

  6. #5
    ECHELON existence confirmed again?

  7. #6
    ECHELON was confirmed decades ago. Every time a facility here in New Zealand got raided by protesters they had to confirm it again.
    In New Zealand:
    The Coastguard is a Charity
    Air Traffic Control is a private company run on user fees
    The DMV is a private non-profit
    Rescue helicopters and ambulances are operated by charities and are plastered with corporate logos
    The agriculture industry has zero subsidies
    5% of the national vote, gets you 5 seats in Parliament
    A tax return has 4 fields
    Business licenses aren't a thing
    Prostitution is legal
    We have a constitutional right to refuse any type of medical care



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