April, 25 2012, 12:40pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Contact: Dylan Blaylock, Communications Director
Phone: 202.457.0034, ext. 137
Email: dylanb@whistleblower.org
Contact: Jesselyn Radack, National Security & Human Rights Director
Phone: 202.457.0034, ext. 107
Email: jesselynr@whistleblower.org
Contact: Kathleen McClellan, National Security & Human Rights Counsel
Phone: 202.457.0034, ext. 108
Email: kathleenm@whistleblower.org
NSA Domestic Spying Continues Under Obama
NSA Whistleblower Makes Explosive Disclosures
WASHINGTON
On Monday, National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower and Government Accountability Project (GAP) client William Binney continued publicly revealing massive domestic surveillance beginning under President George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11, and continuing rampantly under President Obama.
A senior crypto-mathematician, Binney served at NSA for over forty years, lastly as the Technical Director of the NSA World Geopolitical and Military Analysis Reporting group, made up of thousands of NSA employees charged with analyzing massive volumes of electronic data gathered worldwide. Today, on the day of the annual Ridenhour Prizes that celebrate whistleblowers and truth-telling in the public interest, GAP is lauding Binney for courageously taking a stand and continuing to blow the whistle on NSA's unconstitutional domestic surveillance.
Binney's explosive disclosures over the past few weeks include:
- The first public description of Stellar Wind, the NSA's massive domestic spying program, which has the capacity to intercept trillions of domestic electronic communications of Americans, including e-mails, phone calls, and internet activities.
- Revealing NSA employee Ben Gunn as the organizer of Stellar Wind. A senior NSA analyst who worked with Binney, GAP client J. Kirk Wiebe, also blew the whistle on Gunn's role, stating: "One day I notice out in the hallway, stacks and stacks of new servers in boxes just lined up . . . I walk in and I almost get thrown out by a guy that we knew named Ben Gunn."
- That Stellar Wind gave the NSA warrantless access to telecommunications companies' massive domestic and international billing records, amounting to an estimated "over a billion and a half calls a day."
- That "...after 9/11, all the wraps came off for NSA, and they decided to - between the White House and NSA and CIA - they decided to eliminate the protections on U.S. citizens and collect on, domestically. So they started collecting from a commercial - the one commercial company that I know of that participated provided over 300 - probably, on the average, about 320 million records of communication of a U.S. citizen to a U.S. citizen inside this country." (18:15 - 18:45)
- That since 9/11, the NSA has intercepted an estimated "between 15 and 20 trillion" electronic transactions.
- That the scope of Stellar Wind is much larger than what was previously publicly known "Binney says Stellar Wind was far larger than has been publicly disclosed and included not just eavesdropping on domestic phone calls but the inspection of domestic email."
- That the patriotic-sounding "Terrorist Surveillance Program" was used as a cover for Stellar Wind: "But it was grouped with Stellar Wind and some other programs, so that they could give cover to it, talk about some programs, say they're talking about the Terrorist Surveillance Program, but it was basically a group of programs, some of which they did not want to talk about."
- An explanation of NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander's congressional testimony denying domestic spying:
"Well, I think it's - part of it is a term, how you use the term "intercept," as to whether or not what they're saying is, "We aren't actually looking at it, but we have it," you know, or whether or not they're actually collecting it and storing it somewhere...
Well, he also said things like, "We don't collect" - or, "We don't collect against U.S. citizens unless we have a warrant." And then, at the same time, he said that we don't - at the same interview, he said, "We don't have the capability to collect inside this country." Well, those are kind of contradictory.
...I wouldn't - you know, the point is how you split the words. I wouldn't say "lying." It's a kind of avoiding the issue." (55:40 - 56:30)
In 2002, Binney blew the whistle on massive waste, fraud and mismanagement related to NSA billion-dollar boondoggle, the then-flagship program Trailblazer, through internal channels when he and fellow whistleblowers former NSA employees Wiebe, Edward Loomis, and former congressional staffer Diane Roark filed a complaint with the Department of Defense Inspector General (DoD IG). Former senior NSA official Thomas Drake did not sign the complaint, because, still working at NSA, he feared retaliation. Instead, Drake served as the material witness. In retaliation, the FBI conducted coordinated armed raids of the complainants' homes. Binney described the raid on Democracy Now!
"I was in the shower. I was taking a shower, so my son answered the door. And they of course pushed him out of the way at gunpoint and came running upstairs and found me in the shower, and came in and pointed the gun at me..." (27:10 - 27:30)
The Department of Justice (DOJ) criminally investigated all of complainants, including Binney. When DOJ actually indicted Drake, he became the fourth person in history to be prosecuted under the Espionage Act for the alleged mishandling of classified information. The Obama administration has brought more Espionage Act prosecutions for alleged mishandling of government secrets than all past presidents combined. The DOJ abandoned its investigation of Binney, Wiebe, and Loomis, and DOJ's case against Drake collapsed in spectacular fashion days before trial last summer. The government dropped all felony charges, and Drake pled guilty to a minor misdemeanor.
GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack, who represents Binney, Drake, and Wiebe, captured the scope of Binney's disclosures:
"Binney's disclosures are the most comprehensive to date and substantially clarify the web of confusion around domestic surveillance that our government has worked so hard to weave."
Binney issued a warning in theWired Magazine piece: "[Binney] held his thumb and forefinger close together: 'We are that far from a turnkey totalitarian state.'"
Radack continued: "Binney's bravery in raising alarm about NSA's ever-expanding domestic surveillance operations despite having been subjected to a retaliatory criminal investigation is rare, admirable, and significant. We owe it to Binney, Wiebe, Drake and all NSA whistleblowers to listen to their disclosures, take advantage of opportunities for change, and recognize that while the surveillance industrial complex might put paychecks in certain contractors' bank accounts, no amount of money is worth our freedom. Congress, the courts, and the American public should heed Binney's warning, and not let his courageous disclosures go unnoticed with no accountability for lawbreakers. It is not too late to force NSA to revert to its pre-9/11 mission of collecting only foreign intelligence."
Radack and Binney are available to speak with the press. Please contact GAP Communications Director Dylan Blaylock at dylanb@whistleblower.org, or 202.457.0034 ext. 137, to schedule an interview with either.
The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a 30-year-old nonprofit public interest group that promotes government and corporate accountability by advancing occupational free speech, defending whistleblowers, and empowering citizen activists. We pursue this mission through our Nuclear Safety, International Reform, Corporate Accountability, Food & Drug Safety, and Federal Employee/National Security programs. GAP is the nation's leading whistleblower protection organization.
LATEST NEWS
No 'Clear Message of Peace': Russia, China, and Algeria Vote Down US Gaza Resolution
"Only by ceasing hostilities we can alleviate the immense suffering and ensure that large-scale humanitarian assistance reaches those in need," said Algeria's ambassador to the United Nations.
Mar 22, 2024
This is a developing news story... Please check back for updates...
Russia and China on Friday vetoed a U.S. resolution at the United Nations Security Council that called a Gaza cease-fire "imperative" but stopped short of demanding a halt to Israel's monthslong assault on the besieged enclave.
Algeria, which does not have veto power, joined Russia and China in opposing the U.S. resolution, which 11 Security Council members supported. Guyana abstained.
Friday's 11-3-1 vote came just over a month after the U.S. used its veto power to tank an Algeria-led resolution demanding "an immediate humanitarian cease-fire that must be respected by all parties."
Amar Bendjama, Algeria's ambassador to the U.N., said Friday that he was speaking not only for his country "but as a representative of the whole Arab world" as he explained their shared opposition to the U.S. resolution. Bendjama said Algeria proposed edits to the U.S. draft, but the final resolution left central concerns "unaddressed."
"We echoed the demands of millions of people and humanitarian actors for an immediate cessation of hostilities," said Bendjama. "Regrettably, the draft resolution falls short of our expectations. It fails to adequately address these main issues and the immense suffering [being endured] by the Palestinian people."
"Those who believe that the Israeli occupying power will choose to uphold its international legal obligation are mistaken," he argued. "They must abandon this fiction."
Bendjama, who cited the 32,000 people killed by Israel so far and the tens of thousands more wounded or permanently disabled, said the draft of the resolution "does not convey a clear message of peace" and "tacitly allows for continuing civilian casualties and lacks clear safeguard to prevent further escalation."
Russia's ambassador to the U.N., Vassily Nebenzia, argued the U.S. resolution was "not enough" and accused the Biden administration of "deliberately misleading the international community."
Outside analysts also criticized the U.S. resolution. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that while the resolution is "significantly stronger" than previous U.S. drafts, "it still falls short of a clear and unequivocal demand for an unconditional cease-fire."
Craig Mokhiber, a former U.N. official who resigned in late October over the international body's failure to respond to Israel's assault on Gaza, said the U.S. measure "is not a cease-fire resolution. It is a ransom note."
Instead of clearly demanding a cease-fire, the U.S. resolution proposed more ambiguous language expressing "the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire to protect civilians on all sides, allow for the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance, and alleviate humanitarian suffering."
The resolution also tied support for a cease-fire to "the release of all remaining hostages."
Parsi said in a statement Friday that "undoubtedly, Biden's rhetorical shift in favor of a ceasefire is noteworthy, but the devil is in the details."
"The unnecessarily convoluted operative clause raises concerns that this shift is less straightforward than it could and should be," Parsi added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
UN Panel Says IDF Appears Set on 'Physical Destruction of Palestinian Children'
"Children in Gaza can no longer wait, as each passing minute risks another child dying of hunger as the world looks on," said the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Mar 22, 2024
A United Nations panel said Thursday that the Israeli military's siege of Gaza appears "calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinian children," pointing to the growing number of kids starving to death as Israel obstructs the delivery of humanitarian aid.
"They are cut off from food, even crumbs are not easy to find," the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said in a statement. "A little girl wept in front of the BBC's camera, crying, 'I miss bread.' The occupying power has blocked or severely restricted food and other life-essential supplies and aid."
At least 27 children have died of malnutrition or dehydration in recent weeks, a toll that the U.N. panel said is "likely to be significantly higher" and is "set to rise" as Israel's blockade and attacks on aid convoys continue. An alarming analysis released earlier this week by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification found that Gaza's entire population—roughly half of which is children—is "facing high levels of acute food insecurity."
"Children in Gaza can no longer wait, as each passing minute risks another child dying of hunger as the world looks on," the U.N. committee said.
Children are also at high risk from ongoing Israeli bombings, which have inflicted immense physical and psychological suffering on Gaza's children. Israel's military has killed more than 13,000 children in the territory since October 7, a figure that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) called "astronomically horrifying." Save the Children estimated that between October and January, an average of more than 10 children per day in Gaza lost one or both of their legs due to Israeli attacks.
"I think these numbers that we're seeing out of Gaza are just staggering," Catherine Russell, UNICEF's executive director, said earlier this week. "We haven't seen that rate of death among children in almost any other conflict in the world."
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child #UNCRC delivers its strongest statement. Gaza: Halt the war now to save children from dying of imminent famine. #childrensrights @lexpsy pic.twitter.com/uXHtxonlVz
— UNChildRights (@UNChildRights1) March 21, 2024
The U.N. panel on children's rights called attention to the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) January ruling ordering the Israeli government to "enable the provision" of humanitarian aid and do everything in its power to prevent acts of genocide—directives that Israel has been accused of systematically violating.
"Since the ICJ order on 26 January, and as of 19 March, an average of over 108 Palestinians have been killed and another 178 injured every day in Gaza, and children are amongst them," the committee said Thursday. "The looming invasion of Rafah will take the fragile situation to the breaking point, putting the lives of 600,000 children at immediate risk, and will rapidly reach the tipping point of famine."
"While reiterating its calls for the remaining children held hostage to be released immediately," the panel added, "the committee also calls on all parties, including the General Assembly and the Security Council, for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to protect hundreds of thousands of innocent children's lives."
The statement came as the United States, Israel's chief arms supplier, proposed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution declaring that an "immediate cease-fire" is "imperative." The U.S. has repeatedly stonewalled and vetoed cease-fire resolutions at the Security Council in recent months even as its top officials, including President Joe Biden, have expressed concerns about the grisly civilian death toll in Gaza.
In a scathing op-ed for The Guardian on Thursday, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor wrote that "the international human rights architecture is creaking under the weight of the hypocrisy of countries who profess support for a rules-based order yet continue to provide weapons to Israel that kill more innocent Palestinians."
"There exist no moral arguments," wrote Lawlor, "that can justify the continued sale of weapons to Israel by states that respect the principle of the universality of human rights."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Everyone in the World Needs to See This': Footage Shows IDF Drone Killing Gazans
"There is no way they could have been considered combatants," said one writer and analyst. "This is unreal."
Mar 21, 2024
Adding to the mountain of evidence that Israel is engaged in a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera on Thursday aired footage of what the news outlet reported was an Israeli drone targeting four Palestinians in Khan Younis last month.
Those killed by the unmanned aerial vehicle in the rubble of the southern Gaza city appear to be unarmed teenagers or young men. According to a translation of the coverage, they were not identified in the reporting.
While Al Jazeera deemed footage "too graphic" to be included on its daily live blog covering the war, a clip of it quickly spread on social media, where critics of the Israel Defense Forces operation expressed outrage.
"OUTRAGEOUS even after months of outrages," declared Palestinian American political analyst Yousef Munayyer. "This video shows an Israeli military drone literally stalking four unarmed civilians posing no threat and eliminating them one after the other!!!"
Tariq Kenney-Shawa, Al-Shabaka's U.S. policy fellow, said: "This is among the worst footage I've seen. Not only were these boys clearly unarmed and present no threat whatsoever, but they were struck multiple times even after stumbling/crawling away. There is no way they could have been considered combatants. This is unreal."
Note: The following video contains graphic images.
Assal Rad, an author with a Ph.D. in Middle East history, said: "Have we ever seen so many war crimes take place right before our eyes? Any country still providing weapons and aid to Israel is complicit in these crimes."
Exiled American whistleblower Edward Snowden asserted that "everyone in the world needs to see this. Note that this footage permits no room for 'it was a mistake,' showing repeated, specifically targeted strikes on the unarmed and even wounded."
"The sort of behavior the ICJ explicitly forbid in the genocide ruling against Israel," added Snowden, referencing the International Court of Justice's preliminary order in January for an ongoing case led by South Africa.
Since the ruling, rights groups around the world have accused Israel of ignoring the ICJ order by continuing to bomb and starve people across Gaza. The mounting casualties—at least 31,988 killed and 74,188 wounded—have elevated demands for the U.S. government to end arms transfers to Israel.
The United States gives its Middle East ally $3.8 billion in annual military aid and since the Israeli assault was launched in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack on October 7, the Biden administration has sought $14.3 billion more while bypassing Congress to send more weapons. U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin face a genocide complicity case in federal court.
While the Biden administration has repeatedly vetoed and opposed cease-fire resolutions at the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly, Nate Evans, a spokesperson for Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., confirmed Thursday that the United States plans to unveil a new one on Friday.
The resolution will "unequivocally support ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at securing an immediate cease-fire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal, which would get hostages released and help enable a surge in humanitarian aid," Evans told Al Jazeera. "This resolution is an opportunity for the council to speak with one voice to support the diplomacy happening on the ground and pressure Hamas to accept the deal on the table."
Blinken said Thursday that "there's a clear consensus around a number of shared priorities. First, the need for an immediate, sustained cease-fire, with the release of hostages. That would create space to surge more humanitarian assistance, to relieve the suffering of many people, and to build something more enduring."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular