Greenwald Reveals 'Crux' of NSA Spying: The 'Elimination of Individual Privacy Worldwide'

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/18-2



"The reason I know this is what they are attempting to achieve is because they say it over and over and over again. On occasion they say it publicly and repeatedly they say it in their private documents, which were written when they thought nobody was able to hear what it was they were saying." –Glenn Greenwald

Greenwald Reveals 'Crux' of NSA Spying: The 'Elimination of Individual Privacy Worldwide'
- Lauren McCauley, staff writer
Published on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 by Common Dreams

Appearing via live feed before an EU Commission committee on mass surveillance Wednesday, independent journalist Glenn Greenwald revealed what he believed to be the "crux" of the reporting on the NSA so far.

According to Greenwald, what the European ministers—and the world—should know about the spy agency's ultimate objective is that it is "nothing less than the elimination of individual privacy worldwide." As he told the panel:

There has been a virtual avalanche of stories and reports over the last six months over espionage and virtual spying by the NSA and its partners and each of these stories has been extremely important, but I think the quantity of them has sometimes endangered the ultimate point from being obscured. So I just wanted to spend a little bit of time discussing what I think is the primary revelation, the crux, of all of these stories that ties them together and—that I think—is the most important thing for us to realize:

That is, what the ultimate goal of what the NSA—along with its most loyal, one might say subservient, junior partner, the British agency GCHQ—when it comes to the reason why this system of surveillance is being built. And the objective of this system is nothing less than the elimination of individual privacy worldwide.

[djean111]

1. Hyperbolic as it sounds, this is true.

The rationale, of course, is since they cannot really be sure of catching terrorist acts before they happen (unless they have instigated them for entrapment purposes), they need EVERYTHING from EVERYBODY in order to investigate after the fact. And then, as would have absolutely had to happen, in waltzed mission creep. Now they can go in and look for info without a warrant and construct a plausible alternate to that poison fruit afterwards.
And to do this, they need everything.

[2banon]

2. I'm beginning to look at "news reports" from GG through a different lens

as an ardent supporter of the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, I'm beginning to see recent reports as gimmicks, teasers for his up and coming book with very little in the way of more revealing information of any more importance than what we already know, (or intuited) and what we've long suspected to be the case. As for anything of any other real value.. that all remains to be seen at this juncture..

But at the moment important questions have been recently raised as to what his multi-billion dollar partnership with ebay founder and whatever media operation they're planning on establishing (as if another corporate media venue was required to publish content of leaked documents).....

And apparently a letter has been sent to Snowden asking if he's on board with GG's media plans, if he's been appropriately compensated etc, etc. Lots of questions are being asked... this is going to get interesting I think. I'm starting to wonder if we're all being snookered big time.

Check this out

[djean111]

3. I don't care if GG makes money. The even bigger money, Google, etc., has a lot

to lose.
I am really really tired of, and bored with, the attempts to paint anyone who believes the NSA is out of control as an Obama-hater. Straw man extraordinaire there, and quite transparent.

None of this is really about Obama, and all of this would be gleefully jumped on if the prez was GOP.
It doesn't fucking matter who the prez is for most things. They come and go. The real power is entrenched.

Is what Snowden released true, or not.

That is the only thing that matters. Not Snowden's "heroic" status, not GG's making a very good living, nothing else. The NSA stuff is the only important thing, all the rest is shiny sparkling confetti meant to distract.
Hell, banks and corporations make GG's money for themselves every damned day.

I was never a GG fan, I thought he was childishly petulant about some things after Hitchens died.
But GG is not the story.
What the NSA is doing is the only important story.
The rest is twaddle. Amusing at times, and trite, and business as usual, going after the messengers, attempting to make the messengers the story, discredit the messengers, marginalize the story. Twaddle.
Feh.

[2banon]

5. 100% Agreement with your comments & pov.

there is the distraction factor vis a vis the practice of deep deception for agenda purposes that are not immediately apparent... which requires a bit of tin foil hattery, and I don't have time to go down that rabbit hole. just momentary curiosity.

The point remains, which you made quite well.

[bemildred]

4. "I'm starting to wonder if we're all being snookered big time."

Well, we know we are being monitored all the time, and we know we are being propagandized all the time. Snookered is just not that far away now.

[2banon]

6. yep.. eom