1 April 2000. Thanks to Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg.
See also:
Bevar naturen: Sylt et egern.
http://www.datashopper.dk/~boo/index.html<<
Ekstra Bladet ECHELON URL:
http://www1.ekstrabladet.dk/netdetect/echelon.iasp
Printed in Ekstra Bladet 29. march 2000
Echelon shall now be thoroughly investigated. The European Parliament is demanding a commission of investigation following Ekstra Bladet's disclosures.
By Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
At last, official pressure is being brought to bear. Thursday the European Parliament will demand the appointment of a commission of inquiry into Echelon and thereby provide an official account of the extensive espionage activities. This demand was raised after Ekstra Bladet's long series of disclosures on the illegal international spy ring. Ekstra Bladet has documented how the global espionage network, Echelon, has continuously spied on Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the Red Cross, European companies, politicians and heads of state.
Tuesday, at least 171 members of the Parliament signed a demand requiring the appointment of a commission of investigation. To demand an investigation requires the signatures of at least one-fourth of all members of the European Parliament, i.e. 157. So this minimum requirement has been met by a wide margin.
Patricia McKenna, Ireland, together with Jens Peter Bonde, Denmark's June Movement, and Pernille Frahm, Denmark's Socialist People's Party, have led the campaign for an investigation of Echelon, which was referred to as 'rumors' by the European Commission only last month. And the same system that the Danish government has refused to investigate up to now.
Are you surprised, Jens Peter Bonde?
"No, not really. Because after your most recent exposures in which former agents came forward with names and pictures and after the CIA's former director admitted that espionage had actually occurred, it was impossible to sustain an illusion that Echelon doesn't exist."
CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
"Now we have to start clearing up this whole matter and see if we can find all Ekstra Bladet's sources. They need to be called in and interrogated as witnesses. In my opinion, we're talking about criminal activities that need to be thoroughly investigated," says Jens Peter Bonde from the June Movement.
This will light a fire under the otherwise congenial cooperation between the fifteen member states of the EU. Because the UK plays an important role as the USA's most important partner in the Echelon system, along with Canada and Australia.
The largest station in the international surveillance ring is named Menwith Hill and is located in northern England. The other EU participants in Echelon are Germany, which has a large base in Bad Aibling, together with Denmark which is coupled up as a third-party partner with its Sandagergård Station located at Aflandshage on the island of Amager. France, on the other hand, does not participate in the Echelon cooperation, but is believed to have its very own surveillance system.
Back home in Denmark, the Confederation of Danish Industries is now demanding that the government provide an account of the situation. "With all the pieces of evidence and the publicized documentation, they cannot ignore this any longer," says Marianne Castenskiold from the Confederation of Danish Industries.
"The uncertainty is intolerable, so we demand that the government account for the situation, and we have already initiated a dialogue with them on this issue. I am very pleased that the European Parliament is taking this step," says Marianne Castenskiold to Ekstra Bladet.
COMMOTION IN THE HENHOUSE
On the political front, too, there is a commotion in the Danish henhouse. Monday and Tuesday, the Danish government was hit by a new barrage of questions on the Echelon cooperation. This time it was Minister of Foreign Affairs Niels Helveg Petersen and Minister of Justice Frank Jensen who were under fire.
After Ekstra Bladet's most recent disclosures of espionage against large companies in the EU, like the Airbus aerospace company, and of spying on the Red Cross, Amnesty International and Greenpeace, Knud Erik Hansen of the Socialist People's Party wants to know what steps the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to take as a result of these revelations.
"What is the Minister's position on the fact that the USA's intelligence agency, the NSA, is listening in on electronic communication from NGO's (i.e. Amnesty International, Greenpeace and the Red Cross) and companies, and does the Minister of Foreign Affairs intend to discuss the matter with the US government?" asks Hansen, who is the party's IT spokesman.
The Danish parliament's tireless Duracell bunny, Keld Albrechtsen of the Unity Party, would like Frank Jensen to contact the US government to clear up the issue of "How and when has US surveillance and espionage been directed against Danish citizens and interests?"
He will ask this question in the Danish parliament on April 5.
[caption]
EU demands an investigation of Echelon. Jens Peter Bonde: "Now we must demand that Ekstra Bladet's sources be called in. They must be interrogated as witnesses."
Printed in Ekstra Bladet, Denmark, 21. march. 2000
"Echelon has singled out Europe as an enemy, and I saw a lot of messages about surveillance targets in Denmark," says the fourth Echelon agent to come forward in Ekstra Bladet.
By Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
Fred Stock was a secret agent in Canada's Echelon service until he was fired for asking too many questions. For almost fifteen years, thousands of messages on espionage targets passed through his hands. As a result, he now has a unique overview of what went on behind the barbed wire fences at Echelon's listening posts in Canada and the rest of the world. "First of all, it's important to get one thing straight: all data intercepted around the world was sent right to the US's intelligence agency, the NSA. Then and only then would they decide what should be forwarded to all the other countries."
Both US and Danish authorities assert that only military espionage is being carried out. Is that correct?
"No, it is not. A change occurred around 1987. That was when I suddenly started seeing more and more messages dealing with Germany, France, The Netherlands, Denmark and other European allies. But it is important to emphasize that we performed a very valuable piece of work for the entire Free World during the Cold War. Including our European allies."
THE EU AS A NEW ENEMY
What did the change involve?
"It was very unpleasant to receive messages from the NSA telling us that the European Union, centering around Germany, was now an enemy. The messages also mentioned the Asian economy and Japan in particular. That was in 1990."
But they didn't actually refer to them as enemies, did they?
"Yes they did! And that was one of the things that really shocked me. The term they used was 'enemies'. I remember it very clearly because I went in to see my superior, Gerry Godin, and asked him what it was all about. I was very angry and asked him what they were up to. Why should our allies suddenly be redefined as enemies? I swear to you, the term was very clear."
How did your boss reply?
"He looked at it and said, 'It would be a good idea to see it as a more contemporary meaning for the word 'enemy'.' That infuriated me. Because the moment when we start thinking of allied nations as our enemies marks the prelude to starting more wars and conflicts. And from then on, I was not treated very well at CSE because I asked too many questions about our mission."
As a communications operator at the headquarters of the Canadian Security Establishment (CSE), Fred Stock estimates that he handled up to 3000 pieces of intelligence every day. There were 55 agents with the same duties as Stock.
60 MILLION MESSAGES
That means that CSE's headquarters received some 165,000 messages every single day. That's five million a month and roughly 60 million a year. And after 1989, a large part of them were non-military targets. It was only a drop in the ocean in relation to the volume received at NSA. Because they were the ones running the whole operation. Were Danish targets monitored?
"I saw a great deal of intelligence that had been intercepted about Denmark, but don't ask me what it was about. Espionage was performed on legal political organizations and allied NATO countries, as well as on companies in Europe and Asia. I even saw papers about specific politicians."
"The messages I received had a subject and a country at the top of the page. The ones on which 'Denmark' was written were 'the final product' so to speak. The interception itself could have been made directly by a US spy station. But lots of intercepted messages about Europe came in. They had to have been intercepted by some of the UK's listening posts."
Canadian agent Fred Stock was fired in 1993 because he didn't care for the fact that the NSA, the US intelligence agency, depicted NATO countries as 'enemies' to be spied on.
Printed in Ekstra Bladet 23. march 2000
Echelon's espionage was aimed at European companies and political heads of state says defected Canadian spy, Fred Stock.
By Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
Shortly before the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989, Echelon's espionage services were reorganized to perform espionage on political and financial circles in Europe.
So says defected Echelon spy Fred Stock to Ekstra Bladet today. Fred Stock experienced how the CSE, Canada's Echelon service, was instructed by Echelon's big brother in the US, the NSA, to focus on politics, interest groups and companies in the 'European Union'.
"We were up to date on the negotiating positions of many companies. We knew what they were making offers for and when. On the whole, we were quite well informed on the issues they were considering."
Do you remember the names of any specific companies?
"Thousands of messages passed through my hands, but I remember a company named Airbus, for example. We had a lot of intelligence on them."
KNEW THE PRICE
"We knew which plane France wanted to sell and at what price. Basically, we were informed of everything that was involved in major transactions, like who was submitting tenders and the figures they were operating with, what they were willing to pay and sell for. We kept a close eye on what was happening in the agricultural sector, too. Big wheat deals, for example."
So you were deliberately monitoring transactions like the one in France to find out what they were offering?
"Yes, there were a lot of examples of that kind of thing."
THE BAD GUYS
According to Ekstra Bladet's sources, Europe's jointly-owned Airbus aerospace company lost a major order to Saudi Arabia in 1994. The winners in the deal were two US companies, Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas, who received an order totaling 42 billion Danish kroner (6 billion US dollars).
Fred Stock's information about extensive industrial espionage is confirmed by another former CSE agent, Edwina Slattery, whom Ekstra Bladet has spoken with.
"My job only involved analyzing surveillance against 'the bad guys', (the East bloc countries - ed.)." But there were other departments that took care of financial spying and industrial espionage."
POLITICIANS ON THE LINE
Echelon's surveillance was also used to keep close tabs on Europe's politicians. Fred Stock tells how:
"We knew where the various politicians were, and what they intended to do. We had nothing less than access to their personal plans."
Did that also include politicians in Europe?
"Definitely. Even heads of state. Based on the intelligence I saw, we knew who they were supposed to meet and what they had discussed. "It was a fascinating job. We were constantly on top of events that were happening all over the world. I always thought it would have been a perfect job for a journalist," smiles Fred Stock.
[caption]
Leitrim, the CSE's largest listening post in Canada. From here, espionage was carried out on European companies and politicians. Almost everything was sent direct to Echelon's string-pullers, the NSA in Maryland, USA.
EXTRA FACTS:
FIRED FOR ASKING QUESTIONS
Fred Stock was fired from his intelligence job in 1993. The dismissal came after several years of harassment from his colleagues in the espionage service. Fred Stock was fired in the late 80s because he started asking too many questions about the moral, ethical and legal status of their espionage activities. It wasn't a very popular thing to do.
"Their harassment really got rough after I decided to talk with members of the Canadian parliament. And after firing me in '93, they pulled out all the stops."
After almost twenty years of service for the clandestine agencies, the CSE tried to deprive him of his rightful pension. To this very day, Fred Stock is still struggling to for his right to receive it. At the same time, he is living at a subsistence level - because the harassment from the spies has continued all the way to the present. Fred Stock has had great difficulty getting a new job, for example. Even as an ordinary office clerk.
"Every time I felt like the job interview had gone very well, I was rejected anyway. I wondered why, until I discovered that CSE was putting obstacles in my way. Several times they even turned up at my address and tried to bully me into not talking to anyone."
"At one point, the boss for the CSE's security group showed up with another man in black. Just to intimidate me."
Printed in Ekstra Bladet 23. march 2000
We knew what Greenpeace intended to do before they even realized it themselves, reveals former Echelon agent.
By Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
The legal, political-environmental organization Greenpeace is under constant surveillance by US and Canadian agents through the NSA's Echelon system. So says former Canadian spy Fred Stock to Ekstra Bladet today.
"Based on the messages I saw, it was very clear that we could follow Greenpeace's vessels everywhere they went. And we were totally aware of their precise positions at all times."
Fred Stock was communications operator in Canada's espionage service which to this very day is directly linked to the NSA's global surveillance system. Fred Stock received the monitored messages at the espionage headquarters in Ottawa, Canada, sorted them and saw to it that they were distributed to analysts in the espionage service.
"There were always messages about Greenpeace. The messages dealt with their ships, where they were docked, their presumed destinations and planned activities.
"What about the local groups on land?
We were highly and specifically informed on their intended plans - in advance. Before they even did anything. Greenpeace was a very important target. Simply speaking, we knew what they were going to do before they even knew it themselves."
FREEDOM AT STAKE
At the environmental organization's Scandinavian headquarters, the information is somewhat of a shock to campaign manager Jan Søndergård.
"It is really very frightening, very disturbing. I am also very distressed on behalf of other NGO's, to put it mildly."
It's right to say that your organization is involved in 'direct actions' though, isn't it?
"Yes, but we don't try to hide it either. It is also known as normal civil disobedience, but without any form of violence and vandalism, and we are very open about what we do."
"I feel very uneasy about what you just told me…"
How so?
"Well, we're talking about basic constitutional rights and the right to privacy. I want to be able to talk to my friends, colleagues and family without anyone else listening in. We are a fully legal political enterprise. And the people who participate in our actions are willing to take their punishment if it turns out they have violated the limits of the law. This is a very unpleasant situation."
ARRESTED BEFORE THE ACTION
Mads Christensen is an action supervisor at Greenpeace. He is not nearly as surprised when Ekstra Bladet tells him that Greenpeace is on Echelon's blacklist. Mads Christensen tells how Greenpeace has recently experienced events that clearly indicate they are being spied on. One incident involved the arrest of a Greenpeace activist 'before' they even went into action.
"We organized four actions all of which were targeted against genetically modified products, and three of them failed. As a matter of fact, our actions normally succeed."
"The interesting feature is that the three failed actions were all directed at US ships containing genetically modified products from the Monsanto company. At one of the actions, our activists were arrested in England before they even had a chance to take action, and in the two other cases, the targeted ships were diverted."
What was the successful action's target?
"An Argentine ship, and it was odd that the only action not directed at a US company was the one that succeeded.
[captions]
Out of four actions against genetically modified products, three failed and all three were directed against US ships. Only the action here in Denmark's Århus Harbor was a success. It was against an Argentine ship, the Legionario.
Printed in Ekstra Bladet 21. march 2000
Ex-spy meets his victim: Ekstra Bladet sets up a meeting between former Echelon spy Fred Stock and the secretary-general for Denmark's Amnesty organization. Amnesty is concerned.
By Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
Echelon is monitoring and spying on Amnesty International, according to what former Canadian Echelon agent Fred Stock tells Ekstra Bladet. The illegal surveillance and spying has been going on for years, and countless reports on Amnesty are circulating in the global espionage network.
Thursday afternoon, ex-spy Fred Stock had a personal opportunity to elaborate on the illegal surveillance to Amnesty International. This happened when Ekstra Bladet simply went to the office of the Denmark's secretary-general, Lars Normann Jørgensen, phoned Fred Stock in Canada and handed the receiver to Lars Norman, so the two of them could talk. The monitored target from Denmark and the spy who changed sides from Canada.
"Hello, this is Lars. What can you tell me about the surveillance of Amnesty International?" the secretary-general asks on the phone across the Atlantic to Canada. The replies are alarmingly detailed:
"When I was working for CSE (the Canadian Security Establishment, Canada's Echelon service - ed.), I saw countless reports on Amnesty International," explains ex-spy Fred Stock.
"The great majority of the reports were final products prepared by the NSA (National Security Agency, the US's Echelon service - ed.)." The NSA collected the raw intelligence from all around the world and used it in the reports I received," says Fred Stock.
REPORTS ON PRISONERS
Amnesty's Danish secretary-general, Lars Normann Jørgensen, continues his questioning: "Did the reports cover our campaigns? Or were they reports on individuals who work for Amnesty, or on some of the victims we are trying to help?"
"Some of the reports were about eyewitnesses and prisoners of conscience in prisons around the world. But there were also reports on forthcoming campaigns, and occasionally we received reports with other information about the organization."
"My job was to receive the incoming reports and forward them to the analysts who were responsible for evaluating the contents."
Ex-spy Fred Stock has a long talk with Amnesty's secretary-general. After they hang up, it is Ekstra Bladet's turn to talk with the Mr. Jørgensen.
Are you surprised?
"No, not really. We know it's going on. But the proportions astonish me. I also think it's interesting that they collected reports on prisoners of conscience and political prisoners. These prisoners are often prominent persons who occasionally end up in very important positions.
Take Nelson Mandela or Vaclav Havel, for instance," says Lars Normann Jørgensen.
"In general, I would say that if someone wanted to know more about Amnesty, we prefer that they enter through the front door," he adds with a wry smile.
"But it's a rather atypical problem for Amnesty International. Usually, we are the ones trying to clarify how 'other' persons' rights are being violated."
What are the implications for your organization?
"It clearly gives rise to a fundamental concern for the safety of both the victims and the witnesses," concludes the secretary-general.
Now, Lars Normann intends to alert his Amnesty colleagues in Canada, and tell them about Fred Stock. At the same time he will contact Amnesty International Headquarters in London.
"I want to make sure that the Canadian organization realizes that Fred Stock possesses this knowledge. Afterward, I will contact our international headquarters in London to find out how we can clear this up with the responsible politicians."
[caption]
Ekstra Bladet hands the receiver to Amnesty's Danish secretary-general. At the other end of the line is Fred Stock, the Echelon agent who spied on Amnesty International.
Printed in Ekstra Bladet 4. March. 2000
She held the key to the whole world's communication. And her accusation is quite severe: "We violated every citizen's right to privacy when we designed Echelon"
By Bo Elkjaer and Kenan Seeberg, Ekstra Bladet, Denmark
After Ekstra Bladet published Margaret Newsham's shocking exposures of Echelon, both the Danish parliament and the European parliament have debated the global surveillance issue. But nothing has happened. In this article, Ekstra Bladet presents new documents and facts about Newsham's term as an Echelon spy.
The European Commission said that Echelon is nothing but 'rumors'. At least Denmark's Minister of Defense Hans Hækkerup admitted that this kind of system very probably exists. He does not intend to doing anything about it though.
Most recently, Denmark's Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen stated in a reply to member of parliament Keld Albrechtsen that Rasmussen 'had no grounds to consider the existence of this kind of system.'
This does not necessarily mean that he believes Echelon exists. But it does not necessarily mean that he believes Echelon does not exist either. It only means that Poul Nyrup Rasmussen will not consider the issue.
All right.
We at Ekstra Bladet won't let it go at that. We are willing to help Denmark's elected representatives get enough information so that they can make up their minds. So we have obtained additional documentation. Including new documentation that strengthens the credibility of the best eye witness so far of Echelon's outrageousness, Margaret Newsham.
LICENSE FOR ALL SPIES
From 1974 to 1984, Margaret Newsham worked for various arms suppliers that also make equipment for intelligence computers and satellites: Digital Equipment, Ford Aerospace, Digital Science, Hughes Aircraft and, the largest of them all, Lockheed Martin (the company from which Hækkerup also intends to buy new Hercules planes).
"We monitored ordinary people, interest groups, companies and the like. To target specific subjects all you had to do was code them into the computer and write 'Amnesty International' or 'Margaret Newsham' for example. Then we could monitor the subject in question - as they were communicating, mind you," she tells Ekstra Bladet.
IN THE HEART OF ECHELON
Ekstra Bladet has decided - with Newsham's consent - to print various documents that prove she was at the very core of the NSA. We are now publishing one of this former top spy's security authorizations, among other things.
"At one point, I was asked whether I wanted to work in the databank. 'Oh yes, sure', I replied. It sounded interesting. So I was eventually standing in a room where I had access to all data from all the clandestine services. The CIA, NSA, the army, navy, air force, the whole lot of them. To enter, you walked through a large bank-vault door that a special security guard had to open."
We have also decided to publish Newsham's proof that she attended the NSA's spy school where completed a security training program in the top-secret code language used to operate 'Project 415' among others. Program 415 was later given the code name Echelon.
Her training certificate is signed by B.R. Inman, who was a director at the NSA in 1980.
Ekstra Bladet has seen the original documents shown here on this page and has also seen Margaret Newsham's transfer orders when she was sent to Menwith Hill, which according to the NSA is the largest surveillance facility in the world-wide surveillance system.
"As Crypto custodian I had daily access for a while to the codes used at all bases all over the world. You might say I was holding the key to the whole world," says Margaret Newsham, who still hesitates to reveal everything to Ekstra Bladet out of fear for retaliation.
She was still willing to reveal some of the more bizarre security details at the secret spy factories and bases which construct and operate the global surveillance system.
"Every day at a specific time, all the NSA's surveillance stations around the world were required to change their codes simultaneously. We did so by taking an encryption card containing the new codes and inserting it in a small box at the same time as all the other stations. After making the change, we had the 'old' card which had to be destroyed. For this step, the NSA had introduced a very unique security procedure that departed from the other authorized routines. Normally, everything was supposed to be destroyed in a so-called 'burn bag'. Our new instructions stated that three employees should all participate in the destruction process. We were supposed to fill a blender with water, put the card in the blender and turn it on."
An ordinary kitchen blender?
"Yes! After the card had been turned into a pulpy paste, we were supposed to take the container out to the toilet. There we stood, three persons, day in and day out flushing the old codes down the toilet. Lastly, we all three had to sign a statement saying that we had witnessed the destruction."
Margaret Newsham laughs at the thought of the primitive security procedure used for the highly sophisticated program she had helped to develop. But then she gets serious again.
"One thing I have thought about since then is our testing procedure. It was beneath contempt."
In what way?
"We simply used live data to test the systems' function."
Does that mean that you used intercepted communication directly for testing?
"Yes."
That wasn't very ethical was it?
"I wouldn't disagree with you there. It was highly unacceptable."
EXTRA FACTS:
Ekstra Bladet is also in possession of Newsham's 'work review statement' dated 23 June 1983. This paper documents that Newsham had the following job assignments, among many others:
'Organize, plan, develop, supervise. Retrieve source files, declare new releases and maintain library documentation of all software. Interface with all programmers who are delivering software to SCCS (Software Configuration Controls. Ed.) tools. Act as backup for computer operator in his absence. Instruct new users on computer procedures. Control and maintain history copy of all tapes and discs, classified and unclassified for P-285 (Project 285 was part of the program that later would be code named Echelon by the NSA - ed.)'
She was also assigned to 'interface w/ security and document control' and was principally responsible for the 'Software Discrepancy Report and tracking system, for writing the SDR program and for using Datatrieve to maintain files. These program systems are all part of Echelon's advanced capability of searching for specific words and concepts and afterwards sorting and forwarding them. By and large all intelligence was sent to the NSA's headquarters in Fort G. Meade, Maryland, USA.
Newsham's 'work review statement' goes on to state that she was responsible for the operations on the VAX 11/780 computer systems. Project Echelon was developed on these very computers. She was also 'Operations Manager'. Her supervisor, D.L. Fish, strongly praises her contribution and concludes the following: 'Peg (Margaret Newsham - ed.) has demonstrated a keen interest in making the program a success'.
Many multinational companies had special military contracts with the NSA, CIA and NASA: Ford Aerospace, Lockheed-Martin, Motorola, Signal Science, Hughes Aircraft, Digital Equipment Corporation, Boeing, IBM and Raytheon. Newsham and her colleagues - who worked in private companies for the various branches of the US army, navy and air force - developed things like the Hubble space telescope, the Stealth bomber, the Challenger space shuttle, the Echelon surveillance program for the NSA, and a similar surveillance program for the CIA, code named P-285.
[caption]
The courageous ex-spy Margaret Newsham, who felt remorse when she discovered that Echelon violated basic human rights.