Wired: Echelon Furor Ends in a Whimper

[Owen Lewis]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukcrypto-admin@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> [mailto:ukcrypto-admin@chiark.greenend.org.uk]On Behalf Of Julian T. J.
> Midgley
> Sent: 06 July 2001 10:22
> To: ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk
> Subject: RE: Wired: Echelon Furor Ends in a Whimper
>
>
> On Thu, 5 Jul 2001, Owen Lewis wrote:
> >
> > Keywords for the week are:
> >
> > 		Pot		Kettle		Black
>
> Well, maybe, but can you name the listening station (equivalent in
> capability to Echelon) built on US soil by the Europeans for the sole
> purpose of giving us access to their communications traffic?

Echelon is (supposedly) a system it is not a 'listening station' as such a
purported system would use listening station but they do not of necessity
have to be on anyone's 'soil' Listening stations may be (and very often are)
space borne, airborne or sea borne - not to mention stuffing 40 ton trucks
with men and electronics and then sending them on 3000 mile sniffing trips.
>
> I think there's just a hint of lack of reciprocity here...

Any seeming lack of reciprocity comes from a partial and partisan telling of
what some consider is or might be.

Let me make myself clear. I have no particular love for Uncle Sam and I do
believe that this little country of ours has allowed itself to sink too
deep, too comfortably and for too long into Uncle Sam's pocket. Overcoming
inertia, continuance of obligation and a great reluctance to accept just how
small a player we are on the global stage; these face our politicians with
some conundrums which, without some unaccustomed outburst of frankness must
lead to some pretty interesting contortions in the next ten years.

It also needs saying from time to time that in the last half century and in
terms of his relations with 'friendly' states, Uncle Sam has, beyond doubt
(unless your name is Khomeini or Pinter) been more sinned against than
sinning.

You note that your gauntlet still lies where you threw it. The challenge is
meaningless. The U.S. is a federation of fifty states, just one of which has
more economic clout than these fair isles of ours. Now is you were to put in
the balance a federation of (say) 50 European states you might offer a
reasonable scale to accommodate. You could even try such a balance without
federating the European States but simply aggregating their individual
efforts (so often, because of central direction and coordination,
repetitious or redundant efforts).

Owen