Small sibling

Amidst the ongoing spying scandal that one thought only happened in Hollywood, flashback to the 1950s when America was gripped in the vice of a cold war “twilight” struggle with the Soviet Union. Congressional hearings were being conducted by the Committee on Un-American Activities while Senator Joseph McCarthy was instigating a witch hunt for communists occupying sensitive positions in government. In light of such atmosphere of distrust, a dystopian futuristic story was written to describe a society being controlled and kept in line under the watchful eye of a dispassionate Big Brother. This story was authored by George Orwell and his book was entitled 1984. In hindsight, while many of the outlandish predictions Orwell envisioned for the year 1984 never came to pass, the moral of the story remains particularly relevant today in view of allegations that the US has been spying on its allies.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “a government that is powerful enough to give you everything that you want is powerful enough to take away everything that you have.” In Orwell’s book, society sought to end war, violence, and crime. The supposed solution was the installation of an omniscient Big Brother who is able to maintain law and order by acting with impunity. But the cost for such constant protection was each citizen’s individuality and freedom.

Some claim Big Brother had existed and continues to exist, under the guise of the US National Security Agency (NSA). According to reports leaked by Edward Snowden, the NSA has systematically been collecting the phone records and online communications of millions of Americans. PRISM is the code-name for a special program utilized by the NSA to intercept almost any form of online communication, from any person. And if the US actually spies on its citizens, chances are they will be spying on their neighbors as well. Recently, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico and Brazil expressed alarm over reports of such US activities. In response, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff  halted preparations for a long-anticipated state visit by  President Barack Obama and demanded a public explanation and apology. On the other hand, we would be naïve to pretend that such spying does not exist… or that said neighbors don’t do it themselves. Indeed, history is replete with examples of such espionage activities.

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In the 1920s, a group of Army code breakers working under the moniker “Black Chamber” was created to spy on other nations’ communications.  It was headed by Herbert Yardley who is considered to be one of the greatest cryptologists of all time. The plan was to secretly monitor the international telegraphs that could affect national security as they passed between the US and other countries. The presidents of major telegraph companies — like Western Union — complied with the group’s request for access to their systems.  Black Chamber was disbanded in the 1930s (some arguing that World War II could perhaps have been avoided if it was still in operation) with Secretary of State Henry Stimson saying, “Gentlemen do not read other gentlemen’s mail.”     

During World War II, both the allied and axis powers employed extensive espionage activities.  After hostilities ended in 1945, the Americans started operation Shamrock.  During the war, the US Army had legal access to the cables of three major communications companies (RCA Global, ITT, and Western Union). But with the war over, such monitoring was considered illegal. However, it sought permission from these companies to allow them continuing access to the international cables. The companies agreed but what they didn’t know was that their monitoring had been extended to include even the telegrams of ordinary Americans. In 1952, the NSA was created and Shamrock was subsumed under the former’s control.

The Black Chamber program provided a template for a now-familiar story: a group of experts is put in charge of monitoring communications in the name of national security and gains access to those communications through the cooperation of private companies that own the communication infrastructure. Sound familiar?  â€œHello Garci” perhaps?  Indeed, if it was Western Union telegrams back then; it’s Facebook and Instagram posts and Twitter messages now.

As expected, these spying reports have been met with much protest. Snowden himself has been labeled both a hero by the libertarians and a traitor by the conservatives. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was outraged upon learning that her own cellphone was tapped by the US. As she told reporters, “the US and Europe face common challenges. We are allies… But such an alliance can only be built on trust… Spying among friends, that cannot be.” Apparently, the current NSA did not heed Stimson’s advice quoted above.

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In any case, right or wrong and whether condoned or condemned, the issue will soon be taken up in the international arena. The UN General Assembly is set to adopt a resolution censuring the illegal electronic surveillance of governments and world leaders. The current draft acknowledges that the gathering of certain sensitive information may be justified on grounds of national security and criminal activity but stresses that member states must still ensure full compliance with international human rights. And as to internal spying, the resolution will emphasize that “the illegal surveillance of private communications and the indiscriminate interception of personal data of citizens constitutes a highly intrusive act that violates the rights to freedom of expression and privacy, and threatens the foundations of a democratic society.” 

What impact such a resolution will have on future espionage remains to be seen. Blogger James Lewis points out that such a treaty would be akin to one “banning sex.”  It would be honored more in its breach as States have a natural impulse to spy.  Indeed, any international agreement would be probably be ignored.  After World War I, the Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed in 1928 where nations agreed to renounce war as an instrument of national policy.  Several years later, World War II started.  

While the recurring Orwellian line â€œBig Brother is watching you” serves fair warning to all of us,   the case of allies spying on each other is, to my mind, demeaning and treating the country spied upon like a Small Sibling.   

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“I’m not spying.  I’m evaluating  It’s the same difference.” 

                                                               — Kim Hanson 

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