What's all this about?

The UKUSA Intelligence Alliance is comprised of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand -- Joined at the Hip is another article describing the 1947 UKUSA agreement.

Liason Officers are allied spies used to bypass laws against domestic espionage. For example, British GCHQ officers are used by American intelligence agencies to spy on US citizens. Similarly, US intelligence officers work in Regional SIGINT Operation Centers (RSOC's) such as Menwith Hill in the UK.

Menwith Hill is an NSA base in the UK used to monitor European communications. The Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases is an opposition movement which has held protests there.

The Secret FISA Court has authorized all but one of over 7,500 requests to spy in the name of national security. Seven Judges meet in secret, with no published orders, opinions, or public record.

When President Clinton signed Executive Order 12949, the mandate of the FISA court was greatly expanded: it now has legal authority to approve domestic black-bag operations (breaking into people's homes to collect information about them) in addition to electronic surveillance.

The so-called "Huston Plan" of 1970 also authorized surrepititious entries. It was one of Richard Nixon's responses to the Vietnam war protests. The FISA Act of 1978, resulting from a congressional investigation (The Church Committee hearings), had subsequently made this practice illegal.

Project 415 this 1988 article describes ECHELON and has more links




The Puzzle Palace, by James Bamford

"Mr. Bamford has emerged with everything except the combination to the director's safe." -- NYT Book Review
Chapter 8 ----- Partners ----- Chapter 9 ----- Competition ----- Chapter 10 ----- Abyss