by Boaz Bismuth
"Gentlemen
do not read other gentlemen's mail," declared Henry Stimson, who was
U.S. secretary of state (1929-1933) and war secretary for two separate
terms (1911-1913 and 1940-1945). Stimson even ordered the shut down of
the War Department's code cracking unit, essentially dismantling U.S.
intelligence. At the end of World War II, the legendary general William
Donovan was asked to rebuild American intelligence capabilities by
forming the CIA.
We are now in a
period of time when everyone spies on everyone, while simultaneously
condemning the phenomenon -- mostly after being caught. There is a great
deal of hypocrisy in the reactions to the wiretapping scandal exposed
by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who told
the world that the NSA has been listening to everyone. It even
eavesdropped on 35 heads of state, including the German chancellor.
We grew up on
John le Carré's spy novels, when the Americans were the good guys and
the Soviets were the bad guys. These were the days when Western European
governments would hail the considerable intelligence gathering
capabilities of America, which stood by them in the face of the
communist threat. London, Paris and Bonn (the then-capital of West
Germany) welcomed the creation of the U.S. National Reconnaissance
Office in 1961, which became one of 16 American intelligence agencies.
Its objective was to plan, build and operate satellite surveillance
systems.
The French news
paper Le Monde revealed how in one month Washington intercepted over 70
million phone calls and text messages from France. The elders of France,
though, recall very well that former President Charles de Gaulle was
fully aware that France's historical ally was keeping tabs on his
country. The book "The White House and CIA Files on French Presidents
from 1958 to 1981" documents that the Americans knew the shoe sizes of
the mistresses kept by French presidents, even if they were more
interested in France's foreign policy in general and its nuclear program
in particular.
These days
everyone feigns extreme shock and disgust at such revelations. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and her French counterpart François Hollande
are pushing a "no-spy" initiative in the EU, while Germany and Brazil
(two states targeted by the NSA whose leaders have been hugely offended)
are formulating a decision to be presented to the U.N. General Assembly
demanding the cessation of espionage and what they call the excessive
invasion of privacy during the era of the war on terror.
I must admit
that this whole story was much simpler in the past, when the world was
split in two and spying was primarily for security purposes. I really
loved knowing that America's ears had reached the bunkers of Baikonur
(in Kazakhstan), from where the Soviet Union would have launched its
missiles threatening the free world.
The Cold War may
be over, but the world is still not the happiest place. In addition to
military espionage, we have added economic and political espionage,
which has been a boon for the spying business. It even happens between
friends, maybe mostly between friends.
Since November
1985, convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, an American Jew, has been
locked up in federal prison serving a life sentence. Pollard, a former
U.S. Navy Intelligence analyst, gave Israel information about the
threats against Israel posed by Arab states, not information that posed a
danger to his own country. He was never accused of treason.
The late Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin was the first to act on Pollard's behalf. Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continued the sacred task of securing
his release, which is considered part of the national consensus.
Pollard's intention was
not to hurt the United States. His intention was to help Israel. He did
this in an illegal manner and has paid the price for doing so. America,
of all places, should understand better than anyone that there is also
such a thing as friendly espionage.
Boaz Bismuth
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=6115
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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