PAGE 67

NATIONAL

NSA is tapping YOUR phone, right NOW Snoop program serves USA, UK, Aussies--everyone's phone is tapped WASHINGTON, DC --The National Security Administration is tapping everyone's phones, FAXES and emails, and that means YOURS, bucky.   You might become frustrated at government now and then and vent your spleen to a friend. If the words you say, and the way you say them, lead an NSA super computer to think you're a danger to the government, project ECHELON will let NSA know.   A typical ECHELON installation is "Ollie North's Ear" in Central Washington state. It's a series of radomes containing satellite dishes which intercept all civilian and foreign phone, FAX, and email transmissions.   Similar NSA installations are strategically placed all over the world.   If you're articulate enough in your friend-to-friend diatribe, you could conceivably get a visit from a local fed--they're well paid, they're everywhere, and its currently illegal to shoot them.   According to the Spotlight newspaper, "U.S. officials consistently deny the existence of ECHELON, an intelligence program designed to intercept civilian communications, in spite of a wave of damning evidence coming from abroad."   "The Spotlight reported Dec. 14, 1998, that ECHELON is the primary system of surveillance utilized by an alliance of five nations in a still-secret agreement known as UKUSA. The agreement brings together intelligence agencies from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand under the direction of the NSA.   "ECHELON consists of a complex network of 'listening and reception' stations strategically placed around the world. The stations are responsible for signals intelligence (SIGINT), focusing on intercepting civilian and commercial communications, as well as those from foreign governments.   "The key component to this SIGINT system are the supercomputers, known as dictionaries, that operate continuously, looking for information to intercept. The computer system has the ability to sort and red flag messages based on key words or certain criteria that has been entered into it.   "Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) has introduced legislation aiming to reign in U.S. intelligence.   "Barr successfully introduced an amendment to the latest Intelligence Authorization Act requiring the director of Central Intelligence, and NSA and the Attorney General's office to submit a report 'in classified and unclassified form' describing the legal standards employed by the intelligence community in conducting signals intelligence, including electronic surveillance," according to the Spotlight.   So far, Barr has been unsuccessful getting any detailed information about ECHELON. Hitler would have loved to have had such a system in place.