Posted on 08/30/2013 5:39:48 AM PDT by xzins
U.S. spy agencies target their counterintelligence operations on Israel along with Iran and China, among other countries, a budget summary for the secret National Intelligence Program reveals.
The $52.6 billion "black budget" for fiscal 2013 for the 16 U.S. spy agencies was obtained by The Washington Post from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, the newspaper reported Thursday.
The budget summary, formally known as the Congressional Budget Justification for the National Intelligence Program, revealed that counterintelligence operations "are strategically focused against [the] priority targets of China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Israel," according to The Washington Post.
Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, was a former technical contractor for the National Security Agency and employee of the Central Intelligence Agency who revealed the existence of mass surveillance programs by the United States and Britain against their own citizens and citizens of other countries.
The budget summary also revealed that the CIA and NSA became more aggressive in efforts to hack into the computer networks of other countries to steal information or to sabotage the computer systems of enemy countries.
It also showed that the NSA planned to investigate at least 4,000 personnel with high security clearance suspected of compromising sensitive information. In addition, terrorism is shown in the budget to be considered the most serious threat to U.S. national security.
***●U.S. intelligence officials take an active interest in friends as well as foes. Pakistan is described in detail as an “intractable target,” and counterintelligence operations “are strategically focused against [the] priority targets of China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Israel.” The latter is a U.S. ally but has a history of espionage attempts against the United States. ***
Apparently, the Obama Admin’s enemies are China, Russia, Iran, and Israel.
Certainly curious.
Would be nice to see the wording during prior administrations
The words used in the Washington Post are below. It would be nice to see the exact wording in the leaked document that are “against Israel.”
***U.S. intelligence officials take an active interest in friends as well as foes. Pakistan is described in detail as an “intractable target,” and counterintelligence operations “are strategically focused against [the] priority targets of China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Israel.” The latter is a U.S. ally but has a history of espionage attempts against the United States. ***
The lousy intel operation that missed the implosion of the USSR and the attack on 9/11 is not worth the big bucks it gets from U.S. taxpayers.
It is said that nations do not have friends, just shared interests.
My concern is that the Post summarizes a report and comes with with the notion that the Obama Administration is AGAINST China, Russia, and Iran, something we all pretty well understand.
Then they add ISRAEL to that list.
I’m betting that France, Britain, and Germany also spy on us. As you say, countries have interests and not friends. We aren’t listing them, though, as countries the US operates “against.”
It would be nice to see how prior administrations viewed Israel, Britain, France, Germany, etc. in terms of intelligence gathering.
I wonder, though, what “against” means when used in conjunction with Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba.
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