This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from sources outside the US mainstream media. This week we cover ongoing developments in the NSA spying story, the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and the coming drought in the American West. Sources include The Guardian, The Moscow Times, Pravda, Al Jazeera, Haaretz and TomDispatch.com.
NSA Spying
On Wednesday in The Guardian, Glenn Greenwald reported on the latest revelations from the documents released by whistle blower Edward Snowden - the NSA tool X-Keyscore. The program "allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals." US officials issued disclaimers but, Greenwald continues, "training materials for XKeyscore detail how analysts can use it and other systems to mine enormous agency databases by filling in a simple on-screen form giving only a broad justification for the search. The request is not reviewed by a court or any NSA personnel before it is processed....Beyond emails, the XKeyscore system allows analysts to monitor a virtually unlimited array of other internet activities, including those within social media." See The Guardian article for a more detailed look at this invasive tool.
Congress may try one more time to rein in the NSA. As reported in an article in Friday's Guardian: "Members of Congress are considering 11 legislative measures to constrain the activities of the National Security Agency, in a major shift of political opinion in the eight weeks since the first revelations from whistleblower Edward Snowden. The proposals range from repealing the legal foundations of key US surveillance powers to more moderate reforms of the secretive court proceedings for domestic spying. If enacted, the laws would represent the first rollback of the NSA's powers since 9/11....Justin Amash, the Republican congressman whose measure to terminate the indiscriminate collection of phone data was narrowly defeated 10 days ago, said he was certain the next legislative push will succeed."
Meanwhile Edward Snowden has received one year temporary asylum in Russia. The Moscow Times reported some details on Friday: "The temporary refugee status granted to Snowden will expire July 31, 2014. It can then be subsequently extended for another year upon request or upgraded to 5-year permanent asylum. Snowden can eventually be granted Russian citizenship." The Guardian reported on the US reaction on Thursday: "The White House expressed anger and dismay on Thursday after Russia granted temporary asylum to the American whistleblower Edward Snowden and allowed him to leave the Moscow airport where he had been holed up for over a month." White House spokesman Jay Carney noted that the granting of asylum may put in jeopardy the bilateral summit between Obama and Putin planned during the G20 meeting in Russia in September. Perhaps anticipating the granting of asylum, Pravda describes the internal Russian debate in a July 26 op-ed by Yuri Ursov, the former head of the press service of the Russian Security Council: "What can you say to those who believe that the actions of Snowden are betrayal? Betrayal is when a person takes actions that cause harm to their country, violates the oath, the duty, when their actions lead to significant financial losses. What did Snowden do? Snowden said that the U.S. government, the CIA, violated their own laws, in particular, the 4th and 5th amendment to the Constitution of the United States by organizing surveillance of members of the online community, organizing wiretapping, and recording telephone conversations. Can we call information of the impending or committed crime a betrayal?" Ursov opines that Snowden actions were completely legitimate: "Snowden acted out of two legitimate reasons. First, observing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1947, which prohibits interference with private life, and second, following the U.S. legislation that threatens prosecution to citizens who do not report a deliberation of a crime or a committed crime. Snowden reported the crime, and called the authorities and intelligence services criminals. The accused, of course, immediately blamed him for a violation of the oath and espionage."
Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks
The past week has seen the official resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Al Jazeera praises Kerry's efforts and presents a round-table discussion on whether the talks are likely to resolve the conflict, which "has defied resolution for six decades, and resisted 20 years of US efforts to broker a solution." As one participant (Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine) notes: "One can only welcome the resumption of the negotiations, because in the end the only way to resolve this conflict is through an agreement. One way or another you are going to end up with the sides agreeing to some sort of neutral acceptable arrangement. And given how far apart the sides have become, both before, and certainly since 2010, it was always going to look like this … without any real expectation of any immediate breakthrough." He also pointed out the importance of international support for changing conditions "on the ground" - improvements in the daily life of the Palestinians, for example - as the talks get underway. These are after all talks about the talks - setting an agenda for the final talks. Daniel Levy in an August 1 opinion article in Haaretz discusses whether Netanyahu has entered peace talks "to do business or to filibuster". To Levy the most positive outcome of the talks would be for Netanyahu to deliver a historic peace. "That would mean belatedly acknowledging the 1967 lines and ceasing to introduce expansionist territorial demands via the backdoor of “security needs”. More significantly, it would mean acknowledging that a collective history, narrative and set of rights is not something reserved only for the Jewish people. Either one must drop all talk of recognizing a Jewish state or one must deal with the legitimacy of a second narrative, a Palestinian narrative." Pessimistically, though, Levy notes "Whether in relation to the Palestinians in the territories or the Palestinians who are citizens of Israel, Netanyahu’s entire discourse and actions, including his current promotion of the Prawer plan, indicate that he has crossed no Rubicon of understanding. All of which means that peace will probably have to await a new Israeli leadership and/or mindset. But it does not render the U.S. peace effort a wasted exercise." Pointing out the stress that the peace talks put on Bibi's coalition, Levy writes "the forty-plus remaining months of the Obama Administration could challenge Israeli rejectionism more than its dismissive responses to this week’s talks would have us believe."
Climate ChangeTomDispatch in a July 30 post reminds us of the ongoing and increasing dangers of climate change, a subject noticeably lacking in the corporate media news-and weather-casts. William DeBuys asks 'the crucial question for Phoenix, for the Colorado, and for the greater part of the American West: How long will the water hold out?" Sobering reading: "Until now, the ever-more-complex water delivery systems of that basin have managed to meet the escalating needs of their users....Those days are gone. The Lower Basin states [California, Arizona, and Nevada] now get only their annual entitlement and no more. Unfortunately for them, it’s not enough, and never will be." Then there is the even worse situation on the Rio Grande regarding New Mexico and Texas: "In May, New Mexico marked the close of the driest two-year period in the 120 years since records began to be kept. Its largest reservoir, Elephant Butte, which stores water from the Rio Grande, is effectively dry."
No comments:
Post a Comment