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| Obama calls for significant changes in collection of phone records of US citizens - Washington Post Posted: 17 Jan 2014 09:29 AM PST President Obama called Friday for significant changes to the way the National Security Agency collects and uses telephone records of U.S. citizens, moving to transition away from government control of the information and immediately require authorities to obtain a court order to access it. After more than six months of controversy over U.S. surveillance policies, Obama said that — barring a specific threat — he has ordered an end to eavesdropping on dozens of foreign leaders and governments who are friends or allies, a move the White Hope hopes will restore trust in the intelligence community and in the government's ability to balance national security and privacy interests. Obama also said he is taking steps to protect the privacy of foreigners by extending to them some of the protections currently given to Americans. [Washington Post liveblog on the speech.] In a speech at the Justice Department, the president said the NSA's data-collection program remains a critical tool for U.S. intelligence agencies to root out and prevent terrorist activities. He made clear that he has not seen any indication of abuse in the NSA phone program, but said he recognizes the potential for abuse and is asking for reforms aimed at those concerns. Calling for a "new approach" to the collection of phone records, Obama said he was "ordering a transition that will end the . . . bulk metadata program as it currently exists and establish a mechanism that preserves the capabilities we need without the government holding this bulk metadata." But, he warned, "This will not be simple." Obama indicated that a decision still needs to be made on which entity will hold the data. He observed that two options — allowing either the phone companies or a third party to retain the bulk records — both "pose difficult problems," including new privacy concerns and legal ambiguity. [Read the text of Obama's speech.] Obama has asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and intelligence officials to deliver a plan to transition away from government control of the information before March 28, when the program is due to be reauthorized by a secret court, an administration official said. Obama also will consult Congress for additional input, asking lawmakers to deliberate on the appropriate boundaries for the phone records collection. Obama said the transition from the existing program would proceed in two steps. "Effective immediately, we will only pursue phone calls that are two steps removed from a number associated with a terrorist organization instead of three," he said. "And I have directed the attorney general to work with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court so that during this transition period, the database can be queried only after a judicial finding, or in a true emergency." Obama also called on Congress to establish a panel of public advocates who can represent privacy interests before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Obama has instructed Holder to reform the use of national security letters — a form of administrative subpoena used to obtain business and other records — so that the traditional gag order that accompanies them does not remain in place indefinitely. But he did not, as has been recommended by a White House review panel, require judicial approval for issuance of the letters. The president also addressed another major NSA surveillance program, which involves collection of e-mail and phone calls of foreign targets located overseas, including when they are in contact with U.S. citizens or residents. He acknowledged that the information has been valuable, Holder and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. to develop new protections, including the duration of time the government can hold foreigners' data and restrictions on its use — essentially extending to foreigners some of the protections currently given to Americans. The president said he also wants to see whether there are greater protections that can be placed on the information collected from foreign targets about U.S. citizens, with respect to the way analysts gain access to and use that data. Obama said the new directive he issued Friday "will clearly prescribe what we do, and do not do." He said the United States would use signals intelligence only "for legitimate national security purposes, and not for the purpose of indiscriminately reviewing the e-mails or phone calls of ordinary people." The United States, he added, will not "collect intelligence to suppress criticism or dissent" or to give U.S. companies a competitive advantage. Unless there is a compelling national security purpose, Obama said, "we will not monitor the communications of heads of state and government of our close friends and allies." Friendly leaders "deserve to know that if I want to learn what they think about an issue, I will pick up the phone and call them, rather than turning to surveillance," he said. Obama's directive applies to NSA bulk collection and spells out that it should be used only for countering terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and cyberthreats, for combating transnational crime and to protect the U.S. military and allied forces. [Read the White House policy directive.] As he made the case for reforms, Obama also cautioned that "we cannot unilaterally disarm our intelligence agencies." And he caustically criticized foreign intelligence services that "feign surprise" over disclosures of U.S. surveillance while "constantly probing our government and private sector networks and accelerating programs to listen to our conversations, intercept our e-mails or compromise our systems." He noted that some countries that "have loudly criticized the NSA privately acknowledge that America has special responsibilities as the world's only superpower . . . and that they themselves have relied on the information we obtain to protect their own people." Expressing frustration at those who "assume the worst motives by our government," Obama said at another point in his speech: "No one expects China to have an open debate about their surveillance programs, or Russia to take privacy concerns of citizens in other places into account." But he said the United States is held to a higher standard "precisely because we have been at the forefront in defending personal privacy and human dignity." "Together, let us chart a way forward that secures the life of our nation, while preserving the liberties that make our nation worth fighting for," Obama concluded. The president's speech comes after months of revelations about the breadth and secrecy of the NSA's surveillance activities, based on hundreds of thousands of documents stolen by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. U.S. officials have said Snowden stole up to 1.7 million documents, many of which he has turned over to reporters. New revelations based on the document are expected to continue this year. [Snowden speaks to The Washington Post.] The White House has sought to tamp down concerns from foreign leaders, privacy and civil liberties activists and the tech industry about the NSA's activities. The NSA's collection of data on virtually all Americans' phone records is part of a program that has generated perhaps more controversy than any other since it was disclosed in June. Intelligence officials have said the program is a critical tool in their efforts to prevent attacks on the United States. Some analysts have argued that, although a review panel appointed by the White House recommended that the NSA shift control of phone data to phone companies or a private third party, it found no violation of the law by the agency. "We're not talking about trying to fix a massive breach of Americans' privacy," said Gary Schmitt, a resident scholar and national security expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "When you begin with that, then you can make judgments about how important the current collection system is for national security. But you shouldn't do it under this shadow of a Big Brother that doesn't exist." The NSA's harvesting of phone data began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was placed under court supervision in 2006. The program collects metadata, or phone numbers dialed and call lengths and times, but not call content. Analysts are supposed to access the data only for the purpose of seeking leads in counterterrorism investigations. A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in November found that nearly 70 percent of respondents said the NSA's surveillance of telephone call records and Internet traffic intrudes on some Americans' privacy rights. Obama said in Friday's speech that the phone-records collection program grew out of a need to fill a "gap" identified after the Sept. 11 attacks. One hijacker made a phone call from San Diego to a known al-Qaeda safe house in Yemen, but the NSA, which saw that call, could not tell that it was coming from someone already in the United States, Obama said. He stressed that there has been "no indication that this database has been intentionally abused." Yet, he added, "critics are right to point out that without proper safeguards, this type of program could be used to yield more information about our private lives and open the door to more intrusive, bulk collection programs." Moreover, he said, the program "has never been subject to vigorous public debate." David Nakamura contributed to this report. |
| Japanese WW2 soldier Hiroo Onoda reflects on his life - BBC News Posted: 17 Jan 2014 06:17 AM PST  Japanese WW2 soldier Hiroo Onoda reflects on his life17 January 2014 Last updated at 12:49 GMT A Japanese soldier who spent almost three decades fighting in the Philippine jungle after the end of World War Two has died at the age of 91. Hiroo Onoda remained on Lubang Island near Luzon, in the Philippines, until 1974 because he did not believe that the war had ended. Trained in guerrilla warfare, he spent his time surveying military facilities and is believed to have killed dozens of people that he mistook for the enemy. He was finally persuaded to emerge after his ageing former commanding officer was flown in to see him. This footage is an edited excerpt from the BBC Timewatch programme : The Last Surrender. |
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