The NSA is listening to Oprah’s calls ’cause Why Not?
The National Security Agency is secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation on the island nation of the Bahamas…According to documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the surveillance is part of a top-secret system – code-named SOMALGET – that was implemented without the knowledge or consent of the Bahamian government. Instead, the agency appears to have used access legally obtained in cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to open a backdoor to the country’s cellular telephone network, enabling it to covertly record and store the “full-take audio” of every mobile call made to, from and within the Bahamas – and to replay those calls for up to a month.
…By targeting the Bahamas’ entire mobile network, the NSA is intentionally collecting and retaining intelligence on millions of people who have not been accused of any crime or terrorist activity. Nearly five million Americans visit the country each year, and many prominent U.S. citizens keep homes there, including Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey.
In addition, the program is a serious – and perhaps illegal – abuse of the access to international phone networks that other countries willingly grant the United States for legitimate law-enforcement surveillance. If the NSA is using the Drug Enforcement Administration’s relationship to the Bahamas as a cover for secretly recording the entire country’s mobile phone calls, it could imperil the longstanding tradition of international law enforcement cooperation that the United States enjoys with its allies.
Senator Tom Harkin, now known to be under NSA surveillance, is one of the few Democrats to raise some questions about the NSA’s spying. Perhaps he had knowledge of this program before the Snowden revelations? Here’s a quote from this year regarding Edward Snowden:
…people should “calm down” and not be too quick to judge (Snowden) him, Harkin said. Snowden’s civil rights need to be protected…
Harkin noted that he’s not on the U.S. Senate intelligence committee, so he doesn’t know top-secret details about what’s happening, but he doesn’t trust security officials’ statements that the surveillance is necessary because it has thwarted terrorism.
“Of course they’re going to say that because they’re covering their you know what. They’re covering they’re rear ends,” he said. “I just don’t buy that.”
Update: iroots.org has learned that Nicholas Cage also has a home in the Bahamas…If Oprah’s fans get upset about this, perhaps there is a chance of getting the public to take note of these stories? More celebrities who are probably “thrilled” with this news; Shakira, Michael Jordan, John Travolta, David Copperfield, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw…
Those poor people, listening to Oprah? No one deserves that punishment.