At 08:44 PM 8/16/96 -0700, Vladimir Z. Nuri wrote:

------- Forwarded Message From: "Mat Guthrie" <matguthrie@enterprise.net> To: mmlist-l@newciv.org Date: Wed, 14 Aug 1996 20:14:39 +0000 Subject: All Int' Communications Are Monitored

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Hi there all,

I heard an amazing news report on the radio today, that confirmed what I've heard and suspected for a long time - all international communications *are* continually being monitored!!

No, what this guy heard was a book report. I don't know how well a writer Mr. Hager is but if he doesn't have proper documentation then he confirms nothing.

The report was on "The World at One" news report on BBC Radio 4 - about as respected, reliable and informative a source as any mainstream media is ever likely to be. The feature spoke about a book that's come out in New Zealand called "Secret Power" by Nicky Hager, that has been endorsed by the former (?) Prime Minister of New Zealand himself. It supposedly goes into great detail about an international agreement called "Echelon" of which the US, UK, France, New Zealand, Australia and several other nations are all participants. According to Nicky Hager - who was interviewed on the program - a system of monitoring stations have been set up in various countries in the world that continually monitor ALL fax, email, telephone and satellite communications etc, "sniffing" for keywords using super computers. When these key words are identified the information is automatically logged and according to Hager, sent directly to the US intelligence services.

Now whilst many of us have undoubtedly come across this sort of information before and undoubtedly many of us have probably scoffed at such ascertions as merely impossible and blatantly paranoid, something very significant sets this report apart. Before the book was published, Hager went with his manuscript to the New Zealand Prime Minister who had been responsible for signing NZ up to the agreement (I got the impression that he is no longer in power).

If anyone cares to look up the political history of the western Pacific rim, it would seem very suspicious that N.Z and Australia would have any intelligence commitment with France at all.

Anyway, the PM was so shocked by the revelations that the book contained, that he has written the forward to the book. Supposedly he says that he had no idea of the true nature of the agreement and the powers which it bestowed on the intelligence services and is obviously trying to distance himself from the storm that's beginning to brew up about it. Maybe he's just covering his arse or maybe he was just another puppet head of government who wasn't properly informed about what was really taking place in his own country, but either way, the fact that he has got involved with the book adds considerable credibility to it's claims.

If the PM has no credibility (his saying he knew nothing) how does his input add credibility to the book? Those of you who have often

said that such wide-scale monitoring is "obviously impossible" might be wise to re-evaluate your positions!

Those of us in-the-know won't be reevaluating anything. Save your money and wait for the book to get into the local library. Better to spend your money on David's book on Enigma. Wayne H.Allen whallen@capitalnet.com Pgp key at www.capitalnet.com/~whallen