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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Emile Vidrine who wrote (357750)	2/11/2003 6:53:42 PM
From: Tadsamillionaire	Respond to of 769670

Israeli Spy Flap Will Fade Away, But At What Cost? by Douglas J. Brown 2 February 2002 Just as the discovery of 27 listening devices in President Jiang Zemin's new Boeing plane is not likely to outwardly damage US-China ties, reports of Israeli spy rings in the US are not likely to have a noticeable effect on US-Israeli relations. At least, not outwardly. At the same time, Fox News and NewsMax were reporting the allegations of Israeli intelligence of possibly infiltrating US law enforcement wire-tapping operations, US intelligence was reportedly playing a key role in helping the Israelis spot and track the Karine-A, a ship laden with 50 tons of weapons and explosives for the Palestinians. There is no question that intelligence cooperation and support between the two countries will be a key factor in whether the war against global terrorism will be successful. It can be safely assumed that Israeli intelligence on global terrorism is going to be some of the best in the world. True, Israel will attempt to manipulate us and direct us with this intelligence. Yet equally true is that Israeli intelligence will be as important to the US in this war, as US political and military support to Israel has been through the years. Nevertheless, if the reports of Israeli intelligence infiltrating American high-tech companies, subsidiaries of larger Israeli companies, are true, then Israel risks seriously damaging its working relationship with American Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agencies at a critical time for both countries. The companies that have been identified have all vigorously denied the allegations through their spokesmen. But their denials ring a little hollow when the FBI public affairs department refuses to dismiss the allegations against the companies as totally unfounded. Either the FBI is doing a terrible disservice to the companies by letting the stories hang or something is up. Furthermore, the companies' denials display a certain disingenuousness when they dismiss the notion that the companies are in some way controlled by Israeli intelligence. Of course, Israeli intelligence would not likely be at the center of some company wide conspiracy in which every employee was a 'spy.' No, it only takes a few well-placed individuals to make a spy ring or two. For the most part, 99% of the company would be operating as, and would be, a perfectly legitimate company. This is not the first time Israeli intelligence has been accused of tapping US phone lines. Several stories have appeared in the last few years including reports that Israeli intelligence had tapped the Clinton White House phones. Specifically a subsidiary of the Israeli telecommunications company Telrad was identified as the culprit. ("FBI Probes Espionage at Clinton White House" Insight Magazine May 8th 2000; "Israeli spies tapped Clinton e-mail" Sunday Times May 21, 2000 by Uzi Mahnaimi; and the Washington Post May 7, 1997) Ironically, in addition to the possible damage between US and Israeli government agencies, overly aggressive economic and high tech espionage by Israel also risks the credibility and reputation of their own high-tech sector. Strategic alliances, M&A, the activities of American and Israeli VC funds, and even Israeli and American government backed programs to promote the Israeli high tech sector and nurture its ties with the US high tech sector all come under an unnecessary cloud of suspicion. The Israelis will no doubt defend any breach of etiquette and zealotry on its part by arguing that they are at war for their very survival against terrorism and the states that sponsor it. True enough. But so are we. The US cannot afford to have a foreign intelligence service rooting around our law enforcement and intelligence agencies unchecked and unquestioned in a time of war, even a 'friendly' one. What is the likely fallout if Israel has been caught over aggressively 'tapping' into our law enforcement and intelligence agencies? Officially it should be no different than the reaction of both the American and Chinese governments to the bugging of President Zemin's plane. (If, indeed the US really did do it.) Senior US officials will have no comment at all or they will make some innocuous statement to the effect that bumps in the road happen but that good Israeli-American relations are more important than ever to each country. Behind the scenes, the same senior officials will have to make clear all the way down the line that Israeli infiltration and spy networks are to be thoroughly investigated, swept up or turned back onto the Israelis. Furthermore, damage assessments need to be thorough and far-reaching. They need to take into account not just what the Israelis did and learnt but also what other countries may have learned through Israeli activities. (See, "Israel: An embarrassment of spies" Bulletin of Atomic Scientists March/April 1999) The failure of US officials to thoroughly purge any Israeli spy networks that have been discovered or stumbled upon could be disastrous for both countries. Reports that investigating Israeli intelligence operations in the US is the kiss of death for one's career was the most disturbing part of the original FOX story. It rings all too true to observers and members of the law enforcement and intelligence communities. Senior officials attacking the messenger rather than the message was all too frequent the case in the last administration, Gary Aldrich, Notra Trulock, and Tim Johnson are just a few of the names that come to mind. Orders that reek of political expediency that run directly counter to the laws and duties that law enforcement and intelligence officers are sworn to uphold and carry out have a thoroughly corrupting effect within the law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In such an environment professionals are forced to choose between careers and professional ethics and integrity. Officers who self-servingly choose careers, or who are oblivious or too afraid to choose are pitted against officers who refuse to compromise their professional integrity and duty to country. Such a law enforcement and intelligence community is not much service to the nation or its allies. It would be a community riddled by divisions, easily manipulated, unreliable, and just plain out to lunch. It would be a community where massive Chinese espionage activities and active measures would be dismissed as insignificant or not worth investigating. A community where agitprop style diversity campaigns would undermine the morale of personnel, and where the self-flagellation rhetoric of a DCI would help lead to ridiculous restraints on intelligence gathering. A community where one of the most warped and twisted minds in American history would sell out his country out of a warped sense of arrogance and pride, Robert Hanssen that is. In short it would be a continuation of the Clinton years. September 11th made it clear that America can't afford or survive with such a law enforcement and intelligence community. Israeli intelligence activities must be thoroughly investigated and understood by American authorities. Neither the US, nor Israel can afford US authorities to do anything less. nathanhaleinstitute.org "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." -Nathan Hale