Rome, Italy. 31
October. In Blazing Saddles, an old
Mel Brook comedy western, a black sheriff is pursued by a racist crowd intent
on lynching him. Just as he is caught he
puts a pistol to his head and says “no-one move or the black guy gets it!” In fact the sheriff uses the ‘N’ word which will
never be seen in this blog. The crowd stop and plead with him not to pull the
trigger. European hysteria over
revelations of US spying is a bit like that stupid crowd: “If you Americans spy
we Europeans will refuse to be defended by you”. This crisis speaks volumes about disconnect between
the Euro-world and the real world, the information anarchists who are driving it and the nature of European politics these
days.
Yesterday in Rome I
spoke with a former European intelligence chief who told me that European hysteria is
pure theatre. He was clear. “There is a big difference between the public
outrage of politicians and the day-to-day reality of intelligence co-operation
between Americans and Europeans”.
Some of aforesaid politicians
talk of blocking US access to critical intelligence on money flows in Europe that
might support terrorist networks. Some members of the European Parliament are even
threatening the US with suspension of Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership talks. This week a group of
Euro-parliamentarians are in Washington to talk to anyone who will listen. European parliamentarians must seek re-election
next year and most Europeans have not the faintest clue who these people are so manufactured
outrage is very useful.
This is but the
latest attempt by the EU to insert itself into matters of hard national
sovereignty – both big and small. Yesterday
it was announced the European Commission wants to regulate how Europeans flush
toilets, which I suppose one would call soft sovereignty.
The crisis has also revealed the relationship between journalism and information anarchism. According to the BBC The
Guardian’s soon-to-be departed Glenn Greenwald and Le Monde’s Jacques Follorou reported that an alleged NSA
eavesdropping in France had collected more than 70 million recordings of
telephone conversations between French citizens. This was not true and demonstrates the very
political motivations of the information anarchists and the lengths to which
they are prepared to go; putting lives at risk.
In fact the NSA regularly
builds a meta-data picture of communication patterns to help thwart terrorist
networks many of which are embedded in Europe…just like 911. Here’s the irony; much of the information
provided to the Americans came by way of intelligence services in the very countries
now clamouring for sanctions to be imposed on the US.
The crisis says much about German
sensibilities and Germany’s growing power in Europe, which is why Chancellor
Merkel is worth bugging. Indeed, Germany has shown
itself both responsible and calculating in this crisis. The despatch to Washington of the eminently-competent Christoph Heusgen, Merkel’s National Security
Adviser to meet with
his American counterparts was sensible.
However, implicit in comments emerging from Berlin is a German tendency to
instrumentalise the EU for narrow German political and strategic ends.
Here's the Euro-twist; Britain's intelligence services are the
real target of both Berlin and Brussels, something my contact made clear to me. He advised me to expect calls from factions in
the European Parliament close to Berlin (and the European Commission) demanding
EU oversight of all Europe’s intelligence services within the framework of European
data protection legislation. For once Prime Minister
Cameron must stand firm (not something he finds easy) and make it abundantly clear that any
attempt to extend the EU’s writ into the intelligence domain would damage the
US-UK special intelligence relationship and constitute a clear and present
danger to Britain’s vital security interests.
‘Outraged’ Europeans must
also be careful what they wish for. Push
too hard and many on Capitol Hill will invite Europe to defend itself. That would mark the effective end of NATO
which given the meltdown in Europe’s security and defence would be a disaster. Those are the stakes and yet some of Europe's politicians seem willing to countenance that risk.
US intelligence like all
intelligence services in democracies must be properly overseen and
monitored. There is no question that the explosion of borderless information
strewn across the internet and mobile phone networks is both a Spooks dream…and
nightmare. Naturally, intelligence
agencies will seek to exploit this enormous domain (and prevent enemies from
exploiting it). However, transatlantic intelligence
co-operation is now at risk and given the very real dangers out there that
makes sense only to the dangerous and the self-interested.
Too many Europeans and their politicians refuse to face
reality preferring instead to retreat into a dream-like state of security
ignorance. For Snowden and his fellow information anarchists the damage they
have caused is beyond their wildest dreams.
Today terrorists and the less democratic the world over are smiling
contentedly.
Sleep well Europe.
Julian Lindley-French
