Feed: Illegal spying by U.S. diplomats investigated by angry Swiss - AggScore: 12.9

Illegal spying by U.S. diplomats investigated by angry Swiss

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caption id alignalignleft width111 captionThe Swiss government is investigating allegations of illegal spying by the US in Switzerland. Photo Police Times img srchttpcdn2b.examiner.comsitesdefaultfilesstyleslargehashcb57cb570c6db1b46120fcb12bd612652c2c.jpg alt width111 height111 captionGovernment officials in Switzerlandclaim theyvediscoveredproof that American diplomats conducted illegal surveillance on Swiss residents. The Swiss Federal Department of Justicereleased a statement claimingit found signs thatthe U.S. diplomaticmission in Geneva maintained a surveillance program.divThe Swiss governments justicedepartment is conducting aninvestigation of these allegations.divIn 2007, the U.S.State Departmenthad noapprovalto initiate aprogram to monitor diplomatic buildings in Geneva and in Bern, the seat of Swiss federal government, according to angrySwiss officials.A local Swissnewspaperalso reported thattherenegade Internet web siteWikiLeaks had postedone of severaldiplomatic cable reporting that the U.S.diplomatic staffmonitored suspected terrorist activities within Switzerland.WikiLeaks founded and run by Julian Assange in November 2010released 250,000 classified diplomatic cables and is now the focus of a probe byU.S. governmentprosecutors.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the U.S.State Department have not issued a statement on the Swiss allegations and subsequent investigation. Last month in the aftermathof the release of the Wikileaks material,a State Department official said, Our relationship with other countries is based on mutual interests. Those mutual interests are unchanged by any document that has been released by WikiLeaks.The WikiLeaks posting of stolen classified information has highlighted the tension between the intelligence communitysstrategy of share to win and the necessity to enforce need to know.Commanders in the field understand the advantage that comes from sharing intelligence and information and they do not want to give up that capability, according to Jim Garamone, an American Forces Press Service staffer.Since the Wikileaks incidents,the Pentagon has put in place methods to minimize such thefts of classified materials. It is now much more difficult for a determined actor to get access to and move information outside of authorized channels, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said in a written statement following publication of news articles on the documents.The theft of the materials traces to the lack of sharing of information and intelligence prior to and after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The commission studying the environment at the time found that agencies werent sharing enough information with each other.While stopping short of saying better sharing could have prevented the terrorattacks in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania, the 911 Commission pointed this out as a weakness that needed to be closed, according to Garamones report.The deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber and space policy, Robert J. Butler, yesterdaysaid thatsharing information within the military, with coalition partners and even with outside agencies will continue, but there will be more controls placed on the information.Share to win refers to the idea of getting information and intelligence out to the personnel who need it.