Frm one of my NSA friends, who got this from a newspaper.
>you wanted it, sexton, here it is (it only took a few weeks to type it out).
>this article is from wall street journal, 17 mar. the author, r. james
>woosely is a washington lawyer and a former director of central intelligence.
>
>Why We Spy on Our Allies
>By R. James Woosely
>
>what is the recent flap regarding Echelon and US spying on European
>industries all about? We'll begin with some candor on the american side. Yes,
>my continental European friends, we have spied on you. And its true that we
>use computers to sort through data by using keywords. Have you stopped to ask
>yourselves what were looking for?
>
>The European Parliment's recent report on Echelon, written by British
>journalist Duncan Campbell, has sparked angry accusations from continental
>Europe that US intelligence is stealing advanced technology from European
>companies so that we can -get this- give it to american companies to help
>them compete. My European friends, get real. True, in a handful of areas
>European Technology surpasses American, but, to say this as gently as i can,
>the number of such areas is very, very, very small. Most European technology
>isnt worth our stealing.
>
>Why, then, have we spied on you? The answer is quite appearent from the
>Campbell report- in the discussion of the only two cases in which European
>companies have allegedly been targets of American secret intelligence
>collection. Of Thomson-CSF, the report says: "the company was alleged to have
>bribed members of the Brazilian government selection panel." of Airbus, it
>says that we found that "Airbus agents were offering bribes to a Saudi
>official." These facts are invariably left out of European press reports.
>
>Thats right, my continental friends, we have spied on you because you bribe.
>your companies' products are often more costly, less technologically advanced
>or both, than your american competitors'. As a result, you bribe a lot. So
>complicit are your governments that in several European countries bribes
>still are tax deductible.
>
>When we cought you at it, you might be interested, we haven't said a word to
>the US companies in the competition. Instead, we go to the government you're
>bribing and tell its officials that we dont take kindly to such corruption.
>They often respond by giving the most meritorious bid (sometimes American,
>sometimes not) all or part of the contract.
>
>This upsets you, and sometimes creates recriminations between your bribers
>and the other countrys bribees, and this occaisionally becomes a public
>scandal. We love it.
>
>Why do you bribe? Its not because your companies are inherently more corrupt.
>Nor is it because you are inherently less talented at technology. It is
>because you economic patron saint is still Jean Baptiste Colbert, whereas
>ours is Adam Smith. In spite of a few recent reforms, your governments
>largely still dominate your economies, so you have much greater difficulty
>than we in innovating, encouraging labor mobility, reducing costs, attracting
>capital to fast moving young businesses and adapting quickly to changing
>economic circumstances. Youd rather not go through the hassle of moving
>toward less dirigisme. Its so much easier to keep paying bribes.
>
>The Central Intelligence Agency collects other economic intelligence, but the
>vast majority of it is not stolen secrets. The Aspin-Brown Commission four
>years ago found that about 95% of U.S. economic intelligence comes from open
>sources.
>
>The Campbell report describes a sinister sounding U.S. meeting in Washington
>where --shudder!-- CIA personnel are present and the participants --brace
>yourself-- "identify major contracts open for bid" in Indonesia. Mr.
>Campbell, i suppose, imagines something like this: A crafty CIA spy steals
>stealthily out of a safe house, changes disguises, checks to make sure hes
>not under surveilance, coordinates with a spy satellite and buys an
>Indonesian newspaper. If you Europeans really think we go to such absurd
>lengths to obtain publicly available information, why dont you just laugh at
>us instead of going into high dudgeon?
>
>What are the economic secrets, in addition to bribery attempts, that we have
>conducted espionage to obtain? One example is some companies attempts to
>conceal the transfer of dual-use technology. We follow the sales of
>super-computers and certain chemicals closely, because they can be used not
>only for commercial purposes but fir the production of weapons of mass
>destructio. Another is economic activity in countries subject to sanctions --
>Serbian banking, Iraqi oil smuggling.
>
>But do we collect or even sort secret intelligence for the benefit of
>American companies? Even Mr. Campbell admits that we dont, although he cant
>bring himself to say so except in a double negative: "In general, this is not
>incorrect." The Aspin-Brown Commission was more explicit: "U.S. Intelligence
>Agencies are not tasked to engage in 'industrial espionage' -- i.e. obtaining
>trade secrets for the benefit if a U.S. company or companies."
>
>The French government is forming a commission to look into all this. I hope
>the commissioners come to Washington. We should organize two seminars for
>them. one would cover our Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and how we use it,
>quite effectively, to discourage U.S. companies from bribing foreign
>governments. A second would cover why Adam Smith is a better guide than
>Colbert for 21st-century economies. Then we could move on to industrial
>espionage, and our visitors could explain, if they can keep straight faces,
>that they dont engage in it. Will the next commission pursue the issue of
>rude American maitre-d's?
>
>Get serious, Europeans. Stop blaming us and reform your own statist economic
>policies. Then your companies can become more efficient and innovative, and
>they wont need to resort to bribery to compete.
>
>And then we wont need to spy on you.
>
>
>
>=====
>Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings, they did it by killing all
>those who opposed them.
--
Richard Sexton | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | http://dns.vrx.net/tech/rootzone
http://killifish.vrx.net http://www.mbz.org http://lists.aquaria.net
Snail Mail: Maitland House, Bannockburn, Ontario. CANADA, K0K 1Y0;
+1 (613) 473-1719; 70 280SE Euro, 72 280SE, 83 300SD
--
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://ph-1.613.473.1719
It's about travel on expense accounts to places with good beer. - BKR
