Britain and Sweden block critical talks on espionage and intelligence between EU and US

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EU Parliament/Flickr

Madison Ruppert

Britain and Sweden vetoed plans to launch two working groups to deal with issues of espionage and intelligence with the United States, thus restricting upcoming talks in Washington to issues of data privacy and the National Security Agency’s PRISM program.

Instead of allowing two working groups to deal with the complex issues that have been raised in the wake of stories publicizing the United States’ surveillance of Europeans, especially Germans, there will be just one working group focusing on the PRISM program.

Interestingly, there is apparently no mention of the UK’s massive data mining operation run through GCHQ which hands data over to the NSA.

The talks on PRISM and data privacy were arranged to coincide with upcoming trade talks in an effort to lessen the transatlantic tension, according to the Guardian.

Edward Snowden Charged Under the Espionage Act

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Stephen Lendman

On June 21, Obama's Justice Department charged Snowden with espionage. It did so ruthlessly, irresponsibly and unconstitutionally. It wrongfully accused him of violating 1917 Espionage Act provisions.

It was enacted during WWI. It's long ago outdated. It has no current relevance. It belongs in history's dustbin.

It was about interfering with military operations, supporting enemies, promoting insubordination in the ranks, or challenging military recruitment.

At stake are fundamental First Amendment rights. Without them all others are at risk. In Texas v. Johnson, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan wrote the majority opinion, saying:

(I)f there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable.

Justice Hugo Black once said: "Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government." America fails the test.