美國安局監控色情網站瀏覽記錄

The National Security Agency has been gathering records of online sexual activity and evidence of visits to pornographic websites as part of a proposed plan to harm the reputations of those whom the agency believes are radicalizing others through incendiary speeches, according to a top-secret NSA document. The document, provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, identifies six targets, all Muslims, as “exemplars” of how “personal vulnerabilities” can be learned through electronic surveillance, and then exploited to undermine a target's credibility, reputation and authority.

The NSA document, dated Oct. 3, 2012, repeatedly refers to the power of charges of hypocrisy to undermine such a messenger. “A previous SIGINT" -- or signals intelligence, the interception of communications -- "assessment report on radicalization indicated that radicalizers appear to be particularly vulnerable in the area of authority when their private and public behaviors are not consistent,” the document argues.

Among the vulnerabilities listed by the NSA that can be effectively exploited are “viewing sexually explicit material online” and “using sexually explicit persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls.”

The Director of the National Security Agency -- described as "DIRNSA" -- is listed as the "originator" of the document. Beyond the NSA itself, the listed recipients include officials with the Departments of Justice and Commerce and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"Without discussing specific individuals, it should not be surprising that the US Government uses all of the lawful tools at our disposal to impede the efforts of valid terrorist targets who seek to harm the nation and radicalize others to violence," Shawn Turner, director of public affairs for National Intelligence, told The Huffington Post in an email Tuesday.

Yet Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said these revelations give rise to serious concerns about abuse. "It's important to remember that the NSA’s surveillance activities are anything but narrowly focused -- the agency is collecting massive amounts of sensitive information about virtually everyone," he said.

"Wherever you are, the NSA's databases store information about your political views, your medical history, your intimate relationships and your activities online," he added. "The NSA says this personal information won't be abused, but these documents show that the NSA probably defines 'abuse' very narrowly."

None of the six individuals targeted by the NSA is accused in the document of being involved in terror plots. The agency believes they all currently reside outside the United States. It identifies one of them, however, as a "U.S. person," which means he is either a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. A U.S. person is entitled to greater legal protections against NSA surveillance than foreigners are.

Stewart Baker, a one-time general counsel for the NSA and a top Homeland Security official in the Bush administration, said that the idea of using potentially embarrassing information to undermine targets is a sound one. "If people are engaged in trying to recruit folks to kill Americans and we can discredit them, we ought to," said Baker. "On the whole, it's fairer and maybe more humane" than bombing a target, he said, describing the tactic as "dropping the truth on them."

Any system can be abused, Baker allowed, but he said fears of the policy drifting to domestic political opponents don't justify rejecting it. "On that ground you could question almost any tactic we use in a war, and at some point you have to say we're counting on our officials to know the difference," he said.

In addition to analyzing the content of their internet activities, the NSA also examined the targets' contact lists. The NSA accuses two of the targets of promoting al Qaeda propaganda, but states that surveillance of the three English-speakers’ communications revealed that they have "minimal terrorist contacts."

In particular, “only seven (1 percent) of the contacts in the study of the three English-speaking radicalizers were characterized in SIGINT as affiliated with an extremist group or a Pakistani militant group. An earlier communications profile of [one of the targets] reveals that 3 of the 213 distinct individuals he was in contact with between 4 August and 2 November 2010 were known or suspected of being associated with terrorism," the document reads.

The document contends that the three Arabic-speaking targets have more contacts with affiliates of extremist groups, but does not suggest they themselves are involved in any terror plots.

Instead, the NSA believes the targeted individuals radicalize people through the expression of controversial ideas via YouTube, Facebook and other social media websites. Their audience, both English and Arabic speakers, "includes individuals who do not yet hold extremist views but who are susceptible to the extremist message,” the document states. The NSA says the speeches and writings of the six individuals resonate most in countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Kenya, Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia.

The NSA possesses embarrassing sexually explicit information about at least two of the targets by virtue of electronic surveillance of their online activity. The report states that some of the data was gleaned through FBI surveillance programs carried out under the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act. The document adds, "Information herein is based largely on Sunni extremist communications." It further states that "the SIGINT information is from primary sources with direct access and is generally considered reliable."

According to the document, the NSA believes that exploiting electronic surveillance to publicly reveal online sexual activities can make it harder for these “radicalizers” to maintain their credibility. "Focusing on access reveals potential vulnerabilities that could be even more effectively exploited when used in combination with vulnerabilities of character or credibility, or both, of the message in order to shape the perception of the messenger as well as that of his followers," the document argues.

An attached appendix lists the "argument" each surveillance target has made that the NSA says constitutes radicalism, as well the personal "vulnerabilities" the agency believes would leave the targets "open to credibility challenges" if exposed.

One target's offending argument is that "Non-Muslims are a threat to Islam," and a vulnerability listed against him is "online promiscuity." Another target, a foreign citizen the NSA describes as a "respected academic," holds the offending view that "offensive jihad is justified," and his vulnerabilities are listed as "online promiscuity" and "publishes articles without checking facts." A third targeted radical is described as a "well-known media celebrity" based in the Middle East who argues that "the U.S perpetrated the 9/11 attack." Under vulnerabilities, he is said to lead "a glamorous lifestyle." A fourth target, who argues that "the U.S. brought the 9/11 attacks on itself" is said to be vulnerable to accusations of “deceitful use of funds." The document expresses the hope that revealing damaging information about the individuals could undermine their perceived "devotion to the jihadist cause."

The Huffington Post is withholding the names and locations of the six targeted individuals; the allegations made by the NSA about their online activities in this document cannot be verified.

The document does not indicate whether the NSA carried out its plan to discredit these six individuals, either by communicating with them privately about the acquired information or leaking it publicly. There is also no discussion in the document of any legal or ethical constraints on exploiting electronic surveillance in this manner.

While Baker and others support using surveillance to tarnish the reputation of people the NSA considers "radicalizers," U.S. officials have in the past used similar tactics against civil rights leaders, labor movement activists and others.

Under J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI harassed activists and compiled secret files on political leaders, most notably Martin Luther King, Jr. The extent of the FBI's surveillance of political figures is still being revealed to this day, as the bureau releases the long dossiers it compiled on certain people in response to Freedom of Information Act requests following their deaths. The information collected by the FBI often centered on sex -- homosexuality was an ongoing obsession on Hoover's watch -- and information about extramarital affairs was reportedly used to blackmail politicians into fulfilling the bureau's needs.

Current FBI Director James Comey recently ordered new FBI agents to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington to understand "the dangers in becoming untethered to oversight and accountability."

James Bamford, a journalist who has been covering the NSA since the early 1980s, said the use of surveillance to exploit embarrassing private behavior is precisely what led to past U.S. surveillance scandals. "The NSA's operation is eerily similar to the FBI's operations under J. Edgar Hoover in the 1960s where the bureau used wiretapping to discover vulnerabilities, such as sexual activity, to 'neutralize' their targets," he said. "Back then, the idea was developed by the longest serving FBI chief in U.S. history, today it was suggested by the longest serving NSA chief in U.S. history."

That controversy, Bamford said, also involved the NSA. "And back then, the NSA was also used to do the eavesdropping on King and others through its Operation Minaret. A later review declared the NSA’s program 'disreputable if not outright illegal,'" he said.

Baker said that until there is evidence the tactic is being abused, the NSA should be trusted to use its discretion. "The abuses that involved Martin Luther King occurred before Edward Snowden was born," he said. "I think we can describe them as historical rather than current scandals. Before I say, 'Yeah, we've gotta worry about that,' I'd like to see evidence of that happening, or is even contemplated today, and I don't see it."

Jaffer, however, warned that the lessons of history ought to compel serious concern that a "president will ask the NSA to use the fruits of surveillance to discredit a political opponent, journalist or human rights activist."

"The NSA has used its power that way in the past and it would be naïve to think it couldn't use its power that way in the future," he said.爲了保護國家免遭恐怖襲擊，美國國家安全局（NSA）可謂絞盡腦汁。除採用常規反恐手段外，國安局還在暗地裏蒐集某些“激進先驅”觀看色情影片、瀏覽黃色網站的上網記錄，以達到損害其聲譽、防止他人受其影響參與恐怖襲擊的目的。

據美國媒體11月26日報道，上述內容來自最新披露的一份美國國安局內部機密文件，由該局前僱員愛德華•斯諾登公之於衆。文件中，國安局以6名穆斯林“人物樣本”爲例，說明“如何通過電子監控手段來知悉目標人物的個人弱點，然後利用這些弱點來削弱其聲譽、可信度和權威性”。

***宣稱“僞善”指控威力巨大

美國國安局局長是這份文件的“發件人”，除國安局內部人員外，收件人還包括美國司法部、商務部和毒品藥品監管局（DEA）的官員。文件中提及的6名樣本人物均未面臨任何恐怖指控，他們據信現居住在美國境外。

文件上標註的日期是2012年10月3日，其中反覆提到對於打擊“激進先驅”而言，僞善指控威力巨大。“以往的通信情報估測報告顯示，先驅人物這些利用激進言論煽動民衆，一旦發現他們私下與公開場合言行不一致，他們的權威性就會變得格外脆弱。”文件中還列舉了一些可被有效利用的個人弱點，包括“上網觀看性暴露影片”以及“與未經世事的少女談話時使用低級淫穢語言”等。

除了分析6名目標人物的網絡活動內容外，國安局還會審查他們的聯絡人清單。國安局認爲，這些人通過在社交網站上分享視頻短片來散播爭議觀點，從而令觀看視頻者變得更加激進。“觀衆中既有英語也有阿拉伯語受衆，其中不少是那些尚未接受極端觀點但易受影響的人。”文件中指出，這些“激進先驅”的講演最易在英國、德國、瑞典、肯尼亞、巴基斯坦、印度和沙特阿拉伯等國家引起共鳴。

***突出針對性施行各個擊破

美國國安局認爲，利用電子監控公開其網絡性活動，將會令這些“激進先驅”的個人信譽難以爲繼，“關注網絡行蹤，可以發現目標的潛在弱點。一旦把這些弱點與其性格缺陷或者信譽結合起來，用於改變外界或者追隨者對其原有的看法，將會威力倍增”。

爲了更加清楚地說明這一非常手段的效用，國安局還在文件附錄中列明瞭每位目標人物的“激進觀點”，以及可以被用來質疑其信譽的“個人弱點”。

其中一位目標人物的激進觀點是“非穆斯林對伊斯蘭教是一個威脅”， “網上亂交”被註明爲他的個人弱點。另一位目標人物，被國安局稱爲“受人尊敬的外國學者”，他認爲“進攻性聖戰是合理的”。針對此人，國安局標註的弱點是“網上亂交”以及“發表文章前不覈查事實”。第三位上榜目標人物是中東地區的知名媒體人，他宣稱“美國製造了9•11恐怖襲擊”，而國安局爲其貼上的標籤是“生活奢華無度”。

文件中指明，國安局希望通過公開這些負面信息，間接打破這些目標人物頭頂的“爲聖戰事業獻身”的光環。

***專家指責國安局濫用權力

“文件中沒有討論具體的個人信息。”美國國家情報公共事務處處長肖恩•特納26日表示：“美國政府運用一切可自由支配的合法手段，來阻止恐怖目標人物傷害美國、唆使他人付諸暴力，這不足爲奇。”

斯圖爾特•貝克曾擔任過美國國安局法律總顧問，布什政府時期，他是國土安全部的高級官員。 “如果有人企圖招募他人殺害美國民衆，我們當然能破壞他們的聲譽，而且我們應該這麼做。”貝克認爲，使用令人尷尬的個人信息來打擊目標是合理的，“這是在揭穿他們的真面目”。

而美國民權同盟法務副總監賈米勒•賈弗則認爲上述信息的曝光應當引起有關方面對於政府權力濫用的嚴肅認真對待。“我們必須謹記，國安局的監控活動應控制在有限範圍內，但他們卻在收集大量敏感信息，這幾乎牽涉到所有人。”

賈弗還補充道：“不論你身在何處，有關你的政治觀點、醫療病史、親密關係和網上活動的一切信息都存儲在國安局的數據庫裏。國安局宣稱這些數據不會遭到濫用，但（被披露的）文件顯示，對於‘濫用’這個詞，他們有着不同的定義。”