Surveillance: European Union Seeks Drone and Spy Satellite Network - by Chris Marsden

After feigning outrage over the US spying on European citizens, the European Union has proposed the creation of what amounts to a pan-European equivalent to the National Security Agency (NSA), armed with a European drone programme and a spy satellite network.

The extent of collusion between the European powers and the NSA in the mass surveillance of EU citizens has already been made apparent by the exposures from whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

The PRISM program was developed in collusion with the United Kingdom. Together with the UK’s own Tempora system, PRISM gives full access to the emails, phone calls, social network records and browser histories of millions of people, obtained by tapping into the fibre optic network of the Internet. Germany’s collaboration with the NSA is also extensive, making it a prime European hub for operations in Afghanistan as well as for gathering data on European citizens. France’s independent system of data collection has been exposed, and it must be assumed that every other state has similar operations in place.

This is no longer considered sufficient. The European powers are intent on acquiring the full panoply of mechanisms of surveillance and repression possessed by the US. They are citing Snowden’s revelations as justification for overcoming the advantages in this area presently enjoyed by Washington.

“The Edward Snowden scandal shows us that Europe needs its own autonomous security capabilities. This proposal is one step further towards European defence integration,” a senior EU official recently told the DailyTelegraph. “Looking at the current gaps, possibilities could be from surveillance Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS, or drones) to airlift and command and communication facilities.”

Read more: European Union Seeks Drone and Spy Satellite Network | Global Research

France to put surveillance drones over Mali

French Surveillance Drone

France and the United Nations insist any invasion of Mali's north must be led by African troops. But France, which has six hostages in Mali and has citizens who have joined al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is playing an increasing role behind the scenes.

Many in the West fear that northeast Mali and the arid Sahel region could become the new Afghanistan, a no-man's-land where extremists can train, impose hardline Islamic law and plot terror attacks abroad. And France, former colonial ruler to countries across the Sahel, is a prime target.

"This is actually a major threat - to French interests in the region, and to France itself," said Francois Heisbourg, an expert at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a partially state-funded think tank in Paris. "This is like Afghanistan 1996. This is like when Bin Laden found a place that was larger than France in which he could organize training camps, in which he could provide stable preparations for organizing far-flung terror attacks."

Read more: France to put surveillance drones over Mali - Telegraph