24 October 2013

NSA Targets Revealed to Fit National Coverage

Two versions of an NSA document titled "Close Access Sigads" have been published by Le Monde, on October 21, 2013, and described by The Hindu, on September 25, 2013.

The document describes NSA targets within the US. A comparison of the two accounts shows:

Each account featured the nation targeted to fit each's principal readership.

Le Monde redacted target nations except for France. The Hindu described only Indian targets.

Juxtaposing the French and Indian targets on an image of the Le Monde image shows that two or perhaps three, remain unidentified.

It is not clear why the two accounts omitted other targets, or whether the document provided to each was differently redacted by the source in order to not reveal more than necessary for local emphasis.

Nor if a third account is in the works which will identify the remaining targets.

Or if Germany is the unidentified target which was identified by Der Spiegel to German spies which led to their alarm to Merkel. If so, this appears to indicate a targeted release of redacted material to national outlets most likely to foster narrowly focused drama favored by national politicians and media.