Did the CIA and Mossad Really Screw Up?
In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the United States and the United Kingdom, determined to implement realpolitik in its strictest form, joined forces to establish an intelligence, counter-intelligence and espionage organisation known as UKUSA (United Kingdom/United States of America) in 1947
Almost two months have passed since Hamas launched its operation, dubbed ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’, against Israel on 7 October 2023. During this period, the ‘Iron Cage’—known as Israel’s security barrier—has also become a separate topic of debate. Over these two months, the attacks launched by Israel—under the guise of exercising its so-called right to self-defence, which was practically handed to it on a silver platter—against unarmed, innocent Palestinian civilians have turned into a full-blown humanitarian tragedy and, in every sense, a genocide. Despite the clear stipulation in the 1948 Geneva Conventions that no show of force would be directed against unarmed civilians, prisoners, journalists, media personnel, the wounded, and militiamen who have surrendered their weapons; yet Israel’s brutal and inhumane attacks continue before the eyes of the entire world, just as everyone once watched the Gulf War live on CNN International; however, I intend to elaborate on a different aspect of the incident rather than these cruel and merciless attacks.
It is also noted by certain self-proclaimed strategists or ‘war experts’ (!) that during this process, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad have failed the test and, so to speak, dropped the ball. After all, how could these intelligence networks—which have almost become a legend across the world—be unaware of Hamas’s rocket attacks on Israel, numbering some 5,500, and the preparatory stages of these attacks, and fail to detect them? Let us, then, begin to watch the film in reverse. Immediately following the Second World War, the US and the UK, driven by the desire to implement realpolitik in its strictest form, came together to establish the UKUSA (United Kingdom/United States of America) intelligence, counter-intelligence and espionage organisation in 1947. Dividing the world into five strategic regions between the two poles, these two nations took the Balkans, the Middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Eurasia—regions encompassing some of the world’s most troubled territories (the Balkans, unfortunately including Turkey, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Eurasia). Whilst developing distinct strategies within this region, they delegated the remaining areas of the world—which they deemed ‘secondary’ or ‘of lesser importance’—to the Commonwealth nations comprising Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Thus, the close cooperation between the UK’s GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) and the US’s NSA (National Security Agency)—that is, the national security services of both countries—has continued since the signing of the UKUSA Agreement. This cooperation was evident during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the subsequent 1956 Suez Crisis, the EOKA terrorism that turned the island of Cyprus into a bloodbath from 1 April 1955 onwards, and the Turkish-Greek conflict following the ‘Bloody Christmas’ events of 21 December 1963, as well as the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Middle East, were the conflict environments closely monitored during the early period. The process that began with UKUSA continues into the 21st century under the name “Project 415”, encompassing virtually all conflict, occupation and war processes—including the Gulf War in the Middle East and Far East, the invasion of Kuwait, the US’s so-called struggle to bring democracy to Iraq, and the Syrian civil war—through new agreements signed by the aforementioned countries.
As of 2010, the NSA provided financial support of 39.9 million pounds to the British GCHQ headquarters in connection with the “Mastery of the Internet” project. In 2011, the Americans covered half of the costs incurred by GCHQ. Over the past three years, the American NSA has made a payment of 160 billion dollars to GCHQ to maintain ongoing projects and foster cooperation. Edward Joseph Snowden, an American NSA agent who sought asylum in Moscow after heeding the voice of his conscience, stated: “We monitor everything 24 hours a day, non-stop, from the American President’s bilateral meetings in the Oval Office right down to Aunt Hatice’s bean recipe in the kitchen.” It is worth noting that the centre of all these activities is the world’s largest wiretapping system, known as Echelon, and that the Eastern Mediterranean and the island of Cyprus are the critical points for the uninterrupted continuation of this centre’s operations. The UK Defence Secretary’s statement following his being cornered in the House of Lords over the violation of privacy – “There are 18 intranet networks connecting the world, and 14 of these are laid via fibre-optic cables in the Mediterranean. I cannot say that we do not interfere with the entry and exit points of these 14 intranet networks.” This statement is a case of the excuse being worse than the offence.
The undersea fibre-optic internet cables passing through the Mediterranean turn the island of Cyprus into a direct and highly natural espionage base. The fibre-optic cables occupying the seabed in the Eastern Mediterranean are the lines connecting the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East; alongside the lines connecting Cyprus to Israel and Cyprus to Syria, there are also lines connecting Cyprus to Lebanon, Cyprus to Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Italy and virtually the entire Mediterranean region, and these are the lifelines of the Anglo-American joint espionage operation. In this context, the cables of organisations such as France Telecom, AT&T and Slovak Telekom, as well as those of Türk Telekom, have been tapped and recorded. In addition to these, the SEA-ME-WE3 main cable, which connects South-East Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe, also passes directly near the island of Cyprus. Internet communications via fibre-optic submarine cables pass under the sea to connect to the mainland and, after passing through an intermediate station, descend back into the sea. It is during this process that a separate connection is made to these cables, and the data flow from the seabed is simultaneously routed to two different centres. The facility responsible for all this on the island of Cyprus is the Ayios Nikolaos station. Another factor that facilitated the British operations on the island of Cyprus is the fact that these activities could not have been carried out without the support of the central telecommunications authorities.
Whilst the UK and the US receive significant infrastructure support from the UK’s Telecom company, on the island of Cyprus, in accordance with Article 6 of the agreement signed in 1960 regarding the bases, this support will be provided by the telecommunications authority of the Republic of Cyprus. Following the withdrawal of Turkish Cypriots from the partnership agreement on 21 December 1963, the Republic of Cyprus is now represented by Greek Cypriots. Consequently, as an EU member state, the Republic of Cyprus is officially obliged to provide ‘advisory and cooperation services’ to the UK under the terms of the agreement. The irony lies in the fact that, whilst the Greek Cypriots protest against intelligence and wiretapping activities on the island, they are, on the other hand, officially assisting these activities—albeit under different names and headings—through the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA).
Consequently, in addition to the 14 different fibre-optic internet lines currently in use, new ones are also being planned; thus, the entire Middle East region, the entire Mediterranean region from Spain to Egypt, and the Eurasian region—from Turkey to Greece and Italy—are effectively within the grasp of the British GCHQ and American NSA units. Moreover, it is only natural that the intelligence stations conducting these operations—beyond the British bases on the island known to the public in the traditional sense, namely Agrotur and Dikelya—and for which the two aforementioned countries make substantial annual payments to the Republic of Cyprus, are also at Israel’s service. Given that the US and the UK are aware of even the slightest stir in the region and immediately share all developments with their headquarters in London and Washington DC, is it conceivable that they would withhold intelligence sharing from Israel—which the US regards as its ‘sole strategic partner’—even when NATO countries are involved?
