Washington to spend over $300 mln on largest intelligence hub outside US
18 May 2014, 14:51 -- Washington is planning to spend $317 million to convert its military base in the UK into the largest spying center outside the United States, the Independent reported on Sunday.
The transition is expected to be completed in 2017. The hub, that will be covering operations in Africa, will employ 1,250 people; representatives of British intelligence, including GCHQ, are likely to be among them.
Royal Air Force Croughton, a US Air Force base in Northamptonshire, England, currently serves as a relay station for CIA agent communications. The base is believed to be providing support for the controversial US drone warfare campaign against al-Qaeda militants in Yemen and is allegedly used to coordinate attacks in the Middle East and Africa.
It is also directly connected to the British intelligence agency GCHQ. According to the reports, RAF Croughton was used to collect data from a global network of spy bases inside US embassies and redirect it to Washington. Secret documents handed over to journalists by the former NSA and CIA contractor Edward Snowden last year showed that the US along with members of the English-speaking intelligence sharing alliance known as 'Five Eyes' club were spying on world leaders and top politicians, including America's closest allies.
Once the project is completed, it will result in a substantial further concentration of US intelligence firepower at RAF Croughton, whose stated purpose is to provide 'world-class combat support' for activities including 'global strike operations' and has recently had its security arrangements tightened.
Activist and politicians say there is an urgent need for public scrutiny of the activities of the base amid rising fears that UK is complicit in US missions coordinated from the RAF Croughton.
Labor MP Tom Watson, a former defense minister, said: 'The new spend of $317m on facilities at RAF Croughton is a shocking revelation. There can be no doubt now that communications activities there must be thoroughly reviewed, and arrangements governing use of the base updated.'
Lindis Percy, co-ordinator of the Campaign for the Accountability of American Airbases, said: 'This massive new development at Croughton is clearly of great importance to the American military and government, but what say has the British Parliament or the Ministry of Defense had? It is high time that the issue of what goes on on US bases is debated in Parliament so there is a meaningful and credible debate and oversight on behalf of the British people.'
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
