1996

Look into War in Congo (formerly Zaire) US funding both side – troops sent in – beginning of long running war

Newt Gingrich admitted violating House ethics rules.

Former V-P and Governor of Maryland Spiro T Agnew died aged 77, Sep 17th.

Commerce – Mickey Kantor appointed due to Ron Brown’s death.

Arms to Iraq report published 15th Feb 1996

Global Test Ban Treaty signed 10th Sep 1996.

Election year
Clinton administration’s effort to avoid default in early 1996 – CENSORED NEWS

1996 welfare reform – dismantled the welfare system built in New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society. Neither party was sticking up for the poor. Factories closing to relocate to Mexico thanks to NAFTA 1994.
Clinton set a time limit on how long the poor and unemployed could draw social security payments. It helped force people back to work with an array of federally funded job training programmes.
12 million on welfare went down to 5 million in a few years.
Unemployed often obliged, after 1996 reforms, to take service jobs at minimum wage - $5.15 per hour without benefits or health insurance – often worse off especially if they or one of their family become sick.
Lisa Hamler-Podolski; food stamps; the working poor; “food insecure” Americans  31 million; 10 million do not apply for food stamps; 9 million “experiencing real hunger” US Dept of Agriculture.
Urban institute – think tank
34.6 million – 1 in 8 of population – 13m of them children – below the poverty lines
3 million jobs lost 2001 to 2003.


Oil imports to the USA topped 50% in 1995. Domestic gasoline prices set record highs in summer of 96. Automobiles are now getting bigger, speed limits being raised, consumption of oil increasing. Conservation had been abandoned for some time. US very vulnerable to the Middle East thanks to inability to cut oil use.

Indonesia
Congress restored grants to Indonesia for military education and training. The US gave Indonesia $600,000 so it could send its military and civilian personnel to US military education and training institutes.
Exxon, Conoco, Chevron, Texaco, Maxus Energy, Marathon, Arco and Unocal are poised to exploit oil reserves off Indonesia and East Timor. Suharto is popular in the west due to his crushing off the communists back in 1970s. Freeport –McMoRan, based in New Orleans, runs the world’s biggest goldmine in the Indonesian rainforests. It was Kissinger and Ford who approved East Timor’s genocide in 1975. Kissinger is now on the board of directors of Freeport-McMoRan.

This year’s nobel peace prize is awarded to Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and political activist Jose Ramos-Harta for efforts in East Timor. The prize was accepted on Dec 10th 1996. Ramos-Harta severely criticised Indonesia and proposed plan for East Timorese independence.

South America
Heroin and Cocaine users in the USA remained at around 3 million. Dramatic increases in teenage users going up by 80% from 92 to 96. Clinton appointed Gulf War “hero” Barry McGaffrey as ‘drugs czar’.
Efforts to eradicate the source of cocaine in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru.
Massacres of Colombian peasants residing in Panama was blamed on Colombian paramilitaries stamping out FARC influence in Darien area.
Third world narcotics barons bought millions of dollars-worth of American bonds – helping the US fund its deficit and helping keep western banks afloat.
Dollar profits from drugs trafficking repaying the dollar-denominated loans made by the US banks to third world debtors. Rowan Bosworth-Davies, former fraud squad officer maintains that the real threat to national welfare and government structures comes not from drugs barons but widespread tax evasion. – Guardian, 5th November 1997 – “US hooked on drugs money”.

In November the former head of the Venezuelan National guard and CIA operative General Ramon Gullien Davila is indicted in Miami for smuggling 22 tons of cocaine into the USA. More than a ton was shipped in with CIA approval as part of an undercover program to catch drug smugglers, an operation kept secret from other US agencies.

Police in Brazil killed 19 Amazon peasants in town of Eldorado dos Carajas.

A new president in Guatemala, Alvavo Arzu, plans to advance peace negotiations and to establish civilian control over army, and Clinton does not seem ideologically committed to the Guatemalan army as was the case with Reagan and Bush.

Mexico
See 1994 – after the Chiapas uprisings. The US army is training Gafe (air-mobile special forces group) – “to supplement the rather ineffectual efforts of Mexico’s corruption-prone police.
The US defense department insisted “Counter-drug training differs in object, scope and nature from counter-insurgency training” – though some military experts regard the difference as minimal.
Mexican defence specialist: “They are not just for the drug war. They are for everything. Depending on the particular threat that exists in the region, that’s what they specialise in.2
In 1997 – in one three month period in the state of Jalisco the official state human rights commission received 16 complaints about operations apparently involving the unit.
“In every case the soldiers wore masks or face paint and no insignia. They raided hotels and restaurants without presenting search warrants and frequently kidnapped suspects. “
“The national human rights commission” refused to return phone calls on the subject.
The worst case that Gafe is linked with occurred in Colonia Buenos Aires, an inner district of Mexico City, where six youths were kidnapped. Their tortured corpses later turned up in two different remote locations. La Jornada newspaper claimed that the killings were carried out by Gafe members illegally infiltrated into a since disbanded elite police unit.
28 Gafe members in custody awaiting an investigation into one incident.
Guardian, “US TRAINED MEXICAN ‘TORTURE SQUAD’”, April 1st 1998, Phil Gunson, San Juan de Ocotan, Mexico.

Haiti
Aristide went – and an elected successor took over. Haiti was mired up in hopeless poverty. The flow of illegal “boat people” to the US threatened to overwhelm social services in nearby Florida. “The reality of Haiti’s plight had frustrated Clinton’s effort to use American power righteously.”

Former USSR
A cease-fire was negotiated in Chechnya, but was soon broken. Chechen fighters seized Grozny and forced a negotiated settlement.
During the Chechen war the pro-Kremlin ‘our home is Russia’ party got 48% of the vote in parliamentary elections. A year later Yeltsin, who ordered the military campaign, won 73% of the Chechen vote in a run-off with communist leader Gennady Zyuganov.

Nuclear Weapons
In Geneva, during May, delegates gathered for the Comprehensive Test Ban treaty (CTBT) – China revealed its plans for atomic explosions to direct water from mountains of Tibet – Lop Nor. The treaty was to be drafted by 28th June for signing at the UN General Assemby in September. China wanted an exception for peaceful underground explosions for use in irrigation, mining, oil exporation or “scientific research”.

Strange goings on…
On the 3rd of April the commerce secretary Ron Brown died in an Air Force jet carrying 34 others, including 14 business executives on a trade mission to Croatia. It crashed into a mountainside. Blamed on pilot error and faulty navigation equipment. At the time of Brown’s death Counsel Daniel Pearson was seeking to determine whether he had engaged in several sham financial transactions with long-time business partner Nolanda Hill shortly before he became Sec of Commerce.
The assistant Sec. of Commerce for International Economic Policy Charles Meissner died in a diferent place crash shortly after Brown.
On May 6th former CIA director William Colby was found dead. His wife had reported him missing on April 27th. Colby, who had died during an impromptu canoeing excursion, had just started writing for strategic investment newsletter, causing much worry in the intelligence community. He had been known to divulge CIA secrets in the past. Strategic Investor had covered the Vince Foster suicide and had hired handwriting experts to review Foster’s ‘suicide note’. Colby had left his home unlocked, computer on, and partly eaten dinner on the table.
In July TWA Flight 800 exploded over Long Island, USA. There is to this day, no official explanation for this crash. Former JFK press secretary Pierre Salinger waded in with his conspiracy theory opinions.

Whitewater
Jan. 4, 1996 -- Carolyn Huber, longtime Clinton aide and White House assistant, finds Mrs. Clinton's long-subpoenaed Rose Law firm Whitewater billing records. Jan. 27, 1996 -- Mrs. Clinton testifies for more than four hours before a federal grand jury regarding the appearance of her billing records. Feb. 5, 1996 -- Clinton subpoenaed to testify in the trial of Jim and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. Feb. 8, 1996 -- Senate Whitewater investigators review expletive-laden notes turned over by the White House which reveal a concern over what former Arkansas securities commissioner Beverly Bassett Schaffer might tell the Senate Committee about the Clintons' involvement in Whitewater. "Item by item, make sure her story is okay," the memo reads. "If the effort is botched, we're done."
Feb. 9, 1996 -- Schafer says she was pressured by White House aides to make a public statement favoring the Clintons in their role in Whitewater. According to notes of a January 1994 White House meeting, aides suggested sending someone to Arkansas to make sure Schaffer's story was "okay." March 4, 1996 -- Whitewater trial of Jim and Susan McDougal and Gov. Tucker begins in LIttle Rock. March 25, 1996 -- David Hale sentenced to 28 months in prison and ordered to reimburse the government $2.04 million.

April 1996
April 2, 1996 -- Hale takes the stand and says Clinton pressured him to make an illegal $300,000 loan. Clinton had called the allegation "a bunch of bull." April 8, 1996 -- Under oath, Hale concedes he can't recall the dates of various conversations he says took place.
April 8, 1996 -- His neutrality under fire, Starr defends his decision to keep private clients while working on Whitewater.
April 28, 1996 -- The president testifies by videotape from the White House, denying Hale's allegation he pressured him for a $300,000 loan.
On April 28th Clinton gave 2 ½ hours of videotaped testimony as a defence witness in the criminal trial of his former whitewater business partners.
April 30, 1996 -- Democratic Sens. Bennett Johnston's (D-La.) and Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) request for Starr to be removed from the Whitewater probe rebuffed by U.S. Court of Appeals. Johnston and Reid contend Starr is biased against Clinton.

“Massacre of Lebanese civilians by Israel at the UN base at Qana in southern Lenanon April 1996.” OBL became obsessed with this for many months. “why had Clinton not condemned this ‘terrorist act’ he asked.”
Clinton called it a tragedy. Israel said it was a mistake. The UN concluded it wasn’t a mistake, but perpertrators were not brought to justice. Robert Fiske (I think).

May 1996
May 1, 1996 -- Investigators identify inconsistencies in Mrs. Clinton's testimony about repayment of a loan to McDougal. May 9, 1996 -- Clinton's testimony is played to the jury. May 28, 1996 -- Jury finds Tucker and the McDougals guilty of 24 of the 30 counts against them.
May 30, 1996 -- Poll finds Americans believe 60 percent to 30 percent that Clinton is hiding something related to Whitewater. May 30, 1996 -- White House surrenders Travelgate documents, avoiding contempt of Congress vote. June 14, 1996 -- Senate Whitewater investigators ask Mrs. Clinton for more information regarding her work on the Castle Grande deal, the appearance of her Rose Law firm billing records, and the handling of documents by Webster Hubbell and Vincent Foster. She provides written responses on June 17.
June 17, 1996 -- Trial begins in Little Rock for Arkansas bankers Herby Branscum Jr. and Robert Hill, charged with 11 felony counts in their handling of Madison funds in connection with Clinton's 1990 gubernatorial re-election bid.
June 18, 1996 -- Senate Whitewater probe concludes. Republicans issue scathingly critical report of obstruction by first lady and White House aides. Democrats issue separate report concluding no wrongdoing by the Clintons or their associates.
June 19, 1996 -- House holds hearing into White House's improper collection of FBI background files.
June 19, 1996 Starr names close Clinton aide Bruce Lindsey as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Hill and Branscum case.
June 20, 1996 Attorney General Reno asks Starr to look into the FBI files controversy.
June 25, 1996 -- White House turns over 2,000 Travelgate documents, averting a contempt of Congress vote for the second time.
July 7, 1996 -- Clinton testimony recorded by videotape in White House session.
July 16, 1996 -- Bruce Lindsey, an unindicted co-conspirator, testifies in Branscum and Hill trial.
July 18, 1996 -- Clinton's video testimony played before jurors. The president denies he, as governor, promised political jobs to Branscum and Hill in exchange for political donations.
Aug. 1, 1996 -- Little Rock jury acquits Hill and Branscum on four charges and deadlocks on the remaining seven.
Aug. 15, 1996 -- Jim McDougal begins cooperating with Whitewater prosecutors. His sentencing date is delayed.
Aug. 19, 1996 -- Jim Guy Tucker sentenced to four years' probation. On Aug. 20, Susan McDougal is sentenced to two years in prison.
Aug. 27, 1996 -- Contradicting Senate testimony of Clinton aides, a newly released memo indicates Mrs. Clinton was behind the 30-hour delay in releasing Vincent Foster's suicide note.
Sept. 4, 1996 -- Susan McDougal held in contempt of court for refusing to testify before federal grand jury in Little Rock, and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Sept. 13, 1996 -- Starr decides not to re-try Arkansas bankers Herby Branscum, Jr. and Robert Hill on seven deadlocked charges.
Sept. 20, 1996 -- A bitterly divided House Government Reform and Oversight Committee approves its Travelgate report on the firing of seven long-time White House travel office workers, with committee members voting along party lines. "President Clinton has engaged in an unprecedented misuse of the executive power, abuse of executive privilege and obstruction of numerous investigations into the Travel Office matter," says Chairman William Clinger (R-Penn.). Democrats walk out of the hearing room.
Sept. 24, 1996 -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issues report finding that a real estate document drafted by Mrs. Clinton when she worked at the Rose Law Firm was used by Jim McDougal's savings and loan on a "sham" transaction to evade regulations and pay $300,000 in questionable commissions.
Oct. 4, 1996 -- Starr defends his decision to address an audience on legal issues at Regent University, a law school run by conservative evangelist Pat Robertson.
Oct. 25, 1996 -- A federal court authorizes Starr to investigate whether former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum lied to Congress about the FBI file flap.
Dec. 15, 1996 -- Starr tells the Economic Club of Detroit it has been difficult finding cooperation to get at the truth. As the cost of the investigation approaches $9 million, Starr says, "It is time-consuming and therefore expensive to investigate" and dismisses as "utterly wrong" the allegation that he's out to get the Clintons.
Nov. 11, 1996 -- Jim McDougal's sentencing delayed until Feb. 24, 1997, while he cooperates with Whitewater lawyers.
Dec. 3, 1996 -- Democratic strategist James Carville announces on national TV his intention to launch a campaign against Starr.

Yugoslavia
FIND OUT WHEN KOSOVAN LIBERATION ARMY BEGAN ATTACKING SERBIAN POLICEMEN.
Jan. 19: IFOR completes separation of combatants and weapons.
Feb. 18: UN and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia(FRY) sanctions on Bosnian Serbs lifted.
Mar. 19:All of Sarajevo comes under Bosnian government control.

Milosevic told US diplomats that Bosnian leader Radovan Karadzic has relinquished his grip on power and media reports from Belgrade said Milosevic would flourish the indicted war criminal’s resignation at a Balkan summit in Geneva 02/06/96. After the Dayton Agreement international mediators in Sarajevo had been trying to sideline Karadzic.
Peter Galbraith – US ambassador to Croatia - and Clinton’s fall guy – 1996. He gave a green light to Iranian arms moving through Zagreb to the Bosnian army and told Croatia’s president Tudjman that America had ‘no instructions’ to stem the flow. This began in April 1994 – when the Srebrenica, Garazde and Bihac safe areas were in peril, as was Sarajevo itself ‘Hundreds of thousands of lives were at stake” – all came out at the beginning of June 1996 and became known as the second Iran-Contra scandal.
US had just elected to refuse to enforce the embargo against Bosnia, creating a rift within the Atlantic Alliance Sec of State Warren Christopher was wary, but president decided to go ahead.

June 19: UN ends arms embargo on former Yugoslavia.
Sept. 14: First federal elections in Bosnia.
Oct. 1: UN ends economic sanctions on the FRY.
Nov. 30: First conviction at War Crimes Tribunal.
December: The Stabilization Force (SFOR) succeeds IFOR.

1996 Elections were held for the Yugoslav Federal Parliament - now including only Serbia and Montenegro. Serbian leaders of the opposition Zajedno ("Together") claimed victory in 32 municipalities, including Belgrade. Milosevic annulled the election results, prompting protests which forced Milosevic to recognize and accept the victory of his opponents. The opposition took power in most principal cities of the country, which provided a platform to organize against Milosevic.
Otpor students beginning in 1998. The Milosevic Era according to PBS.

 1996 In the Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal related to the former Yugoslavia begins. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is indicted for crimes committed in connection with the 1992–95 war. Ratko Mladic (born 1943), the leader of the Serb military who is considered responsible for the murder of approximately 7,500 Muslims in Srebrenica, is also charged.

 1996–99 The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) described by Dr. Stuart Stein as “shadowy” fights to restore the autonomy of Kosovo from the country of Serbia and Montenegro; President Slobodan Milosevic is accused of atrocities by Kosovar Albanian refugees escaping the fighting. They use terror tactics of bombing and attacks on Serb police and state officials. NATO intervenes in the region once again in 1999, with air strikes in Belgrade. Shortly after, the Serbs withdraw from Kosovo and the KLA agrees to disarm.

Second Iran-contra Scandal
January 2nd peacekeepers poured into bosnia. The US had been smuggling Iranian arms through Zagreb to the Bosnian army. Peter Galbraith – the US ambassador to Croatia was overseeing the operation when it was discovered. (Observer 2nd June 1996).
Galbraith claimed the arms – not all from Iran – had saved the muslim Croat Federation “which the Americans had brokered, and began in April 1994 – when the Srebrenica, Garadze, and Bihac safe havens were in peril, as was Sarajevo itself. Galbraith was accused of being soley responsible – after he had been urging action on the Bosnian’s behalf – but Republican Sec of State Strobe Talbot and National Security Advisor Anthony Lake were probably the true architects of the policy.

Middle East
OBL in Sudan during March. Major General Elfatih Erwa, Sudanese Minister for Defense, offered to extradite him. According to the Washington Post “Erwa said he would happily keep close watch on OBL for the US but if that would not suffice, the government was prepared to place him in custody and hand him over… [US officials] said, “just ask him to leave the country. Just don’t let him go to Somalia”, where he had once been given credit for the successful al Qaeda attack on US forces in 1993 that killed 18 rangers.”  Erwa said in an interview, “we said he will go to Afghanistan and they [US officals] said, “let him”. Sudan expelled OBL and 3,000 associates  - see 1998. The US wanted him in Afghanistan  -was it to build up the pretext for an invasion of Afghanistan? Much of Afghanistan is now controlled by Taliban and in September they they conquered Kabul. With US-sponsored Taliban protecting OBL, the US had him where they needed him.

A group of neo-conservatives produced a report for Israel prime minister Netanyahu in 1996 (many of whom hold prominent positions in the current Bush war administration: Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser) recommending restoring the Hashemite monarchy to power in Iraq.

High-placed intelligence sources in Washington told the Guardian: “there were always constraints on investigating the Saudis.” Regarding interference in Bin Laden and Al Qaida investigations.

Iran
“Fears of Tehran State Terror” Observer 2nd June 1996.
“Europeanan intelligence services…alarmed by…steep rise in Iranian sponsored terrorist attacks aimed at opponents of the Ayatollah’s regime” – peter Beaumont, journalist.
Up until July 12th, Iranian dissidents murdered and claims of a thwarted attack on the Paris hq of the national council of resistance in Iran.

Iraq
Oil for Food Programme started. Iraq sells a fraction of its oil for money which then goes to an account controlled by the Security Council. Almost a third goes on UN ‘expenses’ and reparations demanded by Kuwait – a very wealthy nation, compensation to oil companies and other multi-nationals. Iraq must then tender an international market for food and medical supplies and other humanitarian resources. Every cpntract approved by UN Sanctions Committee to which the US and UK held vetoes.

Saddam ordered – on Feb 20th – the killing of two son-in-laws who had fled to Jordan in 95. They’d been given a guarantee of safety by Saddam.

UN inspection teams were denied access to military secretive sites from March to June. The US launched a missile attack in southern Iraq after Iraqi military ventures into Kurdish “safe haven” sep 3rd to 4th.
Clinton attacked Iraq again this time insisting that he was defending Kurds against Saddam Hussein, who “must pay the price”. “Once again civilians – television’s unpeople, I call them – paid the price.” Pilger Sep 1998.

US Congress passed the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act – designed to punish any firm investing more than $20m in Iran. It stopped Turkmanistan from building pipelines through Iran and is unable to sell its vast reserves of oil and gas.

Al Jazeera was founded and won a large audience across North Africa and Middle East, antagonising political leaders from Algeria to Saudi Arabia – seriously upset Washington. But Washington was not to forget…

Election
Clinton, rock god, sex symbol, saviour of the western world, gets re-elected for a second term. The sex scandals begin to emerge.

TWA 800
A Boeing 747, TWA flight 800 from New York to Paris, crashed into the sea off Long Island, July 17 1996, leaving 212 dead and no survivors
Flight investigators were unable to establish what caused the fuel tank blast. Both black boxes were recovered, but gave no clues as to the cause, which may have been faulty wiring in the fuel tanks.
TWA 800 crash off Long Island when scores of eye witnesses came forward, many of whom had seen the reports and convinced themselves they had seen something.
The FBI became obsessed with the idea that the jumbo jet had been downed by a bomb, and leaked their suspicions to the press, adding criticisms of the plodding NTSB investigators for not catching on quick enough. In the end, after over 90 per cent of the wreckage was reassembled, it was determined that the explosion had been caused by fuel vapours, set off by intense heat and pressure, or a spark from frayed wiring.
In 1996 the TWA 800's black boxes told investigators little, since they had cut off at the same moment as the plane vanished from the radar screens. – grauniad 1999

military pulses to blame?
Robin McKie, Science Editor, Sunday September 10, 2000, The Observer.
Electromagnetic pulses from military craft may have been responsible for several civilian airline disasters in the past four years. If the theory is proved correct, it suggests navy ships and air force planes pose a lethal threat to passenger flights.
Crash investigators have been startled by similarities between several tragedies. In particular, they have uncovered common features in two crashes: Swissair 111, on 2 September 1998, and TWA 800, on 17 July 1996. Both planes took off from the same airport, New York's JFK, on the same day, a Wednesday, at the same minute, 8.19pm. Both followed the same route over Long Island. Both reported trouble in the same region of airspace, and both suffered catastrophic electrical malfunctions. And on both occasions the planes were flying at a time when extensive military exercises - involving submarines and US Navy P3 fighter planes - were being conducted.
These factors - outlined by Elaine Scarry in the forthcoming issue of the New York Review of Books - suggest to many investigators that a routine weekly event, probably involving the generation of strong electromagnetic pulses by military personnel, may have triggered short-circuits in the two planes.
In the case of the TWA 800 flight, this could have caused a spark to set off a fire in its fuel tanks. Alternatively, a pulse could have knocked out instruments, causing the Boeing 747 to spin out of control, making metal parts tear and produce sparks.
In the case of the Swissair 111, a fire was reported in the cabin and the plane plunged into the sea off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Saudi Arabian Airlines, flight from Delhi to Jeddah, collided with a non-passenger plane soon after take-off, November 12, 1996
Casualties: 312 dead, no survivors
Type of plane: Boeing 747-100B
Cause of crash: Both pilots had acknowledged their cleared heights and were following correct procedure laterally, although one pilot was clearly at the wrong height, and may have misreported his altitude. The Saudi airline later accused the Kasakhstan Airlines pilot of descending 1,000ft from his permitted altitude of 15,000 ft.

Afghanistan
Taliban came to power. “Not only were they welcomed by Washington, their leaders flown to Texas, then governed by GW, and entertained by executives of the Unocal Oil Company. They were offered a cut of the profits from the pipelines; 15% was mentioned. A US official observed that, with the Caspian’s oil and gas flowing, Afghanistan would become ‘like Saudi Arabia’, an oil colony with no democracyand the legal persecution of women. “We can live with that”, he said. The deal fell through when two American embassies in east Africa were bombed and al-Qaeda was blamed.” PILGER

Britain paid £100,000 to an al Qaida cell in Libya to assassinate Gadaffy according to David Shayler. OBL moved to Afghainstan in 1996. a bin Laden dedicated issue station was established stuffed by CIA, FBI, DOD, and NSA officers.

“The US warned the Taliban that harbouring OBL and allowing him and his supporters to transit Afghan territory at will and to conduct uncontrolled activities greatly hurt prospects for Afghanistan rejoining the world community” www.nsarchive.org

Fascism
There was a drive in Europe to promote cooperation between EU police and intelligence agencies. Massive “state security” system keeps information on people regarded as a potential threat. The Schengen Information System set up in 1995 to “maintain public order and security, including state security.”
Computer bank is based in strasbourg. EU wants to rename the SIS – the European Information System – its backed up by a network called Sirene wherby information is exchanged between national security agencies.