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The story before it was pulled from the site Screengrab

Observer newspaper pulls front page story about the NSA

The source quoted in the front page story has become known for his views that US President Barack Obama is secretly gay and that the Boston bombing suspects were government agents.

THE OBSERVER NEWSPAPER in the UK released another shocking NSA scoop on Saturday night, revealing collusion and mass harvesting of personal communications among the United States and at least six European Union countries — only to delete it from their website hours after publication.

The article, titled “Revealed: secret European deals to hand over private data to America,” was written by Jamie Doward, who reported information from Wayne Madsen, a former Navy lieutenant and National Security Agency employee for 12 years.

Doward wrote:

Madsen said the countries had “formal second and third party status” under signal intelligence (sigint) agreements that compels them to hand over data, including mobile phone and internet information to the NSA if requested.

Under international intelligence agreements, confirmed by declassified documents, nations are categorised by the US according to their trust level. The US is first party while the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand enjoy second party relationships. Germany and France have third party relationships.

He went on to say that seven European countries and the US have access to a fiberoptic cable network, intercepting phone calls, emails, and user logs from websites. The article describes Madsen as having “been attacked for holding controversial views on espionage issues.”

That’s a light way of putting it.

Some of Madsen’s controversial views include the belief that US President Barack Obama is secretly gay and that the Boston bombing suspects were government agents. He’s also reported on a “former CIA agent” alleging the 2000 USS Cole bombing was perpetrated not by al Qaeda terrorists, but by a missile fired from an Israeli submarine.

John Schindler, a professor at the Naval War College and intelligence expert, called Madsen “batshit crazy, to use the technical term.”

However writer Tim Worstall at Forbes says that while Madsen may have “rather ‘out there’ views”, much of the information in the piece seems to be “roughly true”.

“However left field the source is, what he’s actually said seems to be largely true and indeed a matter of public knowledge for some years now,” wrote Worstall. “Yet still the story gets pulled”

The pulled article now bears the message, “This article has been taken down pending an investigation” but is still on the front page of early editions of today’s print edition. It was originally published in The Observer, a Sunday newspaper owned by The Guardian and hosted on their website.

Here’s a partial screenshot:

- Additional reporting by Christine Bohan

Read: Row over US ‘bugging’ of EU offices >

Read: Ed Snowden’s dad: ‘My son broke the law – but he’s no traitor’ >

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    Mute Marilyn Maroney
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    Jun 30th 2013, 3:54 PM

    Funny Facebook status: I’m sick of the gov’t reading but never liking my statuses

    56
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    Mute William Cassidy
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    Jun 30th 2013, 1:39 PM

    Can u hear me now.

    38
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    Mute John O'Brien
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    Jun 30th 2013, 1:59 PM

    Pray do explain ….

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    Mute J.Rudd
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:02 PM

    Expect this article to maybe vanish mysteriously also?
    If the USA and England state secret services gets its way – maybe so!

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    Mute Marilyn Maroney
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:12 PM

    Madsen sounds like just another crackpot to me.

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    Mute J.Rudd
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:24 PM

    Very much so – but that don’t explain the pulling of the article regarding the EU bugging?
    A re-write was all that was needed.

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    Mute Sydney shaw
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:48 PM

    That’s what they want you to think..

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    Mute Jamie Edwards
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:02 PM

    Tin foil hat much?

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    Mute Gearóid O Machain
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:14 PM

    when “conspiracy” theories start repeatedly slapping you in the face tin foil hats won’t save us anymore!!

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    Mute Jamie Edwards
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:46 PM

    How about producing some evidence before making assertions.

    Also, the government is spying and Obama is gay. Why include the gay part? What does he gain?

    Oh yes, sensationalism. God damn sheeple will believe anything these days.

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    Mute Johnny Reynolds
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:51 PM

    Shur he’s American and part Irish too :P

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    Mute guardian
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    Jun 30th 2013, 3:06 PM

    Sure they removed it as editor say the story and thought wtf sre you thinking. I could talk to someone in nut house and get same info

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    Mute Daniel Knight
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    Jun 30th 2013, 4:16 PM

    Hey moron, can you stop repeating your anti Christian hate speech sheeple slur? And moron, learn about sheep before bashing them you goat that eats anything in front of you. Why do you keep bashing God’s creatures which he made for us as a symbol, and to eat and cloth us you idiot? Grow up dummy. Might wanna watch the vid of sheep chasing a way a wolf like you, assuming idiot. Sheep have a brain, learn more about it before playing God of the animal kingdom, you cow.

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    Mute Jonny Rigley
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    Jun 30th 2013, 4:45 PM

    @ Daniel:

    That has got to be the most moronic comment i have ever read. In fact i think i have lost several IQ points just reading it the whole way through.

    I’d like to go through all the points of where your wrong but i really think it would be lost on you. I’m going to boil my point down to this: When he says sheep its a metaphor for people who are easily led in to going (believing) anywhere thier owners want them to (like sheep).

    Now go back to your sky-fairy

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    Mute benny the ball
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    Jun 30th 2013, 4:55 PM

    Comment of the week right there Daniel, you gob*hite.

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    Mute Ed Kavanagh
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    Jun 30th 2013, 6:59 PM

    Sorry Jamie, but if waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck and you still think its a sheep then you have to question which one of us are crazy. Us tin foil hatters are starting to outnumber you and very soon you will be the only sane person in a world of crazies. Then who will be the crazy one.

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    Mute Jamie Edwards
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    Jul 2nd 2013, 5:18 AM

    I must say I’m flattered you describe me as a wolf. Also, wanting evidence before believing a claim is now disliked.

    Am I seriously the only sane person here.

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    Mute Mark Mahon
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:11 PM

    NOW WE KNOW WHY SNOWDEN IS NEEDED TO AMERIKAN “KGB” SO MUCH AND SO URGENTLY!

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    Mute Paul Loye
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:21 PM

    Obama would reverse into ya

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    Mute Paul Brophy
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    Jun 30th 2013, 2:36 PM

    Not if I had a US Embassy ramp in front of me.

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    Mute Little Jim
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    Jun 30th 2013, 5:13 PM

    Oh, the time the beast got stuck into the ramp!

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    Mute Brian Burke
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    Jun 30th 2013, 5:13 PM

    Obama is part Irish and gay. Everyone knows that an Irish queer prefers women to drink.

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    Mute Patch Quinn
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    Jun 30th 2013, 6:00 PM

    I think the internet should be closed down country wise! Every country should be segmented!

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