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Religious radicals who attacked the top-secret Waihopai spy base more likely hampered New Zealand's ability to drive a hard bargain at the trade table than crippled the US ability to wage war, says one intelligence expert.
Peter Cozens, head of Victoria University's Centre for Strategic Studies, says the
mysterious Marlborough base is used strictly to collect and analyse information - often of "a political, trade and diplomatic nature" - for the New Zealand Government.
Members of the Anzac Ploughshares movement infiltrated the base in an early-morning raid on Wednesday.
Dominican friar Peter Murnane, organic gardener Adrian Leason and Hokianga farmer Sam Land allegedly inflicted up to $1 million damage when they used sickles to slash one of two rubber balloons used to protect satellite dishes from the weather.
The men claimed their attack was prompted by a Bush Administration admission that intelligence gathering is "the most important tool in the so-called war on terror".
But Mr Cozens said yesterday the facility is operated solely by the Government Communications Security Bureau and is paid for by the taxpayer.
"It is entirely, totally, cosa nostra New Zealand. It is New Zealand's mafia, if you like, it's our thing. It's got nothing to do with the Americans."
He believed "peace movement" claims that the facility has a military function were "really stretching credulity a bit".
"I am sure there will be some odd military things that go by it, but it's not its primary purpose."
Instead, Mr Cozens says the installation - and a sister facility at Tangimoana, near Palmerston North - monitors "anything that bounces off a satellite" in the South Pacific region.
Such targets include cellphone, email, fax and radio communications from foreign sources. The GCSB is forbidden, by law, to monitor or record domestic communications.
The information is then collated for the assistance of the "trade negotiators, politicians or diplomats" who represent New Zealand abroad.
"We are better prepared for what our bottom line would be, or what advantage we might have ... because we have been listening in."
There is limited monitoring of "bad people" in the region, such as Southeast Asian Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, he says.
Ultimately, all information is "pooled for mutual benefit" with similar material harvested by the US, Britain, Canada and Australia.
"These [pieces of information] are bargaining pieces ...
"This is information that we have, that we have defined for our own purposes, and it's no different to an old- fashioned game of you show me your hand, I'll show you mine."
Mr Cozens believes Wednesday's attack will lead to a tightening of security at the base, but says the public are often the best form of security.
"The public are pretty well aware of what's going on around the place. I think, in this instance, the perpetrators of this crime were fortunate not to be apprehended before they broke the perimeter."
Two of the three protesters were on hunger strike yesterday.
Blenheim police said Land and Leason were taking only water and Murnane was eating only dry food.
It was not clear if they planned to continue the hunger strike until Monday when they were due to reappear at court.
"They are being treated in a human fashion and we've involved our police medical officer to make sure they are in good health," a spokesman said.
THE GCSB
Description: Top-secret government-run spy agency.
Operating budget: About $39 million.
Staff: About 370.
Goal: To keep New Zealand competitive in diplomatic, political and trade negotiations.
Activities: Intercepting communications for foreign intelligence purposes.
Centres: Waihopai (Blenheim), Wellington, Tangimoana (near Palmerston North).
Tools: High-tech surveillance equipment including satellite dishes.
THE PLOUGHSHARES
Description: Offshoot of American "Plowshares" religious movement.
Began: In 1980 with raid on a facility making nuclear warhead nose cones.
Goal: To expose "the violence, secrecy, and idolatry of the national security state".
Activities: Enacting the biblical prophecies of Isaiah (2:4) and Micah (4:3) "to beat swords into plowshares".
Centres: Plowshares actions have occurred in a number of countries, including the US, Australia, New Zealand and Britain.
Tools: The main symbols used in plowshares actions are hammers and blood.
Source: www.plowsharesactions.org/
