Seeking the Smoking Fuse

Uncle Sam is always listening. With high-tech spy satellites, ships jammed with electronic gadgetry, super- sophisticated listening posts around the globe and eavesdropping devices--and sometimes with the help of plain old- fashioned human spies--the U.S. constantly monitors many of the key telephone conversations and cable traffic of its friends and foes alike. The U.S. intelligence community does not want to reveal which of these methods it used to listen in as Colonel Gaddafi sent orders from Tripoli to his far-flung terror network. But U.S. officials insist there is little doubt that a fortnight ago the U.S. intercepted communications that specifically link...

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