| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
31 Dec 2005 09:52:49 PM |
| Object: |
We now know Bush authorized massive illegal spying operations |
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mike_whi_051231_new_skirmishes_in_th.htm
December 31, 2005
New Skirmishes in the Information Wars
by Mike Whitney
There are only two weapons in the imperial tool-chest; force and
deception.
The brutal colonial occupation of Iraq has provided us with a lavish
example of the former, but the twin-axel of deception is more abstruse
and difficult to pin down.
Sure, there’s the flagrant propaganda that floods right-wing radio and
political talk shows, but that tells us little about the
state-sponsored disinformation-programs that permeate every area of
American life.
We now know that the Bush administration authorized massive illegal
spying operations and is actively engaged in planting pro-American
stories in the foreign press.
These suggest that the administration’s overall theory of information
management is much more extensive then originally imagined.
In fact, news and information manipulation is at the forefront of
Bush’s war on terror, a comprehensive strategy to control of every bit
of information a citizen hears, sees or reads from cradle to grave.
It is information warfare on a scale that would make George Orwell
cringe.
It is only in this context that we can see that the threats made by
George Bush to bomb Al Jazeera are completely consistent with the
administration’s overall approach.
Controlling information is seen as a military necessity and those who
fashion an alternate narrative are Washington’s sworn enemies.
In this respect, we can understand how Al Jazeera would have to be
destroyed to pave the way for greater democracy.
When we observe the isolated incidents of the Bush information
strategy it seems disjointed and incoherent.
How does the killing of journalists in Iraq connect to the
"Swift-boating" of Dan Rather or Richard Clarke in the American press?
How does Condi Rice’s new Edward R. Murrow Journalism Program for
aspiring American propagandists relate to blowing up of Al Jazeera
facilities in Kabul and Baghdad?
How does the dissemination of false stories in the foreign press
connect to the massive surveillance operations being carried out home
and abroad?
Until we are able to combine the many disparate parts of the Bush
information strategy, we are at risk of seeing these illegal
activities as mere aberrations and not as vital cogs in the machinery
of the police-state.
There is nothing arbitrary about the massive cloud of secrecy that has
settled on the Bush administration.
The government has built an impervious wall around itself that
conceals the venality of the principle characters and avoids the
transparency required for a healthy democracy.
Conversely, the administration has defended its use of the various
investigative agencies; including the CIA, the Defense Dept., the NSA,
and the FBI, to probe every area of American life.
In fact, the Patriot Act’s new provisions (National Security Letters
and "lone wolf" clause) completely dispose of the 4th amendment’s
right to privacy (or "probable cause") allowing the government to spy
on anyone it sees fit.
The recent revelations that government organizations have been spying
on antiwar activists, Quakers and environmentalists, strongly suggests
that Bush is now vacuuming up every bit of available information on
political enemies real or imagined.
Is anyone really surprised?
_____________________________________________________________
"All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the
comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to
reach."
Adolf Hitler
Harry
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