MoA - Crying Wolf, Wolf, Wolf

August 03, 2013

Crying Wolf, Wolf, Wolf

After weeks under heavy pressure for limitless spying on people everywhere the U.S. intelligence services conviniently detect a "threat" of some undefined future attacks. The "detection", we are of course told, was only possible because of limitless spying on people everywhere:

The United States intercepted electronic communications this week among senior operatives of Al Qaeda, in which the terrorists discussed attacks against American interests in the Middle East and North Africa, American officials said Friday.
The intercepts and a subsequent analysis of them by American intelligence agencies prompted the United States to issue an unusual global travel alert to American citizens on Friday, warning of the potential for terrorist attacks by operatives of Al Qaeda and their associates beginning Sunday through the end of August.

Just a month ago we were told that the "terrorists" are changing their communication because of the NSA snooping leaks:

The Al-Qaeda and other terrorist are reportedly changing their communication methods in light of the revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden about US led NSA 'surveillance programme'.
...
US officials said that virtually every terrorist organization including Al-Qaeda is changing the way they communicate to hide from the US surveillance after the revelations about the leaks were reported in the media.
...
Private analysis firm IntelCenter's Ben Venzke said that the leaks by Snowden serve as a wake-up call to extremists and other hostile actors to analyse how they are working and improve their security.

Is it not a bit weird that just a month after that "wake-up call" and the "changed communications" talks between "senior operatives of Al Qaeda" are now easily detectable by the same intelligence services that warned of those changes?

And what is it about these "terrorists" that the "threat" from them ends after August 31?

Even some "analysts and Congressional officials" the NYT mentions in one short paragraph find this somewhat suspicious:

Some analysts and Congressional officials suggested Friday that emphasizing a terrorist threat now was a good way to divert attention from the uproar over the N.S.A.’s data-collection programs, ...

Ahh - you don't say ...

But the sentence continues:

... and that if it showed the intercepts had uncovered a possible plot, even better.

So it would be even better if now, as a warning has been given, something would happen to some U.S. embassy in the Middle East. That then would justify the warning and of course also justify the intelligence services NSA's limitless spying on people everywhere that made the warning possible.

Hmm - how much does it cost, let's say in Yemen, to have some guys on a motorcycle fire a few shots at an embassy guard?

Posted by b on August 3, 2013 at 12:33 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: jawbone | Aug 3 2013 13:06 utc | 1

How convenient! After getting a gentle kick in the butt by Congress this week, the NSA had to respond and show its indispensability. What better way to convince Americans to keep giving up THEIR privacy than to unearth a FOREIGN terrorist plot? ("We must spy on you to protect you against them!")

And, if that doesn't work, we can look forward to something more spectacular...

Posted by: JohnH | Aug 3 2013 14:02 utc | 2

Stinking BS.

I’m surprised they think it still works. I guess they count on the past, like the anthrax attacks which REALLY spooked the populace.

Better to follow the dated Bush advice: Go shopping! :)

These calls to fear of terrorism are implemented to:

a) give any local authoritarians clout, using the excuse of a Gvmt. warning, new recruits adhere...

b) make some ppl insecure in their jobs and thus forced to go along with the hype,

c) sort the wheat from the chaff, knock away dissenters, potential terror attacks can’t be questioned or ignored,

d) generally scare the uninformed and make them subservient to authorities like Homeland Security.

Just like quantitative easing (Bernanke), it’s effect diminishes over time - the effect lowers and lowers at each prod to finally vanish, and then the ultimate move is to throw threats or money into a bottomless pit where all goes immaterial, irrelevant and hysterical stupid.

Posted by: Noirette | Aug 3 2013 14:18 utc | 3

"Obama extends the tactics (and objectives) of the Bush/Cheney administration.."

It really is significant that there is so little change. It is as if the "deep state" was feeling so proud of its achievement, in creating and foisting The Obama onto the country, that it couldn't stop itself from making the continuity crystal clear.

Then there is the fact that the state is organised in such a manner that originality in thought, ideas or tactics is impossible. To get anywhere in the Empire one has to demonstrate complete loyalty and reliability, which means the status quo is the best of all possible statuses. That is a matter of faith, not opinion.

The mental arteries are hardening, the flow of ideas is slowing to a trickle, the primary interest of the state is to preserve itself and its functionaries. Everything is dedicated to the eternal battle between Washington and America, the state and the people.

That is really what the NSA spying is about. one of these days in Congress the truth is going to slip out. A critic will accuse the bureaucracy of inefficiency, claim that, for all the billions invested and the millions of hours of labour annually, all that has been produced are a few leads in the odd potential interest in a possible, distant aspiration towards an attack on something, somewhere...Probably with a water pistol full of battery acid. Or vinegar.

And then the truth will come out:
"You think that is all we have done? Thanks to our communications we have chosen Congress from top to bottom. We run the op-ed pages from coast to coast. We even dominate the comments underneath them. The media is ours. We know everything. Ask Scott Ritter or Eliot Spitzer. We framed half the inmates in the penitentiary system and every gangster in the land knows that he owes every moment of freedom to our license. Then there is abroad where our nominees and puppets rule in every capital..."

Posted by: bevin | Aug 3 2013 14:44 utc | 4

All this synchronised with two fatwas in quick succession from Zawahiri. Now I maintain that if 9/11 was phony, then UBL was phony too, and if UBL was phony then Zawahiri is phony too. I also consider AQAP in the Yemen to be especially phony, and I think that Inspire Magazine is phony and its supposed mentor, the supposedly droned Anwar al-Awlaki, were phony as well. So that doesn't leave much. Sometimes you have a genuine religious nationalist resistance movement, like al-Shabab in Somalia, and AQ comes along and creates a phony takeover bid, which may even be successful. And the CIA calls all these phony clone outfits "franchises", which betrays the phonyness of them.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 3 2013 15:01 utc | 5

The point I'm sick of hearing is about how this changes the way the terrist communicate. They've long known to avoid all the avenues that have been re-revealed. We've even heard stories about how they'd voice chat on video game networks and other unconventional channels. Of course, every drug user knows about "Codeword" checks, and how to defeat them, with euphemisms. Of course, low level drug transactions aren't of much interest to the powers that be, and we get complacent. But any serious terrists would be guarded as this would be an anxious endeavor that's clearly grave.

Posted by: scottindallas | Aug 3 2013 15:26 utc | 6

b, maybe the US intelligence was alerted by your posts on MoA :-)
but they got the dates wrong: their alert will expire just when the real danger will begin ...

Today 1,000 prisoners escaped in a prison break in Benghazi, Libya

Last week 500 prisoners escaped in a prison break in Baghdad, Iraq

Most of those freed prisoners were some kind of Jihadis. Someone is seriously in need of man power. 1,500 angry people with little to lose can create quite a mess ...

Posted by: b | Jul 27, 2013 2:06:09 PM | 1

Moon,
What are your thoughts on the third major prison brake out in about as many weeks. If memory servers: Iraq, Afganistan and now Pakistan; about 2000 prisoners. Are these prison attacks staged by the same people? What are the implications if any for the Middle East wars?

Posted by: TomV | Jul 30, 2013 10:45:52 PM | 12

@TomV

There was also a recent prison break in Benghazi, Libya. Though most of the prisoners there were probably not Jihadists.

As I said in the recent open thread, someone is building up manpower for a big action. Given those nearly simultaneous prison breaks it might be AlQaeda Central that ordered these breaks. It suggests to me that some three month from now (on 9/11?) we will see a synchronous major attack in several countries including massive suicide bombings. Some kind of Tet offensive spread over several countries.

Posted by: b | Jul 31, 2013 12:05:30 AM | 13

Posted by: claudio | Aug 3 2013 15:29 utc | 7

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 3 2013 15:49 utc | 8

So much bullshit it stinks but it gives someone with a big grudge the opportunity for a false flag operation.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Aug 3 2013 17:16 utc | 9

masters of the universe
Eva Golinger ‏@evagolinger 40s
Mexico and Canada declared part of US homeland by Senate maps — RT USA: http://rt.com/usa/mexico-canada-us-homeland-961/#.Uf1Bv9lEseE.twitter …

Posted by: brian | Aug 3 2013 17:52 utc | 10

As reported in the pages of this newspaper, in 2005, the U.S. government funded and organized efforts to change the laws in Brazil in order to weaken the Workers’ Party. This information was discovered in U.S. government documents obtained under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. Most likely Washington has done much more in Brazil that remains secret.
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/8969

Posted by: brian | Aug 3 2013 18:01 utc | 11

@brian "masters of the universe..."

For some unaccountable reason, the Sudetenland appears to have been left out of that Homeland map.

Posted by: M.Black | Aug 3 2013 19:35 utc | 12

@10, and I'm hearing US Police want/already have access to north of 49.

Posted by: ruralito | Aug 3 2013 20:07 utc | 13

As b alluded to in the “After Snowden's NSA Exposure People Wake Up” thread, there is a ground swell of recognition/opposition to the corrupt and criminal Evil Empire’s (Ronnie Regan got it right on except he didn’t realize he was looking into a mirror) atrocities. The plethora of false flag events staged by the empire over the last 60 to 70 years, and the growing number in recent years, almost always coinciding with damage control to a state crisis/scandal, is becoming obvious to even those minions who still patriotically salute the flag. At the least they are beginning to perceive the emperor’s clothes as thread bare.

Well we can at least hope that there is an awakening taking place and ready to burst forth as an American silent spring (maybe Autumn? Winter?) that will relatively peacefully dispose of the psychotic plutocratic monsters in their deluded quest for world domination. I don’t hold my breath, but hope does springs eternal...

As b again points out, even the mainstream is beginning to see the repetitive pattern enacted by the cornered rats. With the recent revelations of the growing percentage of Americans unemployed, dispossessed and desperate, perhaps there is good reason to hope for the revolution and beheading (please note NSA agent, this is a metaphoric and not a literal term) of the emperor and their cadre. I doubt the emperor’s court guardians will fail in one more attempt to delude the ~~citizens~~ subjects with yet another false flag. The security state (CIA) is too vested with “assets” in every corner of their domain, not just willing but anxious to carry out their assigned tasks to glory. The script, Wolf, Wolf, Wolf, is becoming all too obvious to even joe six-pack. I sense a backfire and major blowback coming.

Yeah, I know, the eternal optimist...

Posted by: juannie | Aug 3 2013 20:51 utc | 14

Well, well, well, happily enough those ragheads, as zusans like to call them, are way behind us, the formidable western countries, in pretty everything.

zusa is half right. Now that Snowden spilled all our brilliant high-tech methods chances are that the ragheads won't use their verizon handsets anymore just like that. Damned!
But not all is lost yet. Luckily, zusa intelligence services are prepared for everything including them ragheads employing clandestine high-tech like altering their voices when speaking on their verizon mobiles or shifting lettery by 3 when texting their attack plans.

So, be warned, al cia'da! You just don't mess with a country that just recently raided an animal shelter and killed a baby deer with a swat team of just a dozen agents.

Posted by: Mr. Pragma | Aug 3 2013 23:12 utc | 15

The change in sentiment seems to have affected Hollywood, if two recent action movies I just watched are any guide.

"White House Down" is a typical Hollywood shoot 'em up flick in which terrorists capture the Whitehorse. Except the head terrorist is a long time secret service agent angered by the president's move to reconcile with Iran.

"Two Guns" is another one where the CIA and US Naval Intelligence are portrayed as rival fighting each other over drug money. They are exceptionally cruel and arrogant. The CIA openly assists drug traffickers in exchange for there percentage. It even has a dig against Islamophobia.

It's like radical conspiracy theories have gone mainstream.

Posted by: Lysander | Aug 3 2013 23:20 utc | 16

In yet another sign of change, Bibi's attempt to stick Iran's new president with a "wiped off the map" label seems to have fallen flat.

I got the above link via antiwar.com, but I first noticed it was atop Yahoo news yesterday morning and is now hard to find.

Posted by: Lysander | Aug 3 2013 23:30 utc | 17

@10 Brian

The real mistake is that they failed to include Colombia.

Posted by: guest77 | Aug 3 2013 23:47 utc | 18

@16

The "Elysium" flick seems to hold some promise - perhaps.

It is a story where the wealthy have moved to a large, beautiful space station while the rest of us toil on a violent, polluted Earth below.

I can't vouch for it of course. Knowing Hollywood, they can't go too far. But it is made by the director of "District 9" which I found fairly satisfying (even if it was a movie about racism that ventured into some pretty racist portrayals itself).

I do take issue with the portrayal of a world without the super-rich being a hell hole. I suspect, in fact, that it would be quite pleasant.

Posted by: guest77 | Aug 3 2013 23:55 utc | 19

yes indeed @13

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/us-wants-exemption-from-canadian-law-for-cross-border-officers-rcmp-memo-217638161.html

The United States wants its police officers to be exempt from Canadian law if they agree to take part in a highly touted cross-border policing initiative, says an internal RCMP memo.

The US cops can stay in the US. The Canadian cops are corrupt enough. As is the RCMP

Posted by: brian | Aug 3 2013 23:57 utc | 20

but will the US empire allow a vassal state police access to US?

Posted by: brian | Aug 3 2013 23:58 utc | 21

OK, US Embassy's shut on Sunday (Why Sunday, just utter lunacy). The risk this imposes on it's citizens (US) or those seeking asylum/refuge is epic.

Picture this, between now and then someone must get to the Embassy and they are in danger (Real or forced), they cant get in (This is US territory by definition). They are killed outside, who is then accountable? Remember "The most important thing we have to do is protect American lives". Bar that - What happens Mon - Sat in this plan?

If an Embassy was in danger, and they do have intel, would it not be wiser to beef up security, not just close it, many of those on the list are not residential, what about the staff and quarters/housing on Sundays? Looks like a H. Clinton ploy, she and Obama did just have a meeting (Just before this Media release) and she will be running for his post.

Stevens was openly Gay, he was sent to that mission as a bad boy posting, so he knew something or did something or saw something? It is a fact the H. Clinton is a Lesbian, rumors of Obama liking a bit of man was also in the picture, could this be a related cover-up?

Posted by: kev | Aug 4 2013 1:30 utc | 22

'Obama liking a bit of man'?? I'm going to meed a few more details on that.

Posted by: dh | Aug 4 2013 2:14 utc | 23

The pickles are already in the galoshes, habibi.

Posted by: biklett | Aug 4 2013 4:27 utc | 24

@dh | Aug 3, 2013 10:14:39 PM | 23, I said 'rumor', but no smoke without fire I think. There were a few odd tales from his past, included a death of some gay fella and the connect was Obama and some Chicago mans club, Coke (Not the drink) the club was known for man on man action and saunas etc. Here is a Huffpost write up on some related aspects. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/obama-gay-rumors-chicago-jerome-corsi-_n_1877990.html

Here is a silly site with the above speculations, all that is missing is a fried chicken antidote; http://politicalvelcraft.org/2011/11/03/breaking-mother-of-murdered-obamas-gay-partner-speaks-up-1-of-the-3-homosexual-members-of-obamas-trinity-church-murdered/

True or not, Stevens and H.Clinton are, and there is a connect from the past in this area. Obama is also termed the 'Gay' Pres because of his push for gay rights, and the US media is infatuated with the Gay drive, and the fact he has many gay people on board including C.Rice.

In that Obama has been targeted for many odd background issues, from funding, Birther issue, Gay, Drugs, education, author (Ghost writers), family (Odd balls), social security card issue, passport issue etc, etc... And 'Tyrone Martin could have been me' statement, He is a funny fella at that... http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/photos-show-teenage-barack-obama-high-school-prom-163138377.html

Posted by: kev | Aug 4 2013 4:38 utc | 25

Stevens was openly Gay, he was sent to that mission as a bad boy posting, so he knew something or did something or saw something? It is a fact the H. Clinton is a Lesbian, rumors of Obama liking a bit of man was also in the picture, could this be a related cover-up? Posted by: kev | Aug 3, 2013 9:30:31 PM | 22

I have a theory that the real reason Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in Benghazi is because he kept picking up local boys for sex, which is something that Salafis take grave exception to. I realise it would be homophobic simply to assume that because he was gay, he was necessarily into rough trade, but nevertheless I do think it's a very probable explanation for what happened, and it's almost amusing to see it so sedulously ignored in all the brouhaha. Stevens' gayness was never a secret, but equally it was never mentioned in stories about his death. A comprehensive early exposé of his gayness is here.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 4 2013 6:52 utc | 26

Maybe there is no contradiction. Does the first item involve the NSA at all? The terrorists' handlers have been dishing out sophisticated electronic communications equipment like confetti. Now they find their networks are being used for purposes other than their own immediate concerns. Maybe the handlers are just covering their backs - intercepting just means you're distancing yourself from those messages on your network which might get you into trouble, much as we watch our favourite programmes, but monitor those we dislike.

Posted by: Bob Jackson | Aug 4 2013 8:31 utc | 27

@ Rowan Berkeley | Aug 4, 2013 2:52:24 AM | 26

The same caused issues in Kosovo also back in 2002-4

PDSRSG Charles Brayshaw for Kosovo UNMIK (USA) known picking up young Kosovars that were waiters. Prior Foreign Service officer

Chargé d'Affaires ad interim (Peru)
served as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, Sep 1992-Dec 1993.
Chargé d'Affaires ad interim (Mexico)
served as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim Jun 1997-Aug 1998.

The above -Very short posts. Then landed in Kosovo 2002, in 2004 was outed (Political pressure for his Toy Boys habit), never hear of him again?

Both State Gov peeps, both doing things that are anti-social in respective missions, you think they would learn, 'When in Rome' and not when in romancing.

Posted by: kev | Aug 4 2013 9:07 utc | 28

PDSRSG? Ah, Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General. Why do they all have to be so goddam 'special'? isn't there such a thing as an ordinary representative, or an ordinary envoy?

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 4 2013 9:42 utc | 29

Rowan Berkeley | Aug 4, 2013 5:42:37 AM | 29, all 'political appointees' need 'Titles', or they throw a tantrum. Most appointees have no background or skill sets, just connections or position through being connected.

I have a theory that the US is closing down the Gulf States entirely, this includes regional players including N. Africa, it geopolitical economics and Oil (Energy). The recent Asian Pacific push is to create a new ‘Hub’(s), both Naval and Air (Airports). In this the US East and West coast have respective links; West Coast into Asia, and Asia links to everything, then East Coast (Atlantic) into Europe, in turn links to everything.

Right now Dubai is the ‘Hub’, and it has been growing from that and it’s ‘Luxury’ status along with Oil, but reserves are lowering. Saudi is worried about the US moving into the sand Oil sector (Loosing Biz) and without the US it has no protection. Without the black magic, the region is pretty much limited to tourist Biz and trade, but without decent trade partners, it will be DOA. Since the region has very limited manufacturing, or rather no product or ‘Brand’, but is a Mecca for ‘Brands’ it profits, but one day that will also slow. I feel the US has preempted this for a decade and now making its axis change and the entire region will be hung out to dry.

It is possible the ‘Arab spring’ is very much a part of that smoke screen as it must also withdraw (Military apparatus) in turn eaving a volatile region, this will afford the US to fill gaps, make allegiances, re-group/Org and without much attention as the region will be in conflict and focused on its own agenda’s.

Along these line, both China and Russia have also made their respective new channels, all ‘are’ mitigating the need for the SC (Egypt) and the Horn of Africa; between these Super Powers and their respective partners a massive global shift in trade/resources is on the rise and that shift will also disband the current ‘threats’ as it will not be held to ‘Bounty’ or economically tied to any deal. In Laymen’s terms, trade is opening new shops, the old one had bad prices and the policy’s were negative. This is where the customer becomes ‘King’, rather than the supply chains.

My theory is based on the Asian Pacific push and they MO of it's status including a little 'heat' over some disputed Islands, but one can see that is all smoke and mirrors. In terms of staging, East Coast, via Hawaii, then Guam, the rest is obvious, even now commercial Airlines are starting to pick up this route, where once it was largely ignored. Moreover the region is 'safe', with Japan, China and other entities keeping it in check, the only 'hot spot' or possible danger is N.Korea. Where as N.Africa, and the Arab states, the entire logistics/Transport mechanisms are a strangle hold with many costly security needs that are failing.

This looks very much like the "new world order" Woodrow Wilson's global zeitgeist during the period just after World War I, the formation of the League of Nations - "The war to end all wars"; then the Bretton Woods system. Henry Kissinger stated in 1994, "The New World Order cannot happen without U.S. participation, as we are the most significant single component - Who knows?

Posted by: kev | Aug 4 2013 10:49 utc | 30

"... I realise it would be homophobic simply to assume that because he was gay, he was necessarily into rough trade,"

I think that you can safely assume that if he was CIA he was into rough trade. Though that might offend imperialists.

Posted by: bevin | Aug 4 2013 13:13 utc | 31

Stevens was also in Jerusalem for a while before Libya, fluent in arabic, with a pro-palestinian bias and despised by Israel. What was it's influence politically to Obama administration? Any thoughts?

Posted by: gregg | Aug 4 2013 14:42 utc | 32

Posted by: juannie | Aug 3, 2013 4:51:16 PM | 14
"ready to burst forth as an American silent spring (maybe Autumn? Winter?"

There is this very troubling bit of news - Armed Militia Holding Pennsylvania Town Hostage. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/08/03/armed-militia-holding-pennsylvania-town-hostage/

This is the on-going story of Gilberton, Pennsylvania, a small borough which is living under the constant threat of terroristic violence. Where men with guns block the entrance to public meetings, where public officials openly threaten every member of society who holds a different political view than they do, where councilmen are strip searched and arrested without cause and anyone who tries to fire the Police Chief would be forced to live in fear of retaliation from a militia of armed terrorists. Pennsylvania police chief Mark Kessler is the head of a political organization which refers to itself as “The Constitution Security Force.” Kessler was recently given a thirty day suspension, for using police property as props in a video where he threatens and insults “libtards,” otherwise known as people who hold political views which differ from his own. In a second video, Kessler can also be seen threatening the life of a federal government official, Secretary of State John Kerry.
On August 1st, Kessler called on the militia to attend a meeting of the Gilberton Borough Council, where disciplinary actions against Kessler (for the videos) were being discussed. A State Police helicopter was called to the scene, as more than a hundred armed men and women arrived at the meeting, brandishing AR-15 assault rifles. Armed members of the militia blocked the doors of the public building where the meeting was held, in order to prevent those who wished to speak from entering.

Posted by: TikTok | Aug 4 2013 16:19 utc | 33

Senior US Official: Intercepted Al Qaeda Communications Indicate Planned Attack ‘Big,’ ‘Strategically Significant’
Martha Raddatz, Jonathan Karl, ABC News, Aug 4 2013

On the day that almost two dozen US embassies and consulates across MENA are closed following the identification of a significant threat from AQAP, a senior US official is providing new details about the communications intercepted from the terrorists, telling ABC News:

Al-Qaeda operatives were heard talking about an upcoming attack. They said the planned attack is going to be big, and strategically significant. The part that is alarming is the confidence they showed while communicating and the air of certainty. We were stunned that they broke operational security. They appear to have a media plan for after the attack. We do not know whether they mean an embassy, an airbase, an aircraft, trains. We are concerned about surgically implanted devices. These are guys who have developed the techniques to defeat our detection methods.

Today on ABC News This Week, Rep Dutch Ruppersberger, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said:

We received information that high level people from AQAP are talking about a major attack. And these are people at a high level. It’s a very credible threat and it’s based on intelligence. What we have to do now is the most important issue, is protect USAians throughout the world. We know that al-Qaeda and other people out there want to attack us and kill us and our allies.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 4 2013 17:08 utc | 34

Solution: US Embassy's shut on Sunday? - Again the risk this imposes on it's citizens (US) or those seeking asylum/refuge is epic. Also I just don't get it other than pure fear mongering...

Posted by: kev | Aug 4 2013 17:17 utc | 35

@34 "USAians"

Did he really say "USAians"?

Posted by: guest77 | Aug 4 2013 17:29 utc | 36

@Rowan, haha no, I guess he didn't. Oh well, I was really hoping for something that stupid. I was certainly treated to equally stupid things though:

Here is the video: http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/reps-peter-king-dutch-ruppersberger-week-19865919

"We must do everything we can to protect the lives of American citizens"

So tired of this bogus line of reasoning, especially from a country that lets us die by the droves in foreign wars and under a failing health care regime.

Posted by: guest77 | Aug 4 2013 17:40 utc | 37

Sorry, that's me. I always change 'Americans' to USAians' reflexively nowadays. It's because I refuse to accept the assumption implicit in the use of the word 'Americans', that USAians own the continent. It appears they are hyping the claim that this was an NSA interception. ABC also has a video with the co-author of the story and G Greenwald. I can't seem to run ABC News videos here, possibly because of technical factors. But I wonder why Greenwald would get involved in this game.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 4 2013 17:53 utc | 38

Here's another one, this time from CNN. It's too long for me to attempt to summarise, but it mentions a warning from Yemen. This detracts from the original propaganda project, to hype NSA's vitalness in protecting goddam USAians from mussed hair, but it follows a long-planned meeting between Obama and the current Yemen puppet 'President'. I have always said that AQAP was a total fake from top to bottom, and things like Inspire Magazine, and the whole Awlaki saga, fill me with contempt. But there is a real rebellion in Yemen, featuring the Houthis in addition to a century-old resistance by the south against the north (where Sana'a is), and as usual AQ is used as a means of obscuring, stunting and militarily blitzing the real rebels. Compare Mali, where the Tuaregs and others got similarly eclipsed by another bogus AQ manifestation, the one the French are supposedly combating.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 4 2013 18:13 utc | 39

@38 And you're right to do it. It's been too long us USAians have sullied the name of two continents. I just thought it would be funny coming form a congressman.

Posted by: guest77 | Aug 4 2013 18:20 utc | 40

This is a bit nonsensical, like most USG terror propaganda campaigns. I think they are trying to kill two birds with one stone, or maybe two agencies, NSA and CIA, are jostling to exploit the campaign. The NSA wants to hype its interception capabilities, so we get the quotes in this Guardian story:

Republican senator Saxby Chambliss said on NBC's Meet the Press that he believed the intelligence had been gathered by the NSA using foreign surveillance powers granted under section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. "This is a good indication of why they [the surveillance powers] are so important," he said. His defence of the NSA was echoed by another Republican, Lindsey Graham. Asked by CNN host Candy Crowley whether USAians were right to be frightened, senator Graham said: "It is scary. The NSA programme is proving its worth yet again."

But this is jostling with a CIA attempt to vindicate its drone assassination program in Yemen. Hence the warnings from Yemeni security that they had overheard "chatter among AQAP operatives" about a major upcoming operation. How they are supposed to have 'overheard' this is unexplained. They don't have any SIGINT capacity, except I suppose an ability to tap cellphones.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 4 2013 18:34 utc | 41

And yet another sign of changing mood, Senator Chuck "The Schmuck" Shumer calls Putin a schoolyard bully and is roasted in the Yahoo comments section. Hardly a single anti-Putin comment, unless you count "Go to Russia Schumer and kick that bullies as_."

So yeah, if there was ever a time the establishment needed a false flag, this is it. I wonder what it will be.

Posted by: Lysander | Aug 4 2013 18:37 utc | 42

kev @22 & @35. "The risk this imposes on it's citizens (US) or those seeking asylum/refuge is epic." Don't be silly. US embassies don't serve ordinary citizens in times of crisis.

I got stuck on a Greek island near Turkey during the overthrow of the Colonels and Turkey's invasion of Cyprus. Despite many calls, the embassy did nothing. They wouldn't even pick up the phone.

When Brits called their embassy, they got action. A ship was sent to pick up foreigners. The embassy instructed them on where to go to meet it.

The main job of US embassies is to spy and promote American companies. Serving American citizens is at the very bottom of their priorities.

Posted by: JohnH | Aug 4 2013 18:48 utc | 43

Obama Removes Promise to Protect Whistleblowers From Old Campaign Website
• James Holcomb
• 6 days ago

Obama Removes Promise to Protect Whistleblowers From Old Campaign Website
In a recent blog post by the Sunlight Foundation, the watchdog organization curiously notes how the Obama administration has removed previously available content from then candidate Obama's famous 2008 campaign platform, Change.gov. While the site has long since served as a landing page to redirect traffic towards the now President Obama's whitehouse.gov, the content of the website, particularly the materials and agenda pages, has always been accessible. However, very recently, access to such information is now no longer supported through the site and appears to have been "scrubbed" off the internet (of course, you can still access archived forms of the aforementioned pages)
Thus, because President Obama's policies have failed to match candidate Obama's campaign platform (particularly the change part of "hope and change"), it is possible that the easy availability of such contradictory information, not to mention the reputability of the source, has proven to be too detrimental to President Obama's reputation — given the current political climate. More specifically, the resident's views on government ethics and whistle blowing:
Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.
While the connection between such blatant hypocrisy and its intentional "removal" from the internet remains speculative, the coincidence is too great to ignore. Moreover, it is hard not to recall George Orwell's 1984 and the Ministry of Truth's epic programs to rewrite history in an attempt to save face. So in that regard, remember:
"Obama was at war with Whistle Blowers; therefore Obama had always been at war with Whistle Blowers"
http://www.policymic.com/articles/57017/obama-removes-promise-to-protect-whistleblowers-from-old-campaign-website

Posted by: brian | Aug 4 2013 22:43 utc | 44

Interesting pic used by NYTimes to accompany Eric Schmitt article. See that pic used a lot when trying to deflect scale of compound (>4 million SF, now employing 10,000? people.)

Posted by: erichwwk | Aug 4 2013 23:12 utc | 45

@33 Tik Tok
You'd be surprised how often armed hicks show up to local government meetings in rural USA in attempt to intimidate.

Posted by: Crest | Aug 5 2013 2:38 utc | 46

A nice and well thought post from ' Going to Tehran '

http://goingtotehran.com/rohanis-inauguration-irans-political-system-and-americas-strategic-suicide-in-the-middle-east#comment-15023

A-B says:
August 4, 2013 at 7:26 pm
On a positive note; the misquotation of Rohani’s speech by Netanyahu was a good thing. It is further proof (of the obvious to many) that the campaign against Ahmadinejad (incl. of course the Green insult to Iranians) was a deliberate and malicious assault from the West on Iran (with Russian and Chinese tacit agreement). The reality of this insolence of the West cannot have escaped Rohani; that the hostility of the Arrogant was not because of Ahmadinejad, the legitimate president elect of Iran. They expected a war during Ahmadinejad’s tenure; they didn’t get one (see footnote); would you then believe their ‘let’s be friends’??

Actually, when the war drumming subsided, I expected that the Global Arrogance would give the credit to Israel; that it was because of Israel’s ‘magnanimity’ that the Iranians were spared from the ‘wrath of the gods’ … for the time being, that is. But then Netanyahu, this anti-social moron, went Loony Tunes on everybody with his bomb chart in the UN. I’m sure all the leaders in the West just shook their heads in disdain and said “here we try our best to promote our racist-fascist creation in the region and legitimize its savagery; now look at this clown!” I guess, that’s when they decided to instead make Obama champion of ‘peace’!! Now, the ‘shrewd’ (LOL!) nut-case is at it again! No doubt; the time for Israel is over, AND it is NOT thanks to ANY European/Westerner or Russian. Again, this is best time to cleanse the MENACA of Western imperialism; to squander this opportunity is unforgiveable.

*** Footnote ***

Three major signs, IMHO, that signaled that ‘The War’ was postponed:

1- The wave of phony terror attacks against the West didn’t stick to Iran and instead blew in the face of Israel/US/UK. This was while acts of true terrorism against Iranians, especially the assassination of Iranian scientists, could not be blamed on anyone else than those same three arch-Terrorists.

2- The total perplexity of the P5+1 in this charade that is called negotiation only indicated that they REALLY didn’t expect it to come this far.

3- The ‘miraculous’ saving of the collapsing global financial system: Gold prices plunged; stock markets recovered; all the hype of ‘Euro-crises’ (what will happen if Greece defaults, oh me oh my…), the fiscal cliffs, the financial abysses, fault-lines, canyons, tectonic plates, etc. Don’t get me wrong; the economical situation was and remains a mess, but the way the financial head of the Fascist Hydra (or Cerberus) saved the day when they realized there cannot be a war (at this juncture) was pretty impressive.

Undoubtedly, the fact that these very tangible events were used as pretext to start an unjust war is proof enough of the reality of a vicious conspiracy against Iran, even if the war never materialized (a syzygy did not occur, say, in December 2012!!!). In light of this, the Israeli crybaby’s temper tantrum was/is quite ‘rational’. However, it was and still is funny how the ‘alarmists’ , ‘truthers’, ‘conspiracy theorists’ in alternative media totally short-circuited: “Buy gold … sell gold … buy bitcoin … sell [naked] shorts … no, not your underwear … aw, sell that too … buy new one with bitcoin; it’s a safer investment”. Suddenly the ‘mighty’ Bilderbergers are just a little chummy advisory group of old megalomaniacal mass-murdering farts like Kissinger. So, who said their dictates would always materialize? Well, the WESTERN alternative media did!! (HOWEVER, apparently the Bilderbergers DID prefer to have Rohani as Iran’s president … but then again, I’m sure they much preferred to have a ‘Shah’ on the Iranian throne.)

So, is the conspiracy or risk of War over? NO! Am I saying that all ‘alarmists’ , ‘truthers’, ‘conspiracy theorists’ are wrong or tools of the Establishment? Not necessarily. This reminds me of Jewish prophets saying: it is not easy to prophesize in troubled times. Not for some, apparently!!

Posted by: Sufi | Aug 5 2013 7:40 utc | 47

ViolationRe: BLACK CROWS MEANING?birds of preyIsaiah 181 Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, 2 Which sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying, "Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin, To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide." 3 All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth: When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it; And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it

Posted by: jub | Aug 5 2013 10:11 utc | 48

Not Nostradamus then. OK. But are you still with AIPAC, like you said you were, about a week ago, or was that some kind of hypothetical on your part?

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Aug 5 2013 11:21 utc | 49

Cue grams: sound of wolf slavering after its prey...
Grim Voice 1: Sources tell Fox News that it comes as al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri demands that key leaders of AQAP step up their activities in the wake of recent killings of top terrorists. One Middle East diplomat tells Faux 'News' that al-Zawahiri has been "pressuring" AQAP, and that the pressure that local al-Qaeda figures have been subjected to, aimed at getting them to launch new terrorist attacks on Western and USAian targets, is "unprecedented." This is what has led to the extraordinary volume of "chatter" picked up by US intelligence following a period of months of "absolute quietness" on terrorist phone lines, computer outlets, websites and other channels.