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The Vast and Dangerous Transfer of American Spying to Mercenary Companies

By Chalmers Johnson, Tomdispatch.com. Posted July 28, 2008.


Johnson considers just how incompetent and unscrupulous a thoroughly privatized intelligence 'community' has turned out to be.
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Editor's note--

Chalmers Johnson has produced a superb new article on what privatization has meant to the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Focusing on Tim Shorrock's new book, Spies for Hire, Johnson traces the history of "the wholesale transfer of military and intelligence functions to private, often anonymous operatives" from Ronald Reagan's day to the present, reminding us of just how crucial the Clinton administration was to this development. He also lays out just what can happen when the intelligence budget soars and startling amounts of it are placed in private, for-profit hands. Not only, he claims, has the privatization of intelligence made it easier for enemies to penetrate American intelligence and greased the slippery slope to the loss of professionalism within the community of intelligence analysts, but, perhaps most serious of all, it has ensured the loss of the most valuable asset any intelligence organization possesses -- its institutional memory.

Johnson concludes: "The current situation represents the worst of all possible worlds. Successive administrations and Congresses have made no effort to alter the CIA's role as the president's private army, even as we have increased its incompetence by turning over many of its functions to the private sector. We have thereby heightened the risks of war by accident, or by presidential whim, as well as of surprise attack because our government is no longer capable of accurately assessing what is going on in the world and because its intelligence agencies are so open to pressure, penetration, and manipulation of every kind."

****

Most Americans have a rough idea what the term "military-industrial complex" means when they come across it in a newspaper or hear a politician mention it. President Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the idea to the public in his farewell address of January 17, 1961. "Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime," he said, "or indeed by the fighting men of World War II and Korea We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions We must not fail to comprehend its grave implications We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."

Although Eisenhower's reference to the military-industrial complex is, by now, well-known, his warning against its "unwarranted influence" has, I believe, largely been ignored. Since 1961, there has been too little serious study of, or discussion of, the origins of the military-industrial complex, how it has changed over time, how governmental secrecy has hidden it from oversight by members of Congress or attentive citizens, and how it degrades our Constitutional structure of checks and balances.

From its origins in the early 1940s, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was building up his "arsenal of democracy," down to the present moment, public opinion has usually assumed that it involved more or less equitable relations -- often termed a "partnership" -- between the high command and civilian overlords of the United States military and privately-owned, for-profit manufacturing and service enterprises. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that, from the time they first emerged, these relations were never equitable.

In the formative years of the military-industrial complex, the public still deeply distrusted privately owned industrial firms because of the way they had contributed to the Great Depression. Thus, the leading role in the newly emerging relationship was played by the official governmental sector. A deeply popular, charismatic president, FDR sponsored these public-private relationships. They gained further legitimacy because their purpose was to rearm the country, as well as allied nations around the world, against the gathering forces of fascism. The private sector was eager to go along with this largely as a way to regain public trust and disguise its wartime profit-making.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Roosevelt's use of public-private "partnerships" to build up the munitions industry, and thereby finally overcome the Great Depression, did not go entirely unchallenged. Although he was himself an implacable enemy of fascism, a few people thought that the president nonetheless was coming close to copying some of its key institutions. The leading Italian philosopher of fascism, the neo-Hegelian Giovanni Gentile, once argued that it should more appropriately be called "corporatism" because it was a merger of state and corporate power. (See Eugene Jarecki's The American Way of War, p. 69.)


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See more stories tagged with: cia, mercenaries, outsourcing intelligence

Chalmers Johnson is the author of three linked books on the crises of American imperialism and militarism. They are Blowback (2000), The Sorrows of Empire (2004), and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (2006). All are available in paperback from Metropolitan Books.

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Amerika Sold Out to FASCISM
Posted by: Mister_PsyOps on Jul 28, 2008 3:49 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
“Its [“big business”] objectives have long been to discredit what it called "big government," while capturing for private interests the tremendous sums invested by the public sector in national defense. It may be understood as a slow-burning reaction to what American conservatives believed to be the socialism of the New Deal.”

This is nonsense.

And so is most of the recycled “theory” behind what Alternet calls Chalmers Johnson’s “superb new article on what privatization has meant to the U.S. Intelligence Community” .

NeoCon so-called “conservatives” have bloated the size of Washington by up to 50% larger in less than 8 years under a genocidal reign of phony coverup 9/11 “war on terror” (war on a noun) that is as preposterous as it is criminal. What passes for “big business” as a monopoly poker chip of the ruling class has been squarely behind growing government so long as it is a stooge DC FASCIST lackey that does what it’s told. And that is no “theory” but hands-on reality on the ground where “democracy” and “capitalism” are just low-rent slogans for the gullible.

This about an age-old criminal Corporate Monopoly State rigged by what George Carlin called “the owners” that run it via play-actor poodle politicians throughout the west and elsewhere. The CIA has helped in that endeavor with the takeover and murder of at least 20 democracies since WW2.

In truth, the CIA has always been the Corporate Intelligence Agency for the ruling class and not whatever temp puppet president happens to pretend to be in “power”. A rare modern exception to that record was JFK who was certainly no puppet and paid the price.

“Privatization” is just more of the same under a cheap knock-off label.

I’m sure C. Johnson will sell a fair amount of books promoting more such limited hangout “theory” but history does not support red herring Kool-Aid.

I can’t speak to Chalmers Johnson’s motives but only propagandists sell decoy cartoon suds like this on a consistent basis. As in the case of our sellout MSM and “education” establishment, they usually do it in service of the usual suspects.

Since Johnson made such a point of calling up FDR from the past, I’ll stress perhaps the most honest words he ever wrote:


“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the government of the U.S. ever since the days of Andrew Jackson. History depicts Andrew Jackson as the last truly honorable and incorruptible American president.”
President FDR (on de facto Fascist rule in a letter to corporate monopoly charlatan “Colonel” Edward M. House, co-founder of the Council on Foreign Relations and political fixer for the ruling class. House also handled President Wilson. 11/21/ l933)

“I never would have agreed to the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency in ’47, if I had known it would become the American Gestapo.”

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”

President Harry Truman (on the abuse of Fascist state power, Quotes 1961 & 1950)

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» Improve America Posted by: weathered
Smacked off & Broken Clintonian Rose colored Glasses
Posted by: Purple Girl on Jul 28, 2008 4:24 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I voted, supported and defended the Clintons throughout the '90's. Hindsight is truly 20/20.
I rpobably would still be an advocate had Hillary not been handed a Seante Seat. Her Actions and Inactions not only made me reconsider Her, but also Bill's entire presidency. In the last several years I have a new founded Hatred and Fear of Hillary and what she rally IS- a covert operative camoflagued in a blue pantsuit. Once I had this revelation I began to review Bill's stint in the WH, and His admin's actions and Inactions. It has become painfully apparent they not only pushed foreign threats forward, but also Economic threats- Greenspan can be awarded one of the worst Economic Criminals of our times.Bill was nothing more than the 'Slick Willy' his detractors I agrued with claimed. My apologies, you were right I was Wrong (But if you voted for the Oil Monarchy..You owe Me and the rest of US a bigger apology).
As for th eother So called Dems (esp the DLC membership) their NeoCon red slips have been showing and will face the wrath of the voters in Nov, If not a Jury for their complicity with this Admin's high Crimes.
Real Democrats will Not be Conned like the Relgious zealots who fell for the 'Repug' Con in the '80s. Both Houses need Disinfection on both sides of the Aisle. I for one hope Sen Obama Stiffs the covert operatives and sends a clear message that the Corps no longer Own Our Gov't. With help from REAL Patriots in the Republican Party this riegn of terror will finally end!


Obama/Hagel '08

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Outing the CIA
Posted by: Democritus on Jul 28, 2008 5:15 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If anyone doubts Chalmers Johnson's conclusion that we should abolish the CIA, then that person should read Tim Weiner's book, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. Weiner documents all the failures of that agency from its beginnings as the OSS in WWII. In fact, the CIA has never been able to gather any useful intelligence, because it was infiltrated by foreign spies.

Its only successes were in "operations," which is a euphemism for destabilizing or helping to overthrow governments of foreign countries. To think that the agency has been a cat's paw for our executive branch is a mistake. Weiner outlines how CIA directors have even kept their operations secret from our own presidents. Given its penchant for secrecy in order to cover up its monumental failures--especially in the run-up to 9/11--the letters, 'CIA', are best translated as 'Criminally Irresponsible Activities'

If we want to start dismantling the military-industrial complex, a good place to start would be in ridding ourselves of an incompetent rogue element in that mix. Get rid of the CIA.

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» RE: Outing the CIA Posted by: douglashoyt
ONE CORPORATION RULES THE WORLD! Decorpiratize and Democratize!
Posted by: williameon on Jul 28, 2008 5:30 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Privatization = Corporatism ='s FASCISM ='s SLAVERY

Repatriate!

ONE CORPORATION RULES THE WORLD with
Interlocking boards.
TRILLIONAIRES-R-US
The Game is FIXED!
You are the monkey in the middle.
Jumping between their Two Hand Puppets.

They have Privatized 75% of our Government and Military.
The Dark Army anyone?
A Corpirate Mercenary Army is standing on American soil in San Diego as we speak.
While our local Militia dies in IRAQ!
The last time we had a Mercenary Army on American soil, it was The British Army at The Battle of New Orleans in The War of 1812.
Funny how history repeats itself, if your watching?
European Aristocratic Euro Trash occupies the Black House.
He was selected, never elected.
The Alien Aristocracy’s Golden Child
The King of thieves:
King George II
Everything is being sucked into
The Corpirate's Black Hole
Where is the accountability and oversight?
Who will stop their:
Spying, Lying, Torture and Terror?
All are UNCONSTITUTIONAL and ALL are
IMPEACHABLE OFFENSES!.
Shut it DOWN!
Invest in yourself and your local community.
Punch the Corpirate Boogie Man
The Halliburton Hunchback,
DEAD EYE DICK,
Gas-bag Chainey
In the face.

Withdraw your support from The Corporate System.
We need Consumer and Human Rights!
Stop watching and buying their hypnotic, poisonous Garbage.
It is the conditioning, used to enslave you.
Corporate GREED is imploding on itself as we speak.
Stand clear
STAND BACK 500 FEET
Then:
Repatriate.
Turn off The FAUX Media.
Shut it down and start over.
Decorpiratize and Democratize!
Survive and Prosper!
Self-sufficiency, efficiency, conservation and decentralization.
Let’s take the best of what we know and start over.
Take out the bad and put in the good.
Reaffirm our common positive, inalienable, Humanistic, Constitutional: Rights, Goals and Ideals.

All for one and one for all.
Remember to take a Baby Step for Mankind.

SURGE
PURGE
UPDATE and
REBOOT!

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Privitizing the Kitchen Sink
Posted by: david.model@senecac.on.ca on Jul 28, 2008 5:41 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Privitizing Intelligence is part of a grand scheme to privitize everything but the most basic functions of government. Many of the military functions in Iraq have been privitized leading to even greater numbers of innocent deaths and rape.

In addition, Bush is privitizing other functions of government that would be best served by the government. Privitizing functions removes them from the ambit of accountability, oversight and responsibility to elected representatives that is key to a democracy. We are becoming increasingly government by profit-maximizing enitities whose first responsibility is to its shareholders not to the citizens who elect their governments.

http://www.stateofdarkness.com

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Be afraid...
Posted by: BlueBerry PickN on Jul 28, 2008 6:43 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...they like it like that.

...they find it easier & a lot more fun if you only struggle *just a bit*...


┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄
BlueBerry Pick'n
can be found @
ThisCanadian
┄┄
" ... tolerance of intolerance is cowardice... " ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.
┄┄
"Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"
┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄

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Chalmers Johnson has called for an ABOLITION of the CIA. When will the rest follow?
Posted by: maxpayne on Jul 28, 2008 6:54 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Don't count on the so-called "conservatives" who rail against Big Government and lie to you about "freedom". Don't count on faux "libertarians" who have no regards for freedom and civil liberties to fight those motherfuckers as they're too FUCKING busy licking Wall $treet's ASS and getting to materialistic ! And what about the Democrats? Oh sure, for a minute they'll pretend to complain about the GOP stealing America's freedom but as soon as the "conservatives" in the GOP and their allies in Big Media give them doggy biscuits in the form of BIG MONEY or another blackmail threat, they roll over like DUMB DOGS ! This is why America VERY VERY BADLY needs a 3rd/Independent Progressive/Liberal type set of pols regardless of party affiliation. Until then,

GOD WILL CONTINUE TO SEVERELY PUNISH AMERICA TO ETERNAL DAMNATION AND PUTTING A SHACKLE ON FREEDOM WILL CONTINUE TO REMAIN A SYMPTOM !!!!

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» RE: Posted for maxpayne Posted by: donl51
Exactly
Posted by: fedupwiththings on Jul 28, 2008 7:24 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Mr. Johnson must be either naive or willfully ignorant in some respects with this piece. First of all, either way you cut it with FDR or Reagan, the systems they put into place were fascism. As the author pointed out, FDR put into place these public-private partnerships during his time in office. That would be considered Corporatism, or Fascism. Reagan did the same but in a different way. He privatized differed sectors that were historically public, and no doubt gave them to connected big businesses. Either way, it is corporate welfare and therefore against what this Republic was founded on. Furthermore, this great information about the further privatization of the military under Clinton should exhibit to Alternet readers that there is no difference between what we term "left" and "right" in politics. They all work for the military industrial complex. And don't you think that Mr. Barack Obama is going to change anything about that.

The beginning of the article is weird because it seems like Johnson is intimating that we should be getting rid of the private contractors but empowering the power structure of the CIA, NSA, etc. that is already there. I agree with him at the end that we need to get rid of all these criminal government agencies for the good of the country. However, his naivety or intentional stupidity, for lack of a better term, about how these private structures put us in danger of a "surprise" attack or being infiltrated is hilarious. No matter how "incompetent" Johnson says our intelligence agencies are, I believe that this could be further from the truth. I don't think intelligence agencies in general, which are generally corrupt, are set up to protect nations in which they are supposed to serve but to hurt them, while doing numerous criminal activities in secret.

You don't think they know that they are infiltrated by Israeli, Turkish, and most definitely other government's spies? They know this but they don't say anything about it. The intention is not to protect us, that's why. Just check out this January, 6, 2008 Times of London piece about FBI and 9/11 Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, who talks about spies within our intelligence agencies and how we were the ones responsible for selling the nuclear blueprints to the ATC, which sold them on the black market to Dr. Kahn, giving the bomb to Pakistan and North Korea. Just type in Sibel Edmonds + Times of London into Google. They need enemies and boy do they love to manufacture them. Same goes for what I like to call Al-CIA-duh. Don't you understand they were funding Al Qaeda all the way up to 1999-2000 during the Kosovo war? They knew damn well that the Kosovo Liberation Army was being trained by Al Qaeda the whole time and participated in illegal drug and weapons running for cash. Not to mention the U.S. was funding the Taliban when they came into power from 1994-1996.

9/11 was pulled off to do exactly this--take the military industrial complex to the next level while at the same time looting our treasury and hurting our real security. Just one little nugget: at least 7, and some of the most important hijackers including Mohammad Atta, trained at U.S. military bases and were caught using government issued credit cards that expired in March of 2001 shortly before their attacks. Not to mention that these "Muslim Fundamentalists" were caught doing lines of coke, frequenting strip clubs, renting dirty movies, and eating pork all in the months and weeks before 9/11.

As "incompetent" as our intelligence agencies may be, they absolutely know when we're going to be "hit" and when. Good information, but terrible conclusions Mr. Johnson.

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» RE: xactly Posted by: Quannah
our government
Posted by: jstepp590 on Jul 28, 2008 7:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When the reigns of power are no longer controlled by our government it will be the end of "by and for the people". We won't be able to even hold our government to the marginal accountability we have left because they won't have control of anything.

I see where this is going. Eventually, if things keep going in this direction it will be time to replace our government with something that works and is answerable to the people.

The only two questions I will have at that point are:

a) Who we will have to fight to take our government back.
b) will they try to enforce their power grab by trying to use our military to squash opposition to their rule.

Of course, very few dictators start with control of the military. They usually start like the Brownshirts in Germany, a mass of thugs who do the bidding of the political arm to terrorize and intimidate the populace. Of course, that would be rather difficult to do with all the guns and desire to protect our fellow citizens we have. We just have to watch out for them trying to divide us into armed factions at each others throats.

Once we have control of our government again we will need to start over with just the basic constitution. Then we will have to see what institutions we will need to bring back and which ones to abolish.

The start of that would be sending some of our "leaders" to trial in the international courts for war crimes and crimes against humanity. That will serve to not only quell any partison fighting here but will also serve as an abject reminder to the next schmuck who believes they are above the law.

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Corporations Duped the Government
Posted by: Artkansas on Jul 28, 2008 8:11 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Now they have all our little secrets and they have all the governments little secrets. Who is in the catbird seat now?

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A time to act America!!!
Posted by: Spiritgirl on Jul 28, 2008 8:13 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As the author points out the CIA does need to be abolished. For proof you need only look at the (illogical) reasoning of the last 7 years. The IDIOT-in-charge and his handlers need not amass anymore power under the guise of "Executive Privilege".

What the public should have remembered Hoovers'COINTELPRO - THIS SHOULD NOT BE REPEATED!!! For those that have forgotten he was spying and had files on everyone except himself. Today they call it Islamic Terrorists - yet they don't want to tell the truth that they have helped to create the conditions that produced those "Terrorists". The Shah of Iran educated in America, Saddam Hussein educated in America, both tyrants that were put into power by CIA backed coups that destroyed the DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED governments. There are more, but too many to name. The whole point is that we need to stop letting the government privatize to the corporate entities that they seem beholden too!

Unfortunately, the public has been buying into the pablum they have been fed since Reagan came into office. How on earth we've allowed ourselves to feed at the trough of B.S. and act like it tastes good is so far beyond me! We're still being played for idiots by a compliant corporate Congress and corporate media!!!!


The time to act is upon us!

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Anyone want to venture a guess? How many years does the US have left to exist?
Posted by: reelectnoone on Jul 28, 2008 8:23 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
How long until we "become" China. People there can work and start businesses but can have no say in their own government. We are pretty close to that already. We are told by talking heads who to vote for. We don't get to choose who the candidates are, the parties pick them for us and then we have to vote for one of their choices based on ads paid for by big corporations.

Is it already too late for America to survive as a democratic republic? Have the corporations taken over already? Is Congress just a privately owned body doing the bidding of big business? Perhaps the biggest thing not said above is that Congress may have already outsourced itself !

If the America votes want to change things we may have very few free elections remaining to do so. We have to remove everyone from offices starting with the next election because eventually no choice offered will be free of influence and it will only be a matter of voting for the corporation of choice.

I Say Re Elect No One

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What's the matter with Tennessee?
Posted by: lasarte-oria on Jul 28, 2008 8:38 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yeah, this post is totally off topic, but considering the recent shooting/killings in a Tennessee church I think it warrants discussion.
Apparently, the gunman, who has been out of work became 'fed up of the liberal establishment' and took it out on a liberal church (pro-gay and women's rights).
I wonder where he got that idea?
The right wing reframing of social structure is starting to mirror the film 'The Fisher King' - a shock jock's tyraid inspires a killing.
Until the left successfully re-integrates economics into the culture wars, more of this tragedy could be repeated under this economy.

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So we really lost BOTH major ideological conflicts of the 20th Century.
Posted by: just john on Jul 28, 2008 8:55 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When it was revealed that our Government had found some of its torture techniques in manuals of the (what we once called) Red Chinese, I started saying, "George W. Bush lost the Cold War!"

With the above, it appears -- at least when we define wars as ideological struggles -- we lost World War Two, as well.

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Our troubles began
Posted by: willymack on Jul 28, 2008 9:24 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When Poppie bush slam-dunked a doddering old "B" movie actor into our faces. By then, the Republican party name had been co-opted by a gang of crooks, liars, and thugs. The "something (for everybody) for nothing" rhetoric began, as the rethugs began the theft of everything that wasn't nailed down, and started us on a road of endless war for fun and profit. Junior bush has continued the dismemberment of our Constitution, the looting of our national treasury, the trashing of our ebviornment, and the illegal brutalization of a helpless, hapless Iraq. This political "party" is so crooked, it took a falsified vote count, and an illegal edict from the "supreme" court to get junior into the White House. He is NOT and NEVER HAS BEEN our president; not legally anyway. Just look at what crooked politics and indifference on the part of our citizens has produced! Prosecution of these criminals MUST take place; there is no other option.

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NATIVE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: THE ANTIDOTE TO CORPORATISMO ( Part 1 )
Posted by: muservin on Jul 28, 2008 9:42 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The sterling intelligence analyst, and true patriot, Chalmers Johnson, has put out this now must read, must forward, piece on the continuing erosion of our intelligence community and its capabilities, happening thru the Corporatismo incursion of private money and privatized forces into our traditional intelligence structures, or rather a parallel development of fifth column and intelligence privatization that threatens the very foundations of those structures.

This has direct impact on the course of election reform, and voting integrity itself, as more and more "moles" shall continue to "pimp" themselves out by the process of intelligence privatization, dispatched to cause trouble and confusion within the ranks of our election reform activists and the reform movement itself, as the key plum in the war to undo our democracy and freedoms and rights. Moles will thus multiply as a natural consequence.

Or rather. armies of moles, on the doles of Corporatismo. It's a grim specatacle, and perhaps the only logistical path for us, for our country's citizens, as some means to protect our country from that onslaught, or to counter this trend and pimpocracy and to shore up what democratic forces we still have that have not yet been etherized, terrorized, or marginalized, is to grow a thriving and non-linear structure of Native Intelligence Agency, with global roots reaching to all countries.

With no mighty "leaders," no directors, only contributors.

Outfits such as Alex Jones "Prison Planet," and the daily archiving of key threats to democracy by APFN ( American Patriot Freedom Network ), OpEdNews, and Black Box Voting, among many others of merit and esteem, and the growing global network of low power radio broadcasters ( www.amarc.org ), added on, are signs of life and the resurgence of freedom within what is becoming a national and world community of information sharing, one that has begun to develop the first real capabilities ever available to the peoples to gather and analyze the ever graver threats that come from traditional "intelligence" communities themselves.

As such, these growing networks of ours have the function of self-defense, and are thus inherently sanctioned and inalienable in their basic charters.

We mean as well, surely, no disrespect. or even contention, to the many members of those traditional communities who put their lives on the line to protect us, a simple and natural function of patriotism itself, and have themselves often become targets of rogue forces, especially those who have seen these trends and daily still strive to get the word out to us, global heroes such as Daniel Ellsberg, Sibel Edmonds, Ray McGovern, Wayne Madsen, and many other valiant and true patriots, the focus of our indebtedness. )

We only mean that this problem of privatization and loss of character within our intelligence agencies, as a trend, is not more nor less than a natural consequence of Corporatismo consolidating its power within the structure of the state itself.

And, to that degree it has run rather amok, across the board, as well as on boths side of the "aisle," in our so-called "elected" bodies of representatives. ( There is overwhelming evidence that our electoral landscape, especially, has been over-run for several decades, at least, by intelligence operatives, developing ever greater and more networked and organized powers to rig and alter our voting process and our votes themselves: this very trend is perhaps the greatest threat of all to democracy, and honest elections ~~ both within our shores, and ever more so abroad. These intelligence incursions are heavily documented at Lynn Landes' www.BanVotingMachines.org and in many books and articles about these grave concerns, indexed at her site, at Black Box Voting, and other links. ) ~~ Continued next....

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NATIVE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: THE ANTIDOTE TO CORPORATISMO ( Part Two )
Posted by: muservin on Jul 28, 2008 9:44 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Continued from Previous Part One

And it is a threat, or rather an active assault on all our institutions, that will continue to grow and entangle all our societies and our safety at the deepest levels, until citizens begin to realize just how grave this danger is, and the pressing, inescapable need to begin to take counter measures of self-defense: by developing an American and an international community of "green" intelligence, intelligence-sharing and analysis. Only this, alone, will serve to monitor and forewarn our nations of aberrations within these traditional and inherently money-corruptible intelligence communities, as they spawn and grow these privatized mutations that are essentially at odds, if not at war, with the interests of American citizens and indeed the world.

Only with a true, and native, intelligence analysis capability of our own, in a public and open way, that forewarns of threats to our lives and safety ~~ abilities that we have had for years, yet with too little solidarity and community of an organic and grass roots nature ~~ will we begin to give ourselves the chance of advance notice of the graver threats, and thus have the means and knowledge of an "early warning system," one that will alert our peoples, here, and elsewhere, of the imminence of assaults on our communities, or of a next Big One ( 9/11, London Tube Bombings, Katrina, and many others come to mind as examples of just the more recent "Big Ones" ).

It would be too tempting, too convenient, to see many of these things as only the outgrowth of current administrations.

But our real problem is one of What, not Who. Change all the faces of our "leaders," like avatars in a video game, or play musical chairs with the majority of current world potentates, and the problem will remain.

We need, as peoples, to change the basic rules of the game, according to sanctions of stability mandated by these trends and rogue forces, themselves, by a national and global "neighborhood watch" in cooperation among Americans, as well as a growing cross-cultural and inter-communal and international effort, all with shared and competently organized and analyzed information, and "intelligence."

Only then will we begin to level the playing field, which is, as it now "lies," history's greatest Slippery Slope.

~~John Ervin
Native Intelligence Agency

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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why...
Posted by: lexicon on Jul 28, 2008 10:28 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Do so many posts on alternet look like they were lifted, unadulterated and pristine, from the side of a Dr. Bronner's Soap bottle?


lexicon

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» RE: why... Posted by: muservin
A democracy can't remain viable
Posted by: realveive on Jul 28, 2008 11:18 AM   
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once profit replaces patriotism. Welcome to modern America.

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Who should lead?
Posted by: Lincoln fan on Jul 28, 2008 3:03 PM   
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The big trouble with America is that we've lost the basic idea of democracy. Nobody believes in "government of the people, by the people and for the people. The average person thinks that the average person is stupid and evil.
We want our government to be run by "leaders", "experts" and "honest politicians". There are always a thousand times as many leaders, a thousand times as many experts, and a thousand times as many honest people in the citizenry than are in the government.

Who started our revolution? Not King George but people outside of government. Who abolished slavery? Not the government but private citizens who were appalled at this injustice. Who got the vote for women? Republicans? Democrats? No, it was accomplished by members of the public. How about racial equality? The politicians only followed when it became politically feasable.

The government does not lead it follows. If the citizens don't lead it, it will follow a power group. This is painfully evident. So, I say, take control or be controlled.

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» RE: Who should lead? Posted by: harryf200
It's scaled up but ...
Posted by: harryf200 on Jul 28, 2008 3:10 PM   
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... sub-contracting spying is nothing new.

For a start, most agents are not members of the organisation they are working for - they are just paid by them, as it has always been thus. The real employees are the agents' "handlers".

For another, the spy agencies often use people outside of their organisations for "deniable" ops. So, if the spies are caught, they cannot be traced back to the country that hired them.

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NOT NEW, NOTHING IS: JUST DE-EVOLVING, SWAMP THINGS
Posted by: muservin on Jul 28, 2008 3:38 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I don't think the point was that it's new, probably not since the "Bubble Act" of 1720 in London, or even Sir Francis Drake, and his "Jolie Rouge" ( i.e., Jolly Roger, aka, Skull and Bones shipmates ).

I think the POINT is that our current agencies, which themselves were essentially illegal in their institution under the National Security Act of 1947 and Harry S. Truman's mortal wound inflicted on our country, back then, are rapidly mutating into hacks for hire, semi-literate and freedom-hating, democracy-despising wannabes, increasingly for the pay, not the pride. Check out Garrison Keillor's chapter "This is what happened to the Republican Party," in his book a few years ago "Home Grown Democrat," where he speaks of this feral new breed, "sutured from the spare body parts," of the unconscionable abortions of Right Wing "ideology" stuffed up the tube with the profits of pimphood. He says, "this ain't your Daddy's right wing."

The POINT is that these current generations X of spies, drawn with such attention to detail in "Doonesbury," are devolving at alarming speed into some kind of socially radioactive Swamp Things.

I had my first Press Pass to the 1984 Democratic Convention, and found myself whooping it up alongside a very friendly, and "green" (young) German longhair reporter who was recording audio of the event, as Jesse Jackson gave his Convention Address in stirring fashion. The German reporter seemed to like my enthusiasm so, he said he'd mail me a copy of the tape when he got back to Berlin. ( Clearly, not one of Hitler Youth. )

We were having a good ol' time, when some little spook, right off the Ponderosa, comes up with a Texas Sized Belt Buckle, aviator shades, and what looked like a plastic blonde dome of a haircut, and gets right in my face and sez: "We know who you are. We know you're attitude. Change it, or we'll change it for you." Before I could say, "boo," he turns away and walks off, no doubt revelling in his merecenary spook powers. This is how they've been "handling" things like voter enthusiasm for decades now, and it will only get worse if we don't begin to reclaim a transparent society by shining a light on the more under-handed, under-bellied, methods of these, our "shadow governments" within a 'government.'

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Yeah Right
Posted by: GreyFoxThree on Jul 28, 2008 8:42 PM   
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Well, the clear advantage of a "private company" is that they can get away with a LOT more as the Government can (and will) deny any knowledge of said "company". Its purely strategic.

JT
Ultimate Anonymity

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» RE: Yeah Right Posted by: muservin
This article did not mention private contractors forfeiting Citizens' assets
Posted by: Ross Wolf on Jul 28, 2008 8:42 PM   
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Not mentioned in this article: now that the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 has been signed into law, it is problematic Law enforcement agencies and private spy contractors will want to use NSA/FBI illegal wiretap evidence and other surveillance to go back perhaps decades to arrest Americans and/or civilly forfeit their homes, inheritances and business using only a "preponderance of civil evidence" under Title 18 of the United States Code. The Patriot Act specifically mentions provisions passed in Rep. Henry Hyde’s bill HR 1658 "The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000." HR 1658 included a "retroactive asset forfeiture provision" that applies retroactively to “assets already subject to government forfeiture”, meaning "property already tainted by crime" provided “that property” was already part of or later connected to a criminal investigation in progress" when HR.1658 passed.

In 2000 after HR1658 passed the “old statute of limitations” died that gave government “five years” to seize property from the actual date a “property” was involved in crime. Police now have five-years to seize property from “whenever police claim” they learned a “property” was made subject to civil asset forfeiture. There are over 200 U.S. laws and violations that can subject property to civil asset forfeiture. For example a misrepresentation on a federally insured mortgage loan application can cause the federal forfeiture of your home. Most property and business owners that defend their assets against Government Civil Forfeiture claim an “innocent owner defense.” This defense can become a criminal prosecution trap for both guilty and innocent property owners. Any fresh denial to the government when questioned about committing a crime “even when you did not do it” can “involuntarily waive” your right to assert in your defense—that the “Criminal Statute of Limitations” has passed for prosecution. Any fresh denial of guild, even 30 years after a crime was committed may allow Government prosecutors to use old and new evidence, including information discovered during a Civil Asset Forfeiture Proceeding to launch a criminal prosecution. For that reason many innocent property and business owners are reluctant to defend their property and businesses from Government Civil Asset Forfeiture. Re: waiving Criminal Statute of Limitations: see USC18, Sec.1001; see James Brogan V. United States. N0.96-1579.

Imagine NSA sharing its illegal-domestic surveillance information with countless police and private contractors that are increasingly dependent on forfeiting Citizens’ property to pay their operating costs. Police and private government contractors too easily can take an innocent person’s hastily written email or phone call out of context to allege a crime was committed. Imagine Police using the Patriot Act’s low standard of proof “a civil preponderance of evidence” to judge NSA illegal domestic wiretap information, perhaps to go back before 2000 to civilly seize a Citizen's home, business or other property. No conviction is required for U.S. Government to civilly forfeit a Citizen’s home or business. Under USA Patriot Act, witnesses can be kept secret while being paid part of the assets they cause to be forfeited.
Previously U.S. prosecutors were not allowed access to the Justice Department's “intelligence files” for domestic criminal prosecutions. In 2003 a court ruling lowered that barrier, allowing prosecutors to review old surveillance. In 2003, Attorney General John Ashcroft asked government prosecutors to review thousands of old intelligence files including wiretaps to retrieve information prosecutors could use in “ordinary criminal prosecutions.” (See http://www.securityfocus.com/news/5452 WASHINGTON (AP) - "U.S. reviewing old, secret surveillance files in terrorism investigations." “4,500 files.” The Associated Press 2003-06-04.

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History Repeats
Posted by: Seanriley on Jul 29, 2008 5:22 AM   
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This has all happened before. 1870's, Anthracite region of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Coal and Railroad Police (a subsidiary of private company with arrest authority) and The Pinkerton Detective Agency (another private company which had been employed by Lincoln to spy during the Civil War) framed supposed members of The Molly Maguires(Irish Catholic labor activists).

Franklin Gowen president of Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company decided he needed to break the fledgling labor movement. He hired Pinkerton Detective, James McParland, to infiltrate and spy on the Molly Maguires. In reality he was an agent provocatuer who committed the crimes for which the men of the Molly Maguires were later tried, convicted and executed. In a courtroom and gallows provided courtesy of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Just change the names and locations....it's happening all over again.

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RE: Yeah Right ( just the 200 year ol' Corporatism )
Posted by: muservin on Jul 30, 2008 10:35 AM   
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Private Company? The GOVERNMENT itself ~~ friends and fiends~~ IS a private company ( you can't deny that definition, since the Public has been excluded from the Club pretty much from the get go ) and it has been exclusively Private, for decades: it's just that we're only in its final years beginning to find out about it, and its slick name: CORPORATISMO.

It's the age-old challenge to God.

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What's the Worst That Could Happen?
Posted by: ranchero42 on Aug 2, 2008 9:54 PM   
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You don't actually believe mercenaries can be trusted to transport and PLANT Weapons of Mass Destruction, do you? What's next, the ones who die didn't bid high enough?

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