Cybersecurity, the Internet Kill Switch and the Rule of Law.

The recent communications blackout in Egypt has given us a glimpse at what could possibly happen here. For decades, Egypt, a strong U.S. ally-and the second-largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, after Israel-has been the recipient of approximately $2 billion in American aid every year, almost all of it in military aid, according to the Congressional Research Service, since the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.

In other words, for the last 30-years, Egypt has been/still is a U.S.-supported dictatorship under President Hosni Mubarak. You don't have to be a rocket-scientist to figure out which side receives the most U.S. support.   Why most, and not all? In order to keep the Military Industrial Complex strong, it's necessary that the U.S. prop up both sides of any conflict, because when you dig  below the surface, you will see the money cycles right back to line the pockets of the Military Industrial Complex: Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics Corp, Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp, Raytheon Co.  Therefore, generating conflict in and of itself is what's key.

Anyway, this dynamic could be easily seen as the Egyptian government pulled the Internet kill switch, disconnecting its people. While the US claims non-support of the Egyptian blackout, the US State Department continues to lobby for Boeing, the company who owns Narus, the creator and distributor of the  Internet off switch, and who sold to Telecom Egypt, "real-time traffic intelligence" or "Deep Packet Inspection" equipment needed to repress protester dissent, according to Tim Karr of the media policy group Free Press.

So, now that Egypt has returned to the Internet, what about us? What about the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act? Well, unfortunately, this legislation will return.

Senator Susan Collins, the Republican ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and one of the sponsors of the Act, said, “My legislation would provide a mechanism for the government to work with the private sector in the event of a true cyber emergency. It would give our nation the best tools available to swiftly respond to a significant threat.” Moreover, it shall "not be subject to judicial review".

Here's the thing.  The Communications Act of 1934 already grants the President unchecked authority in times of emergency. Stated in the 1934 Act, it says, if a "state of public peril or disaster or other national emergency" exists, the president may "authorize the use or control of any...station or device." Why do we need more legislation? Why block judicial review?  Why give Homeland Security and DHS secretary Janet Napolitano, in particular, the final word over the courts? It's just another excuse to throw away the "rule of law" whenever the powers that be decide to manufacture declare a "crisis".

"Egypt's information blackout is an extreme step designed to disrupt planned marches, to block images of police brutality, and to silence dissent once and for all. But the shuttering of the Internet and most telecommunications by the Egyptian government also means that the government can take unmonitored action against its citizens, which poses a dire threat to human rights." -- Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Links:

RE: Civil Liberties Issues in Cybersecurity Bill

How Egypt Shut Down the Internet

Future Nightmare Scenario: An Internet Block
The following statement is enough of a nightmare in and of itself, nevertheless, the rest of the article is very interesting.

"Less than an hour later, Rep. Boehner (R-Ohio), Speaker of the House of Representatives, is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States."

FreeNet is free software which lets you anonymously share files, browse and publish "freesites" (web sites accessible only through Freenet) and chat on forums, without fear of censorship. Freenet is decentralised to make it less vulnerable to attack, and if used in "darknet" mode, where users only connect to their friends, is very difficult to detect.

Communications by Freenet nodes are encrypted and are routed through other nodes to make it extremely difficult to determine who is requesting the information and what its content is.

Egyptians Find New Routes to the Web

"When countries block, we evolve," an activist with the group We Rebuild wrote in a Twitter message Friday.

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Deception is a State of Mind and the Mind of the State

How can one tell the veneer of dissent from authentic grassroots dissent? Fabricated leaks from real leaks? Fabricated terrorists from real terrorists?



Hegelian Dialectics of Deception:

Invent not one, but two (or more) opposing lies, and keep the unsuspecting people busy debating which of them is true. (The 'Technique of Infamy', exposition attributed to Ezra Pound)

From the clash of opposite constructions, a greater whole is germinated towards the desired outcome (The Hegelian Dialectics)

When the opposites don't exist or don't clash naturally, it is fabricated and the clash engineered, entirely stage-managed on both sides to piece-meal synthesize the desired hidden agenda – raising a new phoenix from the ashes left behind by the controlled clash of the opposites (The Hegelian Dialectics of Deception applied to modern statecraft, familiar to most as fake-competition to reel in customers, or fake-managed-fights as in WWF wrestling benefiting its owners regardless of who wins or loses)

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. -- Edward Bernays

“Deception is a state of mind and the mind of the State” James Jesus Angleton, Head of CIA Counter Intelligence 1954-1974

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FBI Raids Against Antiwar Activists Setting Dangerous Prescedent.

The Bush Administration established the pattern of "firing, intimidating and defaming anyone who has had the courage to tell the truth," coining the term, intimigate, in other words, treating dissent as treason. It appears the Obama administration is not only refusing to do anything about curbing this practice, they are taking it to a new level... dozens of US Citizens on Assassination List?

The recent arrests of of antiwar activists in the US by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force concerning the "material support of terrorism" is setting the stage for a future crackdown on dissent. In fact,  It could be said the stage was set long ago with the introduction of "The Patriot Act", and this is the crackdown which is only going to accelerate. Why pick on peace activists? Because we the people have always mistrusted peace activists, therefore they're the perfect scapegoat to pave the way and condition the people for further attacks on dissent.

The "war on terror" is purposely vague and broadly defined as is the accusation of, "material support", thus allowing federal authorities to arbitrarily interpret our words and actions as they see fit.  Hence, if fostering peace = material support of terrorism,  then dissent = material support of terrorism. 

Key to this process of imposing control is making we the people feel as though, the preyed upon, deserve the "treatment", because there is something wrong with them, not with the system. And then if somehow that backfires, and the people see through the power agenda, layers of arbitrary and intricate bureaucracy exist to take the heat and camouflage the real perpetrators.

"And though the time is always right for an act of conscience, perhaps the best time of all is when the voices of power are howling that dissent is treason. A crowd marching for principle voices a different kind of power, saying what power itself doesn't want to hear: Americans have a right to dissent. Civil liberties are not a village that you save by destroying." -- Erika Munk, adjunct professor at the School of Drama, about her efforts to organize a protest march in her article "Saturday is the Time To Speak Truth to Power," Newsday (New York), March 20, 2003.

However,  closely examine  this "war on terror", and see if you don't start to wonder who is terrorizing who.  Especially when you consider the 32% civilian fatality rate in drone attacks since 2004. We're certainly not winning hearts and minds, and it's beginning to appear as if our government doesn't care about hearts and minds of anyone, either here or abroad.

The antagonism to U.S. policies in the region does not spring from general anti-American feelings. Almost three-quarters of the people in the tribal area said that their opinion of the United States would improve -- most by a great deal -- if the United States increased humanitarian aid and visas to work or study in the States. While hating the American drones above them, the people of FATA would welcome the chance to have the ground of America beneath their feet.

What is the purpose of policing the state? Who benefits? Well, if it's not obvious already, it's the people who profit from the war machine and those who reap the enormous rewards of corporate profits. Because when  over half  of what we pay in taxes funds the war machine and when corporate and Wall Street profits soar, while at the same time, we're constantly told that there is not enough money to fund health care; to fund unemployment;  that Social Security benefits need to be cut back or privatized; that  Medicare benefits need to be reduced; that the retirement age needs to be increased to 70; that states, who unlike the federal government, have to balance their budgets, are on their own; that Sarah Palin must slash state funding for a program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live...well, sooner or later, the "iron fist" will have to dispose of the velvet glove.

Links:

Political Dissent can bring federal agents to your door.

The War on Dissent Widens

Black Helicopters? The GOP's Police State.

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Where is the Moral Courage of the West?

In addition to using massive layoffs of professionals, including academics, to try and crush the protest movement, still going strong after last June’s re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran hanged two dissidents last week and sentenced nine others to death. Yet, as Iran sends peaceful dissidents to the gallows, so many courageous Iranians continue to risk death to oppose the Islamist tyranny.

What is it that makes people, agents of moral courage? Is it the complete absence of fear? The mobilizing energy fear often engenders? The effort to transcend fear? Extraordinary perseverance? Or something else?

"Sixteen defendants currently facing a “show trial” in Tehran have been selected to intimidate specific groups of dissidents and pave the way for applying the charge of Mohareb, or “enemy of God,” to large numbers of dissidents and protestors, charges that can lead to their execution, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today. Five of the sixteen defendants prosecuted in the post-Ashura trials of 30 January face the death penalty, having been charged with that crime."

We, the people are free to express ourselves in the face of injustice. We can assemble, protest, and use just about any form of peaceful demonstration there is to speak truth to power, without the fear of violence and death as retribution. Yet, even though we have plenty of reason to balk, we rarely manifest our discontent. Rather, we watch as our government serves corporate and moneyed interests at the expense of the American people and rarely do we stand up and demand that our government serve us. Why?

Elie Weisel once stated, “Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.” Has America aligned herself with indifference, ignorance, and/or denial. Have we lost our critical thinking skills to the forces of consensus? Mistaken unity with uniformity? Has moral relativity eroded our sense of right and wrong? Or are we more oppressed than we would like to believe? Maybe a combination of all of the above.

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Operation Quell Dissent

Natural disaster? Massive terrorist attack? No problem, martial law will come to the rescue.

In May of 2006, Prison Planet exposed a nationwide FEMA program designed to train clergy, all over the United States, to "quell dissent" should our government have to declare martial law, something, it seems, the Bush Administration is anticipating the same way a kid anticipates Christmas morning.

"The first directive was for Pastors to preach to their congregations Romans 13, the often taken out of context bible passage that was used by Hitler to hoodwink Christians into supporting him, in order to teach them to "obey the government" when martial law is declared."

Ironically, the same party that diligently defends our right to bear arms or should I say artillery, is also preparing to take those firearms away should a "catastrophic" event occur, contradicting what many believe to be the second amendment's main purpose, a check against tyranny. The Framers always encouraged a healthy mistrust of the state and believed disarming the citizenry could very well lead to federal oppression.

President Bush squandered precious time after Hurricane Katrina, allowing many residents in the New Orleans area to die unnecessarily, but the National Guard wasted no time confiscating guns during Hurricane Katrina, even in areas that were not affected by the hurricane. The actions or lack of action by the Bush Administration during Hurricane Katrina clearly define the agenda of this Administration and priority number one is to quell dissent, or in other words, strangle our democracy.

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Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement

President Bush signed an Executive Order entitled, "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" on July 17th, which essentially repeals the right to dissent and to oppose the Pentagon's military agenda in Iraq.

"This latest executive order criminalizes the peace movement. It must be viewed in relation to various pieces of "anti-terrorist" legislation, the gamut of presidential and national security directives, etc., which are ultimately geared towards repealing constitutional government and installing martial law in the event of a "national emergency".

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