Officers Call – Page 179 – Public Intelligence Blog

2011/04/082011/04/08

Arabian Revolt & Inequality in the USA

01 Poverty, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Analysis, Communities of Practice, Corporations, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, InfoOps (IO), IO Sense-Making, Methods & Process, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Officers Call, Policy, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Reform, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Waste (materials, food, etc)

editor spinney time — Chuck Spinney Recommends...

Below are two opinion pieces.

The first is “A revolution against neoliberalism” by Abu Atris, it appeared in Al Jazeera on 24 Feb. The second is “Of the 1%, by the 1%, and for the 1%” by Joseph Stiglitz. One is about the Arab Revolt in Egypt and the other is about income inequality in the United States … they raise stunningly similar — and very disturbing — themes when compared to each other. I urge readers to read each carefully and think about the likenesses and differences between them.

EXHIBIT A

A revolution against neoliberalism?

If rebellion results in a retrenchment of neoliberalism, millions will feel cheated.

‘Abu Atris,’ Aljazeera, 24 February 2011

EXHIBIT B

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%

Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation’s income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret.

By Joseph E. Stiglitz, Vanity Fair, May 2011

2011/03/302011/03/30

Lack of Integrity = Being on Wrong Side of History

07 Other Atrocities, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Officers Call

There is no question that the sudden emergence of the Arab Revolution caught the Obama Administration flatfooted. While it is easy to blame President Obama for being asleep at the switch, he is dependent on the professional government for information about the world — specifically, that provided by the $80 billion a year intelligence services.

The American intelligence apparat – CIA, DIA, NSA, NRO, etc. — has missed just about every important international development/opportunity in the last 30+ years: The Iranian Revolution, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, 9-11, WMDs in Iraq, the Taliban's tentative overtures with respect to dumping Osama bin Ladin, and now the Arab Revolt. Given this history, Obama is not entirely blameless for being caught napping. To date has not even attempted to correct what is a horrendous problem that clearly threatened to capture him and distort his decision making.

Why are the $80 billion a year intelligence activities so blind to important events and so resistant to reform?

Continue reading “Lack of Integrity = Being on Wrong Side of History”

2011/03/28

Pentagon Pathology: Follow the Money

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Commerce, Corporations, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Intelligence (government), Law Enforcement, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Officers Call, Policy, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Technologies, Waste (materials, food, etc)

Andrew Cockburn's essay in The Pentagon Labyrinth is titled “Follow the Money.” There are a lot of people who will say that is an undignified way to assess America's national security apparatus; they might even say that Cockburn's focus is cynical. I would personally venture to guess that a disproportionate number of those saying so are doing rather well – thank you very much – in that same national security apparatus. Or, they plan to do so in the foreseeable future.

Cockburn summarizes his argument in a interview in the ongoing series conducted by Federal News Radio. Chris Dorobek of the DorobekInsider Show interviews Andrew Cockburn.

Following the money and understanding why that is important is key to comprehending why the Pentagon, Congress, the manufacturers, and the think-tanks behave the way they do. After all, as Cockburn says in the DorobekInsider interview, why do you think the manufacturers put all those ads in the Washington Metro system. They're not there for the area's teachers or the local sports teams' fans.

But there is much more to following the money than just that. Cockburn explains fully in his essay in The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays to Help You Through It. He addresses perhaps the most powerful and recurrent theme underlying contemporary defense community behavior. Read Cockburn's essay. Download the book free.

Have a comment? Pro or con? We welcome a public debate.
_____________________________
Winslow T. Wheeler
Director
Straus Military Reform Project
Center for Defense Information

Phi Beta Iota: INTEGRITY. One word. The one word not spoken at the Pentagon by anyone above the rank of Major. You don't make Colonel, and you do not advance as a General, without drinking the kool-aid and “going along” with systemic corruption. Our shame–our continuing shame–is a burden on the Republic.

2011/03/27

Public Intelligence Emergent: Citizen Network in Krygzstan to Check and then Counter Rumors

Advanced Cyber/IO, Analysis, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Collective Intelligence, Ethics, InfoOps (IO), Methods & Process, Mobile, Officers Call, Open Government, Policies, Reform, Strategy, Threats, Tools

How To Use Technology To Counter Rumors During Crises: Anecdotes from Kyrgyzstan

Patrick Meier | March 26, 2011 at 11:47 pm | Tags: rumors, Skype, SMS, validation | Categories: Crowdsourcing, Digital Activism, New Media | URL: http://wp.me/pecFU-1n8

I just completed a short field mission to Kyrgyzstan with UN colleagues and I’m already looking forward to the next mission. Flipping through several dozen pages of my handwritten notes just now explains why: example after example of the astute resourcefulness and creative uses of information and communication technologies in Kyrgyzstan is inspiring. I learned heaps.

. . . . . . .

The degrees of separation needed to verify a rumor was close to one. In the case of the supposed border attack, one member of the chat group had a contact with the army unit guarding the border crossing in question. They called them on their cell phone and confirmed within minutes that no attack was taking place. As for the rumor about the poisoned humanitarian aid, another member of the chat found the original phone numbers from which these false SMS’s were being sent. They called a personal contact at one of the telecommunication companies and asked whether the owners of these phones were in fact texting from the place where the aid was reportedly poisoned; they weren’t. Meanwhile, another member of the chat group had himself investigated the rumor in person and confirmed that the text messages were false.

Gallop vs. Cheney et all on 911 5 April 2011

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Military, Officers Call

JFK, MLK, USS Liberty, 9/11….the truth will come out…..

Amidst Growing World Doubts About 9/11, Career Army Officer Takes Bush Administration Officials to Court April 5th Represented by the Center for 9/11 Justice

The issue is heating up in America as well, and will soon be heard in court.

On April 5th, 2011, at 11 a.m., at the Federal Courthouse at 141 Church Street in New Haven, Connecticut, the case of Gallop v. Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Myers will be heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

Read complete press release….

Center for 911 Justice

Phi Beta Iota: There is not a sufficiency of evidence to convict, but there is assuredly a sufficiency of evidence to indict, and we are equally certain that the 911 Commission was at best a mediocre and incomplete endeavor and at worst a complete cover-up. As Penguin notes, the truth will come out.

Related Current News:

Continue reading “Gallop vs. Cheney et all on 911 5 April 2011”

2011/03/252011/03/25

Wesley Clark interview (March 2007): “We plan to take out 7 countries in 5 years”

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Military, Officers Call

Wesley Clark interview (March 2007): “We plan to take out 7 countries in 5 years”

Synopsis: 10 days after 9-11, visiting Joint Staff, not only knew we were going to take down Iraq, a few weeks later but got the list of six other countries:

Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Iran

Watch the short video…

Phi Beta Iota: This is somewhat consistent with the published book Endgame–The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror by Thomas McInerney and Paul Vallely with an introduction by Oliver North. Published in 2004, they focused on the need to use our military to wipe out Syria and Iran while intimidating Libya and Pakistan. What is quite clear is that regardless of which political party is nominally in power, the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex (MICC) has taken on a life of its own that is expensive, dangerous to all, clearly at odds with the US Constitution, and totally out of control. For a third of what we spend on war we could be waging peace and providing all 44 dictators with non-violent exit strategies. The gap between the public and the government has never been greater in the modern history of the USA, in our collective view.

2011/03/24

Obama fails to grasp the gravity of going to war

08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Military, Officers Call

Although a partisan paper, the Examiner does show the lack of
understanding that is permeating the current administration……..

By: Byron York 03/24/11 8:05 PM

The Examiner

“I see Obama's visiting the United States,” said Rush Limbaugh on
Thursday, the president's first full day back in Washington after a spring
break diplomatic tour of Latin America….

. . . . . . .

After ordering troops into action, the president headed off to South
America with his wife, daughters, mother-in-law, and mother-in-law's
friend in tow. There was no solemn, reasoned speech to explain why the
U.S. was going to war…..

obama goes to war ii — Click on Image to Enlarge

Meanwhile, the White House is at times having difficulty simply making
sense. The president talked about an “exit strategy” in which American forces would not exit at all. And administration officials are going out of their way to deny that the Libyan fighting, which involves a significant fleet of U.S. warships and U.S. warplanes, is a “war.” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters Wednesday that Libya
wasn't a war, describing it instead as a “kinetic military action.”