Top-secret data from the National Security Agency, shared with The Intercept by WikiLeaks, reveals that the U.S. spy agency targeted the cell phones and other communication devices of more than a dozen top Brazilian political and financial officials, including the country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, whose presidential plane telephone was on the list. President Rousseff just yesterday returned to Brazil after a trip to the U.S. that included a meeting with President Obama, a visit she had delayed for almost two years in anger over prior revelations of NSA spying on Brazil.
That Rousseff’s personal cell phone was successfully targeted by NSA spying was previously reported in 2013 by Fantastico, a program on the Brazilian television network Globo Rede. That revelation — along with others exposing NSA mass surveillance on hundreds of millions of Brazilians, and the targeting of the country’s state-owned oil company Petrobras and its Ministry of Mines and Energy — caused a major rupture in relations between the two nations. But Rouseff is now suffering from severe domestic weakness as a result of various scandals and a weak economy, and apparently could no longer resist the perceived benefits of a high-profile state visit to Washington.
But these new revelations extend far beyond the prior ones and are likely to reinvigorate tensions. Beyond Rousseff, the new NSA target list includes some of Brazil’s most important political and financial figures, such as the Finance Ministry’s Executive Secretary Nelson Barbosa; Luiz Awazu Pereira da Silva, a top official with Brazil’s Central Bank; Luiz Eduardo Melin de Carvalho e Silva, former chief of staff to the finance minister; the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s chief of economics and finance, Luis Antônio Balduíno Carneiro; former foreign affairs minister and ambassador to the U.S. Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado; and Antonio Palocci, who formerly served as both Rousseff’s chief of staff and finance minister under former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Most notable about the list, published simultaneously by WikiLeaks, is the predominance of officials responsible for Brazil’s financial and economic matters (last four digits of the listed telephone numbers are redacted; click to enlarge):
Next to each name on the list, there are codes that indicate the purpose of the surveillance and the group of analysts within NSA responsible for it. The codes appear under the column entitled “TOPI,” which stands for “Target Office of Primary Interest.”
Alongside most of the government officials’ phone numbers is the designator “S2C42,” a reference to an NSA unit that focuses on intelligence collected from Brazil’s political leadership. The same code was seen in the previously reported document revealing NSA’s targeting of Rousseff’s cell phone:
But even more revealing on this new list is the designation next to several of the targeted officials responsible for financial and economic issues. Many of these individuals have a different code next to their phone number — S2C51 — which refers to NSA’s “international financial policy branch.” Brazilians are particularly sensitive to economic espionage by the U.S., both for historical reasons (as a hallmark of American imperialism and domination on the continent) and due to current economic concerns (for that reason, the story of NSA’s targeting of Petrobras was arguably the most consequential of all prior surveillance stories).
Several Brazilian officials expressed anger over the latest revelations. Gilberto Carvalho, former chief of staff to Lula and a top aide to Rousseff, harshly denounced the spying in an interview with The Intercept. He described his reaction as “maximum indignation,” declaring it a “violation of Brazilian sovereignty,” which the U.S. “does not have the right to do.” Carvalho added that the fact that Brazil “is trying to repair our relationship with the U.S. does not in any way diminish the gravity of these new revelations.”
For his part, the Central Bank’s Pereira da Silva said his reaction is to fully embrace the stinging denunciation of NSA’s electronic surveillance contained in Dilma’s September 2013 United Nations speech, delivered while Obama waited in the hallway to speak. That blistering speech was widely regarded in Brazil as a high point of Dilma’s leadership on the world stage.
Speaking from the General Assembly podium, she declared that “tampering in such a manner in the affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and is an affront of the principles that must guide the relations among them, especially among friendly nations.” She condemned U.S. mass surveillance as a “grave violation of human rights and of civil liberties,” and, in a rare invocation of her own personal history as a rebel against the country’s oppressive military dictatorship, said: “As many other Latin Americans, I fought against authoritarianism and censorship, and I cannot but defend, in an uncompromising fashion, the right to privacy of individuals and the sovereignty of my country. In the absence of the right to privacy, there can be no true freedom of expression and opinion, and therefore no effective democracy.”
Other Brazilian targets on the newly released NSA list include the longtime diplomat and author André Amado, as well as a current official with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Fernando Meirelles de Azevedo Pimentel. It also includes the “cell” numbers for several of the key targets along with their office numbers. And it lists the Brazilian ambassadors in Paris, Berlin and Geneva, with the official “residence” of the latter targeted.
Questions submitted to NSA were not answered by the time of publication. Prior to the disclosure about its spying on Petrobras, the NSA insisted to the Washington Post that (emphasis in original) “the department does ***not*** engage in economic espionage in any domain, including cyber.” In response to the Petrobras report, however, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that “it is not a secret that the Intelligence Community collects information about economic and financial matters,” but claimed that it does not “use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of — or give intelligence we collect to — U.S. companies.”
The list obtained by The Intercept from WikiLeaks is extracted from an NSA database. Dates that appear on it indicate the eavesdropping on several of the officials began in early 2011, but others were first targeted in 2010 while Lula, Rousseff’s predecessor, was still president. There is no indication that the surveillance has stopped. Rather than a one-time document created on a single day, the list appears to be an aggregate list of targets continually compiled and updated by the NSA. Last week, WikiLeaks released similar documents showing surveillance of French and German political and financial officials, and that spying took place over many years.
Photo: Patsy Lynch/REX Shutterstock/AP
Additional reporting by Ryan Gallagher
A sidebar. See Larry Fang’s latest story about Hillary and the overthrow of Pres. Zelaya of Honduras in 2009.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/06/clinton-honduras-coup/
On point here as one way the Rousseff administration might come to a premature end.
“it is not a secret that the Intelligence Community collects information about economic and financial matters” but claimed that it does not “use our foreign intelligence capabilities to steal the trade secrets of foreign companies on behalf of – or give intelligence we collect to – US companies.”
Yes, and we are suppose to believe this spineless cretin.
Glenn, As reader and supporter over many years, since your time at Salon, I am grateful for the work and passion you have put into the causes of liberty and freedom. Your commitment and energy are a true inspiration. But I have a gripe, if you’ll forgive me, that at the Intercept I feel you have marginalised your ability for your message to be heard. The challenge is to reach the non-converted, so to speak, who would rather not be bothered with these matters. My pool of family and colleagues is probably typical: Intercept / Internet / whatever … who’s that?
No one wants to talk about Guantanamo, torture or illegal wars. Then there are the wider ways which the West maintains double standards, in effect cheating the system while sanctimoniously trumpeting the superiority of our system and ideals. (Alas that they could see the irony that we really would be better off if we actually lived up to our highest ideals). This matters not only on an ethical and legal basis, but importantly to our own economic success. At some point the rest of the world will reject e.g. our rigging of the trade rules, it is our jobs and savings that will be used to pay for the inevitable damage from blowback.
When you were writing in the Guardian, I was able to draw these people’s attention to your work and, I think, was starting to have a meaningful impact on taking a fresh look at the role of our governments and trade policies. At least I was able to provoke a few people into curiosity about the system – the one key that can open the door to opening their eyes. Communication is an odd thing; its not enough to be right, to be effective people must be listening. The Guardian was a step up from Salon, you had a voice people might accept, if only out of curiosity. But the Intercept has taken you back into an anonymous back lot. I would like to see your work in more venues, albeit probably at the more progressive end of the main stream press …. the Guardian, die Zeit/SD Zeitung/Speigel, Le Monde/Liberation, Haaretz, Seattle PI/LA Times.
So please: more alliances / syndications / whatever with more recognised press outlets – your efforts are wasted unless you can get people’s attention!
Hence the recent wikileaks stories.
Amen! I keep saying the same thing. TI has been more and more hopelessly preaching to their own choir. The point of saying something with such a societal importance is for it to be heard and understood by society at large -by any means necessary-
and TI has very easy ways to call their bs just start publishing pictures of Michelle Obama fingering her husbands @ss (to make a crass illustration of what I mean). TI could learn what to do from John Oliver and the Yes men
I don’t think that syndication is the way to go for a number of good reasons. As comedians have magistrally showed to us, you can get people to listen to you if you speak their languages in ways they can understand. If “privacy” means to “We the people” that they don’t want “dick pics” databases; well, TI could show to them to the extent they own their @ss
Satyagraha,
RCL
What we are now seeing is a dramatic change, at high levels, in U.S. friendly countries attitude regarding the making of national and international deals and agreements. The smiling face U.S. diplomats are now being seen for what they are. Lying conniving front men for banksters, arms makers,big Pharma and intelligence agency criminals. The friendly mask is now gone and the new U.S. diplomacy is threats, violence, destabilization and financial bullying. People like Merkel and Rousseff have still a long way to go. Those like Abe and Poroshenko are now realizing that they have been had and are now between a rock and a hard place. Will the rest of the world leaders take note or are they still getting their “news” from CNN? How can so many world leaders not have a clue and how did they ever get their positions? Apparently too many countries are ruled by borderline morons who would have to gain 20 IQ points to reach the depressingly mediocre level.
A background story from 2011. A bit dry, but you get the impression that for Brazil’s national oil company it promised a bright future, or at least before the vultures started circling. It also suggested pitfalls coming if Petrobras didn’t play ball.
http://www.economist.com/node/21536570
You have to wonder how much of the current Petrobras scandal is being stoked by outsiders. The now-known surveillance of Petrobras could lend itself to all kinds of mischief.
This reflection on Greece, today, may be analogous with Dilma, and Brazil’s insolent idea that they should control their own petroleum.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/01/syriza-cave-in-elites-regime-change
That’s embarrassment for Dilma after she shamefully submitted herself to symbol of American Imperialism but it does not matter since most Brazilians do not trust her anymore. She was a hero..in to the nation once. But now she is just desperately clinging to power having already sold her soul to Mephistopheles many times before she has nothing to sell but her nation.
The heroes are those who died before they had opportunity to betray themselves and their nations. Dilma is no hero.
She betrayed bourgeoisie for Communists and Communists for liberal populists and now she betrayed her conscience for her job under threat of US instigated color revolution and economic war.
What did she accomplished? A genocide of poor in Sao Paulo and elsewhere same poor she worshiped only decades ago as leading force of society. I guess in all politicians are required to remove their spines before assuming offices. So let’s treat them as invertebrate bugs and squash them.
Is this David’s first byline? Obviously she’s weakened, so how can she accomplish shite other than to play house with a MadMan? Germany is more healthy than the Old Man Europe, and they can’t tell Sam to butt out, either. Ya’ll should simply encrypt your fine asses so we can’t follow the dance. Serves us right.
By the time you read this, might our fortunes have gone up in smoke with that crazy carried rate the bankers offer as well as bet against? I agree it is not OK for US to treat Brazil this way, but others have also contributed to their weakened position, and now who’s all assets and no cash with no ground to sound from? I feel it coming like a vibrating well…this shite can’t hold out forever, wildcats! That debt bubble is about to blow and no one knows where that’s going to land, but those with the cash will clean up, again! And surely with all that unstable distribution they will need SECURITY to protect THEM from US.
Notice how they tend to unwind their bad bets when their bad news is about to get press? Like they didn’t intend to unseat US when they let Lehman take a dumpty. Right. Getting too uppity about how we wage warfare? Take THAT, Mrs. Cleaver. Now your son’s best bet for college is serving SAM. They would short their own mothers to get a head, those London Whalers.
Wonderfully timed, Glenn and David! I wonder if Obama is smart enough to realize that TI and Wikileaks are timing their releases to reveal his lies. Nah, stupid question. It presumes that Mr. Obama has a functioning moral compass, and thereby might have some inclination to tell the truth.
We all should be very “aggrieved” at these latest revelations. I include the Brazilian people who need to toss out their lap dog government. What of the efforts reported earlier that the Brazilian government was hell bent on bypassing US controlled Internet/phone etc linkages?
I just saw a speech in the tv with Hillary Clinton who complaint about China spying on the U.S. How is that any different from what the U.S. Is doing to the rest of the world? I am from Scandinavia. Every time I hear a U.S. Government employee justifying the surveillance, it is always to “protect” our freedom! I am not worried about attack from the Muslim world, I am worried about all that information which is being gathered by U.S. And their famous 5 pets. What will all that information be used for in the future, separating people in right and wrong?
This movie may have played out in Brazil before, say, at the end of the Goulart administration in March 1964. Glenn, you might want to check and see if anything is doing in the Brazilian defense ministry — and see that you and David have letters of transit for that last plane to Lisbon. Paraguay might be a nice place to stay in as well, alternatively, if the heat is on.
And don’t go to Greece. It looks very 1967 there.
I suspected the same thing about the possibility of U.S. regime change in Brasil as well. Rousseff has not even finished the first year of her second term yet so it is quite possible although unlikely prior to the big event next year. I would assume something would happen after those pathetic Olympics next year if the economic conditions do not improve and especially if a Republican U.S. administration comes to power in 2017.
Don’t assume Democratic administrations are nicer about these things. The 1964 Brazil and 1967 Greek coups took place under a Democrat, as did the 2009 Honduras overthrow.
Oh no, I am well aware that JFK invited Joao Goulart to the White House for dinner in the years prior to his deposition by the U.S. supported Brazilian military. My assumption is based on the “somewhat” fluctuations in political orientation of the two major political parties in the United States over the last 60 years. It is quite obvious that both political parties are dominated by a neoconsertative ideology.
Maybe instead of checking with the Brazilian Defense Ministry, he should go directly to the source and check with the CIA. From Wikipedia
Rousseff has almost certainly already considered this and seems to be taking the appropriate actions of supplication before Obama. So I think a coup is unlikely.
From a recent CNN story (which I won’t link since multilink comments seem to get flagged as spam),
So she is doing everything possible to humiliate herself.
>”So she is doing everything possible to humiliate herself.”
It’s just business, not personal.
Petrobras may have had a number of problems, possibly from outside influences. The first bidding on leases may not have gone well, they may have had price issues on oilfield equipment — gouging, see my latest link — and the oil corporations may have wanted the oil for itself and the idea of national control is anathema to them (see, e.g., Ecuador).
You speak as if Rousseff had a say in this. Our armed forces elites(still) hold far too much political power, if there’s an oportunity they’ll take it with or without U.S. support.
It’s one of the main reasons I fear an impeachment attempt by the population, all they need is a pretext for the army to “restore order” and we join Egypt and Thailand in the ranks of recent ex-democracies.
I suspect there is U.S. support for regime change in Brasil as well via a military intervention. However, I think any action is unlikely until after the Olympics next year. I think the threat of a U.S. supported military intervention rises if a Republican administration ascends to power in 2017. It is most likely probably if the PT wins the next Brazilian presidential elections.
Thank you David for helping Glenn with the damn dogs. And the GCHQ. You braveheart.
How can any true loyal Americans, be they Democrat or Republican, Male or Female, White,Black,Hispanic or other, needs to show their Loyalty to the Constitution rather than to a political party. Now is the time to vote for Independent Candidates, because both parties have shown their willingness to subvert the Constitution, our Civil Liberties, and our National Sovereignty through the TPP (The Trans Pacific Partnership) and have been doing so for decades & the Governments own records have proved this to be true ! We are being sold out by the Democrats & Republicans ! It now has become a choice between Fascism or Liberty & Fascism is winning !
Both parties have been complicit in this criminal activity. Some will say they don’t want to waste their vote, but you are already wasting your vote on Democrats & Republicans because they are the ones who have already betrayed us ! This should be a joint effort on the part of all Americans, Democrats,Republicans & Independent voters ! Organize now before its to late !
Your liberty is at stake and that of your children & grandchildren !
We get the Government we deserve, and nothing will change until we stop electing Democrats & Republicans after all they are the ones subverting the Constitution, & they must be held to account both politically & leagly !
No more lies, excuses, rationalizations,or justifications, the public needs to hold these officials to account to the fullest extent of the law under Title 18 sec. 241 & 242 (Google it), so any future traitors will know there will be consequences to such behavior.
As Mr. Snowden said the Politicians are afraid of you ! Now is the time exercise you power, you may not get another chance !
REMEMBER: POLITICIANS, BUREAUCRATS AND DIAPERS SHOULD BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON.
There is no substitute for ordinary retired folks keeping vigilance over what’s going on in the neighborhood and apprehending potential terrorists. As we can see, NSA is busy in political, economic, technical and dickpix spying and therefore their spare time to catch terrorists is very limited. We all have to pitch in with whatever we can and help NSA and CIA.
Regarding “dickpix,” TI readers, I believe the General is referring to John Oliver’s show where he has an interesting new take on surveillance and a hilarious interview with Edward Snowden.
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/04/06/john-oliver-interview-political-disengagement-american-public/
The embedded show, about 30 minutes long, is at the bottom of the story, and well worth re-viewing. Oliver made the surveillance er, personal, and the people on the street certainly “got it” once they realized it was pictures of their genitalia that was part of the surveillance, and not some abstract issue. Snowden seemed to agree, yes, this is about as invasive — and down-to-earth understandable — as it gets. It’s simply how you explain it. (Snowden’s expressions, and his playing along with the report, are priceless).
You got it right, Mr Nobis. All these stories tell us that NSA is not doing their job properly. At least, they are not doing what they say they are doing – protecting us from terrorists. I hate to say this, but we are all paying our taxes to pay the salaries of the ex-coworkers of Mr Snowden to watch porn while on security duty.
Well, it seems that there’s a lot of tut-tutting among oil investors, notably US, about Pertrobras. They seem unfriendly to the idea that it would be in Brazilian control and not that of the world business community.
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21649525-brazils-energy-giant-comes-clean-investors-deep-under-water
It could also be a means to personally discredit large segments of the Brazilian executive and legislative branches, notably Ms. Rousseff’s coalition.
http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21645703-now-brazilian-politicians-will-face-investigation-hes-got-little-list
Now, this spying could be coming at a critical point in the country’s economic, industrial and political development.
Spy all you want, but you’ll never understand why samba is samba.
Given that the high point in Dilma’s presidency was her scathing speech at the UN, I just refuse to believe that she would re-commence a relationship with the US in order to improve her sagging numbers now.
I strongly suspect that the NSA has provided the White House with intel on Dilma of a personal nature that she would rather weren’t disclosed to the public. Same with Angela Merkel. The NSA, along with all the other agencies in the Surveillance State, works in the long-established and highly fruitful tradition of J. Edgar Hoover. How else would an increasingly unpopular and increasingly corrupt hegemon maintain its grip on power?
Wrong assumption. NSA would never leak out confidential personal information. That is the work of the Chinese ???? and North Koreans ???? who steal the information from our secure servers and spread rumors.
Great article. These agencies just can’t stop themselves!
See also:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/world/americas/brazil-acknowledges-spying-on-diplomats-from-us.html?_r=0
She didn’t go to Washington then…so why did she go now??? Disappointing.
Exactly! You need a long, long spoon to sup with the devil, they say.
Maybe the oil industry is turning up the pressure.
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21649525-brazils-energy-giant-comes-clean-investors-deep-under-water
Welcome to David Miranda.
Just wondering what is Wikileakipedia’s source. From what I read, they are the ones supplying the information to TI and not the other way around.
You mean “Wikileaks'” source. They are the ones supplying the information, and, unless I’ve missed something, they have not revealed their source.
Bugging Brazil — Wikileaks
More on “Bugging Brazil” — Wikileaks
I wonder if the Brazilian chief prosecutor and the Enness Say are comparing notes — or targets.
http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21645703-now-brazilian-politicians-will-face-investigation-hes-got-little-list
The NSA gang has never caught a terrorist. They’re all about commercial espionage and insider trading.
And of course blackmailing politicians and judges to stay out of jail while taking billions from US taxpayers.
It looks like the whole voyeurism thing is just a staff perk and not actually high among their official priorities.
But I would still like to know how many US elections NSA has rigged via electronic voting machines.
The immediate one in our list is the Greek Referendum coming up tomorrow. The only problem will come if in the last minute the question itself is changed. That is, yes means no and no means yes.
Greek vote was “no” by 60-40.
Tsipras is a clever chap. He first ensured that all the ISP’s were bankrupt so that the internet service was down in the whole country. This prevented any tampering of the vote.
Something tells me that this entire spying apparatus has been turned into a gigantic hoovering for the dirt on GOs, NGOs,
CEOs…Simply put get the dirt is a big enterprise in which information gathering/pooling and privatized sale must surely be a multi-billion dollar industry which furthers the powers of the trillionaires (or those wealthy enough to effect decisions on trillions).
Wanna get the dirt on an a politician who is challenging for your position? Get the dirt on him. My guess is that it’s known that it’s knowable on where to buy the dirt, or at least, to compile the evidence on someone’s adversary. For all I know there may be an online source which will teach you everything that you need to know about getting the dirt on somebody or some human rights entity, or some corporate entity, or…
The people at the NSA must surely have the wherewithal to know how to piggyback on all the ways to get and/or enable others to engage in getting it and then quickly selling the dirt for what would amount to modest fees in comparison to the enormous treasure troves of information which may be useful in blackmailing, bribing, ruining, debilitating…another individual or organization whose reputation is ruined or whose enterprises, campaigns…are ended due to the embarrassing information on them, or, the dirt.
Get The Dirt should be the next big spy novel, on how a spy organization was turned into a Get The Dirt bonanza which led to the meteoric rise and fall of many a poor boy who got caught exiting from the House Of The Rising Sun. And without a doubt those same NSA freaks who are selling their souls to this defamation must be partying like rock stars from all the easy, albeit, dirty money.
.
A SAUNA ENFUMAÇADA
Eu, Lula e FHC na sauna
Conversamos sobre política
Enquanto FHC com calma
Fuma uma coisa esquisita
Lula bebe uma pinga
Envolto em sua linda
Bandeira do Brasil
Mas FHC por zoeira
Se enrola numa bandeira
Que ganhou do Bill.
Logo chega José Serra
Dizendo: ‘Hello friends’
E Lula se desespera:
‘Ralei nada oxente!’
Mas Serra o acalma
Dizendo que do trauma
Da bolinha já se curou
E que só visa ir a Brasília
Porque do sistema de partilha
O Obama não gostou.
Chega à sauna enfumaçada
O quase pelado Alckmin
Com a pele toda rachada
Pedindo água pra mim
Então eu solto os cachorros:
‘Alckmin vá pedir consolo
Aos acionistas da Sabesp
Que ficam cada dia mais ricos
Enquanto com água de penico
Você quer matar a nossa sede’.
Alckmin fica calado num canto
E Aécio com uma lata de coca
Entra vertendo copioso pranto
Ainda amargando a sua derrota
E quando puxo papo com ele
Percebo que na mão dele
Também tem uma panela
Na qual ele faz um samba
Enquanto chorando canta:
‘Adios Venezuela’.
De repente fico contente
Porque na porta vejo Dilma
Que não entra por estar quente
E lá de fora nos avisa:
‘Eduardo e Lula tomem cuidado
Com esse ambiente fechado
Que pode lhes fazer mal’
Então saímos correndo
E a porta acaba batendo
Trancando todo o pessoal.
Então eles gritam: ‘Socorro’
Em meio à fumaça maldita
E do nada surge o juiz Moro
Com a sua capa comprida
E dando um canetada só
Transforma a porta em pó
E liberta os oprimidos
E quando tentam lhe agradecer
Ele diz: ‘Aqui é PSDB
É pra isso que servem os amigos’.
Eduardo de Paula Barreto
.
The Greek tragedy, now playing an encore season of manipulated austerity and social discontent, awaits any country that does not toe the US line. The implied threat of bringing any country to its economic knees and the ensuing pandemonium of poverty induced turmoil is as frightening as the US humanitarium comfort of bombing and drone strikes.
American rule relies as much on finanical control as it does on military superiority. On the poorer nations bullets fall, on more wealthy ones derivaitives can achieve the same results. The GFC has shown that banks (too big to fail) and IMF are an essential weapon in world control.
The military Industrial complex always had banks backing it.
“Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an apology. You were right. The players may be a little different, but your basic premise is correct: The world is a rigged game.”
Matt Taibbi
Especially with the rigged game of The Pentagon for 2015:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42294.htm
I wonder how many of the U.S. presidential candidates would eagerly sign on to the Pentagon’s “plan” for the world as “Commander-in-Chief”?
It probably doesn’t go far enough for Hillary the Hawk. Too bad CNN/The New York Times etc. won’t corner the candidates with their positions on the above.
From your Counterpoint link this reference :
“None of these nations are believed to be seeking direct military conflict with the United States or our allies,” the strategy reads. “Nonetheless, they each pose serious security concerns which the international community is working to collectively address by way of common policies, shared messages, and coordinated action.” (Pentagon Releases National Military Strategy, Defense News)”
War in ancient times, often had blockcades and seiges, denying the beseiged the necessities of life. All part of war as seen in Iraq and of late in Russia. This denial of suppy weakens the enemy before armed combat. This is economic war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpWmlRNfLck
War, huh yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, oh hoh, oh
War huh yeah
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, say it again y’all
War, huh good God
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, listen to me
Oh, war, I despise
‘Cause it means destruction of innocent lives
War means tears to thousands of mothers eyes
When their sons go off to fight and lose their lives
I said
War, huh good God y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, just say it again
War whoa Lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, listen to me
War, it ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreak
War, friend only to the undertaker
Oh war, is an enemy to all mankind
The thought of war blows my mind
War has caused unrest within the younger generation
Induction, then destruction who wants to die
War, good God, y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, say it, say it, say it
War, uh huh, yeah, huh
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, listen to me
War, it ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
War, it’s got one friend that’s the undertaker
Oh, war has shattered many young man’s dreams
Made him disabled bitter and mean
Life is much too short and precious to spend fighting wars these days
War can’t give life it can only take it away, ooh
War, huh, good God y’all
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing, listen to me
War, it ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
War, friend only to the undertaker
Peace love and understanding tell me
Is there no place for them today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord knows there’s got to be a better way
War, huh, good God y’all
What is it good for?
You tell ’em, say it, say it, say it, say it
War, good Lord, huh
What is it good for?
Stand up and shout it, nothing
War, it ain’t nothin’ but a heartbreaker
Songwriters
Strong, Barrett / Whitfield, Norman J.
Apologies Counterpunch
So, another Latin American leader has been brought to her knees and made to grovel before the American Empire. It is sad.
What we are seeing is America’s “soft power,” They are using the information they obtain from the NSA and other means to covertly coerce and destroy their enemies by political, financial and economic means. This applies to their domestic opponents as well.
Washington is winning because the rest of the world doesn’t even know they are being targeted for subjugation/destruction. They see Obama’s smiling face and hear his reassuring moral platitudes. He seems so nice. He says all the right things.
How can such pleasant fellow be evil?
The American empire (the West) is supported on three legs: our stranglehold on the world’s financial system, our spending half of what the world spends on war, and our ability to blackmail every foreign leader with the dirt NSA collected. This latter power also extends to domestic politicians, including Obama, which is how such a “pleasant fellow” can be so evil. He was blackmailed and sold us out to save himself.
Perhaps. A lot of us have concluded that Obama was CIA born and bred. His mother’s life basically reads like CIA novel. Also, the campaign that made him a senator has the stench of a CIA Op. His opponent was forced out by a sex scandal.
People sometimes forget.
“His 2004 campaign for the Senate, against future-president Barack Obama, received widespread media attention for the disclosure of sealed custody documents stemming from his divorce from actress Jeri Ryan. The unsealing of those documents ultimately led to Ryan’s withdrawal from the campaign.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_%28politician%29
Yeah, I thought there might be some CIA angle too, but the CIA doesn’t need to create a Manchurian candidate when they can get their former director elected as they did with Bush I. But someone is controlling Obama, and the truth came out when Russ Tice revealed that the NSA was spying on him as early as 2004 at the behest of Dick Cheney, who had already convinced the NSA’s director Hayden to break the law and spy on everyone with power. It can’t be any coincidence that President Obama went (or was sent) to Bill “Cheney is the best Republican” Kristol to get his foreign policy validated, and Kristol congratulated him on it, calling him a “born-again neocon.” And it is no coincidence that Obama has the Cheney protegee Victoria Nuland in his administration, right in the center of his new cold war with Russia. And no coincidence that she is the wife of neocon Robert Kagan, who with Bill Kristol founded PNAC. PNAC counts neocon Paul Wolfowitz as a member, who saw Russia as our main obstacle to world empire. It’s a nest of neocons running Obama as a puppet and pushing us into a confrontation with Russia while smashing all the Russian allies according to the Wolfowitz doctrine.
It’s wishful thinking to believe that Obama is not complicit of his own covert campaigns. His big secret — which is why he had taken no action against the torturers, is that he has launched his own dirty tricks campaign against perceived enemies or enemies of his large donors.
Most do not want to admit it, but he is evil.
Our Main Enemy is the Chinese Government. They have stolen our top secret files and is making our lives hell by making a New Bricks Bank.
Let’s also not forget that Mr. Obama has been declared to be “our first Jewish president” by those in the know in Chicago:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/some-chicago-jews-say-obama-is-actually-the-first-jewish-president-1.257204
si1ver1ock and JCDavis –
Very interesting reading…
Tis Interesting. ..
THERE IS MORALITY and immorality — Obama has neither, he has no morality whatsoever. It is not even a consideration.
It appears the popularity of Rousseff’s government is at 9%. In the US, even Congress is more popular than this (they did bottom out around 9% but have since rebounded to almost double that).
I recall some very helpful slides describing JTRIG (a British subsidiary of the NSA) tactics for manipulating social media. I’d recommend that Rousseff visit Obama and petition him to provide her own spy agency with some of these tools. She could also entreat him to have the NSA stop passing Petrobras files to the prosecutors investigating the corruption scandal. However, although Obama has notably pardoned some Thanksgiving turkeys, he is not generally very forgiving.
You have to be an idiot not to know that governments and corporations monitor us all the time. What amazes me is that that people are so complacent about such practices. We can only hope the continued reporting by WikiLeaks and The Intercept of the specific illegal surveillance programs will help grow our resentment. Awareness may or may not succeed in this, but ignorance certainly fails.
KD –
I hear you BUT – folks seem to just put their heads in the sand, say “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear,” and go after the latest app or gadget that is even more intrusive than the last.
The upcoming Google thing sounds VERY intrusive.
http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/07/03/419540367/how-personal-should-a-personal-assistant-get-google-and-apple-disagree
Any bets on whether their homes and cars are bugged? Audio and video. Bathrooms, too. (“Collect it all.” Not a private moment.)
Mr. Clapper is absolutely correct. Someone who steals a valuable trade secret would be a fool to give it away. NSA officials are not fools. Of course US companies have to offer something in exchange.
Mr. Clapper’s problem is that everyone assumes he is lying. But logic dictates otherwise. Lying takes work. Before lying, you must carefully consider whether any evidence can be produced that will expose your lie. So egregious lies are counterproductive. The goal of every official should therefore be to tell the Least Untruth. That is, the smallest possible lie that will do the job. A lie should be so small that it is almost indistinguishable from the truth.
There is another school of thought that lies should be as big as possible. This is also true. But this only serves to prove the old adage that for every great truth, the opposite is also true.
“Before lying, you must carefully consider whether any evidence can be produced that will expose your lie.”
And yet Clapper’s lie to Congress was exposed just weeks later by Snowden’s revelations. So don’t give these people more credit that is due. They lie because they know there is no penalty for lying, only for telling the truth.
Exactly. Also, nearly every part of US foreign policy is deployed for benefiting corporate interests. Look at earlier ‘leaks that showed how much time State Department and its diplomats spend clearing the way and push opposition for US ‘products’ like JSF and GMO. Why would this be different?
Yet a third school of thought is that people like Obama and Clapper, being morally incapable of distinguishing between lies and truth, cannot be accused of telling either. Somewhat along the lines of the sign a former colleague of mine, ex-CIA, had on his desk: “The sensitivity of my job is so great that it prevents me from knowing what I am doing.”
Speaking of liars, Judge Napolitano has just come to the conclusion that Mrs. Clinton has been “lying” regarding the fact that during her reign as Secretary of State she was responsible for the illegal arming of terrorists:
http://www.hangthebankers.com/hillary-clinton-arming-terrorist-groups/
I’m hoping it’s only a matter of time before the MSM grows a pair and goes after her and as a result she ends up “bowing out” because her candidacy “has become too much of a distraction.” Ha!!!!
I just want to see her under oath with her lawyers nearby as the whole world watches her squirm.
Get the popcorn and let’s get this show on the road!!!!
“Top secret data from the National Security Agency, shared with The Intercept by WikiLeaks, reveals that the U.S. spy agency targeted the cellphones and other communications devices of more than a dozen top Brazilian political and financial officials, including the country’s president Dilma Rousseff, whose presidential plane’s telephone was on the list.”
What a team, lookout world you are about to be rocked.
Thank you.