Stick Your New World Order Up Your Arse

DazNez (search Google to find out more) performing at Anon Demo at BBC Salford Quays 16th Nov 2013. 

Over a 100 Demonstrators under the banner of Anonymous Protested at the BBC to rebuke them over their lack of coverage of protests. They barely even mentioned 60,000 protesters at the recent Tory Party Conference in Manchester.

The Return Of COINTELPRO

By TOM MCNAMARA
Courtesy Of "CounterPunch"

“Democracies die behind closed doors” – Judge Damon J. Keith

For 15 years (1956-1971) the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ran a broad and highly coordinated domestic intelligence / counterintelligence program known as COINTELPRO (COunter INTELligence PROgrams). What was originally deemed as a justifiable effort to protect the US during the Cold War from Soviet and Communist threats and infiltration, soon devolved into a program for suppressing domestic dissent and spying on American citizens. Approximately 20,000 people were investigated by the FBI based only on their political views and beliefs. Most were never suspected of having committed any crime.

The reasoning behind the program, as detailed in a 1976 Senate report, was that the FBI had “the duty to do whatever is necessary to combat perceived threats to the existing social and political order.” The fact that the “perceived threats” were usually American citizens engaging in constitutionally protected behaviour was apparently overlooked. The stated goal of COINTELPRO was to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” any individual or group deemed to be subversive or a threat to the established power structure.

The FBI’s techniques were often extreme, with the agency being complicit in the murder and assassination of political dissidents, or having people sent away to prison for life. Some of the more “moderate” actions that were used were blackmail, spreading false rumors, intimidation and harassment. It has been argued that the US is unique in that it is the only Western industrialized democracy to have engaged in such a wide spread and well organized domestic surveillance program. It finally came to an end in 1971 when it was threatened with public exposure.

Or did it?

In a stunning revelation from the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF), it appears that COINTELPRO is alive and well. Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, PCJF was able to obtain documents showing how the FBI was treating the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, from its inception, as a potential criminal and domestic terrorist threat. This despite the FBI’s own acknowledgement that the OWS organizers themselves planned on engaging in peaceful and popular protest and did not “condone the use of violence.”

The documents, while heavily redacted, give a clear picture of how the FBI was using its offices and agents across the country as early as August 2011 to engage in a massive surveillance scheme against OWS. This was almost a month before any actual protests took place or encampments were set up (the most famous being the one in New York City’s Zuccotti Park).

The FBI’s documents show a government agency at its most paranoid. It considered all planned protests, and the individuals involved, as potential threats. Most disturbing of all, there is talk (p. 61) of the government being ready to “engage in sniper attacks against protesters in Houston, Texas, if deemed necessary” and perhaps needing to formulate a plan “to kill the leadership [of the protest groups] via suppressed sniper rifles.”

Furthermore, the documents reveal a close and intricate partnership between the federal government on one side and banks and private businesses on the other.

On August 19, 2011, the FBI met with representatives of the New York Stock Exchange in order to discuss OWS protests that wouldn’t happen for another four weeks. In September of that year, even before OWS got into full swing, the FBI was notifying local businesses that they might be affected by protests. It is not clear if, while on Wall Street, the FBI investigated the criminal and irresponsible behavior engaged in by some of the largest banks on the planet, behavior which led directly to the financial crisis of 2008.

We are also introduced to a creature named the “Domestic Security Alliance Council” which, according to the federal government, is “a strategic partnership between the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the private sector.” A DSAC report tells us that any information shared between US intelligence agencies and their corporate partners should not be released to “the media, the general public or other personnel.”

In a curious coincidence, nine days after the PCJF’s embarrassing release of FBI documents, the New York Post ran a story about how a 27 year old woman and her “Harvard grad and Occupy Wall Street” boyfriend, Aaron Greene, were arrested by officers from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) after an alleged cache of weapons and bomb making explosives were found in their Greenwich Village apartment.

And what exactly led the police to this apartment? Was it credible actionable intelligence gathered from the FBI’s massive domestic surveillance program? Did some agent acquire this information by bravely infiltrating the potential domestic terrorist group known as OWS? Hardly. The NYPD was simply executing a routine search warrant related to a credit card-theft case.

But in a story about the exact same event that appeared in the New York Times, it was reported that “police said they did not believe that Mr. Greene was active in any political movements” and that no “evidence of a planned terrorist attack” had been found . Furthermore, police hadn’t “made a connection to any known plot or any connection to any known terrorists.” No mention was made of the suspect’s alleged ties to the OWS movement, an item that had been prominently reported in the New York Post’s version of events.

Oddly, a more recent New York Post story stated that Mr. Greene was now a “Nazi-loving Harvard grad” and a reported “Adolf Hitler-wannabe.” No mention was made of his suspected ties to OWS. This author made several attempts to contact the New York Post, and the writers of the 2 articles, in an effort to find out how they knew that Mr. Greene was an OWS member and activist. Attempts were also made to try to find out if the New York Post still believed that Mr. Greene was an active OWS member, or if they now simply thought that he was just an “Adolf Hitler-wannabe.”

As of the writing of this article, no response has been received from the New York Post.

The FBI’s stated mission regarding America’s security is to “develop a comprehensive understanding of the threats and penetrate national and transnational networks that have a desire and capability to harm us.”

The American people would be far better served by their government if, instead of wasting millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours harassing peaceful protesters, it spent a fraction of that time and money investigating, and bringing to justice, the people responsible for the engineered destruction of the American economy, and by extension, American society.

You know. The real terrorists.

Tom McNamara is an Assistant Professor at the ESC Rennes School of Business, France, and a Visiting Lecturer at the French National Military Academy at Saint-Cyr, Coëtquidan, France.

Sources

“COINTELPRO: The FBI’s Covert Action Programs Against American Citizens” Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans, Book III, Final report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with respect to Intelligence Activities, United States Senate, April 23, 1976. Accessed at:

http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/churchfinalreportIIIa.htm

“COINTELPRO: The Untold American Story”, by Paul Wolf with contributions from Robert Boyle, Bob Brown, Tom Burghardt, Noam Chomsky, Ward Churchill, Kathleen Cleaver, Bruce Ellison, Cynthia McKinney, Nkechi Taifa, Laura Whitehorn, Nicholas Wilson, and Howard Zinn. Presented to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa by the members of the Congressional Black Caucus attending the conference: Donna Christianson, John Conyers, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Barbara Lee, Sheila Jackson Lee, Cynthia McKinney, and Diane Watson, September 1, 2001. Accessed at:

http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/coinwcar3.htm

“FBI Documents Reveal Secret Nationwide Occupy Monitoring” The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF), December 22, 2012. Accessed at:
http://www.justiceonline.org/commentary/fbi-files-ows.html

“Greenwich Village couple busted with cache of weapons, bombmaking explosives: sources” by Jamie Schram, Antonio Antenucci and Matt McNulty, December 31, 2012, The New York Post.   Accessed at:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/bombmaking_in_the_village_LoRDqNzP02SDZyfC1pLVXN

“Manhattan Couple Stored Bomb-Making Items, Police Say” by Wendy Ruderman, December 31, 2012, The New York Times. Accessed at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/01/nyregion/manhattan-couple-stored-bomb-making-items-police-say.html?_r=2&%29&

“More About FBI Spying” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), June 25, 2010. Accessed at:

http://www.aclu.org/spy-files/more-about-fbi-spying

“NYC couple arrested after explosive substance find” December 31, 2012, CBS/AP. Accessed at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57561371/nyc-couple-arrested-after-explosive-substance-find/

“Revealed: how the FBI coordinated the crackdown on Occupy” by Naomi Wolf, December 29, 2012, The Guardian. Accessed at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation – Mission” The Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed at:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/intelligence/mission

“Village ‘bomber’ planned to blow up Washington Sq. Arch with high-grade explosives: cops” by Jamie Schram and Jessica Simeone, January 10, 2013, The New York Post. Accessed at:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/village_bomber_planned_grade_blow_seiuSwWLlcAPyGvfDkPwDM

My Crown Is Called: Deceit

I twist the truth,
I rule the world,
My crown is called deceit
I am the emperor of lies,
You grovel at my feet
I rob you and I slaughter you,
Your downfall is my gain
And still you play the sycophant
And revel in my pain
And all my promises are lies,
All my love is hate
I am the politician,
And I decide your fate

Song: Orgasmatron
Band: MotorHead
Art by: Khannea SunTzu

The Chain Of Obedience

Posted by "Sayf Maslul"



The death squads and concentration camps of history were never staffed by rebels and dissidents. They were were run by those who followed the rules.


The problem isn't the chain of command. The problem is the chain of obedience!

The Martyr - Ultimas Palabras

Posted by guest blogger "Sayf Maslul" 

Artist "Immortal Technique (Felipe Andres Coronel)"


Produced by "Immortal Technique & Southpaw"

A new American Revolution has begun. 
Not against the forces of a colonial kingdom, 
But a rebellion against an oppressor that has risen among us. 
It is not a foreign invasion we have to fear,
Rather the threat of a force within our nation that has usurped 
What was once a dream of having the greatest democracy ever known to man.

We now live in a world where the population has grown exponentially, 
And the planet is running out of resources to sustain us all. 
We in the inner city and those struggling in the suburban ghettos may not realise it yet 
But make no mistake, The people who control the technology 
And run every enterprise that makes up our world have seen this coming for a long time.

The ideas of renewable energy, global warming, and the idea of collectively working 
Were purposefully bought out, derailed, demonised or corrupted; 
In favour of an economic structure designed by a monetary caste system. 
In a desperate attempt to convince us that we need to maintain that extravagant existence, 
They have pretended we might share in their dream; that we can justify any inhumanity in its name.

Out of this blind ignorance was born the curse of slavery. 
Many of the founders of this nation were themselves, Masons. 
That is not a left-wing or a right-wing conspiracy theory; it is a widely known and accepted fact. 
So then, explain to me how a nation founded by men who not only understood the long and complicated history of Europe, But also that of Africa, Could permeate such a lie in convincing the American public that one race of men was superior and one inferior.

When in fact, we know that all the early men, the people who created civilisation, 
Every aspect of what we see today, the foundation of all modern human life, were from Africa. 
The greatest cowardice of course came, not with slavery itself, unfortunately, 
But with the excuses for slavery. For if America had been as brave as the Roman Empire and all other empires that had come after her and claimed, "No, we were just stronger and that's why we took you;" 
Then when slavery was over, racism would have probably followed in suit.

But instead, it was the social lie, The religious lie that was told that stayed in the minds of people that separated one human being from another. In order to distract us from the issues of class and freedom, 
It created issues around religion and race to dominate the world for centuries to come.

Some claim that they respect the culture of life in this country. 
They cry out for the indignity of children that are slaughtered before they are born; 
But God has not penetrated their souls, for they have no empathy, 
Nothing in their cold hearts, for the hundreds of thousands of lives we have taken in our wars overseas; 
For that which they call collateral damage, which are the burnt and damaged children of the world. 
They have no prayers for them, Only snide commentary on the internet and laughter in their hearts, 
And yet you claim to be one with God.

We talk about immigration in this country.
Might doesn't make right, ladies and gentlemen, 
It just makes right now. What we are saying to the rest of the world, 
Is one day, when America grows weak, one day when her legions falter, 
On a day when her economy crumbles; China, Russia, Europe, whatever power has arisen; 
All you have to do is come here, and conquer us in a few military excursions; 
And then you too can set up shop here and in a hundred years, 
You can tell every red-blooded American, 
"No, you are an illegal human being. I am the true citizen. I have all the rights. You have no rights."

Maybe you forgot how you got this country. 
Maybe you take for granted the blood, the sweat, 
The tears that the people who live in practical circtum shed every day; 
For we may not run America, but we make America run.

We talk about the law, yet how many indignities have been legal in the past? 
How many treaties with Native American people have we broken? 
How many international laws have we violated? 
And speaking of laws, How can a corporation be regulated by a government that is
funded and controlled by corporations? How could there be accountability for people
who see a profit margin above the lives of Americans; Above the lives of human beings
in other countries?

We have taken the soul out of ourselves and placed them inside machines. 
My words, of course, will be marginalised, Demonised in typical fashion. 
Any time you dare to question the power structure, they say you hate America. 
No, I love this country. I see its beauty everyday in its people. 
And I love it a lot more than those that have abandoned the American worker, 
That have chose to exploit and try and take away every single benefit that she has. 
Those that attempt to make excuses for every atrocity committed in the name of supposed freedom. 
Those who demand accountability from everyone, but offer none themselves. 
Who favour contracts over lives, Who favour invasion and control over organic democracy overseas.

The greatest flaw that any intelligent person has is to think that they are smarter than everyone else. 
And so, as the government has planted its spies amongst us, we have planted our spies among them. 
They have infiltrated every branch of the American government. 
They have retrieved names, data, hard numbers;
The paper trail that will expose those that truly control this country. 
Those that control the political parties. 
Those that control the oil industry, the energy. 
Those that stand behind the companies, faceless, whose names have never been revealed...

Until to-... *Gunshot*

*Civilian screams*

*Heartbeat*

The Golden Rule

Posted by guest blogger "Sayf Maslul"


“To get rich, one must have but a single idea, one fixed, hard, immutable thought: the desire to make a heap of gold. And in order to increase this heap of gold, one must be inflexible, a usurer, thief, extortionist, and murderer! And one must especially mistreat the small and the weak! 

And when this mountain of gold has been amassed, one can climb up on it, and from up on the summit, a smile on one’s lips, one can contemplate the valley of poor wretches that one has created.” 
[Petrus Borel, Champavert, le lycanthrope]

“The few own the many because they possess the means of livelihood of all ... The country is governed for the richest, for the corporations, the bankers, the land speculators, and for the exploiters of labor. The majority of mankind are working people. So long as their fair demands - the ownership and control of their livelihoods - are set at naught, we can have neither men's rights nor women's rights. The majority of mankind is ground down by industrial oppression in order that the small remnant may live in ease.” [Helen Keller, Rebel Lives: Helen Keller]

“The fancies that take their monstrous birth from the spinelessness and boredom of usurped wealth bring in their wake every defect ... and though rich men's crimes escape the law, protected as they are by the cowardice of governments and people. Nature, more real than society, sets her anarchic example by abandoning the wretched time servers of Capital to the shame and madness of the worst aberrations.” 
[Jean Lorrain, Le Crime Des Riches (1905): Suivi de Paris Forain]

Who Do You Trust Less: The NSA Or Anonymous?

Intelligence Officials Seem To Be Polishing Up Their Case To Take On Anonymous Like A 'Stateless' Terrorist Group. 

FEB 21 2012, 6:31 PM ET 46 
Courtesy of "The Atlantic"

The director of the National Security Agency, Gen. Keith Alexander, told various high-level audiences that the loosely affiliated group, Anonymous, would soon have the capability "to bring about a limited power outage through a cyberattack," according to an anonymously sourced articlein the Wall Street Journal today.

The Journal admits that Anonymous "has never listed a power blackout as a goal," but warned that "some federal officials believe Anonymous is headed in a more disruptive direction," anyway. 

The Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account, @YourAnonNews, responded with a blunt denial. "NSA head engages in alarmist rhetoric & fear-mongering," they wrote today. "Why would Anons take out power grids when lives depend on them?"

Security expert Christopher Soghoian displayed skepticism about the NSA warning, too. "I'm confused," he tweeted, "What will happen in next year or 2 to give anonymous ability to hack power grid. Either the grid is secure or insecure."

The Journal article, following the line of "U.S. intelligence officials" lumped together Anonymous into a new cyber axis of evil that consisted of al Qaeda operatives, Chinese cyberspies, Russian cyberspies, and ... a bunch of random people in IRC rooms using relatively unsophisticated denial-of-service attacks. 

U.S. intelligence officials already have found what they say is evidence of Chinese and Russian cyberspies snooping in computer systems that run the electric grid, possibly in preparation for a conflict with the U.S. The governments of China and Russia have denied any involvement.
A stateless group like Anonymous doesn't yet have that capability, officials say. But if the group's members around the world developed or acquired it, an attack on the power grid would become far more likely, according to cybersecurity experts.

Note the use of the word "stateless." While it *can* apply to refugees and other entities, government officials tend to apply that adjective to a specific set of groups: People the American government labels terrorists, most particularly al Qaeda. Here's the normal deployment of the word from the9/11 Commission report: 

Our enemy is twofold: al Qaeda, a stateless network of terrorists that struck us on 9/11; and a radical ideological movement in the Islamic world, inspired in part by al Qaeda, which has spawned terrorist groups and violence across the globe. [emphasis mine]

So, now we know the frame through which the intelligence community sees Anonymous. That helps make sense of the scenarios that officials floated linking Anonymous to enemies of the United States.

"Possible scenarios discussed, the former official said, included one in which a foreign government developed the attack capability and outsourced it to a group like Anonymous, or if a U.S. adversary like al Qaeda hired hackers to mount a cyberattack," the article continued.

The overheated cyber rhetoric reminds some of the way the Bush Administration used yellowcake uranium in the lead-up to the Iraq war. 

"Evidence to sustain such dire warnings is conspicuously absent," wrote George Mason's Jerry Brito and Tate Watkins last week in Wired's Threat Level. "In many respects, rhetoric about cyber catastrophe resembles threat inflation we saw in the run-up to the Iraq War. And while Congress' passing of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation wouldn't lead to war, it could saddle us with an expensive and overreaching cyber-industrial complex."

The weird thing is that the thinking in the Journal piece, which seems to place Anonymous somewhere between Iran and a Colombian drug cartel on the danger scale, seems to garner serious consideration from our national security officials, perhaps because the word 'cyber' sounds so scary. The article concludes:  

White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said she couldn't discuss details of internal deliberations, but she said the administration "has made cybersecurity a top priority, and we are working tirelessly to protect ourselves from the threats we face, whether they come from other nations, cyber criminals, or from stateless activist hacker groups."

Note that word again, "stateless," and ask yourself if Anonymous should be deemed a terrorist group. Who has Anonymous hurt? What kinds of laws have they broken? Are they pursuing weapons? Do they sell drugs? Do they have guns? What credible evidence do we have that they are trying to hurt regular citizens? If not, what is gained by lumping them in along with real and persistent threats to Americans?

One doesn't have to support Anonymous' methods, goals, or aesthetics to worry about the US response to them in the intelligence community.

Anonymous Victory: EU Suspends ACTA Ratification

Anonymous against ACTA

Credits: 

anonnews.org

By Michael Stone 
February 22, 2012 
Courtesy Of "The National Anonymous Examiner"

Anonymous fights Internet censorship and wins. Pressure from the international Internet hacktivist collective known as Anonymous has forced the EU to suspend their efforts to ratify ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

On Wednesday, the European Commission suspended efforts to ratify the new international anti-counterfeiting agreement known as ACTA. Critics claim ACTA is a draconian measure that would effectively end freedom of the Internet, and fundamentally change the Internet as we know it.

The commission’s choice to suspend efforts to ratify ACTA is seen by many as a direct result of a relentless campaign directed by Anonymous hacktivists both in the streets of Europe and on the Internet.

Last Friday, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was victimized in an anti-ACTA action by AntiSec, an elite hacktivist crew associated with Anonymous. In explaining and justifying the FTC hack, AntiSec warned of a “war that [will] rain torrential hellfire down on all enemies of free speech, privacy and Internet freedom” if ACTA is signed into law.

Last month, members of the Polish Parliament donned Guy Fawkes masks to register their opposition to ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The Guy Fawkes mask is the unofficial trademark of Anonymous. Such a demonstration illustrates the power and prominence of Anonymous in the anti-ACTA movement.

While Wednesday’s news represents a significant victory for Anonymous, and the forces opposed to ACTA, the battle is far from over. The commission’s choice to suspend efforts to ratify ACTA is not in itself an end to ACTA. Instead, ACTA is being referred to Europe's highest court to see whether it violates any fundamental EU rights.

Nevertheless, the decision to suspend attempts to ratify ACTA represents a significant victory for Anonymous, and forces favoring a free and open Internet.

Anonymous Vows ‘Crusade’ Against Israel

Published: 11 February, 2012, 16:19 
Courtesy Of "Russia Today"


Online collective Anonymous has pledged a “crusade” against Israel. Claiming the country is committing “crimes against humanity” and gearing for “nuclear holocaust”, the group promised a campaign against the Israeli government.

In their statement issued early on Friday, Anonymous accused Israeli leaders of creating false democracy, serving the interests of a “select few” while “trampling the liberties of the masses.” The group said that Israel manipulates public opinion with a combination of “media deception” and “political bribery”. 

Addressing the Israeli leaders, Anonymous stated that their “Zionist bigotry” is to blame for killings and displacements, adding that “as the world weeps” they are planning their “next attack”. The group pledged not to allow the attack to happen. 

"You label all who refuse to comply with your superstitious demands as anti-Semitic and have taken steps to ensure a nuclear holocaust,” said the Anonymous. “We will not allow you to attack a sovereign country based upon a campaign of lies."

The group promised a three-step campaign against the current government of the country. 

These will include “systematically” removing it from the internet and turning Israel into a free state, the third step remaining undisclosed.  

However, in announcing the news, Israeli daily Haaretz comforted its readers by saying that the group is far from putting all of its threats into reality. The group previously threatened to attack the Knesset’s website but failed to fulfill the promise. 

Still, in one of the recent developments Anonymous did crash the CIA website, which remained down hours after the attack. The group said it did this for “lulz”, meaning “for laughs”.

Anonymous FBI Hack

Look At The Issues Nobody's Talking About 

By Paul Wallis Feb 3, 2012 
19 hours ago 
Courtesy Of "The Digital Journal"

Sydney - Anonymous is generally reviled for their hacks by the people who should have systems that can’t be hacked. The FBI hack does make a point - These hacks relate to much bigger systemic problems.

Anonymous are a strange phenomenon, not entirely covered by the rather useless word “hacktivism”. Whether you agree with Anonymous, Wikimedia or other online groups regarding various specific incidents, the truth is that they expose massive issues in areas which are extremely sensitive. They’ve also become the unofficial penetration testers of the world.

The New York Times:

...an F.B.I. official said Anonymous had not in fact hacked into it or any other bureau facilities. Instead, the official said, the group had simply obtained an e-mail giving the time, telephone number and access code for the call.

The e-mail had been sent on Jan. 13 to more than three dozen people at the bureau, Scotland Yard, and agencies in France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden. One recipient, a foreign police official, evidently forwarded the notification to a private account, he said, and it was then intercepted by Anonymous.

“It’s not really that sophisticated,” said the official, who would discuss the episode only on condition of anonymity. He said no Federal Bureau of Investigation system was compromised but noted that communications security was more challenging when agencies in multiple countries were involved.

Uh-huh. Of course, anyone would know which private account, held by which police official and the significance of one particular email out of any possible number. Out of billions of possible accounts, and that quickly. Sure, they would. Add to this the fact that Anonymous, of all people, who are anything but amateurs, would not be rummaging around looking for an email unless it already knew its significance, and you have a problem and a half for the agency.

(As a matter of fact, and the only thing plausible about this view of the Anonymous hack, if you know the issues, is that email systems are anything but watertight. They’re quite rightly separated from sensitive information in any halfway decent security setup.)

Anonymous were able to access a live operational call. That of itself is a measurable situation. The big deal here is an imponderable, and a serious one- The agency can consider itself lucky that Anonymous is a relatively very benign group. If they had any intention of doing real damage, they could do it. Others may not be so friendly. Breaches of operational security can cost lives and lead to catastrophic damage. This doesn’t need spelling out, but it must be considered. The global cyberwar usually doesn’t play nice or anything like nice, 99% of the time. Agencies must recognize that they are at risk, and that doesn’t seem to be happening.

There are far more important issues, and they're systemic. Anonymous has exposed the denial culture at its worst on a regular basis. This group needs to be assessed on its performance, not on ridiculous press releases talking about these terrible hackers attacking those poor defenseless security agencies with billion dollar IT budgets. Anonymous, love them or hate them, acts in the public interest- As it sees the public interest. Its recent operations indicate that it has far more advanced capabilities than cyber criminals and their clunky setups. It has also managed to carry out attacks that even national cyber-spies haven’t been able to achieve.

So the issue is this-

Anonymous routinely exposes holes in security and upstages nice smug little denial episodes in government and business, without further compromising their targets to any great extent. Agencies and businesses should recognize and consider themselves lucky that Anonymous isn’t providing How To manuals. It could, but it doesn’t.

Which is worse:

A group which catches agencies or businesses with major gaps in security, or parties which may or may not breach the laws and act against the public interest themselves and expect to get away with it, as per the Wikileaks “scandal”?

Or a hacker group which so far has acted in the public interest, at least by its own standards, and hasn’t done any of the highly destructive things it appears capable of doing?

This is another gigantic elephant in the bathtub that most official responses to Anonymous hacks have overlooked with an almost fanatical zeal. The spiel is always the same- “We” (there’s always someone called “we”) are never at fault. Then, hilariously- “They”, those awful hackers, have committed a crime significantly less than the one(s) we were trying to cover up. Very plausible. Do wait for applause, won't "we"?

Wikileaks is another serial exposer of denialism, which is almost the new Fascism these days. The US military, for God alone knows what improbable reason, has been trying to duck the security issues on the Bradley Manning case for ages. This was a case in which the breach of security could have been disastrous. The lack of security, in an organization where installing 24/7 keyloggers and other basic overwatch methods would take a phone call, is hideous. A very slight variation on that case may have seen troops on the ground totally compromised. The military brass, which should know much better, has been trying to dodge that bullet by blaming a private with a service record that reads like a demolition derby. This is viable security, and due diligence? Like hell it is.

Which is the greater threat- Official denial of the truth, or groups exposing official denials?

Does the public have a need to know when governments screw up, or when businesses go nuts? If so, who’s going to tell them?

Could the world’s fun-loving corporations survive much scrutiny? Would they hide behind any disinformation options available?

Is there legitimate cause for public distrust of “information” from official and corporate sources which is fundamentally false?

How do you enforce transparency in a totally corrupt environment where massive breaches of security aren't even investigated effectively beyond finding someone to blame? Do you need someone to prove false information is false?

The FBI got very lucky indeed. It now knows it has a problem. If Anonymous were real enemies, the FBI and its associates could have wound up with dead agents and failed operations. The time is long past where blaming someone else for security breaches is even an attempt at an excuse.

Note: I am not affiliated or associated with Anonymous in any way. I’m not even necessarily an admirer on a case by case basis. I do, however, recognize their values and the basic tenets of their operations whether I agree with them or not in any particular case.

(Sorry about all these corrections, if you're re-reading- I write too many disclaimers, I think.)

I also think that they’re making an extremely valid point- The days of political, governmental and corporate hiding beyond public scrutiny must end. The public has seen too many examples of exactly how untrustworthy the information it receives really is. These are the issues nobody's talking about. It's time they did.

This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com