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Al Jazeera Spy Cables |
By Stephen
Lendman |
| On February 23, Al Jazeera headlined "The Spy Cables:
A Glimpse into the world of espionage." Saying "(s)ecret documents, leaked from numerous intelligence agencies, offer rare insights into the interactions between spies." Hold the cheers. Al Jazeera is owned, operated and controlled by Qatar's government. Its agenda is closely tied to Washington and other Western governments. Doha hosts America's forward CENTCOM (US Central Command) headquarters. It's based at Al Udeid Air Base. It's home for 5,000 US forces. It's a hub for US Afghanistan and Iraq operations. Qatar was instrumental in Obama's Libya war. Its special forces armed and trained extremist Islamist militants. It's allied with Obama's war on Syria. The State Department's annual human rights report said Qatar: denies its citizens the right to change governmental authority peacefully; constitutional law mandates hereditary male al-Thani family rule. prohibits fundamental civil liberties; abuses noncitizen workers; forbids organized political parties; denies speech, press and assembly freedoms; prohibits due process and judicial fairness for anyone facing charges under the Protection of Society and Combating Terrorism Law; restricts religious practices and movement; traffics in domestic workers and various other labor sectors; and discriminates against women legally, institutionally and cultureally. Don't expect revelations like Edward Snowden's. It remains to be seen what Al Jazeera intends to publish. It'll be up to others to judge its reliability. Most important is what it intends to keep suppressed. Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit collaborated with London's Guardian - an establishment broadsheet. It published Snowden's revelations. According to Al Jazeera, it intends "a selection of 'top-secret' documents, and exploring stories within them." They're from Israel's Mossad, Britain's MI6, Russia's FSB, Australia's ASIO and South Africa's SSA. No direct mention of the CIA, NSA, FBI or other US spy agencies. Al Jazeera claims a "digital leak" source. It'll begin selective publisihing "(o)ver the coming days." Documents it obtained cover the period 2006 - 2014. They include SSA "detailed briefings and internal analyses." Revealing South Africa's "secret correspondence with the US intelligence agency, the CIA, Britain's MI6, Israel's Mossad, Russia's FSB and Iran's operatives, as well as dozens of other services from Asia to the Middle East and Africa." Information obtained comes from human intelligence (HUMINT). Al Jazeera calls it "humdrum, day-in-the-office level" espionage. Offering a "glimpse into the daily working lives of people whose jobs are kept secret from the public." Expect no blockbuster revelations. Al Jazeera calling it "important to achieve greater transparency in the field of intelligence" may be more hype than fulfillment. Snowden connected important dots for millions. Don't expect Al Jazeera to match him. Israel may be concerned. On February 23, Haaretz headlined "Massive leak said to reveal Mossad's 'true' assessment on Iran nuclear program." If so, it'll show a peaceful one with no military component. Annual US intelligence assessments say so. New Snowden leaks reveal US, Israeli and UK spy agencies cooperated in surveilling Iranian officials. Documents indicate "(t)he respective NSA-ISNU and GCHQ bilateral relationships had gotten to the point that each participant recognized the need for the trilateral engagement to advance this specific topic." "The trilateral relationship is limited to the topic of (word redated) and will serve as a proof of concept of this kind of engagement." GCHQ "long advocated that it work with NSA and ISNU in a trilateral arrangement to prosecute the Iranian target." NSA's signals intelligence chief "opposed…such a blanket arrangement, and this specific trilateral should not be interpreted as a broad change of approach." "In other areas, NSA and CCHQ have agreed to continue to share information gleaned from the respective bilateral relationships with ISNU." Documents revealed show US/UK intelligence successes against Iran. Saying "NSA has successfully worked multiple high-priority surges with GCHQ (during) the storming of the British Embassy in Tehran…" "Iran's discovery of computer network exploitation tools on their networks in 2012 and 2013; and support to policymakers during the multiple rounds of P5 plus 1 negotiation on Iran's nuclear program." NSA's so-called emergency plan in case of crisis conditions with Iran is coordinated with other US spy agencies and Pentagon officials. Separately, Israeli media report another fake Hamas terror cell uncovered. This one in Hebron. This type revelation ahead of Israel's mid-March elections isn't surprising. Polls show Netanyahu in a close race to remain prime minister. Shin Bet said it arrested 11 Hamas members plotting terror attacks. It claimed weapons and explosives were seized. A Shin Bet statement said: "The activities of this cell reflects the real threat from Hamas activities in Hebron and especially from operatives that have been arrested in the past and then returned to the terror pool." Hamas consistently denies fabricated Israeli terror plot claims. Days earlier, Israel said active West Bank IS terror cells operate. PA security forces spokesman Adnan Dameiri denied it, saying: "We are obviously adamant not to have ISIS or umbrellas for them in Palestine." "Those who have been trying to create the ISIS phenomenon are Israel and Hamas given that the Muslim Brotherhood movement is the incubator which created al-Qaida, ISIS, the Nusra Front and other Jihadist and Takfiri organizations." "The Israeli occupation is interested in creating chaos in Palestine…to tell the world that Palestinians do not deserve to have a state." Israeli anti-Hamas propaganda remains intense. Egypt spreads similar Big Lies. On Saturday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abut Zuhri blasted Egyptian "incitement and deception" against Palestinians in Gaza. He denounced what he called "Zionist-like" rumors and misinformation sowing discord cooperatively with Israel. Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad al-Buzm denounced "attempts to accuse (Gazans) of (involvement in) ongoing events in Egypt." Hamas is Palestine's democratically elected government. It threatens no one. Israel, Washington, Egypt and likeminded rogue allies outrageously call it a terrorist organization. Don't expect Al Jazeera's Spy Cables to expose Israeli high crimes. Expect they'll steer well clear of anything too controversial. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. |
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