By David Swanson
http://davidswanson.org/node/5371
I don't know why we didn't pick playing with live electrical
wires and call that "intelligence" instead of the stuff we do. I think
I'll stick with calling what the U.S. government does
"counter-intelligence." So, here's the latest from the
counter-intelligence community.
Section 501 of the Counter Intelligence Act creates a "Committee to Counter Active Measures by the Russian Federation to Exert Covert Influence Over Peoples and Governments."
I suspect there may have been a Section 503 in an earlier draft that required CNN to show a photo of Vladimir Putin without his shirt and make fun of him at least once every 4 hours. If so, that section would have been stripped out as unnecessary.
The establishment wants more and more hostility with Russia. Trump wants to ever so slightly tweak the establishment and focus more hostility on China. That shift is obviously not one toward enlightenment. But when there is a chance for better relations between the U.S. and Russian governments, Congress should not be allowed to inject its counter-intelligence.
It's also not a good thing if the active measures (real or imagined) are not countered in the wisest manner. One way to counter assassinations, for example, would be to expose them, prosecute them as crimes, and seek reconciliation. Another would be to empower a special committee to engage in "counter-assassinations."
Contrary to good liberal faith, there is zero public evidence that Russia has been engaging in these activities listed in the Counter Intelligence Act:
--Section 501 of the Counter Intelligence Act creates a "Committee to Counter Active Measures by the Russian Federation to Exert Covert Influence Over Peoples and Governments."
This is followed by Section 502 which limits Russian and only Russian
diplomats in the United States to traveling no more than 25 miles from
their offices.
I suspect there may have been a Section 503 in an earlier draft that required CNN to show a photo of Vladimir Putin without his shirt and make fun of him at least once every 4 hours. If so, that section would have been stripped out as unnecessary.
The establishment wants more and more hostility with Russia. Trump wants to ever so slightly tweak the establishment and focus more hostility on China. That shift is obviously not one toward enlightenment. But when there is a chance for better relations between the U.S. and Russian governments, Congress should not be allowed to inject its counter-intelligence.
Of course countering active measures by the Russian Federation to
exert covert influence over peoples and governments sounds like a good
thing. But it's not a good thing if those active measures do not exist.
This is like putting weapons in space to "counter" others doing it, when
nobody else is.
It's offense under the banner of defense. And offense
will be taken.
It's also not a good thing if the active measures (real or imagined) are not countered in the wisest manner. One way to counter assassinations, for example, would be to expose them, prosecute them as crimes, and seek reconciliation. Another would be to empower a special committee to engage in "counter-assassinations."
Contrary to good liberal faith, there is zero public evidence that Russia has been engaging in these activities listed in the Counter Intelligence Act:
(A) Establishment or funding of a front group.
(B) Covert broadcasting.
(C) Media manipulation.
(D) Disinformation and forgeries.
(E) Funding agents of influence.
(F) Incitement and offensive counterintelligence.
(G) Assassinations.
(H) Terrorist acts.
Are there Russian front groups in the United States? Name one. Prove
it. Is there covert broadcasting underway? Is that where you broadcast
to nobody? Presumably it is where you create television and radio
content purporting not to be Russian but actually serving the Russian
government. Where is that? May we see a 30 second clip of it, please?
Has the media been manipulated? By disinformation and forgeries? Expose
one, for godsake, this is an emergency! Don't let those forgeries go on
deceiving us a moment longer! "Funding agents of influence" sounds more
like overt broadcasting. Russia does do that using Russian television
and radio networks (something the United States would never ever engage
in!) -- but how will this committee counter those? "Incitement" to what?
"Offensive counterintelligence"? Offensive to whom? "Assassinations"?
Of whom? Has someone been assassinated? "Terrorist acts"? Wouldn't we,
almost by definition, have heard of these?
Now I realize that most people don't give a rat's ass about stirring
up hostility with the other major nuclear nation. So, here's another
problem with this bill that people may want to object to, as they
should. This committee is empowered to do anything the president tells
it to, and it sends occasional reports to Congress, not the public.
Most, if not all, of the people it counter-intelligently counters will
not have anything to do with the Russian government.
The Washington Post has already published a ludicrous but
dangerous list of supposed Russian front group media outlets. If this
committee does the same, and especially if it does so in secret, what
recourse will the falsely accused have? This committee, selected by
presidential appointees, will not be publicly accountable.
If the New-McCarthyite Anti-Russia Committee secretly labels you a
Russian agent and accuses you of media manipulation, will it then
manipulate the media to destroy your reputation? If it accuses you of
"disinformation and forgeries" will it "counter" that with
disinformation about you and forgeries incriminating you? Will it
confiscate your funding as being that of an "agent of influence"? What
will it do if it accuses you of assassinations? And will all the Russian
agents of influence turn out to be Democrats during Republican
presidencies, and vice versa?
Presumably the CIA hasn't challenged Congress to a duel over this new
committee horning in on its territory because it's not technically
supposed to spread its counter-intelligence domestically. Same with
USAID and the rest. And the FBI is not supposed to be at war with
foreign nations. But the lines between the military policing of the
globe and the police militarization at home are ever blurring. And
that's part of what's wrong with this bill. All's fair in war, meaning
there is no requirement of fairness. Don't expect any. Resist instead.
David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015 and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.
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