"Our great industrial nation is
controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately
concentrated. The growth of our nation, therefore, and all of our
activities are in the hands of a few men...who necessarily, by very
reason of their limitations, chill and check and destroy economic
freedom." - Woodrow Wilson
NSA Whistle-Blower: Obama’s ‘Disposition Matrix’ is an ‘Undisciplined Slaughter’
Posted on Oct 27, 2012
 |
| Democracy Now! |
William Binney.
|
Former National Security Agency official and whistle-blower William Binney
is appalled but unsurprised by last week’s revelation that President
Obama has institutionalized a mechanism for generating targets for his
secretive assassination list.
As Greg Miller reported
in The Washington Post, the “disposition matrix” is a database that
links the profiles of suspected “terrorists” to “locations, known
associates and affiliated organizations” as well as “strategies for
taking targets down, including extradition requests, capture operations
and drone patrols.” The process is operated by the National
Counterterrorism Center, which has access to all intelligence and other
information collected on American citizens and people abroad, and the
process is not open to scrutiny by a judge or independent oversight
committee.
In other words, Barack Obama and a small
group of defense officials have taken for themselves the right to decide
who is a terrorist, who should die and how.
In a telephone interview with Truthdig,
Binney explained that the use of information connecting other people to
suspects suggests the process will be used to create new suspects that
pose no threat to the United States.
“They’re using metadata to target people,”
he says. “… [A]ddresses and phone numbers, which gets back to
relationships between suspects and others and social network building.
If you use that kind of information to target people without having
substantive stuff behind it, that’s getting down to more random killing
or getting killed because you’re in proximity to somebody who’s doing
bad things. It’s an undisciplined slaughter.”
When news of the matrix was released, Glenn Greenwald pointed out
that the specifics of how suspects are generated and how targets are
selected “will undoubtedly be kept completely secret,” with no checks
and balances. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports that since
President Obama took office, at least 70 civilians
have died in strikes in which they were not targeted. Without oversight
of the targeting process, it is reasonable to expect people will
continue to die in this way.
“What is the criteria for being on the kill
list?” Binney asked. “A lot of innocent people are being killed. It’s
all being done in secret by saying ‘Trust me, we’ll make the proper
decisions.’ Well, do you really trust the government?”
Binney, who became a target of the Obama
administration’s anti-whistle-blower campaign when he spoke out about
the NSA’s data-mining project, doesn’t trust the government. Instead he
questions whether terrorists worldwide pose as much of a threat to the
security of American citizens as does the United States government.
“They’re moving more and more to a
surveillance state and being out in the open and justifying it by laws
after the fact. It’s just like the frogs slowly heating up in water and
they don’t jump out and they get boiled. … We’re destroying a whole way
of life here. The terrorists could never do this to us.”
—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
Britain rejects US request to use UK bases in nuclear standoff with Iran
Secret legal advice states pre-emptive strike could be in breach of international law as Iran not yet 'clear and present threat'
• Military action not 'right course', Downing Street says
• Military action not 'right course', Downing Street says
US diplomats are said
to have also lobbied for permission to use US bases on British territory
such as Diego Garcia. Photograph: AFP
Britain has rebuffed US pleas to use military
bases in the UK to support the build-up of forces in the Gulf, citing
secret legal advice which states that any pre-emptive strike on Iran could be in breach of international law.
The Guardian has been told that US diplomats have also lobbied for the use of British bases in Cyprus, and for permission to fly from US bases on Ascension Island in the Atlantic and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, both of which are British territories.
The US approaches are part of contingency planning over the nuclear standoff with Tehran, but British ministers have so far reacted coolly. They have pointed US officials to legal advice drafted by the attorney general's office which has been circulated to Downing Street, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence.
This makes clear that Iran, which has consistently denied it has plans to develop a nuclear weapon, does not currently represent "a clear and present threat". Providing assistance to forces that could be involved in a pre-emptive strike would be a clear breach of international law, it states.
"The UK would be in breach of international law if it facilitated what amounted to a pre-emptive strike on Iran," said a senior Whitehall source. "It is explicit. The government has been using this to push back against the Americans."
Sources said the US had yet to make a formal request to the British government, and that they did not believe an acceleration towards conflict was imminent or more likely. The discussions so far had been to scope out the British position, they said.
"But I think the US has been surprised that ministers have been reluctant to provide assurances about this kind of upfront assistance," said one source. "They'd expect resistance from senior Liberal Democrats, but it's Tories as well. That has come as a bit of a surprise."
The situation reflects the lack of appetite within Whitehall for the UK to be drawn into any conflict, though the Royal Navy has a large presence in the Gulf in case the ongoing diplomatic efforts fail.
The navy has up to 10 ships in the region, including a nuclear-powered submarine. Its counter-mine vessels are on permanent rotation to help ensure that the strategically important shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz remain open.
The Guardian has been told that a British military delegation with a strong navy contingent flew to US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, earlier this summer to run through a range of contingency plans with US planners.
The UK, however, has assumed that it would only become involved once a conflict had already begun, and has been reluctant to commit overt support to Washington in the buildup to any military action.
"It is quite likely that if the Israelis decided to attack Iran, or the Americans felt they had to do it for the Israelis or in support of them, the UK would not be told beforehand," said the source. "In some respects, the UK government would prefer it that way."
British and US diplomats insisted that the two countries regarded a diplomatic solution as the priority. But this depends on the White House being able to restrain Israel, which is nervous that Iran's underground uranium enrichment plant will soon make its nuclear programme immune to any outside attempts to stop it.
Israel has a less developed strike capability and its window for action against Iran will close much more quickly than that of the US, explained another official. "The key to holding back Israel is Israeli confidence that the US will deal with Iran when the moment is right."
With diplomatic efforts stalled by the US presidential election campaign, a new push to resolve the crisis will begin in late November or December.
Six global powers will spearhead a drive which is likely to involve an offer to lift some of the sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy in return for Tehran limiting its stockpile of enriched uranium.
The countries involved are the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. Iran will be represented by its chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "As we continue to make clear, the government does not believe military action against Iran is the right course of action at this time, although no option is off the table. We believe that the twin-track approach of pressure through sanctions, which are having an impact, and engagement with Iran is the best way to resolve the nuclear issue. We are not going to speculate about scenarios in which military action would be legal. That would depend on the circumstances at the time."
The Foreign Office said it would not disclose whether the attorney general's advice has been sought on any specific issue.
A US state department official said: "The US and the UK co-ordinate on all kinds of subjects all the time, on a huge range of issues. We never speak on the record about these types of conversations."
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, warned at the UN general assembly last month that Iran's nuclear programme would reach Israel's "red line" by "next spring, at most by next summer", implying that Israel might then take military action in an attempt to destroy nuclear sites and set back the programme.
That red line, which Netanyahu illustrated at the UN with a marker pen on a picture of a bomb, is defined by Iranian progress in making uranium enriched to 20%, which would be much easier than uranium enriched to 5% to turn into weapons-grade material, should Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, take the strategic decision to abandon Iran's observance of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and try to make a weapon. Tehran insists it has no such intention.
In August, the most senior US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, distanced himself from any Israeli plan to bomb Iran. He said such an attack would "clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran's nuclear programme".
He added: "I don't want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it."
The Guardian has been told that US diplomats have also lobbied for the use of British bases in Cyprus, and for permission to fly from US bases on Ascension Island in the Atlantic and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, both of which are British territories.
The US approaches are part of contingency planning over the nuclear standoff with Tehran, but British ministers have so far reacted coolly. They have pointed US officials to legal advice drafted by the attorney general's office which has been circulated to Downing Street, the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence.
This makes clear that Iran, which has consistently denied it has plans to develop a nuclear weapon, does not currently represent "a clear and present threat". Providing assistance to forces that could be involved in a pre-emptive strike would be a clear breach of international law, it states.
"The UK would be in breach of international law if it facilitated what amounted to a pre-emptive strike on Iran," said a senior Whitehall source. "It is explicit. The government has been using this to push back against the Americans."
Sources said the US had yet to make a formal request to the British government, and that they did not believe an acceleration towards conflict was imminent or more likely. The discussions so far had been to scope out the British position, they said.
"But I think the US has been surprised that ministers have been reluctant to provide assurances about this kind of upfront assistance," said one source. "They'd expect resistance from senior Liberal Democrats, but it's Tories as well. That has come as a bit of a surprise."
The situation reflects the lack of appetite within Whitehall for the UK to be drawn into any conflict, though the Royal Navy has a large presence in the Gulf in case the ongoing diplomatic efforts fail.
The navy has up to 10 ships in the region, including a nuclear-powered submarine. Its counter-mine vessels are on permanent rotation to help ensure that the strategically important shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz remain open.
The Guardian has been told that a British military delegation with a strong navy contingent flew to US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, earlier this summer to run through a range of contingency plans with US planners.
The UK, however, has assumed that it would only become involved once a conflict had already begun, and has been reluctant to commit overt support to Washington in the buildup to any military action.
"It is quite likely that if the Israelis decided to attack Iran, or the Americans felt they had to do it for the Israelis or in support of them, the UK would not be told beforehand," said the source. "In some respects, the UK government would prefer it that way."
British and US diplomats insisted that the two countries regarded a diplomatic solution as the priority. But this depends on the White House being able to restrain Israel, which is nervous that Iran's underground uranium enrichment plant will soon make its nuclear programme immune to any outside attempts to stop it.
Israel has a less developed strike capability and its window for action against Iran will close much more quickly than that of the US, explained another official. "The key to holding back Israel is Israeli confidence that the US will deal with Iran when the moment is right."
With diplomatic efforts stalled by the US presidential election campaign, a new push to resolve the crisis will begin in late November or December.
Six global powers will spearhead a drive which is likely to involve an offer to lift some of the sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy in return for Tehran limiting its stockpile of enriched uranium.
The countries involved are the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China. Iran will be represented by its chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "As we continue to make clear, the government does not believe military action against Iran is the right course of action at this time, although no option is off the table. We believe that the twin-track approach of pressure through sanctions, which are having an impact, and engagement with Iran is the best way to resolve the nuclear issue. We are not going to speculate about scenarios in which military action would be legal. That would depend on the circumstances at the time."
The Foreign Office said it would not disclose whether the attorney general's advice has been sought on any specific issue.
A US state department official said: "The US and the UK co-ordinate on all kinds of subjects all the time, on a huge range of issues. We never speak on the record about these types of conversations."
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, warned at the UN general assembly last month that Iran's nuclear programme would reach Israel's "red line" by "next spring, at most by next summer", implying that Israel might then take military action in an attempt to destroy nuclear sites and set back the programme.
That red line, which Netanyahu illustrated at the UN with a marker pen on a picture of a bomb, is defined by Iranian progress in making uranium enriched to 20%, which would be much easier than uranium enriched to 5% to turn into weapons-grade material, should Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, take the strategic decision to abandon Iran's observance of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and try to make a weapon. Tehran insists it has no such intention.
In August, the most senior US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, distanced himself from any Israeli plan to bomb Iran. He said such an attack would "clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran's nuclear programme".
He added: "I don't want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it."
.................keep fighting the good fight, with your minds as weapons..............................
....................kosmicbris..............
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