Valerie Plame & Joe Wilson: This Has Nothing To Do With Snowden, The Intelligence-Industrial Complex Is Out Of Control
from the transparency-needed dept
Husband and wife Valerie Plame Wilson and Joe Wilson are well-known for an earlier "leaking" of "intelligence" information that resulted in Plame being outed as a covert CIA officer. The two have now written a powerful op-ed for the Guardian pointing out that the "intelligence-industrial complex" is completely out of control and very ripe for abuse:We are now dealing with a vast intelligence-industrial complex that is largely unaccountable to its citizens. This alarming, unchecked growth of the intelligence sector and the increasingly heavy reliance on subcontractors to carry out core intelligence tasks – now estimated to account for approximately 60% of the intelligence budget – have intensified since the 9/11 attacks and what was, arguably, our regrettable over-reaction to them.They point out that the size of the operation, the reliance on private companies and contractors more focused on profits than what's best for the country, combined with the massive amount of secrecy all needs to change:
On this spying business, officials from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to self-important senators are, in effect, telling Americans not to worry: it's not that big a deal, and "trust us" because they're keeping US citizens safe. This position must be turned on its head and opened up to a genuine discussion about the necessary, dynamic tension between security and privacy. As it now stands, these programs are ripe for abuse unless we establish ground rules and barriers between authentic national security interests and potential political chicanery.Separately, they point out that the focus on Ed Snowden is nothing more than a "sideshow" which distracts from the real issue: which is just how insanely out of control the intelligence infrastructure of the country has become.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: corruption, intelligence, intelligence-industrial complex, joe wilson, valerie plame
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I don't get why you think we have to only focus on the NSA and not on Snowden as well. Both are interesting stories in themselves. It's not a sideshow. It reminds me of how you reacted with Swartz, where you wouldn't discuss what Swartz had done and instead try to steer to the conversation only to the CFAA and practices of journals. Both can be compelling stories that are worthy of our focus, Mike.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
In short, they're the circuses in "bread and circuses".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Do you think that it's OK for people entrusted with state secrets to just disclose them whenever they want to? Should we just let one person decide for himself what's important and worth keeping secret and what's not? Let's talk about that too since it's also a big part of this story.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Let's talk about leaking secrets...
The gatekeepers who decide what is secret and what is not are the same group who are violating our constitutionally guaranteed rights to privacy, speech, thought, and trial by jury. This situation violates our tradition of the balance of power and is therefore intolerable in the American system of government.
Many Americans, including no doubt Mr. Snowden, believe that these gatekeepers are 1) abusing their citizen-given power, and 2) covering up their abuse of power by making the fact a "national security secret."
Hell, every day new revelation. Now it is revealed that we have violated the trust of our own allies by spying on their government and citizens. We risk becoming a pariah on the world stage because of the actions of the "intelligence-industrial complex."
I think the point many are making, including Valerie Plame & Joe Wilson is that our "national security" is in greater danger from the usurpation of constitutional rights by those who abuse that power without accountability, than it is from any foreign power who might wish us harm.
Our federal government has no constitutional basis for wire-tapping and recording every telephone call made in America. Yet, the government not only does exactly this, it lies about it.
The IRS is again being used as a hammer in which to smash those within this country who's thoughts are not aligned with the powers in office. This is a Nixonian-era abuse of power that added to pressuring one president to resign office.
Even the offices of the Associated Press, a wire service that feeds all other news services, has been wiretapped without cause and without a court order.
I believe America has a mandate to support and defend the right to privacy, free speech, and free thought. Yet, this and past administrations violate all three principles of freedom.
Have the events of 9/11/2001 repealed our Bill of Rights? Those in power seem to think so, with Patriot I and Patriot II, and who knows how many other Presidential Findings?
However, I am not willing to trade my constitutional guarantees of freedom of privacy, speech, thought, and trial by jury for the current political simulation of national security we now have, which is in my opinion, designed for consumption by and pacification of an uninformed citizenry.
There are better methods to maintain security than spying on every American who uses a telephone or sends an email. If we don't know what they are today, then we better find them, fast.
Have you no outrage about these intrusions on our basic freedoms or are you content with the status-quo?
Bravo to Mr. Snowden, a true American freedom-lover who had the courage to act. America needs to stand behind Mr. Snowden.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Sideshows
The US Constitution, and the government's duty to uphold that essential American document is the story.
What is some guy named Snowden who we never heard of until a few weeks ago compared with the that?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Sideshows
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Sideshows
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Sideshows
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Sideshows
It's a valid question. On the one hand, there's an obvious problem with being OK with that. On the other hand, if people never did it, then all kinds of serious misbehavior would never have been spotted and corrected.
In my opinion, it is essential that there are people who are willing to divulge classified documents in the course of whistleblowing. At the same time, it's important that there be serious consequences for doing so, to ensure that people wouldn't engage in such behavior casually.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
I'm not sure exactly what you think is inconvenient.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Review and redo: Mike said THEY pointed this out, whereas your reply suggests "Mike" did. These two stories are not equally yoked in the press either. They are clearly pushing character over action on this one.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
I think too much attention is being placed on Snowden as it is. That story is, by any definition, a sideshow.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Blinkers
(1) Who pays for all this? The Taxpayer? That makes the taxpayer a CONSUMER. But not protected by the normal consumer protection laws. The consumer laws protect the consumer from false and misleading advertising, from certain forms of secrecy, from collusion, monopoly etc.
The Swartz issue was that the taxpayer had already paid for the information, AND THEREFORE IT SHOULD BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, just because the government has a monopoly and CAN MAKE THE LAWS, that makes it ILLEGAL to put the information in the PUBLIC DOMAIN, does not make the LAW right.
The issue with the NSA is, and you will see more of this GRIND the USA into the ground, under the guise of NATIONAL SECURITY, the good old USA was actually spying on it's TRADING PARTNERS, to get a trading advantage, so how will China, Russia, Europe see this? Will they not say FU we are not trading with you any more, because we don't need you, or your Monsanto, or your Apple or anything else, I know that would be my reaction.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What is technically fascinating is the route he's taken to keep the rest of his material away from the American government and intelligence community unless or until something happens to him. It's possible the key could be as little as a single byte which could trigger the sending of his other documents out after they've been unscrambled.
Despite what he's charged with he's a whistle blower, nothing more or less. Which is an honourable thing in an open and free democracy when government starts to get out of control. which, in this case, and more it seems, it has.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Unless of course they have been out of control for so long that it is impossible to turn the ship.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No big deal
Confirm what everyone already suspected?
Treason
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Culture of Celebrity
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Culture of Celebrity
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Culture of Celebrity
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's now about damage control and shutting down those known programs so they can be restarted in another name still doing the same things once the attention is gone. It's not about recognizing it's gone too far.
Character assassination has always been a tool of media and the intelligence community to divert attention away from what they are doing and to justify seeking the maximums for a spy when all it is, is as mentioned a whistle blower who does not deserve this sort of reaction from an embarrassed government. In this Obama and the DOJ have pretty much been caught red handed at it. Only now it is out in the open about it. It will be far harder to institution these kangaroo courts and charges without the public asking questions. I also suspect that this might still be early enough to help Bradley Manning with another of these kangaroo courts.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
So tell me - do NSA това́рищи have small red books for IDs?
Oh, sorry, Honecker might have been deluded that it will just stay that way...
They have trained you, Americans, very well indeed. And for the good - instead of barbed wire, death zones, defectors and costs of that all - everyone is happy with the brain washed so well it shines. If anything - this definitely IS a success of the "war on terrorism".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: So tell me - do NSA това́рищи have small red books for IDs?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
LIBOR rigging
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: LIBOR rigging
Too big to jail
Nibble a poptart into a shape that sort of resembles a pistol
Suspension
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: LIBOR rigging
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Some people don't help your point...
Are they correct? Yep. Are they massive, undying, hypocrites who showed were so concerned about their "sideshow" that they *appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair*? Yep!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Consider the US has more political prisoners (we call them drug convictions) than the USSR ever had.
The US has a more powerful domestic intelligence organization than the USSR ever had.
The US disappears people at places like Gitmo and Diego Garcia. Once on Google one could see the gulag camp and the area surrounding the camp, not now.
That elections are just as rigged in the US today as they were in the USSR.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The leaker of Valerie Plame's identity will not have to fear any such repercussions.
There a "good" leaks and there are "evil" leaks when it comes to the government.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Elephant in the Room
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Spying
[ link to this | view in chronology ]