Written by Richard Kane   

Snooping, not our usual flawed analysis, from secondary information is the only way the US can know what is really going on. If the US had listened to the Russians discussing the older militant brother of the future Boston Marathon bomber pair instead of just listening to the Russians strongly urging us to watch Tamerlan Tsarnaev closely, the US would have been scared of him. If would have known that he quickly left Russia back to the US where he had been staying long enough to get citizenship papers after a political murder. And other suspicious evidence on him. The Russians forwarding their file on him may or may not have been enough as well to have prevented the Boston Marathon attack. Listening in on German Chancellor Merkel could be a learning experience as well. The US was very reluctant to believe part of a Chechen independence group aided by the US against the Soviet Union hated the US. Remember the US aided rebels in Afghanistan against Russians that are no longer friendly to the US.

Rather than being a big octopus with dangerous tentacles, the US seems to me to be a blind gorilla, or an almost blind man with a big gun, with lobbyist of all sorts trying to be the US's eyes.

It's hard to realize how blind the US is. It started during World War II when the US entered the power politics game with intelligence handed to us on a silver platter since both Germany and Japan had any idea that their secret codes were broken. A few in the government keeping secrets from the rest of the government is usually bad policy. Britain mostly went back to its old way of doing things but the US foreign policy before World War II was almost totally controlled by foreign lobbyists. The term Banana Republic comes from the lobbying of Dole Banana. During the Cold War on the surface right wing nut case turned over the names of all US spies in Russia over to the Russians without ordinary Americans being told anything is wrong. Since Wikipedia downplays Robert Hanssen's on the surface right-wing rants and public activities I am enclosing this link, http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/breach.php
During the Cold War with Cuba US intelligence agents who thought right-wing Cubans were dangerous where pushed out. The US wanted to be lied to by the Iraqi Congress in Exile to get rid of Saddam, more people pushed out of the US intelligence jobs who complained, if only internally.

Arab translators who don't appreciate Israel aren't hired. Many Muslims hate both Israel and al Qaeda and would be happy to be paid to analyze al Qaeda's messages, but aren’t hired, unable to pass security clearance, or are worried if they get a job translating al Qaeda, and they refuse to do so concerning Hezbollah they might get labeled a subversive with lingering trouble from the US government.

It may be more than the US that is not interested in keeping track of where the truth lies. France cut the French Military Budget in the midst of a very credible threat from al Qaeda that al Qaeda of North Africa would attack the Eiffel Tower, and other French targets, unless their demands were met. It seems to me that since a major goal of al Qaeda is to bankrupt the West, France was letting al Qaeda know that any attack on France would not further that goal. If I am right, not sharing this with later French leaders and other leaders in the West makes no sense, if this is what al Qaeda wants bin Laden's plan from his hideout to derail US trains would lead to expensive auto and air freight without causing a draft which is a cheaper way to fight then a draft. Maybe the US doesn't know about how to deal with al Qaeda because it didn't ease drop on Frances decision making concerning al Qaeda.


Intelligence gathering and spying is so easy and prevalent by governments, corporations and private individuals that requiring one of the cameras and electronic listening bugs clearly visible, and disclosing what is gathered after two months or two years might become the legal way to tame snooping. Britain logically has a policy of declassifying its files after 25 year. British law on automatic declassification is a step in the right direction. Britain wisely is afraid of being duped by its own previews propaganda, Brits in the future then learning a false history unless the truth is revealed before it is lost.

Wilikeaks, and other revelers on what is going on, are doing the US government a favor in the same way if someone would grab an alley cat covered with mud and give it a bath.

I for one, thank Obama for eavesdropping while I join others in condemning him in punishing Bradley Manning others for revealing that he is doing so.