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GCHQ’s Rainbow Lights: Exploiting Social Issues for Militarism and Imperialism
Over the weekend, the British surveillance agency GCHQ — the most extremist and invasive in the West — bathed its futuristic headquarterswith rainbow-colored lights “as a symbol of the intelligence agency’s commitment to diversity” and to express solidarity with “International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.” GCHQ’s public affairs office proudly distributed the above photograph to media outlets. Referring to Alan Turing, the closeted-and-oppressed gay World War II British code-breaker just memorialized by an Oscar-nominated feature film, Prime Minister David Cameron’s office celebrated GCHQ’s inspirational lights:
This is so very moving. Gay Brits are now just as free as everyone else to spy on people, covertly disseminate state propaganda, and destroy online privacy. Whatever your views on all this nasty surveillance business might be, how can you not feel good about GCHQ when it drapes itself in the colors of LGBT equality?
This is all a stark illustration of what has become a deeply cynical but highly effective tactic. Support for institutions of militarism and policies of imperialism is now manufactured by parading them under the emotionally manipulative banners of progressive social causes.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
BRITAIN USED SPY TEAM TO SHAPE LATIN AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION ON FALKLANDS
BRITAIN USED SPY TEAM TO SHAPE LATIN AMERICAN PUBLIC OPINION ON FALKLANDS
Faced with mounting international pressure over the Falkland Islands territorial dispute, the British government enlisted its spy service, including a highly secretive unit known for using “dirty tricks,” to covertly launch offensive cyberoperations to prevent Argentina from taking the islands.
A shadowy unit of the British spy agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had been preparing a bold, covert plan called “Operation QUITO” since at least 2009. Documents provided to The Intercept by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, published in partnership with Argentine news site Todo Notícias, refer to the mission as a “long-running, large scale, pioneering effects operation.”
At the heart of this operation was the Joint Threat Research and Intelligence Group, known by the acronym JTRIG, a secretive unit that has been involved in spreading misinformation.
The British government, which has continuously administered the Falkland Islands — also known as the Malvinas — since 1833, has rejected Argentine and international calls to open negotiations on territorial sovereignty. Worried that Argentina, emboldened by international opinion, may attempt to retake the islands diplomatically or militarily, JTRIG and other GCHQ divisions were tasked “to support FCO’s [Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s] goals relating to Argentina and the Falkland Islands.” A subsequent document suggests the main FCO goal was to “[prevent] Argentina from taking over the Falkland Islands” and that new offensive cyberoperations were underway in 2011 to further that end.
Tensions between the two nations, which fought a war over the small archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean in 1982, reached a boil in 2010 with the British discovery of large, offshore oil and gas reserves potentially worth billions of dollars.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Britain’s GCHQ monitored Irish internet traffic — RT News
Britain’s GCHQ monitored Irish internet traffic — RT News.
Britain’s surveillance body, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), could be tapping underwater cables connecting Ireland to the global web, according to a new document leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and released by German media.
The document, titled ‘Partner Cables,’ identifies the cables that GCHQ has tried to gain access to, and names their owners by codename.
Vodafone subsidiary Cable & Wireless apparently cooperated closely with the British intelligence agency and provided them with details, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reported as it published the leak.
A total of 63 submarine cables are listed – among which are 29 Cable & Wireless lines under the alias GERONTIC, which are mentioned as potential helpers. The Solas undersea cable – which links Ireland’s County Wexford to Wales – is included in the list.
The method of access is described as being “DCO,” which stands for “direct cable ownership.”
According to the document, Cable & Wireless “actively shaped and provided the most data to GCHQ mass surveillance programmes, and received millions of pounds in compensation.” It added that Cable & Wireless apparently played a key role “in the establishment of one of the Government Communications Headquarters’ (GCHQ) most controversial surveillance programs.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
