US close to becoming fascist state: Ralph Schoenman.Press TV has conducted an interview with Ralph Schoenman, political commentator, Berkeley, California, about the issue of a secret Obama directive to identify targets for offensive cyber attacks. The following is an approximate transcript of the interview. Press TV: It seems the US takes cyber security extremely seriously only when it’s at the receiving end of such attacks. What do you make of that? Schoenman: This is part of a relentless program of expansion and aggression that the United States military imperialist process is drawing up and putting into place. As Glenn Greenwald... and the investigative reporters have disclosed in The Guardian and reports that have gone round the world, Obama has ordered his senior national security intelligence officials to draw up a list of overseas targets for US cyber attacks - it’s a top secret presidential directive. There is no ambiguity as to what it intends. The United States, the article shows, has participated in at least one major cyber attack - the use of the STUXNET computer worm targeted at Iranian enrichment centrifuges, the legality of which it says has been the subject of controversy. The United States reports high level sources with the intelligence services confirming that the United States and Israel are responsible for the worm and these attacks. This presidential directive, the criteria for offensive cyber operations is not limited to retaliatory action, but is one that advances US national objectives around the world. That is, the United States is preparing a specific target list for offensive cyber action which will result in not just large scale cyber operations, but escalate into full scale military conflict - The Guardian article continues. Press TV: What do you think of this directive - do you think it is going to impact on Obama’s talks with the Chinese president with regards to cyber security? Schoenman: The article (The Guardian) says the following on that subject: Intelligence sources with extensive knowledge of national security agency systems told The Guardian that complaints against China were entirely hypocritical because the United State has participated in offensive cyber operations and widespread hacking breaking into foreign computer systems around the world, China included to mine information. Quote, “We hack everyone everywhere. We make a distinction between us and the others, but we are in every country in the world.” So that’s the fundamental issue here. The Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of Central Intelligence Agency are preparing for approval by the president to the National Security Agency for direct operations, which have specific military implications. And Iran is targeted amongst many countries, not Iran only. When such an emergency arises the president’s directive also indicates the Department of Defense is authorized to conduct these in the United States as domestic operations without presidential approval. So let’s be clear about what this indicates: this is a further step in the direction of a police state; the architecture of a fascist state; aggression abroad repression at home - that’s the formula of a decaying capitalist system that lends itself to continued war and threatens the security of everyone in the world.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 23:25:50 +0000
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