by Jim Fetzer
"It [the closing of embassies and consulates around the world in response to an al-Qaeda threat] is ridiculous. It appears to be another psychological political stunt to intimidate the American people and make them believe that there is a real terrorist threat from abroad."--Jim Fetzer
US relations with its allies are falling apart over the revelations of massive spying by the NSA. According to the latest reports, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office says "it is preparing to bring charges against US and British intelligence agencies over large-scale spying operations on EU offices".
The Independent has reported that the Federal Prosecutor is preparing charges following “fresh allegations that the [US and UK secret] services spied far more extensively than thought on German phone and internet traffic.” And Germany has announced that it is summoning the US ambassador over the breach in trust.
Der Spiegel accused the US National Security Agency (NSA) of bugging EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels.
The magazine said US spy agencies monitor about half a billion telephone calls, emails and mobile phone text messages in Germany every month, making it the most targeted state in the European Union. Canada, Australia, Britain and New Zealand were not included in NSA surveillance operations but Germany was open for “spy attacks,” Der Spiegel added. Reports last week revealed that the British spy agencies along with the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had tapped German phone and internet traffic, sharing its data with the NSA.
Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande said on Monday that his country will no longer negotiate with the United States in any area without guarantees that spying has ended. “There can be no negotiations or transactions in all areas until we have obtained these guarantees, for France but also for all of the European Union, for all partners of the United States,” Hollande noted.These accusations against US and UK intelligence services, which are only the tip of the iceberg, have come as a consequence of the information released by former NSA private contractor Edward Snowden. Here are some additional reflections on the absurd situation the US has created for itself, creating the appearance of a bizarre combination of paranoia and incompetence at the highest levels of government.
US "Terror Alert" a Political Stunt
Press TV has conducted an interview with James Fetzer, American philosopher, about the US closing 25 diplomatic missions in foreign countries. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Tell us about the situation. Are you surprised by them wanting to close Washington, wanting to close 25 diplomatic missions at the same time?
Fetzer: Well it is ridiculous. It appears to be another psychological political stunt to intimidate the American people and make them believe that there is a real terrorist threat from abroad.The situation is completely absurd because Washington politicians have been moving to providing arms to the Syrian Free Army, which is allied with al-Qaeda and with the al-Nusra Front, which is recognized a terrorist organization. So that we are in an absurd position of telling the American people that al-Qaeda is a major threat even though at the same time we are supporting al-Qaeda in Syria.
Press TV: So do you think this is more a move for the American psyche, for the American people or what is it? Because it is odd all of these countries are basically Muslim countries that they are saying this threat of terrorism is extremely high, the same countries that are actually being subjected to what many would call American terror whether it is from drone attacks or actually soldiers on the ground. How do you see it sir?
Fetzer: Well you are completely right. America has become the greatest aggressor and terrorist nation in the world. I mean, it is obscene in relation to the ideals and traditions of this nation. I have no doubt whatsoever that this alarm and closing of these embassies is to attempt to deflect the tension from the scandal, the growing scandal, over the national security agencies massive surveillance program.
Some of our nation’s highest ranking officers, Admiral Clapper and General Alexander, have not only betrayed their oath to support, preserve and defend the Constitution of United States but they have lied to the Congress, which is evident from Representative James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin who has explained that the Patriot Act was never intended to be interpreted this way--and he is in a position of authority since he was the author of the Patriot Act.
This is a form of psychological deception which appears to have no limits when it comes to the pathological control mongers who are running this country. It is a disgrace and it needs to come to an end.Press TV: So you are saying that basically you think that this is a diversion tactic because also Washington mentioned about the hundreds of prisoners that had escaped in various countries Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen I believe it was nine countries. So you feel that basically this is just being a diversionary tactic that they are using?
Fetzer: That is right. It is a psychological operation. It was like the attack on the Pakistan compound. It went after Osama bin Laden, who actually died in December 2001. At that point Obama’s birth certificate was on the front page by conducting that former phony op, they wiped the birth certificate issue off the front page and positioned him for a triumphal re-election. In this case, the NSA scandal is so massive and the American people are becoming so alarmed that they have to do something.
In my judgment there is no doubt about it. This is a phony deceptive act intended to make the American people think there is a real bona fide foreign threat--and, by the way, given the massive NSA program, if it were such a threat they ought to have detected it.In fact the NSA program began seven months before 9/11 and therefore cannot be justified on the basis of 9/11. It hasn’t done us any good. The only terror threat that have been revealed were ones that were staged or faked by the FBI and Homeland Security. The situation is becoming a disgrace. Those who understand what is going on recognize United States has lost its way completely and it is turning into some kind of bizarre, sick political joke.
US Spying isn't about National Security
Massive U.S. spying programs are not about national security but are aimed at identifying “political dissidents, veterans” and “constitutionalists,” says James Henry Fetzer, an editor at Veterans Today. On Sunday, Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian reporter who first broke the news of U.S. surveillance programs based on American whistleblower Edward Snowden’s documents, said Snowden had sensitive “blueprints” containing information on how the U.S. National Security Agency runs its operations.
According to Greenwald, Snowden has thousands of documents which are basically the instruction manual for how the NSA conducts spying.
“The information about the methods of collecting information by the NSA is its most closely guarded secret. It’s not surprising that they would be paranoid about its possible release,” said Fetzer in a phone interview with Press TV’s U.S. Desk on Monday. “It [the U.S. spying program] is intended not for national security but to protect the national security state,” added Fetzer.
Snowden has blown the lid on massive surveillance by the U.S. National Security Agency including a major spying program, codenamed PRISM, for tracking the use of U.S.-based web servers by American citizens and other nationals. Documents revealed by Snowden have also shown that the U.S. spied on European Union representations, ordinary European citizens, and companies and individuals in Latin America.
“The NSA has been violating the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Snowden has been upholding his oath of allegiance to the Constitution which even members of the United States Senate and the president himself have been failing to do,” Fetzer pointed out.
Stalinist Soviet Union coming to America: US philosopher
An American philosopher says massive spying programs by the United States government shows that a “Stalinist Soviet Union” is coming to America.
“The real deal what’s actually going on here is a massive surveillance of the American people to determine who in the population might pose a threat not to national security, but to the national security state”, James Fetzer said in a phone interview with Press TV’s U.S. Desk on Tuesday.
“They are identifying and classifying individuals and groups who are veterans because they know how to use weapons, constitutionalists because they believe in the law, 9/11 truthers because they know the government is lying to them, people who support Ron Paul and or even Rand Paul or any other group that might potentially resist the imposition of a fascistic police state dominated by the Department of Homeland Security”, he explained.
Fetzer made the remarks after President Barack Obama once again defended the National Security Agency's collection of phone and other electronic records of American people, calling the program “transparent”.
“The real story behind the NSA spying scandal is far deeper and more profound than the American people or the world has begun to appreciate. Ostensibly on its face the assumption what they made that what is going on is that the NSA is searching for threats that individuals might pose to the national security of the United States by performing terrorist acts”, the analyst said. He concluded that however there are “zero” domestic terrorist activities in the country except those staged by the government.
Jim Fetzer, a former US Marine Corps commissioned officer, is McKnight Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
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