There’s
no doubt about it: three letter agencies like the NSA, FBI and CIA and
the ones we don’t yet know about are full of great people who want
nothing but the best for their fellow human beings. People join these
agencies because they have good hearts, and want to see the world thrive
in a state of peace, equality, abundance and freedom. That being said,
the “disastrous rise of misplaced power” to which President Eisenhower
referred when referencing the military industrial complex, has taken a
hold of these agencies, which now comprise what’s known as the Deep State.
The Deep State is a covert network of powerful and influential people
who continue to manipulate, lie, and deceive the public for their own
interests.
Oh, by the way, it’s safe to assume that
the Deep State also includes, as mentioned above, the agencies we don’t
yet know about. We know this from looking at history: The National
Security Agency (NSA) was founded in 1952, its existence was hidden
until the mid 1960s; Another great example is the National
Reconnaissance Office, which was founded in 1960 but remained completely
secret for three decades.
Several presidents and politicians have also referenced this secret government,
which doesn’t seem to be so secret anymore. That being said, it’s still
important to reference given the fact that the average Joe still might
consider the secret government to be a mere conspiracy theory. It’s a
shame that anything associated with secrecy seems to garner an instant
conspiracy response, especially when secrecy is rampant in our world,
with “National Security” constantly being used to justify it.
But times are changing, thanks to
efforts by a number of researchers, academics, journalists,
whistleblowers and more, and information is rapidly spreading. So much
so that internet censorship is on the rise, and platforms like Google
and Facebook are now actually censoring information and deciding what is
real and fake for the people, instead of letting people decide for
themselves. For example, Google had to recently admit that their contractors suppress information, like the info provided by alternative media, not mainstream media.
“The problem of fake news isn’t
solved by hoping for a referee, but rather because we as citizens, we as
users of these services, help each other. We talk and we share and we
point out what is fake. We point out what is true. The answer to bad
speech is not censorship, the answer to bad speech is more speech. We
have to exercise and spread the idea that critical thinking matters, now
more than ever, given the fact that lies seem to be getting more
popular.” –Edward Snowden (source)
But still, information is continuously
pouring out for those who are sparked by curiosity, and now even more
interesting information has emerged in the form of declassified
documents, which can now be found in the national archives, or on the
agencies own website, whichever agency it is.
In this case, it’s the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the document in question, written up in
1984, shows how the agency had definite plans to infiltrate academia and
change/influence the curriculum, specifically journalism.
As Emma Best from Muckrock reports, recently Tweeted by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden,
memos from the CIA Inspector General’s (IG) office reveal the agencies
perspective on the press and how to handle them. It’s from 1984,
approximately three decades prior to when the Agency declared Wikileaks a
hostile non-state intelligence service. It shows how the CIA viewed the
media the same way.
Are organizations like Wikileaks really a
threat to National Security? Or are they simply a threat to a small
group of powerful people who make millions, billions, or even trillions
of dollars via government secrecy? Are they a threat to the global
national security agenda that is taking place, disguised under the guise
of globalisation? Was president Vladimir Putin right when he said
“imaginary” and “mythical” threats are being used to impose the Deep
State’s way on the entire world? Perhaps truth and transparency are a
threat yes, but not to national security. If we continue to ignore these
questions, the national security state will continue to be heightened,
one in which our rights are constantly violated, with our right to
privacy being one of many great examples.
Several weeks prior, CIA Director Casey had asked the IG to weigh in on officer Eloise Page’s paper
on unauthorized disclosure. The IG passed the task onto someone on his
staff, who produced a four page SECRET memo for IG James Taylor, who
passed it on to Director Casey. The IG specifically endorsed the
proposal for a program where the Agency would intervene with journalism
schools.
See for yourself:
You can view the full document here.
In the document, the press are also viewed as “principal villains:”
“To the Inspector General’s
office, the reason that the press were the “principal villains” was
simple: “absolute power corrupts absolutely” and “the power of the media
to publish in this country is nearly absolute.” As a result of the
media’s “absolute power,’ argued the Agency that had been involved in mind control attempts, illegal surveillance, tampering in foreign elections and dozens of assassinations, assassination attempts and coups,
they had been corrupted absolutely. The member of the IG’s staff then
suggested that they compare the media to the “opposition,” a reference
to hostile intelligence services. This could be backed up by citing
“precise parallels in methods and results, if not in motivations,
between the media’s attempts to penetrate us and the opposition’s
attempts to do the same.” – Emma Best
The document then goes on to list some
proposed “do’s and don’ts,” as well as expresses the belief that “a
sanitized list of foolish media disclosures that have cost the country
or individuals substantially.” But again, as discussed above, have they
really cost the citizenry, or have they simply cost some powerful
interests?
The document also urges the Director to “remember” that “the
organization has official contacts with influential people outside the
Community – people in leadership posts in this society; academia and
the media concluded; and remember that we undoubtedly have in the
organization many who know such people unofficially and who could help
provide access if needed.”
Quite revealing isn’t it?
Another document,
relating to the same one discussed above shows an initiative to “call
in media leaders,” whatever that means, and a system for screen
disclosures by the media, and also mentions “centralized control of all
press contacts,” as well as “control of press access.”
It’s quite ironic that this document is from 1984. George Orwell’s 1984, a
classic book depicting a populace ruled by a political regime that
persecutes individualism and independent critical thinking as
“thoughtcrimes” that must be enforced by the “thought police” was also
released that year. This party seeks power above all, and, through the
propagandist Ministry of Truth, presents the people with their version
of truth. Sound familiar? This is basically one of many tools used by
the Deep State today. Sometimes, it seems that our thoughts, feelings
and emotions are given to us, and we are so occupied with our lives that
when certain individuals of groups become concerned with what is
happening in the world, they come across enormous amounts of secrecy.
How many pages of documents does the US
government classify every year? Some historians peg it at half a billion
pages per year. For any journalist or researcher interested in the
history of the country, how are they expected to really know anything
when so much of it remains hidden from public view?
It’s unfortunate that the CIA’s control
over media and academia is used today not for defense and freedom, but
to deceive and push forth agendas in that which the public is completely
unaware of. A great quote from Mark Twain comes to mind here:
“The statesman will invent cheap
lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man
will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will
diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them:
and thus he will by and by convince himself the war is just, and will
thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque
self-deception.”
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