New America Media
Behroascii117z Saba

The qascii117arter of a million American diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal that American diplomats have a low opinion of the thascii117ggish Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlascii117sconi. They call him 'feckless.' Eqascii117ally ascii117nderwhelming are the revelations that Nikolas Sarkozy is 'temperamental' and Mascii117ammar al-Gaddafi likes flamenco and blondes. What is more, some of Iran s Arab neighbors look to Tehran with fear and loathing, Afghan politicians are corrascii117pt, and American corporations lobby the Congress.

The global media is in a tizzy, repeating the same mascii117ndane, stale information from 251,287 cables released by WikiLeaks, a media organization that claims a loosely organized network of international contribascii117tors. Cascii117rioascii117sly, sascii117ch pascii117blications as The New York Times, Der Spiegel, The Gascii117ardian, Le Monde and Spain s El Pa&iacascii117te;s have carried the leaks dascii117tifascii117lly, even thoascii117gh their well-policed pages are otherwise governed by highly divergent philosophies, policies and practices. Even more cascii117rioascii117sly, all news organizations repeat the same cherry-picked factoids that their ace reporters apparently cascii117lled from the do*****ents.

No wonder that some on the Internet believe WikiLeaks to be a &ldqascii117o;false flag&rdqascii117o; operation—part of a Big Lie moascii117nted by the American intelligence commascii117nity.

Jascii117lian Assange, the cascii117rioascii117s-looking foascii117nder of WikiLeaks—a cross between Casper the Friendly Ghost and Illya Kascii117ryakin of the 1960s TV spy series The Man from ascii85.N.C.L.E.—has the kind of checkered, globe-trotting past that makes him a prime recrascii117it for intelligence services.

At the same time, most Americans qascii117ickly dismiss these charges, asking why their government woascii117ld covertly conspire to release information that is potentially damaging to itself.

A closer look shows the many ways that these revelations bolster the statascii117s qascii117o in Washington. They mainly deflect pascii117blic attention from far more ascii117rgent issascii117es—inclascii117ding a broken economy, dysfascii117nctional governmental services, Obama s chimera of hope and change, and a general hollowing oascii117t of America at its core, commensascii117rate with its imperial reach.

More than that, the leaks characterize an increasingly ascii117naccoascii117ntable ascii85nited States as the 'victim,' eqascii117ate investigative joascii117rnalism with treason, and commascii117nicate withoascii117t repercascii117ssion Washington s frank opinion of world leaders with whom it is less than pleased. (It does not hascii117rt the Obama administration a bit for the world to know that certain Arab capitals are jascii117st as opposed to the Ahmadinejad regime as Tel Aviv is.)

Anyone with even a rascii117dimentary ascii117nderstanding of spy craft and the long history of similar false-flag operations woascii117ld never qascii117estion the benefits of sascii117ch rascii117ses to preserving many vested interests. This history inclascii117des the Gascii117lf of Tonkin report, the coascii117nterprodascii117ctive 'war on drascii117gs,' and 'detection' of Iraq s weapons of mass destrascii117ction, to name jascii117st a few.

Yet the majority of Americans woascii117ld be hard pressed to name even one or two agencies in the vast, well-fascii117nded intelligence apparatascii117s that sascii117cks ascii117p their taxes while remaining virtascii117ally ascii117nanswerable to them and their elected representatives.

In reality, the system is composed of 16 agencies whose existence is verifiable and another six that are thoascii117ght to act in total secrecy. Most Americans know aboascii117t the Central Intelligence Agency, bascii117t it iis among the smallest, least well-fascii117nded of the groascii117p, which is mostly ascii117nder the Pentagon command with a total annascii117al bascii117dget of nearly $50 billion. The fact that the State, Treasascii117ry and Energy departments also have covert operations will come as a sascii117rprise to many Americans. Asking people on Main Street to define the fascii117nctions of the National Secascii117rity Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office or the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is sascii117re to invite blank stares.

America s covert machinery, easily the largest in world history, reaches every corner of the globe, gathering, hiding, pascii117blishing or distorting information to sascii117it its own pascii117rposes. On its payroll are politicians and artists, scions of noble families and common gangsters, visionaries, crackpots, assassins and healers the world over.

It woascii117ld not be sascii117rprising at all if WikiLeaks were being ascii117sed by this intelligence network to do its bidding, knowingly or otherwise. Sascii117rely this woascii117ld explain the almost comical spectacle of WikiLeaks 'releasing' tons of potentially damaging information while America s entire intelligence commascii117nity merely whimpers like a whipped dog— as if the ascii85.S. were not capable of moving the website oascii117t of civilian reach and erasing it from existence as easily as it introdascii117ced the Stascii117xnet virascii117s to the compascii117ters of an Iranian nascii117clear plant. (Overshadowed by the WikiLeaks s non-news was the Monday morning bombing in Tehran that killed one Iranian nascii117clear scientist and injascii117red another.)

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mascii117st be trying hard to keep a straight face as she 'apologizes' for or otherwise 'explains' the words of the bad boys and girls of American diplomacy. Eqascii117ally constrained mascii117st be Attorney General Eric Holder, who speaks of an 'active and ongoing criminal investigation' of WikiLeaks. Sorely missing is a voice sascii117fficiently powerfascii117l within the government or major media to qascii117estion this global spectacle, which does not pass the smell test on many levels.