The least shocking thing you'll read today

[Myra Bronstein]

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/ar...1&back_url=

"...

Is Wikipedia Harboring a Secret Agent?

According to clues accumulated by ordinary citizens around the world, it could be that the CIA and other intelligence agencies are riding the information wave and planting disinformation on Wikipedia. If so, tens of thousands of innocent and unwitting citizens around the world are translating and propagating their lies, providing these agencies with a universal news network.

..."

[Tim Gratz]

My gosh, what won't they think of next!

[William Kelly]

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/ar...1&back_url=

"...

Is Wikipedia Harboring a Secret Agent?

Thanks for that one Myra.

I thought MI5 were the good guys.

BK

By Ludwig De Braeckeleer

While researching my next article about the Lockerbie bombing, I witnessed an incident that made me wonder whether intelligence agents had infiltrated Wikipedia.

Anyone who knows the universal success of Wikipedia will immediately grasp the importance of the issue. The fact that most Internet search engines, such as Google, give Wikipedia articles top ranking only raises the stakes to a higher level.

The Incident

In the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, the finger of suspicion quickly pointed to a Syria-based Palestinian organization -- the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, General Command (PFLP-GC) -- hired by Iran. The terrorist group was created by a former Syrian army captain, Ahmed Jibril, who broke away from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1968.

I had learned from a recently released U.S. National Archives file that Shin Bet, the Israeli Security Agency, had infiltrated the PFLP and helped the Entebbe hijackers (Israeli commandos rescued the hostages in Uganda in 1976), so I wanted to learn more about the link between the PFLP and the PFLP-GC. I also wanted to learn more about allegations made by David Colvin, the first secretary of the British Embassy in Paris, concerning the rather bizarre collaboration between the PFLP and the Shin Bet.

As I could not locate the article in which I had learned about the allegations, I consulted the article on the Entebbe Operation on Wikipedia, where I knew the story had been noted. To my surprise, I found that all references to the alleged collaboration between the PFLP and the Shin Bet had been suppressed. Moreover, it is no longer possible to edit the page.

A Long, Undistinguished History

Conducting false flag operations and planting disinformation in the mainstream media have long belonged to the craft of the spies. In the months preceding the 1953 overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, U.S. and U.K. intelligence agencies used both techniques abundantly.

A copy of the CIA's secret history of the coup surfaced in 2000. Written in 1954 by the Princeton professor who oversaw the operation, the story reveals that agents from the CIA and SIS (the American and British intelligence services) "directed a campaign of bombings by Iranians posing as members of the Communist Party, and planted articles and editorial cartoons in newspapers."

The section of the report concerning the media speaks volumes: "The CIA was apparently able to use contacts at the Associated Press to put on the newswire a statement from Tehran about royal decrees that the CIA itself had written. But mostly, the agency relied on less direct means to exploit the media.

"The Iran desk of the State Department was able to place a CIA study in Newsweek, using the normal channel of desk officer to journalist. The article was one of several planted press reports that, when reprinted in Tehran, fed the war of nerves against Iran's prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh," the document said.

Half a century later, the technique of disinformation is as important as ever to intelligence agencies. In the aftermath of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Pentagon set up the Defense Department's Office of Strategic Influence with a mission "to provide news items and false information directly to foreign journalists and others to bolster U.S. policy and the war on terrorism."

The new office attracted so much criticism that the Bush administration eventually shut it down in February 2002. Even defense officials publicly denounced the dangers of such a program, which could have left the department without a shred of credibility.

"We shouldn't be in that business. Leave the propaganda leaks to the CIA, the spooks [secret agents]," a defense official said.

Is Wikipedia Harboring a Secret Agent?

According to clues accumulated by ordinary citizens around the world, it could be that the CIA and other intelligence agencies are riding the information wave and planting disinformation on Wikipedia. If so, tens of thousands of innocent and unwitting citizens around the world are translating and propagating their lies, providing these agencies with a universal news network.

The Salinger Investigation of the Pan Am 103 Bombing

Pierre Salinger was White House press secretary to Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Salinger also served as U.S. Senator from California and a campaign manager for Robert Kennedy.

But Salinger is also famous for his investigative journalism. Hired by ABC News as its Paris bureau chief in 1978, he became the network's chief European correspondent in 1983.

During his distinguished career, Salinger broke important stories, such as the secret negotiations by the U.S. government with Iran to free American hostages in 1979-80 and the last meeting between U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie and Saddam Hussein in 1990, during which she led the Iraqi president to believe that the U.S. would not react to an invasion of Kuwait.

Salinger, who was based in London, spent a considerable amount of time and energy investigating the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie. He and his collaborator, John Cooley, hired a young graduate, Linda Mack, to help in the investigation.

"I know that these two Libyans had nothing to do with it. I know who did it and I know exactly why it was done," Salinger said during his testimony at the Zeist trial, where one of the Libyans was convicted of murdering the 270 victims.

"That's all? You're not letting me tell the truth. Wait a minute; I know exactly who did it. I know how it was done," Salinger replied to the trial judge, Lord Sutherland, who simply asked him to leave the witness box.

"If you wish to make a point you may do so elsewhere, but I'm afraid you may not do so in this court," Lord Sutherland interrupted.

Searching for the True Identity of 'Slim Virgin'

Slim Virgin had been voted the most abusive administrator of Wikipedia. She upset so many editors that some of them decided to team up to research her real life identity.

Attempts to track her through Internet technology failed. This is suspicious in itself as the location of normal Internet users can easily be tracked. According to a team member, Slim Virgin "knows her way around the Internet and covered her tracks with care."

Daniel Brandt of the Wikipedia Review and founder of Wikipedia-Watch.org patiently assembled tiny clues about Slim Virgin and posted them on these Web sites. Eventually, two readers identified her. Slim Virgin was no other than Linda Mack, the young graduate Salinger hired.

John K. Cooley, the collaborator of Salinger in the Lockerbie investigation, posted the following letter to Brandt on Wikipedia Review, which has been set up to discuss specific editors and editing patterns and general efforts by editors to influence or direct content in ways that might not be in keeping with Wikipedia policy:

She claimed to have lost a friend/lover on pan103 and so was anxious to clear up the mystery. ABC News paid for her travel and expenses as well as a salary'

Once the two Libyan suspects were indicted, she seemed to try to point the investigation in the direction of Qaddafi [Libyan President Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi], although there was plenty of evidence, both before and after the trials of Megrahi and Fhimah in the Netherlands, that others were involved, probably with Iran the commissioning power. [in 2001, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison; Lamin Khalifah Fhimah was acquitted.]

Salinger came to believe that [first name redacted but known to be Linda] was working for [name of intelligence agency redacted but known to be Britain's MI5] and had been from the beginning; assigned genuinely to investigate Pan Am 103, but also to infiltrate and monitor us.

Soon after Cooley wrote to Brandt, Linda Mack contacted him and asked him not to help Brandt in his efforts to expose her. All doubts about Slim Virgin's true identity had vanished. Today, Linda Mack is rumored to reside in Alberta, Canada, under the name of Sarah McEwan.

Ludwig Braeckeleer has a Ph.D. in nuclear sciences. He teaches physics and international humanitarian law. He blogs on The GaiaPost.

2007/07/26 ¿ÀÀü 7:19

© 2007 Ohmynews

Edited July 30, 2007 by William Kelly

[Tim Gratz]

Peter wrote:

They are on the wrong side, always have been, always will be. Sadly. You can be sure this was not an isolated incident, just one that was uncovered.

Huh? There was a Cold War, if you recall, pitting on one side the West and democratic liberty and on the other side the totalitarian communists. During the Cold War tens of thousands of individuals lost their lives trying to get to freedom in the West. The Communists had to build walls to prevent people from escaping their workers' paradise.

There is no dispute that the CIA made bad judgments and exceeded its charter in many cases (see "the Family Jewels"). But it was on the right side in the Cold War. The good guys won, and the CIA did contribute to the success of the West. Moreover the Cold War was won without an escalation into an all-out war which would have had catacylsmic consequences for all of civilization. All presidents from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan played a part in the victory of the forces of freedom and democracy.

Let us not forget that. Your ability to post criticisms of our government, Peter, is only because the good guys won the Cold War.

Edited July 30, 2007 by Tim Gratz

[John Simkin]

Huh? There was a Cold War, if you recall, pitting on one side the West and democratic liberty and on the other side the totalitarian communists. During the Cold War tens of thousands of individuals lost their lives trying to get to freedom in the West. The Communists had to build walls to prevent people from escaping their workers' paradise.

There were no good guys in the Cold War. The Cold War was a trick played on the American people by the arms manufacturers who were afraid of losing the profits made during the Second World War. John McCone, who was the head of the CIA under JFK played an important role in this strategy.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmccone.htm

The War on Terror has replaced the Cold War as a justification for the obscene military budgets of countries like the US and the UK. Since 9/11 BAE Systems, the UK's largest arms company, has announced that it is no longer interested in its civil aviation program (it has sold off its interests to Airbus). In future it will concentrate on military hardware. It says that this market is much more predictable and profitable.

[Tim Gratz]

John Simkin:

"There were no good guys in the Cold War. . . The Cold War was a trick. . ."

All I can do is shake my head in disbelief.

Were there good guys in World War II, John?

Edited July 30, 2007 by Tim Gratz

[Guest Gary Loughran]

Please note that in the 'Political conspiracies' section Paul Rigby has also initiated a discussion Wikipedia - Linda Mack

Edited July 30, 2007 by Gary Loughran

[Guest Gary Loughran]

John Simkin:

"There were no good guys in the Cold War. . . The Cold War was a trick. . ."

All I can do is shake my head in disbelief.

Were there good guys in World War II, John?

Of course there were...but then millions of them died fighting.

[Tim Gratz]

"On May 1, 1937, there must not remain on the territory of the U.S.S.R. a single house of prayer to God, and the very conception of 'God' will be banished from the Soviet Union" -Stalin's decree of 1932 (Religion and Communism, London, pg. 279)

Amendment I to the U. S. Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ."

From Wikipedia:

"The majority of Russian citizens, and as many as 80% of ethnic Russians, self-identify as Russian Orthodox. This makes the Russian Orthodox Church by far the most widespread religion, with as many as 70-75 million adult adherents."

Stalin lost. God won.

Edited July 30, 2007 by Tim Gratz

[Tim Gratz]

RUDOLPH J. RUMMEL, b, 1932, BA and MA from the University of Hawaii (1959, 1961); Ph.D. in Political Science (Northwestern University, 1963); Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Omicron Delta Kappa. Taught at Indiana University (1963), Yale (1964-66), University of Hawaii (1966-1995); now Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Hawaii. Received numerous grants from NSF, ARPA, and the United States Peace Research Institute. Frequently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (see here). Received the Susan Strange Award of the International Studies Association for having intellectually most challenged the field in 1999; the Lifetime Achievement Award 2003 from the Conflict Processes Section, American Political Science Association; and the 2007 The International Association of Genocide Scholars' Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to the Field of Genocide and Democide Studies and Prevention.

Rummel believes that under Stalin as many as 61,911,000 Soviet citizens were murdered.

How many U.S. citizens were murdered by FDR, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, RMN?

Rummel writes:

"In the associated volume, Death by Government [1], I described fourteen cases in which since 1900 a regime murdered or is suspected of murdering over 1,000,000 subjects and foreigners. Four of these regimes, the Soviet Union, communist China, Nationalist China, and Nazi Germany, each killed 10,000,000 or more unarmed and helpless men, women, and children."

There were no good guys in the Cold War? What flavor Kool Aid have you been drinking, John?

Edited July 30, 2007 by Tim Gratz

[Guest Stephen Turner]

"On May 1, 1937, there must not remain on the territory of the U.S.S.R. a single house of prayer to God, and the very conception of 'God' will be banished from the Soviet Union" -Stalin's decree of 1932 (Religion and Communism, London, pg. 279)

Amendment I to the U. S. Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . ."

From Wikipedia:

"The majority of Russian citizens, and as many as 80% of ethnic Russians, self-identify as Russian Orthodox. This makes the Russian Orthodox Church by far the most widespread religion, with as many as 70-75 million adult adherents."

Stalin lost. God won.

Stalinism, much like Nazi Germany, was in itself quasi religious, and transfered all the rituals of religion to the State, hoping that the God-head would be seen to reside in the head of State, ie Stalin, Hitler. Bush of course simply claims that God speaks directly to him. What chance Tony Blair for the next Pope.

[Tim Gratz]

Stephen you are of course correct that Communism and Naziism attempted to associate God-like qualities on the state and its leaders. Remember that famous book "The God That Failed" by Arthur Koestler if my memory serves me. So the problem with the totalitarian states is that not only did they attempt to establish a state religion but they also attempted to prohibit the exercise of any other.

[John Simkin]

John Simkin:

"There were no good guys in the Cold War. . . The Cold War was a trick. . ."

All I can do is shake my head in disbelief.

Were there good guys in World War II, John?

There are always good guys in war. The problem is that corrupt politicians take advantage of the good will of citizens who desire to protect their country from tyranny.

I am proud that my father joined the British Army to fight fascism in 1939. I would have been even prouder if he joined the International Brigade to fight the fascists in Spain in 1936. If that had happened, millions would not have been killed fighting Hitler at a later date.

I agree that Stalin was a monster. However, the Cold War was not an attempt to overthrow Stalin. If you remember, Churchill and Truman agreed at the end of the war that the Soviet Union should continue to rule Poland and Czechoslovakia, even though, it was claimed in 1939 that the main objective was to free these two countries from tyranny.

The Cold War did not start until the success of the communists in China. Stalin died in his bed and the communists are still in control of China. What was that about Reagan winning the Cold War?

[Tim Gratz]

I'll reply tonight, John. Thanks for at least admitting that Stalin was a monster. Was Harry Truman? Dwight Eisenhower? John Kennedy? No, despite their faults, in the over-all scheme of things they were good guys. As, of course, was John McCone, who at least by some reports, thought his Catholicism prohibited him from endorsing political assassinations.

Edited July 30, 2007 by Tim Gratz

[Tim Gratz]

John wrote:

The Cold War was a trick played on the American people by the arms manufacturers who were afraid of losing the profits made during the Second World War. John McCone, who was the head of the CIA under JFK played an important role in this strategy.

But only moments later John wrote:

"The Cold War did not start until the success of the communists in China."

Yes, those arm manufacturers were tricksters, to be sure, but it took them four years to get goin'!

Not too bright for people who can otherwise "trick" an entire country into believing in a non-existent war, I would say.

Edited July 30, 2007 by Tim Gratz