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The CIA Snake Oil Salesmen Are Back in Business

The CIA snake oil salesmen who sold US lies about Iraqi WMDs that resulted in the deaths of thousands of US soldiers and Iraqis are back in the business of peddling lies to cover their incompetence. 

The CIA's former acting director, Michael Morell, blamed the Paris attack on Internet companies "building encryption without keys," which, he said, was caused by the debate over surveillance prompted by Edward Snowden's disclosures. Former CIA chief James Woolsey said Snowden "has blood on his hands" because, he asserted, the Paris attackers learned from his disclosures how to hide their communications behind encryption. Woolsey said  Snowden should be "hanged by the neck until he's dead, rather than merely electrocuted." (Interestingly. this is the same feeling many people have about the snake oil salesmen who sold US lies about Iraqi WMDs.)

Of course, there is no evidence the perpetrators in Paris used the Internet to plot their attacks, let alone used encryption technology.  CIA officials simply made that up. It is at least equally likely that the attackers formulated their plans in face-to-face meetings. 

There is evidence from a Belgian ISIS raid in January that suggests that the ISIS terror networks involved were communicating in the clear, and that the data on their smartphones was not encrypted.  European media outlets are reporting that the location of a raid conducted on a suspected safe house Wednesday morning was extracted from a cellphone, apparently belonging to one of the attackers, found in the trash outside the Bataclan concert hall massacre. Le Monde reported that investigators were able to access the data on the phone, including a detailed map of the concert hall and an SMS messaging saying “we’re off; we’re starting.” Police were also able to trace the phone’s movements. Belgian investigators concluded that Abaaoud directed the foiled operation there by cellphone from Greece — and that despite his attempts to avoid surveillance, his communications were in fact intercepted. Just a few days after the raid, Belgian news website RTL Info ran a whole article titled “What the Terrorist Suspects under Surveillance Were Saying.” It described surveillance over several months, through wiretaps and listening devices placed in the suspects’ car and their apartment. 

No mystery here.  The big mystery is Why does anyone buy anything these snake oil salesmen are selling US?

 

Paris ISIS Burning: the ARC de TRUMP

 H.L. Mencken's astute prediction on the future course of American presidential politics and the electorate's taste in candidates has sadly come to pass:  

 “All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily and adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

If Donald Trump is elected to lead the United States in its declining years of fading empire, we will have ISIS to thank.  Ben Carson was prescient in the danger ISIS posed as his chances for the White House went down in flames when Paris was burning, as he was revealed to be a nonbeliever in the world of foreign afffairs.  Jeb! and the rest of the Republican Freakshow 2016  did not stand a chance against Trump, who learned the art of the deal was exploiting the voters' fears. The Knowns and Unknowns:  will Trump follow through in his threats to get tough with ISIS and our other enemies  real and imagined ? And if he does, it won't only be Paris isis burning.