06.12.13

Shoeshine Cult of Cyberwar put on hold

Posted in Cyberterrorism, Shoeshine at 3:15 pm by George Smith

One good thing about the Edward Snowden affair: It has quieted NSA director Keith Alexander on cyber-espionage against the US being the greatest transfer of wealth in history. At least for a moment.

In fact, it’s blown the Cult of Cyberwar and its army of shoeshine completely off the pages of the dailies.

In turnabout, we have Congressmen who just a couple weeks ago were warning about the perfidy of the Chinese, now trying to make themselves look good in grilling Keith Alexander.

Edward Snowden, make no mistake, was part of the big corporate shoeshine army of cybersecurity, the well-paid servants of the upper class, with the privilege of work in the national security megaplex.

That he left the fold is rather remarkable, considering the sheer size of the shoeshine army. Paid employment in the US does buy loyalty for most.


Anyway, today from the Guardian, what one would expect:

[NSA director Keith Alexander] said that “dozens” of terrorist attacks had been thwarted in part because of the domestic surveillance dragnet. But he did not give specific details …

Alexander said he struggled with how much detail to provide in public about the surveillance. “I would rather take a public beating, and let people think I’m hiding something, than jeopardize the security of this country,” Alexander testified. He said he would aim to declassify specific cases in which the two surveillance programs described by the Guardian had contributed to government efforts at thwarting terrorist attacks.

It’s reasonable to be a cynic, even healthy. Two months from now it will be business as usual. You wait and see.

The national security powers know it as does everyone else paying attention. One just has to be patient and the bad notices eventually blow away like dry dog excrement before the wind.

Too late now in the national security state. Always too late.

You do retain the freedom to shop, of course.


Keith Alexander and the Cult of Cyberwar — from the archives.

Comments are closed.