Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
Wikileaks Releases The Global Intelligence Files
Reposted from wikileaks.org
LONDON—Today, Monday 27 February, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global
Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the
Texas-headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The emails
date from between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the
inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher,
but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations,
such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman,
Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of
Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence
Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure,
payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods, for example :
"[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or
psychological control... This is intended to start our conversation on
your next phase" – CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla
on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant
providing information on the medical condition of the President of
Venezuala, Hugo Chavez.
The material contains privileged information about the US government’s
attacks against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and Stratfor’s own attempts
to subvert WikiLeaks. There are more than 4,000 emails mentioning
WikiLeaks or Julian Assange. The emails also expose the revolving door
that operates in private intelligence companies in the United States.
Government and diplomatic sources from around the world give Stratfor
advance knowledge of global politics and events in exchange for money.
The Global Intelligence Files exposes how Stratfor has recruited a
global network of informants who are paid via Swiss banks accounts and
pre-paid credit cards. Stratfor has a mix of covert and overt
informants, which includes government employees, embassy staff and
journalists around the world.
The material shows how a private intelligence agency works, and how they
target individuals for their corporate and government clients. For
example, Stratfor monitored and analysed the online activities of Bhopal
activists, including the "Yes Men", for the US chemical giant Dow
Chemical. The activists seek redress for the 1984 Dow Chemical/Union
Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. The disaster led to thousands of
deaths, injuries in more than half a million people, and lasting
environmental damage.
Stratfor has realised that its routine use of secret cash bribes to get
information from insiders is risky. In August 2011, Stratfor CEO George
Friedman confidentially told his employees : "We are retaining a law
firm to create a policy for Stratfor on the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act. I don’t plan to do the perp walk and I don’t want anyone here doing
it either."
Stratfor’s use of insiders for intelligence soon turned into a
money-making scheme of questionable legality. The emails show that in
2009 then-Goldman Sachs Managing Director Shea Morenz and Stratfor CEO
George Friedman hatched an idea to "utilise the intelligence" it was
pulling in from its insider network to start up a captive strategic
investment fund. CEO George Friedman explained in a confidential August
2011 document, marked DO NOT SHARE OR DISCUSS : "What StratCap will do
is use our Stratfor’s intelligence and analysis to trade in a range of
geopolitical instruments, particularly government bonds, currencies and
the like". The emails show that in 2011 Goldman Sach’s Morenz invested
"substantially" more than $4million and joined Stratfor’s board of
directors. Throughout 2011, a complex offshore share structure extending
as far as South Africa was erected, designed to make StratCap appear to
be legally independent. But, confidentially, Friedman told StratFor
staff : "Do not think of StratCap as an outside organisation. It will be
integral... It will be useful to you if, for the sake of convenience,
you think of it as another aspect of Stratfor and Shea as another
executive in Stratfor... we are already working on mock portfolios and
trades". StratCap is due to launch in 2012.
The Stratfor emails reveal a company that cultivates close ties with US
government agencies and employs former US government staff. It is
preparing the 3-year Forecast for the Commandant of the US Marine Corps,
and it trains US marines and "other government intelligence agencies"
in "becoming government Stratfors". Stratfor’s Vice-President for
Intelligence, Fred Burton, was formerly a special agent with the US
State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and was their Deputy
Chief of the counterterrorism division. Despite the governmental ties,
Stratfor and similar companies operate in complete secrecy with no
political oversight or accountability. Stratfor claims that it operates
"without ideology, agenda or national bias", yet the emails reveal
private intelligence staff who align themselves closely with US
government policies and channel tips to the Mossad – including through
an information mule in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yossi Melman, who
conspired with Guardian journalist David Leigh to secretly, and in
violation of WikiLeaks’ contract with the Guardian, move WikiLeaks US
diplomatic cables to Israel.
Ironically, considering the present circumstances, Stratfor was trying
to get into what it called the leak-focused "gravy train" that sprung up
after WikiLeaks’ Afghanistan disclosures :
"[Is it] possible for us to get some of that ’leak-focused’ gravy train ?
This is an obvious fear sale, so that’s a good thing. And we have
something to offer that the IT security companies don’t, mainly our
focus on counter-intelligence and surveillance that Fred and Stick know
better than anyone on the planet... Could we develop some ideas and
procedures on the idea of ´leak-focused’ network security that focuses
on preventing one’s own employees from leaking sensitive information...
In fact, I’m not so sure this is an IT problem that requires an IT
solution."
Like WikiLeaks’ diplomatic cables, much of the significance of the
emails will be revealed over the coming weeks, as our coalition and the
public search through them and discover connections. Readers will find
that whereas large numbers of Stratfor’s subscribers and clients work in
the US military and intelligence agencies, Stratfor gave a
complimentary membership to the controversial Pakistan general Hamid
Gul, former head of Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service, who, according
to US diplomatic cables, planned an IED attack on international forces
in Afghanistan in 2006. Readers will discover Stratfor’s internal email
classification system that codes correspondence according to categories
such as ’alpha’, ’tactical’ and ’secure’. The correspondence also
contains code names for people of particular interest such as ’Hizzies’
(members of Hezbollah), or ’Adogg’ (Mahmoud Ahmedinejad).
Stratfor did secret deals with dozens of media organisations and
journalists – from Reuters to the Kiev Post. The list of Stratfor’s
"Confederation Partners", whom Stratfor internally referred to as its
"Confed Fuck House" are included in the release. While it is acceptable
for journalists to swap information or be paid by other media
organisations, because Stratfor is a private intelligence organisation
that services governments and private clients these relationships are
corrupt or corrupting.
WikiLeaks has also obtained Stratfor’s list of informants and, in many
cases, records of its payoffs, including $1,200 a month paid to the
informant "Geronimo" , handled by Stratfor’s Former State Department
agent Fred Burton.
WikiLeaks has built an investigative partnership with more than 25 media
organisations and activists to inform the public about this huge body
of documents. The organisations were provided access to a sophisticated
investigative database developed by WikiLeaks and together with
WikiLeaks are conducting journalistic evaluations of these emails.
Important revelations discovered using this system will appear in the
media in the coming weeks, together with the gradual release of the
source documents.
Reposted from wikileaks.org
Read Full Article Here: http://ascensionearth2012.blogspot.com/2012/02/wikileaks-releases-global-intelligence.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AscensionEarth2012+%28Ascension+Earth+2012%29
Reposted from wikileaks.org
LONDON—Today, Monday 27 February, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global
Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the
Texas-headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The emails
date from between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the
inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher,
but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations,
such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman,
Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of
Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence
Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure,
payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods, for example :
"[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or
psychological control... This is intended to start our conversation on
your next phase" – CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla
on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant
providing information on the medical condition of the President of
Venezuala, Hugo Chavez.
The material contains privileged information about the US government’s
attacks against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and Stratfor’s own attempts
to subvert WikiLeaks. There are more than 4,000 emails mentioning
WikiLeaks or Julian Assange. The emails also expose the revolving door
that operates in private intelligence companies in the United States.
Government and diplomatic sources from around the world give Stratfor
advance knowledge of global politics and events in exchange for money.
The Global Intelligence Files exposes how Stratfor has recruited a
global network of informants who are paid via Swiss banks accounts and
pre-paid credit cards. Stratfor has a mix of covert and overt
informants, which includes government employees, embassy staff and
journalists around the world.
The material shows how a private intelligence agency works, and how they
target individuals for their corporate and government clients. For
example, Stratfor monitored and analysed the online activities of Bhopal
activists, including the "Yes Men", for the US chemical giant Dow
Chemical. The activists seek redress for the 1984 Dow Chemical/Union
Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. The disaster led to thousands of
deaths, injuries in more than half a million people, and lasting
environmental damage.
Stratfor has realised that its routine use of secret cash bribes to get
information from insiders is risky. In August 2011, Stratfor CEO George
Friedman confidentially told his employees : "We are retaining a law
firm to create a policy for Stratfor on the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act. I don’t plan to do the perp walk and I don’t want anyone here doing
it either."
Stratfor’s use of insiders for intelligence soon turned into a
money-making scheme of questionable legality. The emails show that in
2009 then-Goldman Sachs Managing Director Shea Morenz and Stratfor CEO
George Friedman hatched an idea to "utilise the intelligence" it was
pulling in from its insider network to start up a captive strategic
investment fund. CEO George Friedman explained in a confidential August
2011 document, marked DO NOT SHARE OR DISCUSS : "What StratCap will do
is use our Stratfor’s intelligence and analysis to trade in a range of
geopolitical instruments, particularly government bonds, currencies and
the like". The emails show that in 2011 Goldman Sach’s Morenz invested
"substantially" more than $4million and joined Stratfor’s board of
directors. Throughout 2011, a complex offshore share structure extending
as far as South Africa was erected, designed to make StratCap appear to
be legally independent. But, confidentially, Friedman told StratFor
staff : "Do not think of StratCap as an outside organisation. It will be
integral... It will be useful to you if, for the sake of convenience,
you think of it as another aspect of Stratfor and Shea as another
executive in Stratfor... we are already working on mock portfolios and
trades". StratCap is due to launch in 2012.
The Stratfor emails reveal a company that cultivates close ties with US
government agencies and employs former US government staff. It is
preparing the 3-year Forecast for the Commandant of the US Marine Corps,
and it trains US marines and "other government intelligence agencies"
in "becoming government Stratfors". Stratfor’s Vice-President for
Intelligence, Fred Burton, was formerly a special agent with the US
State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and was their Deputy
Chief of the counterterrorism division. Despite the governmental ties,
Stratfor and similar companies operate in complete secrecy with no
political oversight or accountability. Stratfor claims that it operates
"without ideology, agenda or national bias", yet the emails reveal
private intelligence staff who align themselves closely with US
government policies and channel tips to the Mossad – including through
an information mule in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yossi Melman, who
conspired with Guardian journalist David Leigh to secretly, and in
violation of WikiLeaks’ contract with the Guardian, move WikiLeaks US
diplomatic cables to Israel.
Ironically, considering the present circumstances, Stratfor was trying
to get into what it called the leak-focused "gravy train" that sprung up
after WikiLeaks’ Afghanistan disclosures :
"[Is it] possible for us to get some of that ’leak-focused’ gravy train ?
This is an obvious fear sale, so that’s a good thing. And we have
something to offer that the IT security companies don’t, mainly our
focus on counter-intelligence and surveillance that Fred and Stick know
better than anyone on the planet... Could we develop some ideas and
procedures on the idea of ´leak-focused’ network security that focuses
on preventing one’s own employees from leaking sensitive information...
In fact, I’m not so sure this is an IT problem that requires an IT
solution."
Like WikiLeaks’ diplomatic cables, much of the significance of the
emails will be revealed over the coming weeks, as our coalition and the
public search through them and discover connections. Readers will find
that whereas large numbers of Stratfor’s subscribers and clients work in
the US military and intelligence agencies, Stratfor gave a
complimentary membership to the controversial Pakistan general Hamid
Gul, former head of Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service, who, according
to US diplomatic cables, planned an IED attack on international forces
in Afghanistan in 2006. Readers will discover Stratfor’s internal email
classification system that codes correspondence according to categories
such as ’alpha’, ’tactical’ and ’secure’. The correspondence also
contains code names for people of particular interest such as ’Hizzies’
(members of Hezbollah), or ’Adogg’ (Mahmoud Ahmedinejad).
Stratfor did secret deals with dozens of media organisations and
journalists – from Reuters to the Kiev Post. The list of Stratfor’s
"Confederation Partners", whom Stratfor internally referred to as its
"Confed Fuck House" are included in the release. While it is acceptable
for journalists to swap information or be paid by other media
organisations, because Stratfor is a private intelligence organisation
that services governments and private clients these relationships are
corrupt or corrupting.
WikiLeaks has also obtained Stratfor’s list of informants and, in many
cases, records of its payoffs, including $1,200 a month paid to the
informant "Geronimo" , handled by Stratfor’s Former State Department
agent Fred Burton.
WikiLeaks has built an investigative partnership with more than 25 media
organisations and activists to inform the public about this huge body
of documents. The organisations were provided access to a sophisticated
investigative database developed by WikiLeaks and together with
WikiLeaks are conducting journalistic evaluations of these emails.
Important revelations discovered using this system will appear in the
media in the coming weeks, together with the gradual release of the
source documents.
Reposted from wikileaks.org
Read Full Article Here: http://ascensionearth2012.blogspot.com/2012/02/wikileaks-releases-global-intelligence.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AscensionEarth2012+%28Ascension+Earth+2012%29
