Voice of Russia
January 26, 2014
Internal meddling, the new threat to state security
John Robles
Photo: EPA
Throughout history states have risen and fallen and those that have risen and prospered have successfully understood and dealt with the threats to state security that were prevalent in their times. In the post 9-11 world we are faced with a new paradigm that the events of 9-11 were manipulated to bring about. Therefore it is of ultimate importance for the peaceful nations of the world to understand exactly who was behind those events. It is already clear who has benefitted and who has manipulated the events to engage in a plethora of activities that amount to crimes against peace and crimes against all humanity. Those actors have plunged our world into a lawless paradigm where the biggest threat to the states of the world today is not terrorism but those who would use terrorism and the threat of terrorism to bring about their own ends and in the extreme facilitate the destruction of states and the overthrowing of governments.
Goal
The subject of this article is one that warrants much further research and study by security specialists. My goal is not to attempt to properly address the issue but to shine light on it and hopefully stir debate and further study of the problem.
Real threat
Terrorism in itself is a real and continuing threat, that is an unarguable fact, but the bigger danger we have seen comes from those who finance and promote terrorism and even worse from those who use it as a pretext for military invasions and occupations.
Pretext for invasion and regime change
A perfect case in point is Afghanistan which has been occupied for almost 13 years by the US, has seen hundreds of thousands of troops deployed, has seen up to a million civilian lives extinguished and yet according to American intelligence agencies and even the Defense Department in an assessment to US President Obama in 2009 there were only 100 AL-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.
In 2010, then CIA Director Leon Panetta said there were less than 50 Al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan and even worse in 2011 Congressman David Cicilline stated that there were only 25 to 30 Al-Qaeda fighters in the country. Meaning the US has spent over one trillion dollars of their taxpayer’s money, occupied a country for more than a decade and lost over 3,400 of the world’s best trained and equipped troops to fight a couple of dozen rag-tag Islamic terrorists, all of whom could have been quietly liquidated in one night in a JSOC operation.
Supporting anyone against the state
As we have seen in Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, throughout the Middle East, in Syria, in Venezuela, Cuba, South America, Russia and now in Ukraine, the US and its surrogates have supported any element that is against the state in any country that the US has unilaterally determined requires regime change.
This support for destabilizing, militant, insurgent and more often than not murderous forces has worked for the West to affect regime change in scores of countries and this support is in fact the biggest threat that countries face today if they wish to follow a sovereign path independent of the US and NATO.
The hegemony of the empire
The tactic of using, supporting and promoting any “opposition” to bring about the collapse of states or the change of governments has been seen from Egypt to Ukraine and is used to maintain waning US hegemony in countries that the US has decided they need to control or which possess resources or other “interests” for them.
These interests can be of any type including economic, resources, geopolitical influence or even the projection of military force to maintain hegemony. The playbook is the same and we are seeing it played out once again in Ukraine.
Preventing, dealing with and identifying forces
Preventing
Organs of state security in all countries around the world need to be vigilant of any forces within, but most importantly without, their territories which may seek to bring about the destruction of their states.
A healthy open and just society and a government that looks out for the interests of its people is not an automatic cure or guarantee for security but it is a good foundation. A government that properly addresses the grievances of its citizens and subjects does more to prevent the growth of dissent and destabilizing forces than any other.
If grievances and the voice of the people are heard by the government then the state is almost guaranteeing its own security. However there is still the danger of outside forces and actors introduced into a country to destabilize it. Such as in Ukraine and Syria and the attempts in Russia.
Russia which has a long experience of dealing with almost every kind of nefarious force possible has dealt with the threat effectively, more or less quietly and identified methods and means that were being used and dealt with them. However for smaller countries with less robust organs of state security and more volatile less educated populations dealing with forces of outside interference is much more difficult if not impossible.
In the area of prevention in the age of the internet, special attention must be paid by the security services to the manipulation, dissemination and targeting of information that runs counter to the interests of the state and the people. This includes, for example, the introduction of previously non-issues into a populace to divide it and cause dissent. The West has been very successful at this and the most obvious case in point is the introduction of the divisive issue of same sex marriages, which although “normal” for Americans, was never an issue for the most of the rest of the world until the US introduced it and attached it to its foreign policy.
Identifying
The most important area when it comes to identification in my opinion is the timeliness and effectiveness of the identification.
Dealing with the threat
With the case of a normal opposition in a democratic or fair system, of course the threat is dealt with through normal political discourse, debate and an address of grievances. In short sitting down at the negotiating table and working things out. That is with a normal opposition. However when there are fanatical or extremist elements who use violence they must be dealt with using extreme prejudice and force and effectively liquidated immediately.
The new opposition
A new phenomena we have seen in the post 9-11 world is an irreconcilable opposition, and with the case of Russia, one which had no clear goal or even grievances other than the destruction of the state or the removal from power of the elected leader.
This is the form of “opposition” that we are seeing in Ukraine. An opposition funded, backed and instructed from the outside, in this case from the US. In a normal scenario these “traitors” would be dealt with using the full force of the state as they are a threat to the continuity of the state and the government and the people, but this new western backed opposition is like a disease, once you have it, it is almost impossible to get rid of.
As in Ukraine the “opposition” has the advantage of the full array of US instruments at its disposal, in this case the most important is a complete and total media onslaught, with the “opposition” even allowed on television to call for the kidnapping and punishment of police.
New methods to secure the state
Ukraine, due to western meddling and its open society has been an easy target for the West and in the current climate the state would be wise to take emergency measures which should have been in place before the current unrest escalated into bloodshed. But it is not too late.
First and foremost the state should shut down the instruments that are being used by the outside actors to communicate, instruct and propagandize their installed opposition. The most obvious and simple measure would be shutting down internet access and cell phone communications. The US has shown that this is their favorite tool and we saw it used during the Arab Spring and in Syria.
The other methods that must be developed and implemented to effectively deal with the threat are something the security services must study and bring about once the threat is identified and contingency plans put in place.
A free net
In this regard (identification) the internet can be an invaluable tool if it is kept free and allowed to operate without interference. A wise government will monitor the net and use it to connect with its citizens. It will use it to understand the wishes of its populace and to work out strategies to address grievances. Not as the US has done namely to manipulate, spy on and crack down on the population.
Isolation
If the threat of outside interference is in fact the largest threat to the security of the world’s states, as I have put forth, then the world community, and I mean the real world community not the US and its surrogates, needs to take measures to deal with that threat.
As more and more situations come about such as that in Ukraine, the US may find itself more and more isolated as more and more countries begin to realize that secretaries of state of foreign powers handing out cookies to violent protestors who wish to overthrow the government is not something normal but direct outside interference and part of a concerted effort to destroy the state.
Conclusion
My hope is that the above piece will stir debate and help the people of the world realize that just because your country does not allow gay marriage does not mean it is illegitimate. We are all different and all our differences are legitimate and must be respected and protected.
Finally, never take food from a stranger, especially when that stranger wants to overthrow your president.
The views and opinions expressed above are my own. I can be reached at robles@ruvr.ru.