by Stephen Lendman
On February 23, Al Jazeera headlined “The Spy Cables: A Glimpse into the world of espionage.”
Saying “(s)ecret documents, leaked from numerous intelligence agencies, offer rare insights into the interactions between spies.”
Hold the cheers. Al Jazeera is owned, operated and controlled by Qatar’s government. Its agenda is closely tied to Washington and other Western governments.
Doha hosts America’s forward CENTCOM (US Central Command) headquarters. It’s based at Al Udeid Air Base. It’s home for 5,000 US forces.
It’s a hub for US Afghanistan and Iraq operations. Qatar was instrumental in Obama’s Libya war.
Its special forces armed and trained extremist Islamist militants. It’s allied with Obama’s war on Syria.
The State Department’s annual human rights report said Qatar:
- denies its citizens the right to change governmental authority peacefully; constitutional law mandates hereditary male al-Thani family rule.
- prohibits fundamental civil liberties;
- abuses noncitizen workers;
- forbids organized political parties;
- denies speech, press and assembly freedoms;
- prohibits due process and judicial fairness for anyone facing charges under the Protection of Society and Combating Terrorism Law;
- restricts religious practices and movement;
- traffics in domestic workers and various other labor sectors; and
- discriminates against women legally, institutionally and cultureally.
Don’t expect revelations like Edward Snowden’s. It remains to be seen what Al Jazeera intends to publish.
It’ll be up to others to judge its reliability. Most important is what it intends to keep suppressed.
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit collaborated with London’s Guardian – an establishment broadsheet. It published Snowden’s revelations.
According to Al Jazeera, it intends “a selection of ‘top-secret’ documents, and exploring stories within them.”
They’re from Israel’s Mossad, Britain’s MI6, Russia’s FSB, Australia’s ASIO and South Africa’s SSA.
No direct mention of the CIA, NSA, FBI or other US spy agencies.
Al Jazeera claims a “digital leak” source. It’ll begin selective publishing “(o)ver the coming days.” Documents it obtained cover the period 2006 – 2014.
They include SSA “detailed briefings and internal analyses.”
Revealing South Africa’s “secret correspondence with the US intelligence agency, the CIA, Britain’s MI6, Israel’s Mossad, Russia’s FSB and Iran’s operatives, as well as dozens of other services from Asia to the Middle East and Africa.”
Information obtained comes from human intelligence (HUMINT). Al Jazeera calls it “humdrum, day-in-the-office level” espionage.
Offering a “glimpse into the daily working lives of people whose jobs are kept secret from the public.”
Expect no blockbuster revelations. Al Jazeera calling it “important to achieve greater transparency in the field of intelligence” may be more hype than fulfillment.
Snowden connected important dots for millions. Don’t expect Al Jazeera to match him.
Israel may be concerned. On February 23, Haaretz headlined “Massive leak said to reveal Mossad’s ‘true’ assessment on Iran nuclear program.”
If so, it’ll show a peaceful one with no military component. Annual US intelligence assessments say so.
New Snowden leaks reveal US, Israeli and UK spy agencies cooperated in surveilling Iranian officials.
Documents indicate “(t)he respective NSA-ISNU and GCHQ bilateral relationships had gotten to the point that each participant recognized the need for the trilateral engagement to advance this specific topic.”
“The trilateral relationship is limited to the topic of (word redated) and will serve as a proof of concept of this kind of engagement.”
GCHQ “long advocated that it work with NSA and ISNU in a trilateral arrangement to prosecute the Iranian target.”
NSA’s signals intelligence chief “opposed…such a blanket arrangement, and this specific trilateral should not be interpreted as a broad change of approach.”
“In other areas, NSA and CCHQ have agreed to continue to share information gleaned from the respective bilateral relationships with ISNU.”
Documents revealed show US/UK intelligence successes against Iran.
Saying “NSA has successfully worked multiple high-priority surges with GCHQ (during) the storming of the British Embassy in Tehran…”
“Iran’s discovery of computer network exploitation tools on their networks in 2012 and 2013; and support to policymakers during the multiple rounds of P5 plus 1 negotiation on Iran’s nuclear program.”
NSA’s so-called emergency plan in case of crisis conditions with Iran is coordinated with other US spy agencies and Pentagon officials.
Separately, Israeli media report another fake Hamas terror cell uncovered. This one in Hebron.
This type revelation ahead of Israel’s mid-March elections isn’t surprising. Polls show Netanyahu in a close race to remain prime minister.
Shin Bet said it arrested 11 Hamas members plotting terror attacks. It claimed weapons and explosives were seized.
A Shin Bet statement said:
“The activities of this cell reflects the real threat from Hamas activities in Hebron and especially from operatives that have been arrested in the past and then returned to the terror pool.”
Hamas consistently denies fabricated Israeli terror plot claims. Days earlier, Israel said active West Bank IS terror cells operate.
PA security forces spokesman Adnan Dameiri denied it, saying:
“We are obviously adamant not to have ISIS or umbrellas for them in Palestine.”
“Those who have been trying to create the ISIS phenomenon are Israel and Hamas given that the Muslim Brotherhood movement is the incubator which created al-Qaida, ISIS, the Nusra Front and other Jihadist and Takfiri organizations.”
“The Israeli occupation is interested in creating chaos in Palestine…to tell the world that Palestinians do not deserve to have a state.”
Israeli anti-Hamas propaganda remains intense. Egypt spreads similar Big Lies.
On Saturday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abut Zuhri blasted Egyptian “incitement and deception” against Palestinians in Gaza.
He denounced what he called “Zionist-like” rumors and misinformation sowing discord cooperatively with Israel.
Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad al-Buzm denounced “attempts to accuse (Gazans) of (involvement in) ongoing events in Egypt.”
Hamas is Palestine’s democratically elected government. It threatens no one.
Israel, Washington, Egypt and likeminded rogue allies outrageously call it a terrorist organization.
Don’t expect Al Jazeera’s Spy Cables to expose Israeli high crimes. Expect they’ll steer well clear of anything too controversial.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.
It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.
UPDATE:
Al Jazeera Spy Cables Reveal Netanyahu Lies about Iran’s Nuclear Program
by Stephen Lendman
Netanyahu is an embarrassment to legitimate governance. He’s unfit to serve. Why Israelis put up with him they’ll have to explain.
On March 17, they’ll have a chance to replace him. He’s in a close race he could lose. Letting him remain prime minister means retaining a war criminal/crook/serial liar.
On the one hand, he’s silent on Israel’s menacing stockpile of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
He won’t say it’s official state policy to use them if threatened. Or that Israel uses banned weapons in all its wars.
On the other, he repeatedly lies about a nonexistent Iranian nuclear weapons program. In September 2012, he made a fool of himself before a world audience.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, his cartoon bomb went viral. It bombed. He looked more cartoonish than his prop.
At the time, the New Yorker said “the ridiculous deserves ridicule.”
The Wall Street Journal compared his stunt to Nikita Krushchev’s shoe-banging incident.
Netanyahu’s “red line” bluster wore thin long ago. It’s hard recalling how many times he lied about Iran being within months of producing a nuclear bomb.
Yet no evidence from the world’s most sophisticated intelligence agencies suggests it. None exists.
Not from the CIA, NSA. other US spy agencies or Israel’s Mossad. Sputnik News was blunt headlining “Netanyahu Lied to UN about Iranian Nuclear Program, Mossad Files Show.”
He deliberately “misled the United Nations about Iran’s nuclear program.” Showing nothing he says has credibility.
In September 2012, he lied saying “(b)y next spring, at most by next summer, at current enrichment rates, they will have finished the medium enrichment and move(d_ on to the final stage.”
“From there, it’s only a few months, possibly a few weeks before they get enough enriched uranium for the first bomb.”
US intelligence consistently finds no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program.
Leaked Mossad cables show Netanyahu lied. On February 23, an Al Jazeera’s Spy Cables report headlined “Mossad contradicted Netanyahu on Iran nuclear programme.”
Showing “Iran was not producing nuclear weapons, after PM sounded alarm at UN in 2012.”
“Less than a month after” his Big Lie, Mossad said Tehran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce (nuclear) weapons.”
According to Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit, Mossad’s top secret cable “laid out a ‘bottom line’ assessment of Iran’s nuclear work.”
It showed Netanyahu lied about “Tehran racing towards acquisition of a nuclear bomb.”
No evidence suggests efforts being made to develop and produce nuclear weapons.
Iranian scientists are “working to close gaps in areas that appear legitimate such as enrichment reactors.”
“Even though Iran has accumulated enough 5 percent enriched uranium for several bombs, and has enriched some of it to 20 percent, it does not appear to be ready to enrich it to higher levels.”
‘It is allocating some of it to produce nuclear fuel for the TRR (Tehran Research Reactor), and the amount of 20 percent enriched uranium is therefore not increasing.”
On March 3, Netanyahu will address a joint congressional session two weeks before Israeli elections.
He wants ongoing P5+1 talks sabotaged. He wants no agreement reached. He’ll repeat his Big Lie about a nonexistent Iranian nuclear weapons program.
He seeks congressional support against rapprochement with Iran. He rejects compromise. He wants hardline US policies remaining unchanged.
“Media reports and public comments by senior current and former officials have frequently indicated dissent from within Israel’s security services over Netanyahu’s alarmist messaging on Iran,” said Al Jazeera.
However, the (leaked) document (it got) makes clear that the Mossad’s formal assessment of Iran’s nuclear capacity and intentions differs from the scenario outlined by the prime minister at the UN” – and numerous other times.
The cable was sent to South Africa’s State Security Agency (SSA) shortly after Netanyahu’s September 2012 address.
In March 2012, former Mossad chief Meir Dagan warned against overstating an Iranian threat – heading Israel toward possible war with Tehran.
At the time, he called attacking Iran a “stupid idea (before) exploring all other approaches” to resolve differences between both countries.
In October 2012, Mossad estimated Iran had 100 kilograms of uranium enriched to a 20% level.
In 2013, its stockpile increased. Then was “neutralise(d)” or “destroyed” following P5+1 talks.
Netanyahu/Mossad discord remains. Israel’s spy agency warned US officials against imposing new sanctions.
Saying doing so would sabotage ongoing talks. Iran and P5+1 countries currently seek a permanent deal framework by end of March.
Followed by a full technical agreement by end of June. Much work remains, said Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif after weekend talks with John Kerry in Geneva.
On Monday, he said “(w)e have made progress on some topics to some extent, but there is still a long way to pave before reaching a final deal.”
No agreement is possible unless both sides agree on all issues, he explained.
“…(T)he negotiations will continue, and we have decided to continue our talks on the sidelines of the upcoming meeting of the Human Rights Council next week,” he said.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi said Tehran will stop negotiating if world powers (namely Washington) apply unacceptable pressure.
“We will continue the negotiations as long as there is a language of respect,” he said.
“(B)ut we will surely leave the table if the (bullying) approach is extended to the negotiating table.”
His comments followed John Kerry saying Obama “is fully prepared to stop these talks if he feels that they’re not being met with the kind of productive decision-making necessary to prove that a program is in fact peaceful.”
“Both the US and other P5+1 (countries) have experienced that political and media pressures will never make the Islamic Republic of Iran change it methods, demands and stances in the negotiations,” Araqchi stressed.
“Summing up the discussions, we cannot claim that progress has been made…We still have differences, but the negotiating sides are seriously and resolutely following up the negotiations to reach a solution although they have not achieved comprehensive solutions over key issues.”
Talks continue next Monday in Geneva. Whether agreement is possible remains to be seen.
Given decades of US hostility, it takes a great leap of faith to believe normalizing relations with Iran will occur any time soon.
Not as long as enormous Israeli Lobby pressure keeps Congress from accepting it.