It’s common for governments to spin a story to make the indefensible sound defensible. Usually it is the government putting the best light on some commonly agreed facts.
But when it comes to intelligence issues the spin takes a different form.
Firstly, we are told we don’t need or deserve to know what the facts are – because they are secret. Trust us, they say, we know what we are doing.
Secondly, if another party (such as Edward Snowden) discloses facts that appear damaging, we are told it would not be appropriate for the government to comment. Matters of national security have to be kept confidential.
Thirdly, to throw us off the track, governments often suggests the leaked documents may be wrong, fabricated, misinterpreted or dated. But they can’t tell us more because secret matters can’t be discussed in public.
In this regard the statement last week from Foreign Minister Murray McCully was a classic. He was facing criticism from two former officials in the Solomon Islands Prime Minister’s office, Robert Iroga and Philip Tagini, regarding the GCSB’s targeting of their emails – as disclosed by Nicky Hager and Ryan Gallagher using the Snowden documents. Iroga said “McCully should be ashamed of himself for spying on our people” and Tagini said the spying on government officials was “deplorable” and “not acceptable.”
Murray McCully stated in reply that “the government will not be responding to claims made from documents stolen by Edward Snowden. The Snowden documents were taken some time ago and many are old, out of date, and we can’t discount that some of what is being put forward may even be fabricated.”
The documents could be “fabricated”? McCully shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that, particularly when he has ready access to the originals of the very documents Hager and Gallagher refer to. The two journalists say “the [January 2013] target document was prepared by a named GCSB officer living in Wellington.” Also, no-one has yet proven any of the Snowden documents to be fabricated.
This sort of official obfuscation isn’t working so well as some of the more powerful targets of GCSB spying get into the game. I’m thinking particularly of China. It is certainly watching developments. Its Foreign Ministry responded the same day Hager and Gallagher reported in the NZ Herald that the GCSB was spying on China. On 11 March Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said “China is concerned about the relevant report” and went on to talk about the importance of cyber and information security.” Thanks to Fran O’Sullivan for bringing this to our attention.
Companies like Fonterra should take note. China’s reaction to the GCSB spying on it may turn out to be more damaging to Fonterra’s trade than the odd scare around milk safety. One little way for ordinary Kiwis to help be part of the solution is to sign my petition apologising to China (and several other Asia/Pacific governments) for the GCSB spying on them. It is called a “Not in Our Name” petition and is at this link.
Yes….read that in the herald today about Keys ‘official ‘ stance of no comment…what a load of bolderdash , what a wimp.
So far….Snowden has been pin point accurate, There’s no getting around that fact and Key is now looking stupid.
Who’s he trying to kid now , for crying out loud?
No one. He’s fooling no one…least of all the Chinese . The man’s not only becoming a liability , he’s also becoming a real embarrassment to New Zealand.
And one other thing….the issue of ‘stolen ‘ documents. It was established long ago that evidence, stolen or otherwise…is admissible evidence if enough public interest is generated by that evidence.
It was also established by one of our own judges that INDEED …Hager’s data for dirty politics had massive public interest….and paralleling that – on an even bigger global scale…
Snowdens data and evidence is in the GLOBAL WORLD COMMUNITY’S INTEREST’S.
Who does Key and his mates think they are…honestly.
“And one other thing….the issue of ‘stolen ‘ documents. . . . ”
I absolutely agree.
And why exactly is mass surveillance (or any other form of spying for that matter) other than the STEALING of people’s private information for reasons that the state, as represented by the government, believe to be ‘justified’?
For Key and his mob, if the state steals information on behalf of itself, that is not stealing. But if Snowden ‘steals information’ on behalf of the pursuit of justice and fairness for the betterment all of mankind, well that really is stealing!
The pot calling the kettle black . . . .what a total bunch of hypocrites we have as our elected government.
I’m sorry johhnnny boy but your frequent referring to the Snowden leaks as “stolen information” is wearing a bit thin.
You’ve hit the nail squarely on the head !
Something this maggot ‘ P M ‘ could never do – literally .
For …..what is the taking , gathering and compiling of the populations communications …..anything but THEFT??!!??
THEFT on a grand scale !
THEFT which is govt sanctioned , no less !
And was there ever a vote , consent or a a mandate given ???
NOOOOOOOOOO !!!
In fact – it was found to be illegal !
Until one sweaty John XKEYscore hastily had the law amended on instruction from the NSA….
What an odious little man .
What a creep.
keys says everything they do is legal, everything hitler did was legal any other dictator could say the same, doesnt make it legitimate, laws manufactured to advantage elite individuals or groups as opposed to common sense laws that are in the interests of all citizens
WK well said better than I sir.
Yes Brand Key is losing shine in many areas
May need some polish well can you shine a t**d?
The wind up north is blowing in a negative direction. John Roughan a Rodney Hyde are blowing the trumpet for Key, Roughan claiming Key is open and honest,***###! Hyde claiming Winston is too old,and will be no benefit to Northland . Spoken like a true has been hoping to be relevant again.
One poll claiming NZfirst and National are head to head,funny how things can change overnight.
Its the belief of many in Northland that National are trying to build a picture, if its neck and neck , the votes can be “arranged” so that National win by a small majority when they are obviously miles behind.
Osbourne claims John Key is his hero and likes the way he works,and he wants to win to help trade deals go through,TPP ,Osbourne is all for it ,
he is just a yes man for National.
Key signed a trade deal with Korea today, is this deal anything like the TPP we havnt heard much about the details.
If National win up North I suggest everyone count their fingers,a win will be very suspect.This American trader is not to be trusted.
John McAfee (founder of McAfee antivirus software) Reveals How To Stop Unwarranted Spying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpghcXFW61A
Yes ELLE
Its the belief of many in Northland that National are trying to build a picture, if its neck and neck , the votes can be “arranged” so that National win by a small majority when they are obviously miles behind.
Setting up yet another rigged election obviously, and you can bet Key will use any illegal tools he can to cheat and steal.
Note a Asian lobbying company as mentioned the testimony below.
I suggest to Winston to request a final manual count of all paper votes and no electronic counting as that will kill their rotten rigged voting system called “Source Code.”.
See here.
http://theteapartytruther.com/programmer_testifies_about_rigging_elections_with_vote_counting_machine
Can somebody help me here please? If everything Snowden says is fabricated why is he then on US the most wanted list?
Why is he having to hide out in Russia?
If it is old info then was it true at some stage?
Which bits are old?
Which bits are fabricated?
Surely someone can answer such simple questions without putting the national security at risk.
Whats the cricket score?
Just found out today what the secret of Sabin is , my goodness no wonder they want to keep it a secret ,spoilt my day hearing about it.
National is a party of secrets and lies.
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