The Bush administration signed off Friday on the final version of the United States’ strategy for protecting the Internet and securing information systems. Additionally, Attorney General John Ashcroft wants even more power to snoop on the Internet, spy on private conversations and install secret microphones, spyware and keystroke loggers.
Bush Unveils Final Cybersecurity Plan
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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OK, somebody needs to be fisked. I’m doing this, not because I think the person is actually going to READ what I posted (obviously none of my PREVIOUS posts have sunk in), but just for my own sanity.
>>>>There is no reason to attack iraq now as Hussein does what the UN asked.<<<<
No, what the UN originally VOTED FOR was that Iraq DISARM. Saddam made a deal a decade ago — we stop trying to dislodge Saddam IF Saddam destroys his chemical and biological weapons AND SHOWS the UN inspectors that he has done so. So he declares weapons X, Y, and Z, and the inspectors find X but not Y and Z — that’s not good enough. Saddam is not disarming, and there’s no way the inspectors can make him disarm if Saddam is serious about keeping his WMDs and hiding them from the outside world, UNLESS the inspectors are backed up by a credible threat of US military force. Asking Saddam to come clean hasn’t made him do so. Putting US ships into the Persian Gulf hasn’t made him do so. Calling up literally thousands of reserve forces for active duty and shipping them off to the Gulf hasn’t done so. We’ve tried everything BUT war at this point — GET IT? War is the only option LEFT that hasn’t been tried. We’re down to the last card we can play. SADDAM HAS NOT DISARMED AND IS NOT SERIOUS ABOUT DISARMING — so the US Marines are going to have to do the disarming.
>>>>What makes you mad is that the world doesn’t let you aggress a country.<<<<
No. Again you have not been listening. What makes us mad is a sociopath in the Middle East who has WMDs, has been known to use them (both against Iranians and against his own people), has been known to harbor terrorists, has been known to FUND terrorism (most infamously offering $25,000 to the family of any suicide bomber who kills Israeli civilians), has attempted to assassinate a former US president, and has been playing games with UN inspectors when he made a deal to get rid of his WMDs and to prove that he had done so.
Believe it or not, we Americans just don’t get a wild hair up our collective asses to pick a country from the atlas and go drop bombs on it every five years. We don’t go to war unless we think we have a damned good reason.
>>>>Hussein might have WMDs? And?<<<<
AND he likes to use them on civilians. AND he works with terrorists, specifically al-Qaeda, the same outfit responsible for September 11. AND he hates Americans. AND he hates Israelis (and Israel is a U.S. ally).
>>>>The USA have this kind of weapons also.<<<<
We have NUKES. We also have conventional weapons that are almost as powerful as nukes, such as “daisy cutters.” We have no need for chemical or biological weaponry, and besides, chemical and biological weapons (I believe) are outlawed by the Geneva Convention — their use constitutes a war crime. So I don’t think the U.S. even HAS any chemical or biological weaponry.
>>>>As Bush is a _very_ aggressive man, he kills his own people (do you remember, death penalty!),…<<<<
Yeah, he had that poor sweet man executed who dragged a crippled black man to his death behind his pickup truck in Texas. (Actually we have judges and juries in this country. THEY condemn the convicted to death.)
And I can’t believe you’re harping about the death penalty (a sentence of death after a fair trial, after the accused is convicted “beyond a reasonable doubt”) when the enemy America faces is a sociopath who has killed thousands of people without any trial — WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS (which, as I mentioned above, is a war crime).
>>>>he makes awful laws<<<<
Presumably you’re referring to such things as the Patriot Act. Sorry, I can’t get horrified about a law that is intended to deal with people who’d sneak a nuke into New York City and detonate it if they had the chance, and guess what — I LIVE HERE IN AMERICA.
>>>>and he threatens other countries,<<<<
Yeah, those that present a danger to Americans — you know, like Iraq (or rather the present Iraqi regime, which the Iraqis will probably thank us for dismantling in another month or two).
>>>>Europe should consider bombing the USA unless the USA dostroys all its weapons.<<<<
(1) Ha! Now who’s threatening other countries! I guess that isn’t such a bad thing to do after all. (2) Ha! No way is Europe going to threaten the US. The US has been providing a large part of the security in Europe since World War II. What shape is the French military in? How about the German military? The Belgian military? The Austrian military? The Swedish military? (3) Your moral-equivalence argument is just stupid. The US does not target civilians for bombing. The US does not try to gobble up other countries. The US does not present a danger to countries that present no danger to the US. Iraq under Saddam Hussein does all of these things.
>>>>Seems fair to me!<<<<
Which confirms my suspicion that you are a fool.
OK. Next.
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>>>>If bush would put all this money and resources that he is allocating towards a military effort(an other deficit digging persuits), into alternate fuels/fuel cells, couldn’t the US just tell iraq to keep their oil. Iraq would never get to be that large of a threat.<<<<
We know for a fact that France and Germany get oil of Iraq, and plenty of it. TotalFinaElf, a French oil company, has a really sweet deal with Iraq. So even if the US boycotts Iraq utterly, even if Iraq never sees a penny of American money, it still has Europe for a customer.
>>>>Why are we still using combustion engines anyway? Its well over a 100 year technology.<<<<
Maybe because we’ve yet to find an alternative technology that is both cheap enough and efficient enough to serve in place of combustion engines. Electric cars don’t seem to be taking off.
What i like with you is that you don’t make the difference between the truth and the propaganda. Well, perhaps because your history lessons at schools are just propaganda so you are too used to that to be able to make the difference anymore.
Apparently you’d like the UN resolutions to be firmly applied about Iraq. What not declare war on Israël who refuses to comply to the resolution since 1967??
Well, just look on internet and you will realize that the USA have _plenty_ of bacteriological and chemical weapons. So please stop telling stupid things.
About the European army, i think it is in a very good shape, i don’t worry for that, thank you.
And stop repeating what’s written in popular american newspapers à la “usa today”. It is just crap. Believe it or not. Today there was a demonstration against war in Paris and there were many Americans. Thoses ones are able to think on their own, and not repeating what the american gvt says. So please start thinking!
The discussion is over.
“That’s reason enough to invade Iraq, and no, the prospect of having a bunch of “cultured” anti-American weasels in Europe hating us a teensy bit more than they do now is not much of a disincentive for us”
We DO NOT HATE the US. I thought that especially an American citizen would respect a different opinion than theirs. Besides, it’s not only “old Europe” like you call it who thinks the war can be avoided. A majority of people in Europe and Asia, in fact almost any country in the world is opposed to a war right now. Governments that are supporting the US do it without the support of their voters !
We don’t hate the US, but we think your government is out of control.
What makes us mad is a sociopath in the Middle East who has WMDs, has been known to use them (both against Iranians and against his own people), has been known to harbor terrorists, has been known to FUND terrorism (most infamously offering $25,000 to the family of any suicide bomber who kills Israeli civilians), has attempted to assassinate a former US president, and has been playing games with UN inspectors when he made a deal to get rid of his WMDs and to prove that he had done so.
So why did you give Saddam weapons in the first place? Why don’t you bomb the americans who fund terrorists (IRA)? “has attempted to assassinate a former US president” ? Like the CIA didn’t kill other countries presidents?
Maybe you should start to think for yourself instead of repeating the propaganda you see on TV.
Yeah, he had that poor sweet man executed who dragged a crippled black man to his death behind his pickup truck in Texas
Several people who were executed were later found innocent, but ignoring facts and just tell your propaganda is easier?
No, what the UN originally VOTED FOR was that Iraq DISARM. Saddam made a deal a decade ago — we stop trying to dislodge Saddam”
Maybe the USA shouldn’t have been fucking up the old inspections by trying to get the inspectors to spy for CIA and to provoke a new war?
U.S. will PROVE just how amoral and corrupt the governments of France and Germany really are in supplying Iraq with WMD materials FOR MONEY AND OIL CONTRACTS
The difference is that the corrupt USA government supplies weapons to dictators and terrorists for free?
And the only people who get thrown into “gulags” in America will be the people who really have been busy trying to kill Americans (and probably Europeans too).
News for you: Not everyone of them were captured in a battlezone. And you just know that they are guilty? So whats the difference between USA and communist/dictatory countries that lock up people without a trial? Nothing apparently.
You are a disgrace to all americans who actually think for themselves.
You fit the idiot-profile that makes the rest of the world hate americans in general:
1) You claim everything not told on american TV is a lie from the democrats and THE SOCIALISTS.
2) You claim everyone who doesn’t support the american WAR machine are just jelaous and only wants to come and live in USA.
3) You don’t have any good arguments and just bring up semi-lies in general.
I think the person is actually going to READ what I posted (obviously none of my PREVIOUS posts have sunk in), but just for my own sanity.
You only make yourself more insane, boy
Saddam made a deal a decade ago — we stop trying to dislodge Saddam IF Saddam destroys his chemical and biological weapons AND SHOWS the UN inspectors that he has done so. So he declares weapons X, Y, and Z, and the inspectors find X but not Y and Z — that’s not good enough.
Could you tell us, what Saddam’s been doing with all those weapons since then? Is he really threatening other countries?
SADDAM HAS NOT DISARMED AND IS NOT SERIOUS ABOUT DISARMING
So do other dictators around the region. Why do you only go for Saddam?
What makes us mad is a sociopath in the Middle East who has WMDs, has been known to use them (both against Iranians and against his own people).
Go back to school and you will know who backed Saddam then. Ask Mr. Rumsfeld what was he doing that time in Baghdad.
About who is sociopath here I’d better quote Nelson Mandela: “If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don’t care for human beings,” he said.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,885966,…
has attempted to assassinate a former US president
do you really got no clue about your own CIA’s activities in another countries?
We don’t go to war unless we think we have a damned good reason.
I just don’t think that both you and Bush can think properly. You should be thankful to the people coming in from another countries. Without _their_brains_ and _their_money_ USA would be left far behind the Old Europe.
AND he likes to use them on civilians.
You must be getting mixed up between Saddam and US Army. Boy, just count the so called _collateral_damage_ in the last 20 years (not to mention Hiroshima und Nagasaki).
AND he works with terrorists, specifically al-Qaeda, the same outfit responsible for September 11.
Hahaha .. you really believe the propaganda you saw on TV? Please use your own brain, son.
AND he hates Americans.
If you don’t behave, who does not?
Gee, thanks for that link. It reminded me that Nelson Mandela claims that we’re flouting the UN just because Kofi Annan is black. (Nelson Mandela is an ex-terrorist. So is Joschka Fischer of Germany. Why on earth should I listen when they accuse the United States of being a monstrous threat to the rest of the world?)
So far, NONE of you has given me any reason to reconsider my opinion, which is simply: Iraq has WMDs, is trying to get nukes, will share them with terrorists who will use them to commit future September 11s — AND the only way to get Iraq to rid itself of WMDs is for us to go in and do it for them.
You accuse me of just repeating propaganda points. Meanwhile here you are, accusing the CIA of assassinating other countries’ leaders (like WHOM? and WHEN? how about some SPECIFICS that can be VERIFIED by a disinterested party?). Eighty percent of your arguments are ad-hominem attacks on the U.S., the CIA, the “thick low-culture brain-death hedonistic short-sighted greedy blood-and-oil-drenched rednecks” who populate the U.S., and even Israel — and the other twenty percent is just vague accusations based on questionable sources. (Nelson Mandela claims the U.S. commits unspeakable atrocities and doesn’t care for human beings? Why should I believe THAT? That doesn’t make me stop and think; it makes me laugh.)
I guess you believe a lot of other things too — like how the CIA deliberately spreads cocaine in black neighborhoods because it is at war with the black race (uh-huh), or how Osama bin Laden was motivated in part by blistering outrage at what the CIA was up to in Central America or by the U.S. refusal to sign on to the Kyoto Treaty or the ICC (yeah, sure he was).
And “old Europe” means the “Axis of Weasels” — France, Germany, and Belgium mostly. Most of the rest of Europe (“new Europe,” so to speak) is with us — Britain (obviously), Spain, Italy, and apparently all of Eastern Europe (lots of little countries that have actually had to live in the shadow of a genuine tyranny that really HAS “committed unspeakable atrocities” and “[didn’t] care about human beings”). So is Japan. So is Australia. (I don’t give a hoot about China, which is a Communist country.)
Frankly, I don’t care if you think America is trying to emulate Nazi Germany. WE know we aren’t, and you’re only scoring points with yourselves when you make these wild comparisons and accusations. (Yes I am getting sick and tired of having this conversation.) We’re going to stamp out al-Qaeda AND we’re going after regimes that aid and spread terrorism whether you like it or not. If that means enraging people in Europe (and America) who believe (BEFORE WE’VE EVEN INVADED IRAQ AND DONE ANYTHING YET!!!) that Bush is Hitler, the CIA is the KGB, and America is Nazi Germany, we can definitely live with that. We Americans are starting to disdain the “cultured” “old Europeans” as much as they disdain us “renegade cowboy” fight-monkey Americans.
This link — http://americankaiser.blogspot.com/#89148926 — is to an eyewitness account of a recent antiwar rally in Paris. If this is what 80% of the people in France and Germany agree with, then I’d say we “thick low-culture brain-death hedonistic short-sighted greedy blood-and-oil-drenched rednecks” have good reason to look down on “old Europe”:
>>>>The rally today was hysterical. Iraqi and Palestinian flags were everywhere, and signs openly declared that the United States and Israel are Nazi regimes. One sign showed Bush with a Hitler mustache, and another featured Ariel Sharon slaughtering a Palestinian baby at a chopping block, with the words “Israel wants Palestinian blood.” One of the rallying cries was “Kill Bush.” Another, delivered in English, was “Hey Hey Ariel, Your stinking ass should go to jail.” I kid you not. This rally was a display of anti-American and anti-Semitic sentiments the likes of which I have never before seen. But I had the opportunity to see French soldiers, which was nice. After all, there are no French soldiers on battlefields.<<<<
THIS is CULTURE???? THESE are the people I’m supposed to listen to when they talk about how Ashcroft is going to put all of us regular non-terrorist folks into prison without trial or access to a lawyer? I’m supposed to listen to THESE people instead of the “propaganda” on the news websites I read? Please.
Ok, the debate has already drifted terribly off track here. People have gotten into a whole other argument. How did we get here? Well, let’s see:
1. The american government is about to impose some really, truly “bad-bad-idea” laws essentially stripping the american citizens of a whle buttload of rights. Federal agents are basically getting a free card to do anything they want without having to answer to anyone (generalisation, I know, but read the ARTICLE and find out!)
2. Some people, mostly Europeans, find this shocking and question what the hell the American government think they are doing?
3. Some americans cannot differentiate between anti-americanism and europeans questioning the sanity of what the american government think they are doing, trying to pass laws like that. And then they go into “patriot-overdrive-mode” and start to chant “USA! USA! USA! All the Way!”
4. The debate escalates and goes way off track. Since there is nothing more obnoxious for a european than being told “Yeah, but WE have got civil rights and WE can elect our own leaders and WE have freedom in our country” (since all of the above of course appply to Europe too) we respond to the blind idiot patriotism and the shit starts to bounce back and forth.
Let’s get BACK ON TRACK here, eh? The main question is: What on earth are they doing, trying to pass laws like that? The proposals are, in my mind, an outright attack on the right to privacy and “just and proper conduct” in law enforcement. Please go and READ the article that spawned this debate now, and THEN try to justify the law proposals!
As Ben Franklin said: “Those that would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither!” Do you americans think that HE was anti-american too? I didn’t think so…
“Most of the rest of Europe (“new Europe,” so to speak) is with us — Britain (obviously), Spain, Italy, and apparently all of Eastern Europe.”
No, only the governments is with the US, an overwelming majority of the people is not. Some leaders will regret their decision in the next elections, especially Mister Blair.
It seems to me thar the principles upon which the United States was founded and which are embodied in their constitution are largely those of individual rights. Rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” I think the saying goes.
These rights include such things as privacy, fair trials, freedom of speech, due process, and so on. In fact the consitution even includes the citizen’s right to bare arms to prevent a government from becoming tyrannical and imposing its will on its own people through the threat or use of force. This indicates to me that the founding fathers had VERY strong opinions about the degree to which government should control the people.
So when the US government attempts to impose laws which make a mockery of the principles upon which the country was founded, and the people are willing to let them be imposed because they are afraid of terrorism and have the belief that they will become safer (probably misguided, since much of what I have read and seen on TV indicates that the problem was not the lack of information provided to the FBI, but a lack of either the intelligence, imagination, or will to interpret it) then Osama Bin Laden must find it amusing that not only is he succeeding in destroying the very foundations of his enemy, but in fact his enemy is helping him to do it.
Of course this is not just an American problem, the UK government also keeps trying to pass “big brother” type legislation, (yeah, like we haven’t been in fighting terrorism for 30 years or more, but suddenly we have to give up our freedom and privacy to stay safe).