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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=dlj725@hughes.net href="mailto:dlj725@hughes.net">David Johnson</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=davidjohnson1451@comcast.net
href="mailto:davidjohnson1451@comcast.net">David Johnson</A> ; <A
title=dlj725@hughes.net href="mailto:dlj725@hughes.net">david johnson</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, August 04, 2013 9:38 AM</DIV></DIV>
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<H2 class=date-header>Thursday, August 1, 2013</H2>
<DIV id=post-43998
class="post-43998 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-media-watch category-politics category-surveillance-state">
<H3 class="post-title entry-title"><A
href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/08/obama-starting-to-lose-it-over-snowden.html">Obama
Starting to Lose It Over Snowden</A> </H3>
<DIV class=entry>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Thanks to Obama’s famed “no drama” coolness, it’s hard
to detect when he’s breaking a <SPAN id=IL_AD3 class=IL_AD>sweat</SPAN>. But if
you look at the substance of his actions, it’s clear the President is losing his
famed poise, at least as far as Snowden and the surveillance state revelations
are concerned. I’m not sure yet whether his missteps are simply the result of
personal obsession, or whether Obama recognizes he’s slipping into lame duck
status, and his frustration with his declining power is most evident where he is
most stressed, which is on the NSA revelations front.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>One sign that Obama is off balance is his unforced
errors in dealing with Russia. The bizarre assumption from the get-go seemed to
be that Putin would cooperate and hand over Snowden once the Russian leader was
prodded a bit. Given the status of US-Russian relations, that was borderline
delusional. </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/06/why-putin-is-loving-the-snowden-affair/277237/"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>As Michael Hirsh explained</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=4><STRONG>:</STRONG></FONT></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>In the decade after the Soviet Union’s collapse in
late 1991, the United States offered up a lot of poor economic advice —
high-minded tinkering by the free-market consultants at the Harvard Institute
for International Development, as well as the IMF…</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>That era of mistrust of America led directly to era of
Putin. Since then, despite various attempts at what former Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton called a “reset” of relations, the U.S. has tended to
encourage Russian suspicions by generally treating “Russia as heir to the
USSR’s policies and objectives,” Leslie Gelb and Dimitri Simes write in a new
article in The National Interest…. “This creates an impression that the West’s
top priorities, long after the Cold War, include not merely containing Russia
but also transforming it.”</STRONG></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Putin cleared his throat early on and reminded the US
that Russia had no extradition treaty with the US and in general did not
extradite people. Packing Snowden off because the US asked for him was not on
the table. Putin took the position that the Snowden wasn’t worth exploiting for
his annoyance value to the US: “It’s like shearing a piglet: a lot of squealing
and little wool.” </STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Notice that that formulation did not foreclose the
possibility that Russia might exchange Snowden for individuals in the US that
Russia wanted returned, such as ex-KGB agent Oleg
Kalugin. </STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>But no, Obama immediately rejected that possibility, by
insisting that Russia was obligated under international law to hand over Snowden
(funny how international law is operative when Obama needs it, and not in
matters like Kalugin, the force-feeding of Gitmo detainees, or drone murders of
children in Pakistan). </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jun/27/obama-hasnt-spoken-with-chinese-or-russian-leaders/"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>He also said</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=4><STRONG>:</STRONG></FONT></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>I’m not going to be scrambling jets to get a
29-year-old hacker…I have not called President Xi personally or President
Putin personally and the reason is … No. 1, I shouldn’t have
to.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>No. 2, we’ve got a whole lot of business that we do
with China and Russia, and I’m not going to have one case of a suspect who
we’re trying to extradite suddenly being elevated to the point where I’ve got
to start doing wheeling and dealing and trading on a whole host of other
issues.</STRONG></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>So what’s happened since then? Well, Obama didn’t
scramble jets personally, but if you think the diversion of Evo Morales’ plane
wasn’t America’s doing, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you. And even though
Putin had said “no extradition” in the clearest manner possible, Obama wasn’t
willing to get the message. I’ve pointed to </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://www.moonofalabama.org/2013/07/snowden-case-reveals-obamas-personal-arrogance.html"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>this passage from Moon of Alabama</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=4><STRONG> a couple of times, but it deserves all the attention it can
get:</STRONG></FONT></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Putin has made it clear from the very beginning that
any extradition of Snowden is not going to happen. Fullstop. Russian officials
have repeated that again and even </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/26/putin-spokesman-says-no-change-russia-wont-extradite-snowden-to-us/"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>today</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=4><STRONG>:</STRONG></FONT></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Asked by a reporter whether the government’s
position had changed, Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that “Russia
has never extradited anyone and never will.”</STRONG></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Is that so difficult to understand? Why then is the
U.S. even trying?</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>It seems that this an Obama personality issue. He
personally asked Putin to extradite Snowden even after Putin had publicly
(thereby leaving zero chance to later change that decision) said he would not.
Now Obama is </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/26/snowden-dispute-sparks-deeper-fallout-in-u-s-russia-relationship.html"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>miffed</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT size=4><STRONG>. How can HE get
rebuked by country like Russia?</STRONG></FONT></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Two weeks ago, Obama phoned Putin and asked him to
send Snowden back to the U.S., but Putin refused, according to one official
who was briefed on the call. Following that perceived rebuke, the Obama team
doubled down on its new policy to <SPAN id=IL_AD2 class=IL_AD>show</SPAN>
the Russian government the cold shoulder.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>“The Snowden affair is definitely affecting
U.S.-Russia relations, no question. When you make it clear that something is
very important to the U.S. and we are asking for cooperation and that
request is rejected, that rejection is going to have an impact on the
broader relationship,” said Samuel Charap, <SPAN id=IL_AD4
class=IL_AD>senior</SPAN> fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International
Institute for Strategic Studies. “There’s only so many times you can thumb
your nose at a U.S. president and not expect consequences. When the
president himself has gotten involved personally and been rebuffed, the rule
book kind of goes out the window.”</STRONG></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Ahh – the rule book is out of the window. Screw public
diplomacy. Just don’t care how the world sees the U.S.. It is all about Obama
miffed that Putin is “thumbing his nose” at him. Who is this President of the
Russian Federation that dares to do so to King Obama of the United
States?</STRONG></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Apparently Obama forgot Russia still has
nukes.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Now that Obama has found out that he can’t push Putin
around, it looks like the US is trying to offer up enough people Russia wants
for them to turn over Snowden (hat tip Deontos):</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><A
href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Screen-shot-2013-08-01-at-5.16.35-AM.png"
rel="slb_group[43998] slb slb_internal"><FONT size=4><STRONG><IMG
class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-43999"
alt="Screen shot 2013-08-01 at 5.16.35 AM"
src="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Screen-shot-2013-08-01-at-5.16.35-AM.png"
width=487 height=229></STRONG></FONT></A><FONT size=4><STRONG>
</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>But having downed the Morales plane, and after the
developments of the last two weeks (more on that shortly), Obama has made his
desperation to get Snowden abundantly clear. Moreover, perversely, dragging out
any negotiations would make Snowden MORE valuable, as in the drip drip drip of
continuing revelations (which are now under the Guardian and Greenwald’s
control) will make the security state’s official powerlessness even more
frustrating. So Putin is in the catbird seat. He can keep rejecting offers from
the US and see how much they up the ante. </STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Now, while Snowden has come to assume undue symbolic
importance (as in the real game has now moved to Greenwald and the Guardian,
access to Snowden is nice to have but not necessary for the disclosures to
continue), objectively, the Administration actually is already in a tough spot
on this issue. NC readers have been unduly skeptical of the idea that the narrow
defeat of the Amash amendment last week, which would have leashed and collared
the security state, was kabuki. The Amash amendment </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://www.salon.com/2013/07/22/gop_civil_war_leaders_target_rising_star/"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>would</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT size=4><STRONG> prohibit <SPAN
id=IL_AD1 class=IL_AD>funds</SPAN> in the underlying appropriations bill for
from use by the NSA for “collecting telephone and other records from anyone who
is not the subject of an investigation.” The vote was 205 to
217.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>This was a seismic event. Remember, that thanks to the
pay to play system in both <SPAN id=IL_AD5 class=IL_AD>parties</SPAN>, the
leadership in the House wields far more control over its members than it did 25
years ago. The leadership of both parties and </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/14384-white-house-intelligence-committee-oppose-amashs-amendment"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>the intelligence committee</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=4><STRONG> in the House opposed the amendment and whipped against it. The
NSA’s Keith Alexander gave a classified briefing to members to tell
representatives in no uncertain terms how awful the consequences of voting
through the amendment would be. The White House </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/army/313043-white-house-says-its-opposed-to-nsa-amendment"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>issued a statement</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT size=4><STRONG>
urging rejection of the amendment. I’m told no one in the House can recall a
previous case of an Administration weighing in against an amendment. Members of
the defense community made dire warnings in the media of how damaging passage
would be to American interests. As one Congressional staffer told me, “They
broke arms to get the votes on this.”</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Shortly after the vote, Alan Grayson invited members to
a session </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/glenn-greenwald-to-testify-before-congress"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>scheduled for the morning of Wednesday, July 31, in which
Greenwald would testify via video link</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT size=4><STRONG>.
Richard Clarke, the chairman of the Counter-terrorism Security Group and a
member of the National Security Group, was also scheduled to participate. Within
24 hours of Grayson announcing the meeting, which got the expected considerable
interest from members, Clarke withdrew. He initially claimed to have developed a
scheduling conflict, but it became clear he’d gotten the Elizabeth Warren
treatment from the Administration, of being offered an undisclosed goodie (not
of monetary value, but of participation in an insider process) and he was told
that participating in this session would preclude his involvement in the other
initiative. </STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>But that monkey wrench apparently wasn’t sufficient. The
prospect of having Greenwald and other whistleblowers develop a direct
relationship with members of Congress, who had just barely been kept on the
reservation, was too threatening to Obama. </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://bytegeist.firedoglake.com/2013/07/31/obama-schedules-meeting-with-house-democrats-grayson-forced-to-cancel-nsa-hearing/"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>Jane Hamsher tells us the denouement</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=4><STRONG>:</STRONG></FONT></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>President Obama has historically considered the Hill
some lower bardo of hell. One of the major complaints of congressional
Democrats has always been that the President does not consult them or include
them in shaping his legislative agenda, let alone stop by for a chin
wag.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>So imagine everyone’s surprise when the President
suddenly announced he was coming to the Hill today to meet with all the
Democrats – right before the August recess begins.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Coincidentally, this forced Alan Grayson to cancel the
hearing on NSA activity scheduled for today, at which the Guardian’s Glenn
Greenwald was to testify. Grayson’s bipartisan hearing was organized to give
critics of the NSA’s sweeping surveillance programs a chance to air their
concerns, and stem the tide of “constant misleading information” coming from
the intelligence community, per Grayson.</STRONG></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Specifically, the suddenly scheduled meeting was with
the so-called Democratic Caucus. It not only directly conflicted with the
Greenwald session, but given that this Congressional session ends Friday, it was
impossible to reschedule it for later this week (as in no rooms were available).
I’m told that Obama’s gambit is obvious to everyone on the
Hill.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>So consider what has happened: we have a sitting
President who is treating a journalist as a personal threat and is going to
extreme lengths to stymie him providing testimony to Congress. That of course
has not deterred Greenwald. One of the points of the testimony Wednesday
(technically, not a hearing) was for Greenwald to rebut statements made by
Obama, James Clapper, and Keith Alexander that the NSA programs were
limited:</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG><IMG style="WIDTH: 0px; HEIGHT: 0px; VISIBILITY: hidden"
border=0
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<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>If you have not yet seen the latest Greenwald release on
Xkeyscore, time to catch up. </STRONG></FONT><A
href="http://bytegeist.firedoglake.com/2013/07/31/obama-schedules-meeting-with-house-democrats-grayson-forced-to-cancel-nsa-hearing/"><FONT
size=4><STRONG>The critical sections</STRONG></FONT></A><FONT
size=4><STRONG>:</STRONG></FONT></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>A top secret National Security Agency program allows
analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases
containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of
individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward
Snowden….</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>The files shed light on one of Snowden’s most
controversial statements, made in his first video interview published by the
Guardian on June 10.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>“I, sitting at my desk,” said Snowden, could “wiretap
anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the president,
if I had a personal email”.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>US officials vehemently denied this specific claim.
Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, said
of Snowden’s assertion: “He’s lying. It’s impossible for him to do what he was
saying he could do.”</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>But training materials for XKeyscore detail how
analysts can use it and other systems to mine enormous agency databases by
filling in a simple on-screen form giving only a broad justification for the
search. The request is not reviewed by a court or any NSA personnel before it
is processed.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>XKeyscore, the documents boast, is the NSA’s “widest
reaching” system developing intelligence from computer networks – what the
agency calls Digital Network Intelligence (DNI). One presentation claims the
program covers “nearly everything a typical user does on the internet”,
including the content of emails, websites visited and searches, as well as
their metadata.</STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Analysts can also use XKeyscore and other NSA systems
to obtain ongoing “real-time” interception of an individual’s internet
activity.</STRONG></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>As damaging as these revelations are, the NSA’s and now
Obama’s refusals to deal honestly with Congress and stonewalling by impeding
access to Greenwald (which Congresscritters are convinced of even though Obama
can play faux innocent) are on the verge of backfiring. Recall that what brought
Nixon down in Watergate and damaged Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky affair were
not the events but the cover-up. </STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Here, the NSA and Administration seem unable to grok
that Greenwald has the goods and he is going to proceed methodically with his
releases of information. If the NSA knows what Snowden downloaded (as they
assert they do) they should be well aware of what he can publish. Yet they
persist in telling bald-faced lies that Greenwald is able to swat back with the
NSA’s own materials. </STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>The officialdom seems constitutionally unable to
recognize that they can’t halt the process that is underway, short of, say,
blowing up the Guardian or launching a coup (as in I am confident that both
Greenwald and Snowden have gotten copies of critical materials into enough hands
at the Guardian that the publication of documents would proceed even if
something were to either of them). The surveillance state seem incapable of
grasping that they might not win this fight, and if they don’t make an effort to
get on this bus, they really could wind up under it. </STRONG></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4><STRONG>Grayson’s hearing will take place in September. Obama’s
delaying tactics, which will push the confab into fall prime time, might prove
to be another own goal. Stay tuned.
</STRONG></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>