Israel Nukes Whistleblower Mordecai Vanunu - Shopped to Mossad by Sydney Morning Herald, ASIO & ASIS

ꕤ Article SOURCE EXTRACT ONLY - CONTINUE AT SOURCE http://mailstar.net/vanunu.html Peter Myers / MailStar Ari Ben-Menashe on the Capture of Mordecai Vanunu Selections by Peter Myers, September 15, 2001; update November 21, 2015. My comments are shown {thus}. Write to me at contact.html. You are at http://mailstar.net/vanunu.html. Ben-Menashe was a former Israeli intelligence officer. The Sydney Morning Herald, & The (Melbourne) Age, as well as Australia's spy agency ASIO, played a part in the capture of Vanunu. The Sydney Morning Herald alerted ASIO, which alerted ASIS, which alerted Mossad. The BBC produced a TV documentary about Vanunu's capture, and Israel's secret nuclear weapons program, titled "Israel's Secret Weapon". Transcript, BBC World Service, 29 June 2003, Part 1: http://electronicIntifada.net/v2/article1665.shtml. Part 2 of the transcript is at http://electronicIntifada.net/v2/article1667.shtml. (1) Mordecai Vanunu - caught by a Honey Trap (2) Mossad posing as "Palestinian Terrorists"; and a special flight to Tehran of Israeli air-force pilots disguised as civilians. (3) Gordon Thomas, writer of political thrillers - a disinformation agent? (4) Israeli Recruiter of Convicted Spy Pollard Reemerged on American Soil (5) Robert Fisk on Vanunu's importance (6) Gordon Thomas discloses Mossad's role in the "Monica Lewinsky" scandal (7) Daniel Halper: Israelis tried to blackmail Bill Clinton with Lewinsky tapes to force spy release (1) Mordecai Vanunu - caught by a Honey Trap Mordecai Vanunu was lured by a "honey trap", after which he was jailed (in Israel) for 18 years (11 solitary); and he never even got the honey. Ari Ben-Menashe, Profits of War: The Sensational Story of the World-Wide Arms Conspiracy, Allen & Unwin, Sydney 1992. {p. 200} ... My only experience with it was the so-called "Vanunu affair" in 1986. EXTRACT ONLY - CONTINUE AT SOURCE http://mailstar.net/vanunu.html ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- COMMENT Thought this article was cool. Only had a quick skim of it. Article demonstrates why independent whistleblower publishers such as WikiLeaks are important. After Vanunu's experience, potential whistleblowers would be crazy to attempt leak vital data to untrustworthy (and treacherous) corporate media, or to untested publishers. Is anybody else appalled that the Australian daily newspapers and intelligence authorities basically condemned a whistleblower to Mossad kidnapping, 18 years prison and 11 years of solitary confinement (ie torture)? Note also, Australian authorities handed over those young Australians who were busted for drugs in some country they got executed in, eventually. Bali Nine in Indonesia. Bali Nine: Australian Federal Police unapologetic for tip-off that led to Chan and Sukumaran executions By political reporters Jane Norman and Anna Henderson Updated 4 May 2015, 8:32pm Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin says it is possible future investigations could result in an Australian facing the death penalty overseas, even though the AFP's guidelines have been strengthened since the arrest of the Bali Nine drug smugglers. [ ... ] Commissioner Colvin defended the AFP's decision to inform Indonesian authorities about the drug syndicate, saying the AFP did not have enough evidence to arrest the Australians before they left for Indonesia. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-04/afp-says-more-australians-could-face-death-penalty-over-drugs/6442084 Australian law enforcement authorities have as good as killed those kids themselves, in their haste to notify the Indonesians. The distinctly unAustralian attitude of Australian law enforcement, intelligence services, and politicians -- all public servants -- probably also explains, to some extent, why the Australian authorities have not challenged (let alone publicly and vigorously challenged) the political persecution of award-winning Austrlian journalist, whistleblower publisher, Julian Assange. It is the inaction (and, really, negligence) of  these Australian authorities that has enabled the 5-year British political persecution and detention of Julian Assange, who is obviously targeted for extradition and 'live burial' (ie. decades long incarceration, at a minimum) in the exposed criminal state, otherwise known as:  United States of America. Australians should be outraged that the politicians and sundry other public servants, that are appointed by Australians to serve Australian interests, do not serve the interests of all Australians, of democracy and of justice, first and foremost. Julian Assange Editor, WikiLeaks Justice4Assange WikiLeaks Site WikiLeaks Twitter BOOK:  The WikiLeaks Files (2015) Link | here PS ...  just reading re the 2003 Vanunu BBC documentary.  I'm not the only one describing incarceration as entombment: "He was buried alive ..." [re Vanunu] ꕤ

TRANSCRIPT - ASIO, CIA & MI6 de facto coup d'état - Whitlam Government, Australia

"US diplomatic cables published last year by WikiLeaks disclose the names of leading figures in both main parties, including a future prime minister and foreign minister, as Washington’s informants during the Whitlam years. Whitlam knew the risk he was taking. The day after his election, he ordered that his staff should not be “vetted or harassed” by the Australian security organisation, ASIO – then, as now, tied to Anglo-American intelligence." JOHN PILGER Investigative Journalist Source |  here Australian Association for Cultural Freedom Member:  John Kerr, Australia's Governor-General “an elite, invitation-only group … exposed in Congress as being founded, funded and generally run by the CIA” [ Jonathan Kwitny - WSJ ] Theodore Shackley notorious head of CIA’s East Asia division Shackley:  1972 CIA coup vs Salvador Allende in Chile TELEX message, deeming Gough Whitlam 'security risk' to Australia “Our man Kerr” - ie CIA Man BRIEFS  - Defence Signals Directorate, Australia’s NSA about ...  “security crisis” ... Invoking archaic vice-regal “reserve powers” Kerr sacked the democratically elected prime minister SOURCE John Pilger Investigation | coup against Whitlam Book:  A Secret Country (Vintage) Documentary film:  Other People’s Wars VIEW ON  http://www.johnpilger.com/ TRANSCRIPT [for quotation purposes, confirm audio] ASIO, CIA & MI6 de facto coup d'état Whitlam Government Australia VIDEO Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxVVWfRPiA Duration: 9:59 NARRATOR The coup against Gough Whitlam's Labour government in Australia 1972 (sic) exposes a wide variety of dirty tricks used by intelligence agencies to undermine democracy. GOUGH WHITLAM We will not yield to blackmail. We will not be panicked. We will not turn over the government of this country to vested interests, pressure groups and newspaper proprietors, whose tactics would destroy the standards and traditions of parliamentary government. SCREEN TEXT "The CIA's aim in Australia was to get rid of a government they did not like and that was not co-operative ... It's a Chile, but in a much more sophisticated and subtle form." - Victor Marchetti, ex-CIA officer NARRATOR In Australia 1972, a Labor government was elected for the first time in 23 years. It would be brought down in a de facto coup d'état, conducted by the CIA in liaison with Britain's MI6 and, most shockingly, Australia's own intelligence services. Since assuming power in Australia, Whitlam's labour government had enacted series of reforms. These included: raises in wages, pensions, and unemployment benefits, free national healthcare, equal pay for women, the abolishment of tuition fees, new services for Aboriginal peoples, and the replacement of 'God Save the Queen' with Australia's own national anthem. Most disturbing to Washington, however, was the withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam, the support of Palestinian rights, and the proposal of an Indian Ocean zone of peace. Worst of all, Whitlam hinted that he might shut down a number of American military bases, including Pine Gap. When CIA Director William Colby petitioned his counterpart at MI6, Sir Maurice Oldfield, for help, he stressed that Australia was traditionally Britain’s domain and that if Pine Gap were closed, the alliance would be blinded strategically. Unbeknownst to Australia's new Prime Minister, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had not only been working closely with the CIA, they had been illegally passing on dossiers, concerning every member of the Labor Party, as well as union leaders, peace activists, and other Australian citizens. A slush fund was set up to provide money to both opposition parties, via the Nugan Hand Bank, a CIA front company. [Cut to footage of Malcolm Fraser, Liberal Party] This was followed up by a promise to the main opposition Liberal Party of unlimited funds. CBS NEWS CLIP - SEPT 22, 1982 ANNOUNCER [American Accent] In recent years, there have been charges from time to time that the CIA has involved itself in illegal activities. Some of the most bizarre to date involve a bank in Australia known as 'Nugan Hand,' and tonight Gary Shepherd has a report. [2:57] GARY SHEPHERD [American Accent] When the Nugan Hand Bank of Sydney, Australia, collapsed in 1980, it appeared at first glance to be just another bank failure. Cut to EXHUMATION at cemetery Burial marker reads: In Loving Memory of FRANCIS JOHN NUGAN But after Australian authorities began taking a closer look, they discovered a tangled web of intrigue, with all the elements of a best-selling spy novel: a mysterious death, the body later dug up from its grave, illegal currency transactions, big time drug operations and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). NEIL EVANS FORMER BANK EXECUTIVE [Australian accent] We were to become the paymasters of the CIA around the world. In other words, we were putting ourselves in a position to disburse funds for the CIA to whoever they were directed. ANNOUNCER Former bank executive Neil Evans, given immunity from prosecution agreed to talk about the Nugan Hand operation on Australian television. From his account and others, the Bank had its genesis during the Vietnam War. Four of the original stockholders were Americans who listed their addresses as: Air America, Army Post Office (APO), San Francisco, [Ca.]. Air America was the CIA airline in Indochina, hauling men and supplies on clandestine missions and, according to former CIA agents, even drugs out of the so-called Golden Triangle where the borders of Burma, Laos, and Thailand, converge. Nugan Hand sent Neil Evans to the Thai city of Chang Mai, the commercial centre of the drug trade. He claims the CIA made millions and used the money to advance its secret projects. NEIL EVANS FEB 1981 The idea was that the money would be deposited by the Nugan Hand Bank by the CIA through various channels and, also, that the Nugan Hand Bank would be the repository for funds coming in from various CIA enterprises, namely, drugs in Thailand --marijuana in particular -- and that the Nugan Hand Bank would then be responsible for re-routing that money to an account in America with the New York Bank. ANNOUNCER Nugan Hand was not your ordinary bank: there were secret numbered accounts and hardly any of its top people were bankers. Many were American civilians and former high-ranking military officers with ties to US intelligence. When they found the body of Australian businessman, Frank Nugan, the Bank's chairman (shot to death a few months before the Bank went under), they discovered in his pocket, the business card of this man: William Colby, former Director of the CIA. Nugan's partner was Michael Hand, an American Green Beret, who served two tours in Vietnam. One of them for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He disappeared a short while after the bank collapsed and is now believed to be dead. Australian newspapers reported a connection between Nugan Hand and the US Navy's super-secret intelligence unit, known as Taskforce 157. Among it's top agents, CIA man, Edwin Wilson (now under indictment for selling arms and explosives to Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi), and a man named Patry Loomis has also been implicated. He was the apparent CIA-Nugan Hand go-between. It was Lumis who helped Wilson recruit a team of Green Berets to train terrorists in Libya. GARY SHEPHERD CBS News, Los Angeles The Nugan Hand affair has caused an uproar in Australia, where authorities are trying to find out what involvement the bank might have had in the 1975 downfall of the labour party government. Meanwhile, investigators on three continents are attempting to trace $50-million missing from the accounts of depositors, including many Americans. Here in this country, the CIA denies any involvement with drug operations in Indochina, the Nugan Hand Bank itself, or the deaths of the two men who ran it. Gary Shepherd, CBS News, Los Angeles. NARRATOR In addition to the slush fund, the CIA created a series of forged documents implicating high ranking members of the Labor Party in a succession of scandals. No hard evidence was ever produced to substantiate the allegations, but a complicit Australian media, spear-headed by a young Rupert Murdoch, fanned the flames of discontent. AUSTRALIAN INTERVIEWER/REPORTER Do you think the newspaper would have any political orientation like The Sun and its predecessor, The Daily Herald? RUPERT MURDOCH Receding hairline prominent T-shaped furrow on forehead - furrow commencing between the eyes prominent dark eyebrows weak jawline jowls narrow upper lip oversized lower lip left-hand side hair part RUPERT MURDOCH [Shaking head] No, no fixed orientation, in the sense that it would be allied to any party. Certainly not. It would be quite independent. NARRATOR One of the most damaging of the forgeries was a report indicating that Labor ministers had received kick-backs during the so-called 'loans affair.' In 1981, a CIA contract agent, named Joseph Flynn, admitted that he had forged these documents at the behest at Michael Hand, co-founder of the CIA's Nugan Hand Bank. As the contrived scandals escalated, a state of emergency was declared. Invoking the authority of the British crown, Attorney-General John Kerr dismissed Whitlam as Prime Minister [Silent Footage of Whitlam] [Cut to American Actor] Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen', Sex Pistols: God Save the Queen The fascist regime It made you a moron Potential H-Bomb God Save the Queen She ain't no human being There is no future And England's screamin' ... SCREEN TEXT One American intelligence officer, Christopher Boyce, became so outraged at the CIA's actions in Australia that he began passing on secret documents to the Soviets. [Cut to Christopher Boyce at hearing] SCREEN TEXT In 2006, the BBC aired a documentary entitled "The Plot Against Harold Wilson". It revealed that a similar campaign of dirty tricks was used against the British Labour government of Harold Wilson. [Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen', Sex Pistols] SCREEN TEXT The campaign was carried out by the CIA in liaison with Britain's MI5 and the South African security service, BOSS. [Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen, Sex Pistols] Cut to: 'Welcome to News International'   [Vertical Venetian signage opens exposing ...] The Sun We Love It News of the World Big On Sundays SCREEN TEXT Though Wilson was a moderate, he was the object of a relentless smear campaign in the British press in which he was painted as a soviet agent. [Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen', Sex Pistols] SCREEN TEXT At one point, a coup was contemplated. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India and a member of the Royal Family, was to head up the new government. Daily Mirror press baron Lord Cecil King planned "an emergency government" that would include leading conservative politicians and prominent businessmen. [Soundtrack 'God Save the Queen', Sex Pistols] SCREEN TEXT Suffering from early onset Alzheimer's, Wilson resigned in 1976. Margaret Thatcher was elected three years later. The British-American coup that ended Australian independence John Pilger EXTRACT In 1975 prime minister Gough Whitlam, who has died this week, dared to try to assert his country’s autonomy. The CIA and MI6 made sure he paid the price Across the media and political establishment in Australia, a silence has descended on the memory of the great, reforming prime minister Gough Whitlam. His achievements are recognised, if grudgingly, his mistakes noted in false sorrow. But a critical reason for his extraordinary political demise will, they hope, be buried with him. Australia briefly became an independent state during the Whitlam years, 1972-75. An American commentator wrote that no country had “reversed its posture in international affairs so totally without going through a domestic revolution”. Whitlam ended his nation’s colonial servility. He abolished royal patronage, moved Australia towards the Non-Aligned Movement, supported “zones of peace” and opposed nuclear weapons testing. Although not regarded as on the left of the Labor party, Whitlam was a maverick social democrat of principle, pride and propriety. He believed that a foreign power should not control his country’s resources and dictate its economic and foreign policies. He proposed to “buy back the farm”. In drafting the first Aboriginal lands rights legislation, his government raised the ghost of the greatest land grab in human history, Britain’s colonisation of Australia, and the question of who owned the island-continent’s vast natural wealth. [ ...] MORE AT SOURCE http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/23/gough-whitlam-1975-coup-ended-australian-independence ꕤ

Assange - June 2013 - Video & Lateline Transcript

Video Source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyNdtXBMhHM  SOURCE http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3778712.htm Assange Lateline Transcript Australian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast: 10/06/2013 Reporter: Emma Alberici EXTRACTS ONLY Transcript [ ... ] Julian Assange, welcome to Lateline. JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: Thank you. EMMA ALBERICI: We'll get to your political ambitions shortly. Let's begin though with Bradley Manning and the charge that he aided the enemy. When you published the documents he gave you, didn't it occur to you that you might be compromising American and allied military operations in the release of that information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, there's been a lot of speculation and rumours about that by the yellow press. But the fact is not even the Pentagon alleges that a single person came to harm as a result of any of our publications anywhere in the world, and in fact, no other government agency does either. It is not a matter in this case. That's one of the disturbing aspects about the Bradley Manning case, is that they have forbidden the defence to table any evidence whatsoever that no-one came to harm and the prosecution is not going to table any evidence - because there isn't any - that anyone did come to harm. EMMA ALBERICI: We've learnt that a Navy SEAL found WikiLeaks documents at the Pakistan compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. Presumably you knew it was possible, even probable, that those documents would be read by al-Qaeda, sensitive documents you were releasing. JULIAN ASSANGE: Well I am sure al-Qaeda reads the New York Times. He mentioned that he read Bob Woodward books. He probably has People, maybe even Who Magazine, possibly even Dr Seuss laying around his compound. So what? There's no allegation that al-Qaeda was in any way aided by the publications that we published. Despite the fact, despite the fact that Bradley Manning has been charged with aiding the enemy, a capital offence, the judge in this case has said that the prosecution does not need to show that al-Qaeda was aided in any way whatsoever and the prosecution doesn't allege that al-Qaeda was. All they intend to show is that al-Qaeda had our publications just like everyone else in the world. EMMA ALBERICI: How can you be 100 per cent certain that information you've released hasn't contributed to at the very least an atmosphere of mistrust between the US and others? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, look, the United States' behaviour is what has led to an atmosphere of distrust. People should not trust the United States military industrial complex. Of course they shouldn't. We've seen abuse after abuse. In fact [WikiLeaks] revealed that the United States military, the Pentagon has been involved in the killing, directly or indirectly, according to its own records, of 129,000 people. Now that wasn't simply in aggregate in Iraq or in aggregate in Afghanistan. That was the individual death records and their locations and what military units were involved in those two countries. That's what we documented. EMMA ALBERICI: So it doesn't matter to you if you did contribute to a sense of acrimony between the US and other countries? JULIAN ASSANGE: It does matter; in fact it's very important that the level of trust is proportionate to the level of behaviour. So it's been an extremely important thing that - for example, that Australians do not trust speculative military adventures in Central Asia. Of course it is. EMMA ALBERICI: One of the key charges levelled against you is that you released that massive volume of material with scant regard for the consequences. Certainly Julia Gillard has said that there was no moral purpose to what you were doing. JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, you know, the Senate has twice demanded that Julia Gillard apologise for her statements. Twice they have passed that resolution. Julia Gillard's libellous statements are made outside of Parliament. She's only saved by the statute of limitations. Have resulted in a banking blockade against an Australian publisher. They've also resulted in the Bank of America refusing to send a payment to WikiLeaks, the Australian political organisation. Julia Gillard has a lot to be responsible for in terms of her libellous comments. If we go to our publications - well not even NATO in Kabul, as it said to CNN, could find a single person in need of protection. So this is all yellow press hype. The Government doesn't allege it. NATO has even looked into the speculative component and says that there's nothing. EMMA ALBERICI: You've been in the Ecuadorian embassy for a year now. How much longer do you expect to be there? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well it's an interesting question. The situation is very interesting. But, you know, I'm quite optimistic. The support for WikiLeaks as an organisation increases. [...] And I think the lies and fictions of Bob Carr, for example, are now well and truly over. Even his office is now speaking about the grand jury in the United States. We've seen in the Bradley Manning trial this week, the intent and focus of the United States Government to go after [WikiLeaks]. And they're aware that this organisation and people like it and our values are forming a new body politic and people like Edward Snowden are part of that phenomena. EMMA ALBERICI: We will discuss Edward Snowden, but before that I wanted to ask you how much contact you're having with the Australian High Commission there in London. JULIAN ASSANGE: Yeah, so that's actually - it's remarkable to look at the statements made by the Foreign Minister, but other Australians who have been in difficult situations will tell you it's all exactly the same. So, I have not met anyone from any consulate, any Australian Government official since 2010, since I was in prison. In the time that I've been in this embassy here - we laugh about it, that once a month, there will be a tick-the-box call to the consul here saying, "Well, how's Mr Assange?" And, well, my response is, "Well, what's your offer?" The last time that they offered some medical assistance to the Ecuadorian Government - the only concrete offer that they ever put on the table - the Ecuadorian consul went to meet with the Australian consul, completely utterly wasted his time. The result of that was, "Well, here you are, here's a list of doctors in London." A list of doctors that the Australian Government is going to pay for? "No." Nothing, nothing at all. Just a list of doctors that I should never, ever go to, apparently. Because, in fact, all that the so-called consular support is doing here is it's simply collecting political intelligence for Bob Carr. There's an Australian member - there's a DFAT member sitting in on the Bradley Manning case. There has been for about six months, secretly sitting there, recording notes. Are those notes passed on to our legal team? Absolutely not. They produce briefing notes for Bob Carr so he can set up his press lines. So actually, so-called consular support for me and for many other Australians in similar situations, what it's actually about is collecting political intelligence for the minister to set up their press lines, so it's really a type of corruption where money that should be spent on actual consular support is simply spent on producing press releases for the Foreign Minister to make it look like he gives a damn about Australians. As we know, he doesn't give a damn about Australians at all. Since the 1970s he's been in bed with the US. Even as a union leader he was having multiple meetings with the US embassy. EMMA ALBERICI: I know you say that the last real contact you had was 2010. What advice have they given you about your predicament? JULIAN ASSANGE: They have given no advice, nothing at all. No advice, no information, nothing whatsoever. Not me, not to my lawyers, nothing. You see these absurd claims by Bob Carr saying that there's been, I don't know, 87 consular contacts. They include just calling, just this tick-a-box call procedure. No information whatsoever. We asked, "Can the Australian consul give me a passport?," for example. "No." The absurd response is, "Well just come down to the Australian consulate." It's a joke. I mean, they insult the Ecuadorians with this sort of behaviour. They insult me. They insult all of Australia with this sort of behaviour. EMMA ALBERICI: And is that the basis for your pitch for election to the Australian Senate? JULIAN ASSANGE: [...] You know, we went toe-to-toe with the Pentagon, we've gone toe-to-toe with many other corrupt states. Canberra is a corrupt little mini-state. We all know that. There's a corruption of purpose. We elect people, we send them to Canberra to represent Australians, to represent Australians to the bureaucracy, to hold the bureaucracy to account, to represent Australian interests overseas. And yet we have people like Bob Carr and Julia Gillard representing mining industries, representing Macquarie Bank, representing their long-lost American pals. That is not acceptable. EMMA ALBERICI: Well how do you expect to represent the people of Victoria when you're locked up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and you're wanted in Sweden on sexual assault allegations? JULIAN ASSANGE: Well, you mention these in an inflammatory way. People should go to Justice4Assange.com and they can read all about your so-called allegations where even the women concerned say they had absolutely no intention to file any such formal allegations. This is a matter that has been taken by the Swedish state. That is admitted in the Supreme Court here on paper, it's admitted in the High Court here. This is matter taken by the Swedish state. So people should have a look at Justice4Assange.com. They can also look at the excellent Four Corners investigation into that entire episode.  EXTRACTS ONLY SOURCE http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3778712.htm Julian Assange Australian Journalist FAQ & Support https://justice4assange.com/ COMMENT The above is only extracts that I find interesting.  The entire transcript is available at the link provided. It's hard to say who's more despicable of the Australian political parties. Going by the video on ASIO, CIA, MI6 and Nugan Hand Bank, quietly fraternising with the Americans is standard in Australian politics.  One imagines the practice also continues with Australian intelligence, who appear to be the unelected government of the country (judging by the 1970s unseating of the democratically elected Whitlam government).  Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Australia is still run by the CIA ... which would explain a lot when it comes to the zero assistance Assange has had.  Let's face it, it's not likely the CIA deposed of an Australian Prime Minister in the 1970s, and just quietly went home afterwards. So, what does that say about Australia's nationhood, freedom, and democracy?  For those that haven't seen the video | here or below: ASIO, CIA & MI6 de facto coup d'état Whitlam Government Australia Source:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxVVWfRPiA   ꕤ

Video - ASIO, CIA & MI6 | de facto coup d'état - Whitlam government Australia

ASIO, CIA & MI6 de facto coup d'état Whitlam Government Australia Source:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kxVVWfRPiA ---------------------- ꕤ ---------------------- "Most disturbing to Washington was the withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam, the support of Palestinian rights, and the proposal of an Indian Ocean zone of peace.  Worst of all, Whitlam hinted that he might shut down a number of American military bases, including Pine Gap. When CIA Director William Colby petitioned his counterpart at MI6, Sir Maurice Oldfield, for help, he stressed that Australia was traditionally Britain’s domain and that if Pine Gap were closed, the alliance would be blinded strategically. Unbeknownst to Australia's new Prime Minister, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) had not only been working closely with the CIA, they had been illegally passing on dossiers, concerning every member of the Labor Party, as well as union leaders, peace activists, and other Australian citizens. A slush fund was set up to provide money to both opposition parties, via the Nugan Hand Bank, a CIA front company. This was followed up by a promise to the main opposition Liberal Party of unlimited funds ..." ꕤ

Australia - In bed with foreign interests?

* AUSTRALIA * National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014 - NEW HACKING POWERS 4 ASIO - http://goo.gl/KICslg - #Brandis #AUSPOL "ASIO would also be able to add, copy, delete or alter data on the third party computer or communication in transit" #Auspol - Nat Security Amendment Legislation = "creating a category of 'Special Intell Ops', disclosure of which could risk prosecution." >> sounds like the fortification of a FASCIST STATE The Israel Allies Caucus is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives made up of members who (cont) http://tl.gd/n_1satpkc  #TonyAbbott & the creation of Australian Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus>>> http://goo.gl/rMLpVP  >> Hmmm 'occupied territory' #auspol #Gaza " Israel is the only truly democratic nation in the Middle East" Fred Nile (Australia) ... Selective democracy? Nile's a lunatic. KNESSET CHRISTIAN ALLIES CAUCUS - Nile Reverend The Hon Fred - http://goo.gl/TaJ8Ai  - 25/06/14 - #Auspol - So where's Neo-Pagan Caucus? Stumbled on these things in my travels.  On the one hand, there is this widening of state control and surveillance. On the other hand, there is the state in bed with foreign interests. That's how I see it. The bit about Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East is straight out of a US Zionist NGO's public persuasion campaign.   So the politicians/government cosy up to these pro-Israel 'interest groups' and re-write Middle-Eastern history after the September election? Sure looks like that to me. Denying that Palestine is occupied is denying the truth.

AUSTRALIAN 'SUPER-INJUNCTION'

WikiLeaks and the courts: keep the debate open By Carla Silbert Posted about 7 hours ago The ability of state institutions to shield their actions from public scrutiny is scandalous, and WikiLeaks' latest exposé adds a new and disturbing dimension to this issue, writes Carla Silbert. Australians have found themselves the beneficiaries of WikiLeaks' latest exposé - the publication of a Victorian Supreme Court suppression order so broad in scope that even the order itself is suppressed. ... It comes as little surprise that this "super-injunction" - an order that suppresses not just information such as the identity of a witness from publication, but the contents of the order itself - has come from Victoria, the state notorious as the "gag order capital" of Australia. ... When the reasons behind a court's actions remain secret, there can't be any scrutiny of those actions. That can never be in the public interest. In an era when the privacy of Australians is being increasingly compromised by the introduction of powers such as those currently being considered by Parliament to enable ASIO and ASIS to spy on private citizens in the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill, the ability of state institutions to shield their actions from public scrutiny is all the more scandalous. The WikiLeaks release has added a new, and troubling, dimension to this. Not only does the court have the power to keep us both ignorant and unaware of information of national concern, but if the cat gets let out of the bag and the documents are leaked as they have been here, we immediately find our freedom of speech restricted by threats of prosecution if we dare discuss it. Such discussions are vital to our ability to challenge the reasons why this information was withheld from us in the first place. Without these discussions, those doing the withholding can't be held to account. Extracts SOURCE - ABC - here.

So you elect a government and then the government (along with unelected intelligence agencies who presumably work for the public) do whatever they like; and then they go running to court to use the excuse of 'national security' to erode civil liberties and to fetter freedom of press, while they're scrambling to cover up some international scandal that involves government.

Having shut down scrutiny and debate by way of secret court order, the government's deftly sidestepped transparency and accountability and has, ultimately, undermined notions of democratic government.

How can this possibly be right?

Edward Snoweden's statement - RESET THE NET

Snowden's Statement  RESET THE NET - here

See also -  https://www.resetthenet.org/

RESET THE NET

See also - https://www.resetthenet.org/

AUSTRALIA - Abbott government assault on press freedom

The Guardian Article Tony Abbott: media should not publish stories that 'endanger national security' Prime minister warns journalists to show 'sense of responsibility' as Coalition tries to push through tougher security laws Daniel Hurst and Paul Farrell theguardian.com, Thursday 17 July 2014 16.50 AEST ... lawyers warned that planned legislation means journalists could face jail for reporting disclosures about certain spy operations. ...National security legislation presented to the Senate on Thursday would expand the powers of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) and create a new offence punishable by five years in jail for “any person” who disclosed information relating to “special intelligence operations”. The person would be liable for a 10-year term if the disclosure would “endanger the health or safety of any person or prejudice the effective conduct of a special intelligence operation”. Special intelligence operations are a new type of covert operation in which intelligence officers receive immunity from liability or prosecution where they may need to engage in conduct that would be otherwise unlawful. Such operations would be approved by the Asio director general or deputy director general.  [So these are infiltration operations?] ...Barns, who is also spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance and has worked for WikiLeaks, said it was “an unprecedented clause which would capture the likes of Wikileaks, the Guardian, the New York Times, and any other media organisation that reports on such material”. [Or any other individual.] The attorney general, George Brandis, rejected suggestions the government was targeting journalists and told Sky News it was not the purpose of the bill to place constraints on freedom of discussion. [SURE] Abbott, when asked about the possibility of journalists facing prosecution, said: “I think it's important that we get the balance right. “News that endangers the security of our country frankly shouldn't be fit to print and I'd ask for a sense of responsibility, a sense of national interest as well as simply of commercial interest, a sense of the long-term best interests of the country as well as the short-term best interests of creating sensation to be present right across our country including in the media.” [WTF is a 'sensation'?] The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, reacted cautiously to the reports about the potential reach of the laws. “There are suggestions that the attorney general’s amendments to national security legislation could criminalise some reporting by journalists,” Dreyfus said in a statement. “Senator Brandis has indicated that criminalising reporting of leaked national security information is not his intention. If Senator Brandis's amendments would criminalise reporting by journalists who receive intelligence information, the government will need to make changes to remove that consequence.” [Doesn't sound like Abbott will.] The Liberal senator Cory Bernardi told the National Press Club the security reforms were a “work in progress” and he believed Brandis was “very receptive to concerns of those who are libertarians, or conservative libertarians, and that don't want to see an all-pervasive government”. [SURE] “Let's go back to first principles. One, I think the Australian public and right around the world are right to be suspicious of government and their snooping ability, if I can put it like that,” Bernardi said. “Look at what's happened in Germany, with the NSA in America, across Europe there's been a lot of discussion in this area.  [What, Germany got spied on by the US?  And embarrassed getting caught out?  Oh, wait a minute:  Germany had a double-agent answering to the US and NSA had the Snowden leak.  But why put that on the press.  It's their internal problems and the press should have every right to disclose if the government and its agencies get caught with their pants down.] “Secondly, I think we're right to advocate for freedom of the press. We need to make sure the press are free to report within the constraints of what is in, I'd say, the national interest. [With constraints is not free to report.  One could argue it is not within the scope of  national interests of a democracy to have a gagged press.] “We all know that there are things the press don't report because of security concerns. We have to be reliant on that. People have gone to jail to protect their sources before in the press.” [Oh, really?  Then why not maintain the status quo?] Bernardi said national security was a critical issue and people had the right to go about their business feeling safe from clear threats, but we “just have to make sure we don't overstep the mark”.  [What business is this - covert unlawful business in aid of 'national security' and commerce, by the look of the above?  What is this, a criminal totalitarian regime?] ... ... set to face parliamentary debate after the winter recess. ... offences applied to “disclosures by any person, including participants in an SIO [special intelligence operation], other persons to whom information about an SIO has been communicated in an official capacity, and persons who are the recipients of an unauthorised disclosure of information, should they engage in any subsequent disclosure”. ...offences would not prevent a person from disclosing information to the inspector general of intelligence and security, an oversight agency. [LOL] ...The Greens senator Scott Ludlam, who raised concerns about the potential prosecution of journalists, criticised Labor for not supporting his motions to send the bill to the legal and constitutional affairs legislation committee and seek advice from the independent national security legislation monitor. [Labor are the Liberal's 'yes' men these days.] Ludlam said the government's referral to the joint committee on intelligence and security was inadequate scrutiny because the bill would be “assessed by the very same joint committee that wrote the report in the first place”. The Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm said he would oppose most of the proposals outlined in the security bill because the case for additional powers had not been made. “We do not support increasing intrusion by security agencies and other government bodies,” Leyonhjelm said. “Asio already has enough powers to do its job properly. If it feels it needs additional powers, we believe it reflects poorly on it.” Brandis told parliament the government's priority was to keep Australia safe but it was proceeding in a “measured and considered way”. [No, it's proceeding in a sneaky & autocratic way.] In a broader commentary about his philosophical approach, he told the ABC he had a “very strong predisposition against big government” and would ensure adequate safeguards as the government pursued national security laws.  [SAY 'NO' to totalitarian Liberal government.] The Guardian - here.

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COMMENT

So the Abbott government is planning on violating the freedom of the press (which underpins the democratic system) -- in the guise of 'national security' -- but will not submit the Liberals proposed legislation to be assessed by the legal and constitutional affairs committee?  Why?  What are they hiding?

Get this, Abbott states:

as well as simply of commercial interest

So is he saying his laws -- his breach of civil liberties and press freedoms -- are about COMMERCIAL INTERESTS?

It appears that the Liberal government wants to legislate to allow government to do whatever it wants to do without being held accountable in any way. And the Labor party is standing by allowing this to happen, because they are Liberal party 'yes' men.

Australian Suicide Bombers

Sydney Morning Herald

First Australian suicide bomber in Iraq reportedly kills three people in Baghdad

Date  July 18, 2014 - 7:50AM

David Wroe

National security correspondent

The first Australian suicide bomber in Iraq reportedly killed three people in the heart of Baghdad on Thursday, raising the involvement of local jihadists in the spiralling violence to a chilling new level.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) announced on an affiliated Twitter feed overnight that a man called Abu Bakr al-Australi had detonated an explosives vest near a Shiite mosque in a market near the middle of the Iraqi capital. More than 90 people were also injured in the blast.

ISIL did not give the man's real name, but most Australian jihadists use "al-Australi" in their nom de guerre, and such official reports by ISIL are usually accurate.

Iraqi forces are still battling the insurgency of ISIL to the north of Baghdad, where ISIL's recent lightning advance has hit a wall. But it has long been feared that ISIL would increasingly take the fight into the capital by sending in suicide bombers.

Notorious Sydney jihadist Mohamed Elomar welcomed the news on his own Twitter account, writing "may Allah accept him".

ASIO believes that about 150 Australians are involved with extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, with about 60 fighting in the region at the moment.

ASIO boss David Irvine on Wednesday expressed fresh concerns about the "tens" of fighters who have already returned home and may pose a terrorism threat.

In September, a man believed to be Australian, going by the name Abu Asma al Australi,  blew himself up in an attack on an army checkpoint in north-eastern Syria, but this latest bombing would be the first in Iraq, into which some Australians are known to have drifted in recent weeks.

Andrew Zammit, a researcher at Monash University's Global Terrorism Research Centre, said the latest report underscored the depth of the problem Australia was facing.

"In the past year we've seen two Australian suicide bombers in Syria and Iraq, reports of Australian jihadists murdering captives, and a flow of fighters that doesn't appear to have slowed down. This is a problem we'll be facing for a while."

SOURCE - Sydney Morning Herald - here.

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COMMENT

So it's not a straight out gun fight somewhere overseas.

Now I can see how this could become a problem.

What I don't understand is why there isn't a simple solution when there can be -- ie if people want to independently commit to fighting in wars overseas, fine.  But legislate that there's no returning.

Doesn't that make more sense than surveillance of an entire country, and isn't that a fair solution for everybody?

It's a fair choice:  in or out? 

Julian Assange replies to Aussie Attorney-General George Brandis

Julian Assange response to Aust. Attorney-General George Brandis

WikiLeaks · @wikileaks

17th Jul 2014 from TwitLonger

Assange responds to Australian AG Brandis call to "man up" #auspol #ozpol

---

How nice it is to be an Australian in trouble overseas and have the Australian Attorney General attempt to publicly undermine your legal situation. Just weeks ago, US Secretary of State John Kerry faced serious criticism for saying the same thing—that Edward Snowden should "man up" and face decades of imprisonment in the US. Anytime AG Brandis would like to take my place in a US prison, I'm sure the Australian public would be delighted. Until then, AG Brandis should stop plagiarising sexist claptrap and start doing his job: defending the legal rights of all Australians. Finally, as someone who has a professional appreciation for courage, let me remind AG Brandis that that courage is is not the sole preserve of men. For instance, WikiLeaks' female staff members, who squared off with a super power over our work and brought Edward Snowden to safety during the largest intelligence man-hunt the world has ever seen, clearly have more genuine courage in their little toes than exists in the entire Abbott cabinet.

SOURCE - here.

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COMMENT

Nice one, Julian. LOL

Brandis is a Liberal Party Attorney-General, whose career first began in Queensland.

He's not all bad ... he's a supporter of free speech & the right to be a bigot. 

But all this spy stuff is worrying:

Brandis supported and approved a December 2013 ASIO raid on Bernard Collaery’s Canberra office (a legal representative for East Timor), where all documents and computers were seized by the government, and which Brandis claimed was for national security interests.  

Shortly after the raid, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the Australian government was not permitted to use or view any of the raid evidence. 

Brandis claimed the ICJ ruling was a good outcome for the government.

The Timor Gap case involved allegations of ASIS spying during commercial negotiations with the East Timorese over the $40 billion oil and gas reserves of the contested Greater Sunrise fields within the East Timorese exclusive economic zone.

Additionally Brandis approved the ASIO raid and passport cancelation of a former Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) agent, who was a director of technical operations at ASIS and the whistle-blower on the allegations of commercial spying done by Australia on East Timor, which consequently prevented the unnamed former agent from testifying at the ICJ in the Netherlands.

 [wikipedia]

 [ASIS - Aussie intelligence agency]

That commercial spying stuff sounds really unethical.

 

If it involves billions in oil and gas, what's the bet the US were involved?

The women at Wikileaks must be pretty tough ... wouldn't take much for me to give up.  LOL.

 

 

AUSSIES - SAY HELLO TO NSA & GOODBYE TO CIVIL LIBERTIES

George Brandis set to require internet, phone companies hold customer data for two years

Date     July 15, 2014 - 3:17PM

Attorney-General George Brandis has signalled the government could move to introduce laws forcing internet and phone companies to keep customers records for up to two years.

But the so-called data retention laws will not be part of legislation the government is planning to introduce on Wednesday that will grant new surveillance powers to Australia's spy agencies.

Under those changes, ASIO and other intelligence agencies would be able to hack into a third party's computer to access a target computer and infiltrate entire computer networks on a single warrant.

The government is planning further security reforms later this year that will, in part, seek to address concerns about the threat posed by up to 150 Australians who are currently involved with extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.

Senator Brandis told colleagues at Tuesday's meeting of Coalition MPs that while the first tranche of reforms contained no data retention provisions, "this is the way the west is moving". He pointed out Britain had recently introduced a data retention bill, to deal with the fact that the European Court of Justice had struck down a European data retention directive.

Most of the changes to be introduced to Parliament on Wednesday are based on a bipartisan report last year produced by the high-powered Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security.

But Senator Brandis said on Tuesday that one additional measure would be included - a new penalty for security agency officers who take information without authority.

At present it is an offence to pass that information on to a third party, but this can at times be difficult to prove.

Senator Brandis also moved to reassure colleagues in Tuesday's party room meeting that the first tranche of reforms would contain sufficient safeguards for civil liberties.

He said the first tranche of changes took into account the government's primary obligation to keep the community safe and had been approached in a "careful, thorough and considered way rather than in a hasty and reactive way".

SOURCE - SMH - here.

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COMMENT



Here we go.

In the name of national security, the Aussies are going to introduce legislation that enables them to share information with US and other agencies, copying the UK (who seem to work for the US NSA), where the UK's introduced data retention laws to bypass the European Court of Justice decision.


Is it the way the west is going -- or just the way the west wants to go?

Is there sufficient justification to encroach on civil liberties, when were are talking 150 Syrian &; Iraq patriots (presumably) doing their patriotic thing?  How is this a threat to an entire nation - of the kind that requires far-reaching incursions on civil liberties?


So the powers that be are going to band together and spy on everyone collectively, sharing information and violating their citizens' privacy and freedoms in the name of 'security'?


Sounds like some kind of worldwide totalitarian secret police thing happening.


Good luck protecting freedom of press, freedom of information or any other freedoms in the west.

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EDIT - see also:

Australian govt says data retention won't be like failed EU directive

Summary: Talking points obtained under Freedom of Information state that any mandatory data retention regime in Australia would be different to the European directive that was thrown out by the European Court of Justice.

...

Labor MP calls for data retention

In a speech to Parliament yesterday, the chair of the committee at the time of the report, Labor MP Anthony Byrne, called on the government to implement a mandatory data retention regime.

"If a government is concerned and is making the right noises about being concerned about this nation's security, it must give its agencies all of the suite of the powers that it needs to deal with the terrorist threat. And it has not done so," he said.

"I would urge the attorney-general... to bring all of the suites of the powers that the intelligence agencies have been asking for for some period of time...to the parliament at its earliest opportunity."

He said that the powers should be brought before the parliament so the public can debate the need for data retention."I don't want to see data retention debated in this chamber, and the chamber below, after an event has occurred on Australian soil."

The news comes as last week the UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced sweeping new emergency surveillance legislation that would force telecommunications companies in the country to retain customer data for up to 12 months.


SOURCE - ZDNET - here.

Go Labour!