a vague and nebulous term

"The CIA will also influence public opinion by planting stories in the media through unwitting journalists or willing ones."

-- The Gleaner

readin' on over at ol' glenn, ragin' as he does, goin' on 'bout the latest drummed up nonsense about the latest islamic "cleric" who now poses a global threat to the united states of shitm'pance.  now, i love the rant, don't get me wrong.  he manages to remain all fired up, and kudos for that!  but don't really need glenn to dig into what i'm after, the more interesting facets, shall we say, of the name Abdullah al-Faisal, who apparently has decided that he wants to be the next big thing in terror!  Did we mention that he is a Muslim cleric?

It should be obvious that we just can't have that next door to the Homeland, now can we?  No ho ho! we cannot.

Weird how all these threat-down Muslim clerics are popping up in various geo-strategic locations, near and far abroad.  shazam!

The first interesting and notable note, the organization "freedetainees.org," an ostensibly well-intended group that still manages to pop up on the first google page, but these days, who the fuck knows? but, if this is the case, what is notable is how effortlessly a putative "left," i.e. human rights, organisation happily publishes articles about Abdullah al-Faisal spat out by Jamaica's The Gleaner. The Gleaner has an interesting and long history of association with the CIA.

"... the charge that a destabilisation campaign was waged against the Manley government in 1976 is easier to substantiate. A ‘smoking gun' was found , but the weight of evidence makes it likely that the CIA was at work, in league with the JLP, the Daily Gleaner, and opposition businessmen and trade unionists, to undermine the elected government in Jamaica.

"US Senate sub-committee which had investigated the CIA's covert action in Chile, prepared a pamphlet for the Press Association of Jamaica. This unhesitatingly compared the Gleaner's role with that played in helping to overthrow the Allende regime by the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, which had consistently and scurrilously attacked Allende and his colleagues and was shown subsequently to have received CIA finance and encouragement to do so.

Today? Today, they seem to be pretty much doing the same thing:

"the Budget can be challenged for the lack of credibility of the entire government, led by the prime minister..."

been there. done that.

anyway, what is interesting in this iteration is The Gleaner's mightier than thou tone in this missive, blaming, in a ballsy hang out, the vile CIA and the UN for Jamaican woes, but cautioning Jamaicans that, oh well, there's nuthin' you can do about it, so shut the fuck up. besides, when the cia does meddle, it is only with the best of "US national security" intentions.

bear in mind, this is Jamaica's The Gleaner, telling people that the cia is there, sometimes stirrin' up the shit, like they do, and it's for the good; Caribbean laziness overcome.  just so there is no doubt, i am putting quotes on this:

"This might be necessary when a public does not take a situation affecting US national security seriously. When there is apathy or a tendency to joke away a serious problem, the CIA might stir up anger by placing anxious stories locally and internationally. We know that the Coke story has appeared in respected and widely read magazines like the Economist and most recently the Globe and Mail. The State Department has experts in communications analysis and its bureau of intelligence and research is good at putting its stories out to counter the spin of government communications departments and public-opinion sympathisers."

got that, lunk heads? you pathetic "public-opinion sympathizers"!  what dopes, you people are! coups and whatnot are strictly decisions for "Government and CIA," and that's comin' from "lefties" at the Gleaner, who used to front for the cia, maybe didn't even know it.

anyway, The Gleaner still gleaning away, and there they are to pop up the tale of Abdullah al-Faisa, ladling out the goop from "senior officers" of the police about all kinna super dooper spy shit on ol' al-Faisa, who is suddenly a super dooper threat to "US national security."  time to send in some troops.  now that gazprom will dive deep off cuba, and CNCP will set up a $6 bill cuban refining shop.  yikes!  better cover all the bases 'round those bastards.  contagion and havoc in haiti, islamic terrorists in jamaica.  it's what they do.