US targets general in Iran Stuxnet attack leak
Empowering Weak & OppressedCrescent International
Sha'ban 19, 1434 2013-06-28
Daily News Analysis
America's illegal activities against other countries as well as its own citizen are being exposed as never before. To Edward Snowden's revelations about NSA's snooping on all Americans as well as citizens of other countries, must now be added the news that a four-star retired US general, James Cartwright is being investigated by the Justice Department for leaking information about the US Stuxnet virus attack on Iran in 2010.
Washington DC,
June 28, 2013, 09:43 EDT
Amid the fury surrounding Edward Snowden’s NSA snooping leaks and his escape from the US (currently holed up at Moscow airport), another story has broken out with broad implications for the way the US conducts itself. James Cartwright, a retired US general is reportedly the target of Justice Department investigation into leaking secret information about the US Stuxnet virus attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2010. The attack reportedly damaged 1,000 centrifuges in Iran.
The American channel, NBC News was the first to break the Cartwright investigation story on June 27 but other media outlets have immediately pounced on it. The story was too juicy and carried major implications especially because it involved a top general—the second highest ranking US military officer—as well as a country—Iran—that the US has targeted for more than 30 years. Cartwright had served as vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff between 2007 and 2011.
President Barack Obama is on record as saying that anyone who leaks secret information will be punished. He has been fuming against Snowden’s revelations and demanded that China and Russia hand him over. Senators and senior administration officials have denounced Snowden in vicious terms all the while trying to shift the focus from the government’s illegal activities of snooping on its own citizens to Snowden’s alleged misdemeanor.
General Cartwright’s story falls under the same category. Cyber attacks are illegal; it is essentially a declaration of war against another country. Obama has intensified this war against Iran on the false allegation that Tehran is trying to make nuclear weapons, a charge strongly denied by Iranian leadership for many years. No shred of evidence has been presented to back the allegations against Iran. Instead, the US and its surrogate, Zionist Israel, have indulged in cyber warfare that constitutes a war crime.
Why General Cartwright divulged the information is subject to speculation. At times, American officials reveal information because they do not agree with government policy. At other times, they feel the policy is counter-productive and would not achieve American objectives. Whatever the reason, the targeting of a retired senior general indicates that some in the military feel the US is conducting itself in a way that would not advance American objectives.
While Obama has presented himself as different from his predecessor, his actions have been anything but. In fact, under Obama’s presidency, illegal acts have intensified. He has authorized the killing of foreign as well as American citizens; attacks against other countries have increased and lawlessness borne of US policies has become the order of the day.
Currently on an African tour where he is touting equality and human rights, Obama would do well to practice some of it at home. The US is fast becoming a police state in which everyone is under surveillance and every individual is considered an enemy. These are sure signs of a country in decline.
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