Reuters reports that foreign cyber-attacks have decimated internet traffic within Iran. My own Israeli source tells me that these were mounted by a joint Israeli-U.S. cyberwar operation designed to ratchet up pressure on the country in combination with the ongoing currency crisis which is rendering the rial almost worthless. This is a continuation of a joint cyber-terror campaign both countries have collaborated on going all the way back to 2006 according to the latest findings from Kaspersky Labs. That project has brought the world the wonders of Stuxnet, Flame and Duqu, something akin to the contributions of the ancient library of Alexandria, the great Arab and Greek mathematicians, and the wonders of the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. What a legacy we’re preparing for our children and grandchildren and future generations!
If you consider that the manipulation of Iran’s currency crisis itself could be a further act of deliberate U.S. financial sabotage, then you have an incredibly alarming picture of the Obama administration subverting an entire nation, its infrastructure and the lives of its citizens. The financial crisis alone should soon start killing vulnerable Iranian children and the elderly who won’t be able to purchase basic necessities of life.
Iranian officials themselves have conceded that the cyber-attacks are designed to damage systems contributing to the nuclear program and national defense:
“All of these attacks have been organized. And they have in mind the country’s nuclear, oil, and information networks.”
I’ve also noted apparent Iranian revenge attacks on major U.S. banking institutions which have brought down their websites and impeded online banking services. Where does this dangerous game of cyber-chicken end? Do we really have faith that our president knows where to place these limits? The same guy who’s murdered teenage American citizens with drone assaults? And killed 2,000 Muslims all told through such anti-terror operations?
This goes beyond Iran. Obama’s policies, whether intentional or not, seem designed to make an enemy of much of the Muslim world. And for what?
Our president also forgets that two can play this game. Iran just announced it had developed a drone with a 2,000-km range, more than enough to reach Israel. It is beefing up its own cyber-terror capabilities in an attempt to match those of Israel and the U.S. It may be seeking to open new terror fronts against Israel via the Sinai. This threatens to take us back to the Cold War, in which each side raced to develop ever more frightening and destructive weapons systems to outdo the other. Who does this benefit? Sure as hell not the average Joe on either side.
You know who it will benefit? The defense contractors. They’re already lining up at the trough slobbering at the prospect of all those R&D billions flooding into the military marketplace. They in turn will funnel millions back into the coffers of the Democrats who budgeted this funding. It’s ugly, a vicious circle impossible to break. Until there is a catastrophe. Until Israel attacks Iran and kills 50,000 or so, turning Isfahan into a gas chamber and other nuclear sites into Chernobyls (more on this study in a subsequent post). Then perhaps the conscience of the world will be moved. Perhaps.
In this possible war we can just as easily end up with 50’000 dead Israeli’s. Nobody has a clue how this one will end…
Lets be frank, if that were thought to be the case the risk wouldn’t be taken, there’d be real negotiations with real give and take.
Life is cheap when its the life of others.
That’s exactly the point: no risk has been taken. The only parties that on the surface seem anxious for a war are Netanyahu and a few other crazies, and it’s not even clear that they actually want it either. Bibi playing ‘the strong man ready to defend his nation, whilst the US holds him back’ for street cred seems much more plausible.
According to the Reuters report linked to in the blog, the claim of yesterday’s heavy foreign cyber attack on Iranian infrastructure forcing them “to limit the internet,” was made by Iranian officials. The alleged attack happened to coincide w/ the demonstrations and protests by the public against the economic situation. As the Reuter article points out, the Islamic Rep. maintains one of the severest restrictions on internet access in the world. During the 2009 post-election protests the authorities on many occasions choked off internet access to block dissemination of information to the outside. Though foreign cyber sabotage is not unlikely, it’s no less likely that the choking off of the internet was done to limit reports of yesterday’s protests to the outside, or coordination w/ the outside, w/ the cyber attacks, real or not, used as an excuse.
You sound like yet another MEK acolyte. Does the MEK have it’s own form of hasbara & hasbarists??
I don’t see any mention of MEK in the above post. Curious to understand what motivated such a response.
@Richard Silverstein
Not only must I be an MEK hasbarist, but so must be Reuters, whose report you relied on. Why do you think after reporting the Iranian claim of cyber sabotage for cutting off the internet, the report finds it necessary to state, “Iran maintains one of the world’s largest Internet filters, blocking access to tens of thousands of websites on the grounds that they are criminal or immoral. Sites expressing anti-government views are routinely barred. Many of the Internet restrictions date back to the use of sites such as Facebook and YouTube to rally and publicize mass anti-government protests that erupted after the disputed 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” and then proceeds to report on sizeable demonstrations and clashes w/ the police on that same day?
There were many reports of IRI choking off the internet on demonstration days in 2009-2010, such as @
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/06/iran-limits-internet-acce_n_381650.html
And the IRI has the honor of being on the worldwide “Enemies of the Internet” list @
http://en.rsf.org/beset-by-online-surveillance-and-12-03-2012,42061.html
where in reference to limiting internet access to censor dissemination of protest info it states, “Slowing the Internet connection speed right down … makes it impossible to send or receive photos or videos. Iran is past master at this.” And I’m sure the news of extensive protests on Oct. 3 didn’t evade your notice:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2012/10/news-currency-crisis-erupts-bazaar-strike-raid-on-rial-dealers-protests.html
The claim by your anonymous Israeli source (who surely can’t be part of any hasbara) of a current cyber attack on Iran doesn’t prove that the IRI had to choke off nationwide internet access b/c of it. As far as I know, past cyber attacks on Iran have attempted to be targeted (though like Stuxnet they may have spread beyond the intended target) and not so wide as to attack all internet access across Iran (and why hasn’t this, like Stuxnet, spread to other countries?) right on the day of significant protests. Anyways, why don’t you ask your coauthor Mohammad Sahimi of tehranbureau.com on the likely reason for IRI’s cutting off the internet yesterday?
External force here offers legitimacy to increase the national security state in Iran, especially with regards to the internet. The solution here is simple and can be negotiated with Iran through diplomacy. Everyone can live with Iran enriching at 5% and regardless of what anyone says, Iran is now and has been a nuclear nation, under extensive inspection, without any proof for 9 years now from the main fabricators of accusations that Iran is building an outdated and useless nuke missile.
Good point. If Israel’s goal is to unify the Iranian population behind their current leadership, they are doing a great job of that. Somehow, I don’t think that is their goal, however.
I wouldn’t write it off that quickly. A different government in Iran will be bad business for Israel if it leads to the loss of their ‘arch-enemy’. Nothing to focus on internationally, the attention (and pressure) turns back in.
Any more details on your own hacked website? Was that part of a broader campaign of some kind as well?