It allegedly targets groups and individuals whose activities might embarrass or hurt its clients
WikiLeaks on Monday revealed how Indian rights activists campaigning against Dow Chemical over its links with the Bhopal gas tragedy had been targeted by a Texas-based data analysis company Stratfor which, while claiming to be an “independent” organisation, “secretly” fed intelligence to American security agencies, military officials and powerful global corporations.
The disclosure is contained in the “Global Intelligence Files,” a cache of more than 5 million secret emails, which WikiLeaks began publishing.
The emails, dating from July 2004 and late December 2011, revealed Stratfor's “web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods,” providing a glimpse of the murky world of intelligence gathering, and the company's invisible links with governments and power corporations.
They also revealed Stratfor's covert links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Israel's Mossad, WikiLeaks said pointing out that the company gave “a complimentary membership” to Hamid Gul, former head of ISI who, according to U.S. diplomatic cables, “planned” an IED attack on NATO-led forces in Afghanistan in 2006.
Releasing the files at a press conference here, WikiLeaks said they exposed how Stratfor recruited “a global network of informants who are paid via Swiss banks accounts and pre-paid credit cards.” It had a mix of covert and overt informants, including government employees, embassy staff and journalists around the world.
“Here we have a private intelligence firm, relying on informants from the U.S. government, foreign intelligence agencies with questionable reputations and journalists,” said WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
“What is of grave concern is that the targets of this scrutiny are, among others, activist organisations fighting for a just cause.”
Once likened by an American magazine to a “shadow CIA,” Stratfor allegedly targets groups and individuals whose activities might embarrass or hurt its clients.
WikiLeaks itself had been a target of Stratfor's surveillance, it said.
“The material contains privileged information about the U.S. government's attacks against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and Stratfor's own attempts to subvert WikiLeaks,” it said pointing out that it contained more than 4,000 references to Mr. Assange or WikiLeaks.
While Stratfor claimed that it operated “without ideology, agenda or national bias,” yet the emails revealed “private intelligence staff who align themselves closely with U.S. government policies and channel tips to the Mossad…”
Revealing the company's hidden links with the American government, it said: “Stratfor's Vice-President for Intelligence, Fred Burton, was formerly a special agent with the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and was their Deputy Chief of the counter-terrorism division. Despite the governmental ties, Stratfor and similar companies operate in complete secrecy with no political oversight or accountability.”
It also claimed that Stratfor did “secret deals with dozens of media organisations and journalists.”
“While it is acceptable for journalists to swap information or be paid by other media organisations, because Stratfor is a private intelligence organisation that services governments and private clients, these relationships are corrupt or corrupting,” it said.
WikiLeaks did not say how it obtained the emails.
In a statement ahead of the WikiLeaks disclosure, Stratfor said : “In December, thieves compromised Stratfor's data systems and stole a large number of company emails, along with other private information of Stratfor readers, subscribers and employees. Those stolen emails apparently will be published by Wikileaks. This is a deplorable, unfortunate — and illegal — breach of privacy.”
WikiLeaks said there was a systematic campaign to destroy it by choking off its funds through an “unlawful” and “arbitrary” financial blockade imposed on it by the Bank of America, VISA, Mastercard, PayPal and Western Union as part of a “politically motivated” attack by American authorities. Last October, it was forced to suspended its publishing operations to focus on raising funds .
Mr. Asssange described the financial blockade as an “existential” threat to the organisation and said if it continued, WikiLeaks would not be able to carry on its work.
i think you are right Mr. Mlechha. but one thing i would like to
correct here is that this is not just the case with an indian or more
so an indian woman. we humans are like that. when someone does
something good we are extremely doubtful about their credentials. but
when they are not doing anything like that then we take them for
granted. lets take the example of some of the multinational
corporations who are into a lot of foul play. but we dont care to
question them. the human psyche is weird.one thing i really admire
about the wikileaks team is that they question power and undermine
authority. i agree with the saying that 'power corrupts and absolute
power corrupts absolutely'. and right now America is the reigning
power, not china or Russia. the bigger and more powerful the country
the more possibilities of it being corrupt. maybe a 50 yrs from now
america will be replaced by China, just as Britain used to be yrs
back.
Even when a bride is threatened for dowry, on most occasions in rural
India, they still sing praise of their husbands and in-laws. Such is
the hold of patriarchy on the minds of those women. It's the same as
the Indian middle-class and politicians, besotted with their very own
American dreams. Even when provided with hard evidence, they would
rather look the other way, than question their massa. Or they will try
to find a suitable excuse for the massa's misdeeds. After all, they
need to be steadfast in their belief system, otherwise their whole
world will come crashing down.
I mean, why should China and Russia even come into the equation
otherwise?
Why he does not report on Russian or Chinese? May be the reason is that nobody in the Russian or Chinese power structures dares leak such data. We know what happens to Russian dissidents even after the flee to UK. Say what you want, the US still has rule of law and that there are Americans citizens of western democracies who feel strongly enough about holding the rich and powerful to the account by taking such risks.
Julian Assange is doing extremely outstanding work to expose the skeletons of stratfor -- well done Mr. Assange -- hope you will reveal the indian swiss bank account holders soon.
@ Aritra Gupta, Why do you care about which country the leaks pertain to ? What Stratfor is doing is clearly wrong - more so because it is state-sponsored. Would you feel comfortable if you knew that the state was spying on you because you're fighting - non-violently - for a cause you believe in (like the Bhopal activists)? Although I wouldn't make the leap to liken Gandhiji to Assange, I should say that even what Gandhiji did was considered "illegal" and seditious by British laws. This sort of state-sponsored-invasion-of-privacy must be stanched IMMEDIATELY to discourage further such acts. Let them follow the legal path & wrestle it out in a court of law. Paraphrasing what Abraham Lincoln famously said, "Allow a President to make war whenever he deems necessary, and you allow him to make war at pleasure". The legal path may be painful, but it is the only safe way out in the long run.
Dear Anritra Gupta,Mr Assange is an Australian citizen. The Australian Federal Police investigated the actions of Mr Assange and the WikiLeaks association and concluded that the organisation, and Mr Assange in his capacity as editor-in-chief, had broken no laws whatsoever.
Mr Assange and WikiLeaks was recently awarded the highest honour for journalism in Australia - the Walkley Award. If you could please explain how the actions of WikiLeaks are "completely illegal" I would find that very interesting.
Where are the corresponding exposes about the assets of Russian and
Chinese companies. All big powers have such connections. Why is this
Assange so obsessed about the US? He seems to be suffering from a
paranoia about the US. And he is doing something completely illegal.
Please Email the Editor