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Tue 27 Apr, 2004 05:01 pm
Blog-Tracking May Gain Ground Among U.S. Intelligence Officials
Tue Apr 27, 8:53 AM ET
By Doug Tsuruoka
People in black trench coats might soon be chasing blogs.
Blogs, short for Web logs, are personal online journals. Individuals post them on Web sites to report or comment on news especially, but also on their personal lives or most any subject.
Some blogs are whimsical and deal with "soft" subjects. Others, though, are cutting edge in delivering information and opinion.
As a result, some analysts say U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials might be starting to track blogs for important bits of information. This interest is a sign of how far Web media such as blogs have come in reshaping the data-collection habits of intelligence professionals and others, even with the knowledge that the accuracy of what's reported in some blogs is questionable.
Still, a panel of folks who work in the U.S. intelligence field - some of them spies or former spies - discussed this month at a conference in Washington the idea of tracking blogs.
"News and intelligence is about listening with a critical ear, and blogs are just another conversation to listen to and evaluate. They also are closer to (some situations) and may serve as early alerts," said Jock Gill, a former adviser on Internet media to President Clinton (news - web sites), in a later phone interview, after he spoke on the panel.
Some panel and conference participants, because of their profession, could not be identified. But another who could is Robert Steele, another blog booster. The former U.S. intelligence officer said "absolutely" that blogs are valid sources of intelligence and news, though he said authenticating the information in blogs "leaves a lot to be desired."
Steele is founder and CEO of consulting firm OSS.Net, which organized the conference. The OSS '04 conference focused on public sources of intelligence. (OSS stands for open source solutions. In this case, open source is an intelligence term, not a reference to Linux (news - web sites) and open source software.)
China Wants To Block Blogs
The CIA and FBI haven't publicly commented about use of blogs in their work, but many D.C. observers believe both agencies monitor certain blogs.
At least one nation, China, is actively tracking blogs. It's also reportedly trying to block blogs. Several press reports earlier this year said the government shut two blogging services and banned access to all Web logs by Chinese citizens.
Many journalists write blogs and use other blogs to help find sources or verify facts and rumors. Blogs hail from just about any spot on the globe. They can provide first-hand insights into local events and thinking, even in parts of the world where there's little official information.
One example is the "Baghdad Blogger."
In March 2003, as U.S. forces stormed Iraq, one of the few sources on the Iraqi viewpoint was a blog written by a person who turned out to be 29-year-old Iraqi architect Salam Pax, though it's not certain that is his real name.
Some reporters followed his blog daily, which gave gritty insights into how the war was shaking the lives of Iraqis.
The U.S. military never publicly acknowledged Pax, but people at the conference say they believe U.S. military officers read the blog.
Some news organizations valued the blog. Britain's Guardian newspaper was so impressed that it hired Pax in May 2003 to write a biweekly column on life in Baghdad. He's still writing it.
Blogs last year also provided information during the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. In China, where the SARS (news - web sites) outbreak began, the government at first said little. But health officials and reporters were able to get a sense of what was happening through blogs, as well as from e-mail and cell phone text messages sent to people outside China. This might have spurred China's blog crackdown.
Gill says blogs are a good way to uncover news that regular media aren't covering or can't cover. "Blogs may be the best and only channel for such news stories," Gill said.
NGOs Already Get Attention
Various U.S. agencies already scan the Web sites of so-called nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, for information on political, economic and environmental issues. So tracking blogs isn't a big step. And there are software products and online services for this task.
While blog postings are voluntary and available to anyone to read, some observers say blog monitoring by governments or the media raises civil liberties and privacy issues. One such critic is James Love, director of the Ralph Nader (news - web sites)-affiliated Consumer Project on Technology.
"When you're conducting surveillance where you have no expectation of illegal activity, there has to be some threshold to justify such surveillance," Love said.
Some point to other dangers in using blogs for intelligence or news. Blogs can be used to spread lies or disinformation.
It's hard to fact check a blog account of an event in a remote area like Mongolia. Plus, many bloggers don't use their real names. Confirming identities can be hard.
In Baghdad last September, guerillas fired two surface-to-air missiles at a U.S. military transport, but missed. A blogger in Baghdad who goes by the name "Riverbend" wrote that the plane carried Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was then in Iraq.
The report proved false, but it confused the media.
Determining blog accuracy is the crucial first step to taking it further, warned Tim Witcher, who spoke at the conference. He's the former Seoul, Korea, bureau chief for Agence France-Presse, a news service. "A blog only becomes news when we can be 100% sure that it's true," he said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1471&ncid=1471&e=4&u=/ibd/20040427/bs_ibd_ibd/2004427tech
Well, we seem to be getting more and more like China and those other countries that we used talk about. Thank you mr bush. I wonder if opinions on threads like this are next?
I'm not scared.
Bring 'um on.
(Special note to John Ashcroft: screw you. :wink: )
Diddie:
If they want me that bad--COME AND GET ME.
(Of course, they need to find me 1st:))
lf. Strangely enough I searched the web a week or so ago for a series of articles that appeared in the Washington Post about my former father-in-law in 1991.
He had been arrested in London in 1986 for violation of the British Secrets Act and spent 6 months in Wormwood Prison. The whole deal was to cover the defection of a KGB Colonel who had been his main contact, he was CIA station chief in Athens for years and years.
Guess what the whole article is gone from the web and I was told to contact the CIA, sure I am going to contact the CIA.
I guess the only place I can get a copy of the series now is to go to the Post itself.
PD is right screw Asscroft.
Why am I not surprised to read of this?
I mean, under Bush's so-called USA Patriot Act, the government can monitor your library habits so why not blog participation too?
Maybe they're monitoring able2know as well?
Oh, infowarrior, I hope they are monitoring us. They will get an ear full of what regular folks across the world are thinking and talking about.
For instance my reference to my father-in-law why remove the article, I mean the cat was out of the hat for almost 20 years before the article was removed. If you guys have the time and care to check it out just do a search on John H. Bothwell and you will see what I refer to.
Maybe y'all can find more than this, the link below, I only wanted to print the article for his niece.
John H Bothwell
Joanne,
I will do just that and research his name. I've noticed very real bias by the moderators (tribunal?) in what gets removed (censored?) and what is allowed to stand.
inforwarrior I had to change the link but try the new one and you will see what I mean. You will get nothing about a news series that ran for several days in the Washtington Post. I will try to see if I can find anything in CNN as he was all over CNN the day it happend in Feburary 1986.
Joanne:
I don't see what is even remotely controversial here.
Am I missing something? The moderators removed this reference? I would like to read a detailed explanation from them and not a canned response.
BOTHWELL JOHN H
Greece 1972 Britain 1986
· Washington Post 1986-02-22 (A8)
· Washington Post 1986-07-14 (C1, 6)
· Washington Times 1986-07-08 (4D)
· Washington Times 1989-07-11 (A7)
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16, 35, 126, 134, 148)
pages cited this search: 10
Order hard copy of these pages
Show a social network diagram for this name
The names below are mentioned on the listed pages with the name
BOTHWELL JOHN H
Click on a name for a new proximity search:
ABDOOLCADER SIROJ HUSEIN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126 148)
ALDRIDGE PHILIP LESLIE
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
ALLEN PERCY S
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
BARNETT DAVID HENRY
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16 35)
BERGLING STIG
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
BERMUDEZ ENRIQUE V
· Washington Post 1986-07-14 (1)
BETTANEY MICHAEL JOHN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126 148)
BINGHAM DAVID JAMES
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
BITTMAN LADISLAV
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
BLACKBURN NORMAN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
BLAND CLIVE
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
BLUNT ANTHONY FREDERICK
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (134)
BOEHM GERHARD
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
BOGATY ANATOLY
· Washington Times 1989-07-11 (7)
BOSSARD FRANK CLIFTON
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
BRITTEN DOUGLAS ROBERT
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
CAIRNCROSS JOHN C
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (134)
CARDENAL JOSE FRANCISCO
· Washington Post 1986-07-14 (1)
CHIN LARRY WU-TAI
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16 35)
COSTI KYRIACOS
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126 148)
DORSCHEL PETER
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
DUBBERSTEIN WALDO H
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16 35)
FRENZEL ALFRED
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
GORDIEVSKY OLEG A
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
GREENLEAF JAMES W
· Washington Times 1989-07-11 (7)
GRIMM JOHANN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
GUNDAREV VIKTOR P
· Washington Times 1989-07-11 (7)
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16 126 134)
HAAVIK GUNVOR GALTUNG
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
HAMBLETON HUGH GEORGE
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126 148)
HERRMANN RUDOLPH ALBERT
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
HINCHCLIFFE LEONARD MICHAEL
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
HOWARD EDWARD LEE
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16 126)
JOHNSON ROBERT LEE
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
KAMPILES WILLIAM PETER
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16)
KARPEKOV NIKOLAI P
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (134)
KEENAN HELEN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
KOECHER KARL F
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16 35)
KRALIK VESEK
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (35)
LEVCHENKO STANISLAV A
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
LONG LEO HENRY
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (134)
LUEDKE HERMANN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
LYALIN OLEG A
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
MARTELLI GIUSEPPE E
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (134)
MARTIANON CONSTANTINOS
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126 148)
MIYANAGA YUKHISA
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
MOORE EDWIN GIBBONS
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16)
MULVENA CECIL W.V.
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
NOSENKO YURI I
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
OWEN WILL JAMES
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (134 148)
PELTON RONALD WILLIAM
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
PETERSEN ARNE HERLOV
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
PRAGER NICHOLAS ANTHONY
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
PRIME GEOFFREY ARTHUR
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
QUIMING OU
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (35)
RITCHIE RHONA JANET
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
SCHENKE HANS
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
SCHULZE REINHARD
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
SCHULZE SONJA
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
SCRANAGE SHARON M
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (16)
STONEHOUSE JOHN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (134)
STROSS BARNETT
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
SUTTERLIN HEINZ
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
SUTTERLIN LEONORE
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
TREHOLT ARNE
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
VAN HAARLEM ERWIN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (148)
VASSALL WILLIAM JOHN
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
WATSON ALISTER
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (134)
WEIBEL BENT
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
WENDLAND HORST
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
WISE DAVID (JOURNALIST)
· Washington Times 1989-07-11 (7)
YURCHENKO VITALY S
· West,N. Games of Intelligence. 1990 (126)
BOTHWELL JOHN H
pages searched: 10
These names share the indicated number of pages with the above name. Click on a name below for a standard name search:
GUNDAREV VIKTOR P 4 ABDOOLCADER SIROJ HUSEIN 2 BARNETT DAVID HENRY 2 BETTANEY MICHAEL JOHN 2 CHIN LARRY WU-TAI 2 COSTI KYRIACOS 2 DUBBERSTEIN WALDO H 2 HAMBLETON HUGH GEORGE 2 HOWARD EDWARD LEE 2 KOECHER KARL F 2 MARTIANON CONSTANTINOS 2 OWEN WILL JAMES 2 ALDRIDGE PHILIP LESLIE 1 ALLEN PERCY S 1 BERGLING STIG 1 BERMUDEZ ENRIQUE V 1 BINGHAM DAVID JAMES 1 BITTMAN LADISLAV 1 BLACKBURN NORMAN 1 BLAND CLIVE 1 BLUNT ANTHONY FREDERICK 1 BOEHM GERHARD 1 BOGATY ANATOLY 1 BOSSARD FRANK CLIFTON 1 BRITTEN DOUGLAS ROBERT 1 CAIRNCROSS JOHN C 1 CARDENAL JOSE FRANCISCO 1 DORSCHEL PETER 1 FRENZEL ALFRED 1 GORDIEVSKY OLEG A 1 GREENLEAF JAMES W 1 GRIMM JOHANN 1 HAAVIK GUNVOR GALTUNG 1 HERRMANN RUDOLPH ALBERT 1 HINCHCLIFFE LEONARD MICHAEL 1 JOHNSON ROBERT LEE 1 KAMPILES WILLIAM PETER 1 KARPEKOV NIKOLAI P 1 KEENAN HELEN 1 KRALIK VESEK 1 LEVCHENKO STANISLAV A 1 LONG LEO HENRY 1 LUEDKE HERMANN 1 LYALIN OLEG A 1 MARTELLI GIUSEPPE E 1 MIYANAGA YUKHISA 1 MOORE EDWIN GIBBONS 1 MULVENA CECIL W.V. 1 NOSENKO YURI I 1 PELTON RONALD WILLIAM 1 PETERSEN ARNE HERLOV 1 PRAGER NICHOLAS ANTHONY 1 PRIME GEOFFREY ARTHUR 1 QUIMING OU 1 RITCHIE RHONA JANET 1 SCHENKE HANS 1 SCHULZE REINHARD 1 SCHULZE SONJA 1 SCRANAGE SHARON M 1 STONEHOUSE JOHN 1 STROSS BARNETT 1 SUTTERLIN HEINZ 1 SUTTERLIN LEONORE 1 TREHOLT ARNE 1 VAN HAARLEM ERWIN 1 VASSALL WILLIAM JOHN 1 WATSON ALISTER 1 WEIBEL BENT 1 WENDLAND HORST 1 WISE DAVID (JOURNALIST) 1 YURCHENKO VITALY S 1
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This is as much as you can get on John. Perhaps A2k is afraid I have revealed the name of a CIA operative, which of course I have. But he himself did so years ago, 1990, in the national press so I cannot understand why they would delete anything.
What reference was removed?
infowarrior wrote:I've noticed very real bias by the moderators (tribunal?) in what gets removed (censored?) and what is allowed to stand.
If you do not like it then the obvious solution is for you to quit using the site.
Them durn moderators, i'm gonna pout 'til they see things my way . . . that'll show 'em . . .
Perhaps A2k is afraid I have revealed the name of a CIA operative, which of course I have.
Don't fret Joanne. Right-wingnut columnist Robert Novak did the very same thing when he disclosed the name of Ambassador Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plam, all but destroying her career as an undercover CIA operative working to help secure the United States of America, for you and me and everyone else here.
Novak was just doing as his masters tell him.
Yeppers DC36, Novak did the nasty, but then he has more friends in high places than I do.
On the other hand if anyone listened to the tape of the Supremes questioning of the attorney DOJ today trying to make their case for the Executive to have the power to hold anyone named as an enemy combatant forever and ever without counsel - you gotta believe our system might just work.
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