Former CIA director says Russian bots amplified Jade Helm conspiracies – ThinkProgress

[ad_1]

In 2015, a new conspiracy theory swept across much of the American South and Southwest, claiming that then-President Barack Obama was planning on using an upcoming military exercise to install martial law across the country.

Known as Jade Helm, the exercise took part over a number of states, including Texas. The conspiratorial concerns were sufficient enough to convince Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to send the Texas State Guard to monitor the exercises — a move that a plurality of Texans agreed with. 

Of course, Obama never plotted any dictatorship or martial law, and Jade Helm ended as little more than a routine exercise for the American military. But this week, we got a glimpse into why conspiracies about Jade Helm seemed to spike when they did.

As the Texas Tribune first reported, former CIA chief Michael Hayden appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe podcast on Thursday, where he revealed that Twitter bot accounts run out of Russia amplified messages about Jade Helm conspiracies.

“There was an exercise in Texas, called Jade Helm 15, that Russian bots and the American alt-right media convinced most, many Texans was an Obama plan to round up political dissidents,” Hayden said.

The former CIA head added that Abbott’s decision to send the Texas State Guard to monitor the American military showed operatives in Russia just how successful this type of online messaging could be. “At that point, I’m figuring the Russians are saying: We can go big-time,” Hayden said. “They made the decision: We’re going to play in [2016] the electoral process.”

Conspiracies run amok

It’s unclear what specific “bots” Hayden is talking about, but Russian attempts to stoke fears about Jade Helm extended to other platforms.

At least one fake Russian Facebook account pushed the idea that Jade Helm was little more than an excuse for Obama to reify his dictatorship.

The “Heart of Texas” Facebook page — a page that would eventually grow to have more followers than the official Texas Democrat and Texas Republican pages combined — posted that Obama was “actually consider[ing] imposing martial law on us… The military exercises is some kind of Washington’s attempt to frighten and subordinate Texas and other states [sic].” A photo alongside the post said that Washington “carr[ying] out military exercises to frighten Texas and southern states.”

And here's what our favorite fake Russian Facebook page, Heart of Texas, had to say about Jade Helm, typos and all:

"The military exercises is some kind of Washington's attempt to frighten and subordinate Texas and other states." pic.twitter.com/D4jBUpvjLD

— Casey Michel (@cjcmichel) May 3, 2018

On Russian propaganda channel RT, multiple segments leading up to the Jade Helm exercises played up the conspiratorial elements. One clip, citing InfoWars, said that the acronym for “Helm” may stand for “Homeland Eradication of Local Militants.”

Another clip from RT — titled “Shots fired: War of Jade Helm 15 begins” — saw the host wonder out loud if Jade Helm was “just training exercises,” adding that “there’s no doubt [Jade Helm] has started some kind of war, and this time it’s between America and itself.”

There’s no evidence that the Jade Helm conspiracy began with Russian bots; one expert on tracking the extreme right told ThinkProgress that she had tracked the original conspiracy back to an American source, not a Russian source. But the fact that bots pushed messaging specifically aimed at Texans squares with other operations, from Facebook to RT to hosting Texas secessionists multiple times in Moscow.

Moreover, the Russian bots — along with fake Facebook accounts and propaganda channels — specifically hyped a conspiracy that could have resulted in significant bloodshed. As the Washington Post reported, a trio of men in North Carolina believed Obama was plotting, via Jade Helm, the imposition of martial law. They gathered bombs, grenades, and gunpowder in a planned attack against members of the U.S. military, but were arrested before they could unleash their plan. All three were charged with conspiracy and received prison sentences.

[ad_2]

Source link

Conflict sidelines CA director from culture review

[ad_1]

Conflict of interest has forced a Cricket Australia (CA) Board director to be excused from an independent review into the culture of the organisation stemming from the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.

Michelle Tredenick, a CA director since November 2015, also serves on the board of The Ethics Centre, the Sydney-based body selected by CA to conduct a far-reaching review into the organisation. Among its past work was a frank and critical review of the Australian Olympic Committee in 2017, resulting in numerous changes to the organisation.

The Ethics Centre review is to be led by its executive director Simon Longstaff, who has worked alongside Tredenick on the centre's board. A CA spokesperson confirmed that Tredenick had excused herself from any prior Board discussions relating to the choice of the independent body to conduct the review and the amount of money to be paid for it, and will not be involved in any related discussions until the review is complete. Findings are expected to be made public before the start of the Australian season.

According to its terms of reference, the organisational review will "investigate whether any wider cultural, organisational and/or governance issues within CA, and more broadly within Australian cricket, should be addressed to ensure these events never occur again, either on tour or whilst playing in Australia. This review will investigate links between player behaviour (particularly on this tour of South Africa) and the organisational, governance and culture within CA and Australian cricket.

"[The review will] consider whether any cultural, organisational and/or governance factors within the Australian Men's Team, CA or Australian cricket may have contributed to these issues, either directly or indirectly; and recommend measures that CA and Australian cricket should consider to ensure that any issues are addressed and that these or similar events never occur again."

Tellingly, the terms also state that CA employees and others will be freed from corporate confidentiality clauses in order to speak fully and frankly in interviews.

This review is running concurrently with another inquiry specifically into the culture of Australian teams, to be led by the former Test opening batsman Rick McCosker. That panel will also include the men's Test captain Tim Paine, fast bowler Pat Cummins, last summer's stand-in women's international captain Rachael Haynes, Shane Watson (nominated by the Australian Cricketers Association), George Bailey and the incoming Australian coach - widely expected to be Justin Langer. Peter Collins, director of the Melbourne-based Centre for Ethical Leadership, will play a key role facilitating the teams' review.

Combined, the two reviews will be seeking to close the gap between the "target" and "actual" cultures of CA and its teams. The Ethics Centre review will seek interviews with "a range of personnel within and external to Australian cricket (CA and State and Territory Associations)". After handing in findings it will then work with CA on plans for change.

"We understand and share the disappointment of fans and the broader Australian community about these events," CA chairman David Peever said. "The Board is determined to do all we can to prevent such events from ever happening again. We have full confidence that Simon and his team, along with Rick and the player panel, will be able to fully review and identify recommendations for improvement."

The ACA president, Greg Dyer, said that it was critical the reviews were undertaken with a high degree of transparency and independence.

"Culture starts at the top and we welcome investigation in to all aspects of cricket's culture, organisational structure and governance," he said. "The ACA outlined proposed Terms of Reference earlier in April and it is pleasing that much of the detail has been adopted. There is a desire to see significant and lasting change aimed at improving cricket's culture and governance, and the accountability of those who are responsible for running it."

Dyer also pointed out that the outcomes should be aligned to findings and recommendations from the concurrent examination of international player conduct flagged recently by the ICC chief executive Dave Richardson. "We are concerned that our players may be subject to conditions which could be different from those that apply to players from other countries against which they play," Dyer said.

"Changes to player behaviour, expectations or sanctions must be aligned with those which would be handed down to players on both sides of international cricket matches. These are fundamental matters which go the integrity and fairness of our game."

[ad_2]

Source link