Events - 11
THE JUNIOR STATEMENT Issue 5 .
News - 12
THE JUNIOR STATEMENT Issue 5 .
Snowden JRTIG Leaks
Bergen County Academies Holds Chapter Conference
Ahmed Shah Sj Hyman
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Staff Writer
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n Sunday, March 9th, 140 students from across the Mid-Atlantic State gathered together for the Bergen County Academies (BCA) chapter conference in Hackensack, NJ. Throughout the day, students engaged in debates centered on the theme “Revolution versus Reform.” The BCA chapter chose to focus their convention on different forms of government policymaking because delegates not only thought the topic was engaging, but also believed that it would be relevant today as Congress pursues new legislation to solve both domestic and foreign policy crises. The BCA chapter leadership believed that centering the convention around a galvanizing theme would encourage newer members to get excited and actually engage themselves in the debates. BCA chapter president, Maria Mendoza, thought that the chapter con's theme added to the quality of the debates and led to a successful convention. “We really wanted to make the conference about incredible debates, and made sure that everyone had an opportunity to speak by having diversified topics and styles,” said Mendoza. “…Every debate encouraged in-depth discussion delving into the roots of the matters at hand. I knew the event went well when delegates contacted me personally about the quality of debates and the involvement of (those who participated). The keynote of the convention was Joshua Leifer, BCA alumnius and former Lieutenant Governor of the MAS. Leifer is currently a freshmen at Princeton University, where he studies history and public policy. At Princeton, he serves as a junior editor of the Nassau Weekly, the politics writer for the Princeton Progressive, and a member of the Princeton United Left. One attendee of the conference, Steven Bradley, enjoyed Leifer’s speech and relayed that overall it was a positive experience. “I felt that the BCA conference was one of the best conferences that I have attended,” said Bradley. “Even though I had to wake up early in the morning and have my dad drive two hours just to arrive at the school, and I was the only member of my chapter attending, this was definitely worth my time. The debates I watched were very interesting and it was able to keep my interest. I also was able to have a great amount of fun being able to see and hang out with my friends from the NJR throughout the day. Maria and the rest of the members of BCA did a wonderful job planning the events and it was very organized.” The BCA chapter continues to thrive and looks forward to attending the final MAS convention of the year, Spring State, in the beginning of April. ■
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I felt that the BCA conference was one of the best conferences that I have attended.
-Steven Bradley
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Staff Writer
ndividual freedom is a threat to privilege, and thus has been continually attacked by those with exploitive interests. Individual welfare supersedes collective welfare given that collective welfare cannot be attained without the attainment of individual welfare. The violation of personal freedom for some “greater good,” is immoral, for autonomy is universally preferred, and a prerequisite for a society founded on ethical consistency. An apathetic populace, time and time again, acquiesces to immoral and abusive government policies that gradually reduce individual autonomy through idealistic and fallacious pretexts such as increased security. Supporters of status-quo government surveillance programs will always pull the, “If you have nothing to hide, why are you against it,” card, but they fail to see the very real abuses of information carried out by government agencies. The latest Snowden leaks have exposed legally questionable actions of the GCHQ, the NSA’s British counterpart. Documents about the GCHQ’s JTRIG -Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group – indicate its malicious agenda: government infiltration of dissident organizations and the defamation of their credibility. Inevitably, where there is power, there is exploitation. Such goals are abusive and clearly show a use of intelligence for personal, rather than national security interests. These types of programs only bring to light the blatant abuse of information intelligence agencies are able to commit. During the 60s, the FBI COINTELPRO, or Counter Intelligence Program was used, illegally, to infiltrate and disturb political organizations affiliated with the counter-culture movement. Today, these organizations have Glen Greenwald, the journalist who released the Snowden leaks, warned, “… these surveillance agencies have vested themselves with the power to deliberately ruin people’s reputations and disrupt their online political activity even though they’ve been charged with no crimes, and even though their actions have no conceivable connection to terrorism or even national security threats.” The intent of the JTRIG, according to the GCHQ, is “using online techniques to make something happen in the real or cyber world,” but the means through which these ends are achieved are morally reprehensible. The most alarming aspect of the leaks was the JTRIG’s “false flag operations,” which aimed to devastate the reputations of individuals and groups by posting false material on the internet and intentionally misattributing it to them. The leaked “DISRUPTION Operational Playbook” teaches agents that if they wish to “Discredit a target,” they may “Write a blog purporting to be one of their victims,” “Email/text their colleagues, neighbors, friends etc,” and “Change their (victim’s) photos on a social-networking site.” Even those who have nothing to hide should
be afraid of such unrestrained tyranny. Given the facts, we can reasonably conclude that one does not have to break a law for them pursue malicious ends. Because their long-term goals for social welfare differ from the government’s, even law abiding citizens should fear government programs such as these. If there is anything we can learn from these leaks, it’s that we cannot trust tyrannies of power – they simply don’t respect human rights of autonomy. The morality of a program is not even thought about when the pragmatics of bureaucratic administration comes into play. All individuals can really do is place the burden of proof on those in power and know that their actions need to be justified, if they are to be accepted policy. ■
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The intent of the JTRIG, according to the GCHQ, is “using online techniques to make something happen in the real or cyber world,” but the means through which these ends are achieved are morally reprehensible.
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