The Shadow War: Part II (Issue #036)

We live in Orwellian times. There is a baseline political worldview which is considered accurate and normal. This worldview is imprinted into the minds of the citizenry by the media, the academics, and the politicians. In short, all of the ‘authoritative’ sources remind us constantly that this accurate and normal worldview is, well, accurate and normal. Deviate too far from this geo-political group-think orthodoxy and you will find yourself ostracized, find your social media accounts blocked, and find yourself labeled a conspiracy-theorist.

We here are OSI:DI believe the first step toward enlightenment in the dark world of intelligence, counter-intelligence, and tradecraft is to become skeptical of all authoritative sources. This creates something of a conundrum for those in search of the truth. If no source is to be trusted, and all assumptions are to be questioned, how is it possible to know up from down?

“The mental facility to detect conspiracies and betrayal are the same qualities most likely to corrode natural judgment. Everything that seems clear is bent. And everything that seems bent is clear. Trapped in reflections, you must learn to recognize when a lie masquerades as the truth, and then deal with it efficiently, dispassionately.” – The Good Shepherd (2006)

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this problem. The reality is that individuals, institutions, and governments profit more from deceiving you than telling the truth. Access to accurate information is a valuable thing, guarded jealously by those who have it. And now that we live in the information age, accurate information is trading at a premium. Controlling the spread of accurate information is the reason security clearances and TS/SCI classifications exist, after all. At OSI:DI, we attempt to sort through the fog-of-war by utilizing simple logic, with a little help from the rolling meta-analysis outlined in Issue #004:

OSI:DI uses a method dubbed rolling meta-analysis. Put simply, the accuracy of a narrative or source is not based on how well it stacks up against current known information. Instead, the narrative/source is assessed based on how accurately it predicts future events. – OSI:DI Issue #004, November 17, 2017

This method of analysis for current events is time consuming, and involves a task most Americans don’t undertake: going back into the records and checking previous news reports for accuracy. For instance, how many news outlets pushed the notion that the Mueller report would end in Trump’s impeachment? How often did they repeat this angle? “News” organizations like CNN and MSNBC and the New York Times repeated the “impeachment is imminent” headline literally hundreds of times. Of course, this turned out to be exactly the opposite of the truth.

And yet, after all of the completely off-base reporting, some individuals still treat these outlets as if they are legitimate or quality sources. We at OSI:DI conversely, do not. Because we have tracked the predictive ability of these sources, we have no problem discarding nearly the entirety of CNN, MSNBC, and the New York Times reporting. Better yet, one of OSI:DI’s most accurate methods for intelligence gathering is to assume the exact opposite of what CNN and MSNBC report.

Just this week for example, MSNBC talking head Lawrence O’Donnell made the explosive claim that Deutsche Bank had a copy of loan documents indicating Trump held loans with Russian co-signers. Predictably, the media and the left-wing social media sphere went into a feeding frenzy. However, applying MSNBC’s win/loss record with the rolling meta-analysis led us at OSI:DI to conclude that if MSNBC claimed Trump held loans with Russia co-signers, we can be almost 100% positive that Trump did not have loans with Russian co-signers. Then, like clockwork:

Add another “minus one” to MSNBC’s column. We do not wish to give the impression that these news entities are incompetent. Quite the opposite really. We also don’t want to give the impression that FoxNews is much better. Most Corporate Media are highly competent, it is just that their goal is not accurate reporting. We have examined the media question in depth, and the evidence and logic [Occam’s Razor – OSI:DI] point at an unavoidable conclusion: the Media is not news. The Corporate (mainstream) Media is a tool through which the population can be directed and controlled. The media’s primary value is not how much advertising revenue it can generate (although that is a perk.) The media’s true value lies in their power to control. And to various politicians, institutions, agencies, and entities, that power is priceless.

One of these entities is the Chinese government. And if you think China has no hand in what the American media and tech corporations do, this writer would advise you to reconsider. China represents the largest external threat to the United States of America for a number of reasons. Perhaps the least understood reason is that China has been successfully waging a ‘Shadow War’ against the United States for over a decade. The Chinese Communist Party has adopted a multi-front strategy for fighting this new Cold War:

Unrestricted Warfare is the title of a book written in 1999 by Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui (two colonels in China’s People’s Liberation Army.) The book elaborated on military strategy, particularly against an opponent with superior conventional force. Arguing that China would never be able to defeat the United States in a conventional war, the authors concluded that legal warfare (lawfare), economic warfare, terrorism, cyberwarfare, and communication/satellite warfare would be the most effective strategy for crippling the United States. (The Asia Times, March 27, 2002) By the way, Colonel Qiao Liang is now Major General Qiao Liang, and the Center for Research on Globalization (www.GlobalResearch.ca) suggest his military philosophy “Can be taken to be [the view] of China’s leadership.” – OSI:DI Issue #006, December 15, 2017

The progress that China has made in their efforts to dethrone the United States as the global hegemon is staggering. Using every means from propaganda to fentanyl, the Chinese Communist Party has pursued this objective with single-minded focus. Below is partial list of the objectives already achieved by the Chinese Communist Party in the United States.

• Cripple U.S. Manufacturing, and move as much manufacturing to mainland China as possible

• Cripple U.S. commodity industries, specifically steel and oil. The Chinese Communist Party had made a policy of dumping Steel at below market prices in order to put American Steel manufacturers out of business. This had a national security implication as inferior-strength Chinese steel was being purchased by the U.S. Navy. President Trump placed steep tariffs on Chinese steel which the Chinese attempted to circumvent by middle-manning steel shipments through Canada, leading Trump to place tariffs on all Canadian Steel as well (Trump imposes steel and aluminum tariffs on the E.U., Canada and Mexico – Washington Post, May 31, 2018)

• Engage in currency manipulation as a means of winning the economic war. The Communist Party requires nothing other than their order to change the value of the Chinese Yuan. This is in contrast with the United States Federal Reserve Board, which in addition to being ‘independent’ of the U.S. Government, is probably just as opposed to seeing Trump win as China is

• Steal as much intellectual property as possible. China has followed a policy for decades of forcing U.S. companies wishing to business in China to turn over patents, data, and other trade secrets before being given access to the mainland market. Additionally, the bulk of Chinese espionage activities are centered on U.S. corporate targets, not military targets

• Try to insert Huawei telecommunication throughout the Western world in order to more easily conduct espionage and create a China-dependent infrastructure in the United States. Trump has pushed back very hard against Huawei’s planned expansions into the U.S. (Trump administration bans federal agencies from buying Huawei, ZTE tech – Tech Crunch, August 7, 2019)

• Exert pressure on North Korea to act aggressively toward the United States.

• Infiltrate U.S. colleges and university student activist groups in order to push pro-China and anti-U.S. activism and secure positions in U.S. corporations (China has spies across U.S. universities and FBI is constantly monitoring them, Director Wray Says – Newsweek, February 14, 2018)

• Purchasing large tracts of land and key properties in the continental United States (With Acquisition of California Port, China Broadens Influence on US Commerce – AMAC, June 5, 2018)

• Purchasing, bribing, extorting and otherwise influencing U.S. politicians (notably the Bidens and Clintons)

Fortunately, we now have a President who is not beholden to China via campaign contributions or business entanglements. We also have a President who grasps how badly China has been out-maneuvering the U.S., and is actually willing to take the political heat for fighting back against Chinese encroachment. Rumors of U.S. covert actions against the Chinese regime have been rampant. They range from most certainly true (The CIA is providing support for the massive protests in Hong Kong) to outlandish-but-still-possible (The CIA has released swine flu in mainland China leading to the decimation of China’s most popular food source.)

Perhaps we will never know more than a small percentage of what has actually transpired during these Orwellian Times. But we can be certain that China is hurting much more than the United States and is in a much more precarious position ("I've Never Seen Anything Like This": China Reels As Pork Prices Explode To Record Levels – Zerohedge, August 30, 2019.) Much of this economic pain is thanks to actions taken by the Trump administration that should have been taken by prior administrations. We can also be certain that the “Media” will be focusing solely on the economic disruptions caused by Trump, and not China. This patriotic writer, however, would gladly sacrifice mere wealth if it meant being free from foreign (and domestic) authoritarian influence. Freedom is priceless!

#china #media #economy