WEBVTT 1 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:21.960 You were listening to the Age of Transitions. I'm your host, 2 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:26.440 Aaron Fronz, coming at you live this Friday night, October fourth, 3 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.280 twenty twenty four, live from the facilities of ochili dot 4 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:33.880 com every Friday night ten pm to midnight. First hour, 5 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.799 The Age of Transitions. Second hour Uncle of the broadcast. 6 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:39.359 Thank you for being here live or listening as a 7 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:43.039 podcast anyway, you're here, Happy that you are. Do you 8 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:46.280 consider going to achili dot com and leaving a donation 9 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.719 with the donate button. Chuck can use all the help 10 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:53.560 he can get you keep the network going, so please 11 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:58.560 do consider doing that. Also, my website is the Age 12 00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:01.280 of Transitions dot com. You can find the podcast there. 13 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:05.000 You can support the show directly. I have T shirts 14 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:08.760 for the shows. I have my book Revolve Bands, Scientific 15 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:13.280 Rise to Godhood paperback or e book copies always available. 16 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:17.719 Thank you for buying those. Have the Patreon campaign and 17 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:20.280 have the affiliate links too. If you're thinking about starting 18 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:24.400 a podcast, you can use promo code Frounds at libsyn 19 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.760 to get two months of lips in for free. Makes 20 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.719 podcasting very easy. Podcast hosting service, so promo code fronds 21 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:36.079 there or if you ever buying books online. What you 22 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.920 want to do is first go to my website ageatransitions 23 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:41.799 dot com. You will see a link on my main 24 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:44.599 page to bookshop dot org. Click that link. Once you 25 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:46.719 click through the link, then anything that you end up 26 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:50.000 buying there, any books or media or whatever, I'll get 27 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:53.079 a small amount back, nothing extra for you. So do 28 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:58.560 remember that bookshop dot org link on my website. Thank 29 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:02.480 you for being here. Once again. This is the age 30 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:05.239 of transitions that we're living in and bloake, it's more 31 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:13.120 exciting with each passing day. It's not a surprise to 32 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:17.199 any of us that have been paying attention for a while. 33 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.439 Shouldn't be surprised by anything. 34 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:21.240 Really. 35 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:26.520 However, that's easy to say, isn't it. We're throwing curveballs 36 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.439 all the time. If you're trying to predict exactly what's 37 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:34.039 gonna happen next, good luck to you. I don't think 38 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:36.280 I try to do that too much on this show. 39 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:46.560 Make be a profit of any sort of doom of profits, 40 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:48.879 a profit of yours. How you make money, so this 41 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:50.719 is the next big thing, invest in this. I'm not 42 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:55.039 that sort of profit, that's sure. Do not listen to 43 00:02:55.080 --> 00:02:59.759 my advice on that. But anyway, I mean, it's crazy. 44 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:04.159 It's crazy town. We're all frustrated. Everybody seems upset with 45 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:09.520 one another. That's the way it seems. So let's take 46 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:13.080 some kind of chance to relax. We're able to do that. 47 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:15.520 I know that there's all sorts of horrible things going on, 48 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.960 and I'm not downplaying any of it, but do what 49 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.879 you can to maintain sanity. It sounds like this is 50 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.000 the end of the show, but it's the beginning. I'm 51 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:30.560 going to read from this article here, which we'll get 52 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:34.879 us really into the thickest things. I got sent this 53 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.879 by friend of the show and to pass guests. Sam 54 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.439 I let good old Sam. He sent me this awesome 55 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:47.000 article that was posted to Yahoo Finance. It's from the ap. 56 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:50.240 I'm just going to get into it here. So the 57 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:54.960 title of the article is collapse of national security elites. 58 00:03:55.240 --> 00:04:00.319 Cyber firm Leaves Bitter Wake wrote this. The writer is 59 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:06.319 Alan Suderman and it was posted Thursday, October third, twenty 60 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.479 twenty four. New article here, So I'm just going to 61 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:13.479 read from a bit in the beginning of this. This 62 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:15.759 gets to be a long article that's very much worth 63 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:19.040 the read. So do read this. When we get a chance. 64 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:21.000 I'm going to read this to a point, and then 65 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:24.639 I'm going to probably sum up what I remember of 66 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:26.879 the rest of it and give some commentary here. 67 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:28.160 So here we go. 68 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.680 Here's the article, once again, title collapse of National security 69 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:39.199 Elites cyber firm leaves bitterwick, Washington, ap The future was 70 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:44.360 once dazzling for iron Net. Founded by a former director 71 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.759 of the National Security Agency and stacked with elite members 72 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:53.079 of the US intelligence establishment, iron Net promised it was 73 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:57.519 going to revolutionize the way governments and corporations combat cyber attacks. 74 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:02.160 It's pitch, combining the the prowess of ex government hackers 75 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:07.199 with cutting edge software, was initially a hit. Shortly after 76 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.000 going public in twenty twenty one, the company's value shot 77 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:15.000 past three billion dollars. Yet as blazing as Ironets started, 78 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:19.839 it burned out blast September, the never profitable company announced 79 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:23.319 it was shutting down and firing its employees after running 80 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:27.079 out of money, providing yet another example of a tech 81 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:31.079 firm that faltered after failing to deliver on overhyped promises. 82 00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:35.360 The firm's crash is left behind a trail bitter investors 83 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:39.000 and former employees who remain angry at the company and 84 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:43.800 believe it misled them about its financial health. Ironets rise 85 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.000 and fall also raises questions about the judgment of its 86 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:51.879 well credentialed leaders. A who's who of the national security establishment, 87 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:57.680 national security experts, former employees and analysts told the Associate 88 00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:01.600 Press that the firm collapsed in part art because engaged 89 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:06.480 in questionable business practices, produced subpar products and services, and 90 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:10.439 entered into associations they could have left the firm vulnerable 91 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:15.240 to meddling by the Kremlin. I'm honestly ashamed I was 92 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:19.240 ever an executive at that company, said Mark Birdley, a 93 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.279 former Ironet vice president. He said the company's top leaders 94 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:27.800 cultivated a culture of deceit, just like Firanos, the once 95 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:30.879 highly touted blood testing firm that became a symbol of 96 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:34.720 corporate fraud. Iron Neet's collapse ranks as one of the 97 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.600 most high profile flameouts in the history of cybersecurity, said 98 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:43.519 Richard Steinen, a longtime industry analyst. The main reason for 99 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:48.839 its fall, he said, hubris the company got what was 100 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:53.000 coming to it. Steinen said. Iron Neet and top former 101 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:56.800 company officials either declined to comment or did not respond 102 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:03.839 to request for comment. Okay Okay, I'm going to take 103 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:06.759 a step back from the article. There's a heading which 104 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.079 is kind of headed weird on Yahoo Finance. It's not 105 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:10.720 in bold or anything. Can't even tell it to heading. 106 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.040 But anyway, this is heading of the general. It gets 107 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:20.199 into the founder and CEO Keith Alexander. Okay, I'll read 108 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:21.839 a little bit of this. I think that's founder and 109 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:24.920 former CEO. Keith Alexander is a West Point graduate who 110 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.199 retired as a four star Army general and was once 111 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:31.040 the most powerful figure, one of the most powerful figures 112 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:35.519 in US intelligence. He oversaw an unpresident expansion of the 113 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.360 NSA's digital spying around the world when he led the 114 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:41.879 US's largest intelligence agency for nearly a decade. 115 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:43.319 Okay. 116 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:47.319 He retired from government in twenty fourteen. He remains a 117 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:53.360 prominent voice on cybersecurity. He sits on the board of 118 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:59.959 Tech nine Amazon. That's zero, okay. This board has included 119 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:03.319 Mike McConnell, a former director of both the NSA and 120 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:06.879 National Intelligence, Jack keene, a retired for star general and 121 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:10.839 Army Vice chief of Staff, and Mike Rogers, the former 122 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:14.720 Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who's running for 123 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:19.639 the USNA in Michigan. One of Ironet's first presidents and 124 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:22.560 co founders was Matt Olson, who left the company in 125 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:27.879 twenty eighteen and leads the Justice Department's National Security Division. Okay, anyway, 126 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:33.279 so these big shots in the intelligence community Alexander he 127 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:39.120 is a former head of the NSA, founds this company 128 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:45.120 iron Net. The idea was to provide cyber security for companies, 129 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:49.919 and the article explains that part of the way that 130 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.240 their service was supposed to work was that by having 131 00:08:54.559 --> 00:09:01.320 multiple clients, that would help them understand and see patterns 132 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:04.440 in threats at all the different clients, and I guess 133 00:09:04.519 --> 00:09:07.879 their data would be able to like cross reference from 134 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:10.720 their different companies, and then they'd have a better advantage 135 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.320 in that, which is interesting. 136 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:13.960 In and of itself. 137 00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:18.840 Now, the whole point here is that they didn't spend 138 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:24.000 the time to make the product even work well at all. 139 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:26.559 I guess they had a really good staff, Like the 140 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:29.039 technicians and scientists there were actually really good to new 141 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:33.039 what they were doing too. But the articles someone gripes about, 142 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:35.600 you know, we never put enough resources in actually developing 143 00:09:35.639 --> 00:09:38.120 the product. They are always like doing this other nonsense. 144 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:42.960 So yes, iron Net. It also goes on to explain 145 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:46.399 something very interesting. What's the name of this investment firm? 146 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:52.559 C five Capital? Here we go, let's read this venture 147 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.639 capital firms were eager to invest. Among iron Net's biggest 148 00:09:56.679 --> 00:10:01.440 early boosters was C five Capital, an investment firm started 149 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.000 and run by Andre p and R, a South African 150 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:08.679 who had spent years serving the needs of the ultra 151 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:14.320 rich while cultivating business relationships with former top national security officials. 152 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:19.879 C five's operating partners, essentially expert advisors, include former Chairman 153 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.279 of the US Joints Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen and 154 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:28.759 Sir Elaine Lobbin, who used used to lead the UK's 155 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:38.080 Signals Intelligence Agency, Harry Cooker Junior Ronald Moultrie. Anyway, so 156 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:45.399 this C five Capital becomes a major investor in Oh God, 157 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:47.919 all right, forget I got in trouble with all the 158 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.200 names of these. 159 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:49.879 Things iron Net. 160 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:53.080 So iron Net big investor C five. This p and 161 00:10:53.240 --> 00:10:57.279 R guy is the head of C five a Capital. 162 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:06.039 He's in South Africa. He's got connections to some Russian oligarch. 163 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:09.440 Let's see where I find that part of the artic 164 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:15.519 Colnston here somewhere. Okay, So he's got p and R 165 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:19.360 is also involved in the South African Manganese mind, so 166 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:23.200 he's making here we go. P and R also worked 167 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:27.919 at the time to help Russian oligarch Victor Weckelsberg or Wexelberg. 168 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:34.440 Cement wrote Relationships London's Rich and Famous. Okay, so he's 169 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:39.440 PNR is really quite the socialite, isn't he. He's connecting 170 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:44.240 people together on the international stage and looks like up 171 00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:50.559 to no good honestly. But his firm five, which was 172 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.519 like the major investor in iron Net, they also turn 173 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:59.159 around and become the major customer to iron Net, and 174 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:03.720 then they have these like huge contracts. C five ends 175 00:12:03.799 --> 00:12:07.320 up with these huge contracts to iron Net, which people 176 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:09.960 who comment in the article were saying, like, yeah, there's 177 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:13.519 no way that they needed a contract that big. It's 178 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:17.840 it's absolutely ludicrous, it's silly. So that was obviously a 179 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:20.840 ploy to raise the value of their stocks. So you know, 180 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:23.600 there's all sorts of shenani Ins, Shenanigans going to that. 181 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.399 From the looks of it, they didn't really care about 182 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:28.840 their products so much. They're just trying to like make 183 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:30.799 a bunch of money, and that's one way to do it. 184 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:33.559 It's like, you know, you play all these stupid financial 185 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:37.039 games that amount to nothing, but if you're if you 186 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.960 know how to goof around with the numbers, you can 187 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.399 make a bunch of money off of it. So they're 188 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:46.240 doing all this this pay and our guy's got really 189 00:12:46.440 --> 00:12:47.799 questionable contacts. 190 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:48.639 Uh. 191 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.600 They also said, I forget what officials were saying, but 192 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:58.679 they're basically saying that certainly, oh that's the main guy 193 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:04.320 involved in this Alexander. Alexander and company over a Dironet 194 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:07.759 should have known never to get involved with C five. 195 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:11.039 They should have known it was a security risk. Again, 196 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:14.919 his connections to you know, the Russian oligarch and whatnot 197 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:20.000 a problem. So they're real national security risks being posed 198 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:23.679 by this crazy company for one thing that wasn't really 199 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.559 doing anything for another, which I guess, you know, does 200 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:30.120 that make it the fact that their security risk does 201 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:32.480 not matter because they're not actually doing anything other than 202 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:36.240 just making a bunch of money. That's a fun question 203 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:41.679 to ask, isn't it. But it just goes on. This 204 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.000 article is very fascinating, lots of interesting details. I'm not 205 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.559 remembering all of them to not take notes, but I 206 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:50.919 did read through the article. But the thing that take 207 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.240 here's my commentary. The takeaway that I got from this 208 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:59.679 article was Alexander big shot in intelligence. 209 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:00.919 He was d of the ANSA. 210 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.840 He was involved and said that he ended his career 211 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:09.600 in public service in twenty fourteen. Right, So he was 212 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:18.279 there for a decade as NSA director during what time, 213 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:23.320 during the War on Terror, the War on terriers. He 214 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:29.080 was there during that whole part of our nation's history. 215 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:30.720 That very. 216 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:38.399 Important portion of American history as it pertains to the 217 00:14:38.600 --> 00:14:45.879 topic of national security, and also along with it the 218 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:54.519 corruption of our American system and certainly the use of 219 00:14:55.080 --> 00:15:00.759 national security doing things under the guise of nation security, 220 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:05.440 using that as a smokescreen to do all sorts of 221 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:19.159 corrupt things. So the War on Terror that whole time 222 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:28.559 was really a culmination of you could take the national 223 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:31.679 security state back to the National Security Act of nineteen 224 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:35.000 forty seven, the post war period. If you use that 225 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:39.080 as like sort of a starting historical marker, it's set 226 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:45.440 in motion a chain of events that changed American foreign 227 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:50.159 policy and has affected it ever since and has gone 228 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:54.919 this to the point where we're at now. But certainly 229 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:59.559 in the post war period National Security Act, this whole 230 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:04.200 in this whole new geopolitical reality of the United States. 231 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:10.279 The United States has argued to be essentially an imperial 232 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:17.120 power by detractors of the United States, right. And the 233 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:23.080 US has engaged in all these foreign wars where they 234 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:31.200 have invaded countries not in the These are different been 235 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:38.120 sorts of different sorts of wars, lots of counterinsurgency. You've 236 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:45.759 got Vietnam, and you've got the first Gulf War, You've 237 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:54.720 got the Second Iraq War happened because of the September eleventh, 238 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:59.639 two thousand and one terror attacks. So it's all one 239 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:07.119 big through line with the to me, the the tie 240 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:12.000 that binds is the national security concept is we're keeping 241 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:16.160 not just the United States safe, but the world's safe, uh, 242 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:19.359 you know, making bringing democracy to the world, that sort 243 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:24.960 of concept, right, making the world safe for democracy, going 244 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:30.079 in there fighting the communists with Vietnam and whatnot. That 245 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:38.720 was the guys there, but also the military industrial establishment 246 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:45.599 always taking advantage of all these wars to make profits 247 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:53.160 off of. And certainly I think to think about to 248 00:17:53.240 --> 00:17:56.359 think back to nine to eleven terror attacks and then 249 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:00.400 the subsequent wars in Iraq and the Middle East. Really 250 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:07.720 those those wars took place because nine to eleven was 251 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:10.880 used as the explanation that we had to go to 252 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:13.559 war with Iraq. That was the first war we had 253 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:19.039 shortly after nine to eleven. And it was absolutely because 254 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:26.000 Saddam Hussein and Iraq was were blamed generally for being 255 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:29.279 a party to nine to eleven, when in reality they 256 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:34.240 weren't at all. But that when when that came up, 257 00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:40.000 when that fact came out, it didn't matter anymore because 258 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.279 we had already been at war and we were so 259 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:48.799 caught up in that we it was never about extricating 260 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:53.519 ourselves from the situation. And with Afghanistan, that made more 261 00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:55.920 sense to go into there, I mean, if you're tying 262 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:59.880 it to nine to eleven, but still shaky. We didn't 263 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:05.440 get out of Afghanistan until Biden first came into his presidency. 264 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.519 So it's been going on for all of these years. 265 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:17.000 And during that time, the national security establishment was working hard, 266 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:23.799 and the certainly the Bush administration's famous for passing legislation 267 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:30.039 like the Patriot Act and all these all this, so 268 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:38.400 many things to curtail civil liberties in order to keep 269 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:42.000 us safe from terror. Right, that was the idea, but 270 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:48.039 also the legitimate legitimating things like torture abroad and you know, 271 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:51.759 enhanced interrogation methods. That sort of stuff was going on 272 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:57.079 as well. So all sorts of dark things were happening, 273 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:00.720 the sorts of things that were being pointed out by 274 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:04.599 the nine to eleven Truth movement, I think was doing 275 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.960 a good job at pointing out all these horrible things 276 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:17.519 happening to our country were happening. Minimum you couldn't you 277 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:19.640 couldn't really argue the fact that things these things were 278 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:25.359 happening because of the excuse that we need to keep 279 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:30.039 ourselves safe from any other terrorists that might attack again, 280 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:33.400 right in order to fight terror, in order to prevent 281 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:35.880 it in order to keep us all safe from it happening. 282 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:38.039 If it happens again, we don't want to happen again. 283 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.119 We had to do all of these things to curtail 284 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:47.480 civil liberties. We have to give the presidential executive branch 285 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.319 of government more power. You know, the idea of the 286 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:54.599 unitary executive was beefed up by the neocons who made 287 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:58.599 up the Bush administration. So that was all going on. 288 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:03.200 They're doing all sorts of crazy projects like these total 289 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.240 information awareness projects and things like this. So this is 290 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:14.079 where the digital surveillance aspect of our modern world was. 291 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:17.519 The groundwork is being laid for that at the time, 292 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:28.519 and all this, all of it was allowed because because 293 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:32.599 of the historical fact of nine to eleven two thousand 294 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.200 and one, it's like, well, okay, he can't let that 295 00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:42.319 happen again. So the entire War on Terror, there was 296 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:47.359 so much going on. There were these really unjustified foreign 297 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:51.640 skirmishes going on in the Middle East where we were 298 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:57.680 going into countries under false pretexts, pretexts we were lying 299 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:00.519 and then going over there and then never retracting to lie, 300 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:05.359 just staying over there for long periods of time. All 301 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:10.920 the while government contractors of all sorts were making money 302 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:17.720 hand over fist, either like building infrastructure overseas in the 303 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:24.200 war zone, or building weapons, or consulting or anything, you know, 304 00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:28.720 you name it. There's all sorts of money to be made. 305 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:32.039 And we were fighting this enemy that was what just 306 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:37.039 some this ragtag bunch of terrorists that had some underground 307 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:41.720 compound in the desert somewhere that you know, we had 308 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:45.160 those graphics that Donald Rumsfeld showed us. 309 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:45.319 And. 310 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:51.200 We're almost certainly not they were fantastical, and it's like, yeah, 311 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:54.519 this is what these this is their base. See this 312 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:59.640 looked like an advertisement for some Hasbro toy or something, 313 00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:04.720 you know, so g I Joe said. But nonetheless, it 314 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:08.839 was enough to keep the machine going. And the United 315 00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:12.559 States was able to pull this off because we were 316 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:18.160 the pre eminent power on the global stage at the time, 317 00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:20.400 and we had been since the post war period. That's 318 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:23.640 how we were able to do That's how this whole 319 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:34.559 national security campaign through all these decades has been able 320 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:38.519 to continue. It is because we've had this privileged position 321 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:46.519 or economically and geopolitically, we were able to do these 322 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:48.640 sorts of things and there was no repercussions. There was 323 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:52.799 no challenger on the global stage that could come up 324 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.640 and do anything about it. So we could go anywhere 325 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.279 we want and just like make up a reason to 326 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:03.200 do it and you know, lie to the the establishment, 327 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:05.799 would lie to the population just to get them to 328 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:09.279 go along with it. Meanwhile, the world, you know, they 329 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:12.119 have varying takes on this, but basically they can see 330 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:16.279 what we are doing, not really making a good name 331 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:20.519 for ourselves the whole time. But it was. 332 00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:22.880 Easy and. 333 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:29.400 Yes, those who were able to get in and make 334 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:34.839 a whole lot of profits from all of this did. 335 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:41.839 And Keith Alexander here who retired from I don't know 336 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:44.599 if he was retired from the NSA or what, but 337 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:50.960 you retired in twenty fourteen. And he was at work 338 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:54.119 in the system within the government side of this, not 339 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:56.319 the private side of it, but he was in government, 340 00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:01.039 in national security at the head of it during the 341 00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:05.240 War on Terror. He gets out and what I think 342 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:09.680 he was trying to do here with iron Net was 343 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:15.000 the old standard sort of concept of oh yeah, it's 344 00:25:15.079 --> 00:25:15.920 revolving door. 345 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:16.279 Time. 346 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:18.480 I did all my time as a big shot in 347 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:22.920 national security in the government, in the military. Now now's 348 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:24.759 my time to start up my own company to make 349 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:29.759 a ridiculous fortune off of it. You don't take a 350 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:31.279 public make a bunch of money off the. 351 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:31.799 Stock all that. 352 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:35.599 You know, that's what everybody does. It's going to be cybersecurity. 353 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:39.000 That's my specialty. That was my area of expertise. So 354 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:42.559 we're going to start up the cybersecurity company. And if 355 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:45.720 it works, okay, If it doesn't, also okay, because you 356 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:48.799 know that's you know, it doesn't have to work. Like 357 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:51.839 look at the F thirty five. We always point to that. 358 00:25:51.960 --> 00:25:54.400 I always do. It's like that thing doesn't have to work, 359 00:25:55.079 --> 00:26:02.039 it just has to be subcontractor upon subcontractor making money 360 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:06.759 off of it ridiculous amounts of parts. It's just like 361 00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:10.240 in RoboCop with ED two oh nine that murders a 362 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:13.920 board member of OCP. It just shoots him, and then 363 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:17.200 later on the film, the the head evil guy there 364 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:20.519 at OCP was like, yeah, you ruined my ED two 365 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:24.039 nine project. It didn't matter if it worked. We had 366 00:26:24.440 --> 00:26:27.440 we had contracts with the military for decades, and he 367 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:29.519 just going on, like parts of labor and all of this. 368 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:33.720 That's exactly it. That's how it works. That's how it 369 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:37.680 has worked, and it's worked, and it's been profitable, profitable 370 00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:41.279 because we have had a privileged position that's allowed us 371 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:45.960 to do that's all a corrupt establishment to do these 372 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:50.279 sorts of things. But it's fascinating to see that this 373 00:26:50.440 --> 00:26:54.680 didn't iron Net did not work out for anybody involved. 374 00:26:54.680 --> 00:26:58.680 Certainly Alexander ends up getting egg on his face over this, 375 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.640 and I find it striking, and I think that part 376 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:08.000 of the issue here is that we're not living in 377 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:13.279 the warrantaries over the glory days of the United States 378 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:20.359 are gone. We have been in this transitional period for 379 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:25.720 a while where we're moving towards something else. Certainly at 380 00:27:25.720 --> 00:27:29.400 the moment we're in the Great Powers competition that all 381 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:32.759 the big shots like to tell us about. It's a 382 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:37.680 Great Powers competition previously called Cold War two point zero. 383 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:48.839 The tensions of the rising developing nations, the bricks countries, 384 00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:56.799 the big scary names being Russia, China, and Iran always 385 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:02.079 pop up again and again, and certainly Russia and China 386 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:11.079 being the major economic, geopolitical rivals of the United States 387 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:14.839 at this time, and they are true rivals. They actually 388 00:28:14.920 --> 00:28:19.279 have resources, have the ability to not just sit there 389 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:22.440 and watch whatever the US decides it wants to do 390 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:27.440 any given year. But now there's consequences for what we do, 391 00:28:27.640 --> 00:28:30.279 because we're not the only kid on the block anymore. 392 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:33.240 And in this. 393 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:39.480 Article it did mention C five capital. There the guy 394 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:45.240 who was an investor there was the Russian oligarch. The 395 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:48.960 problem for anything to do with national security, cybersecurity in 396 00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:50.559 the US, and that. 397 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:52.200 Is a problem. 398 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:57.000 The oligarchs are part of their part and parcel with 399 00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:03.920 the Russian government with Putin, the whole system, that's their system. 400 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:09.000 Putin has his guys they're the ones that are in control, 401 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:11.839