The aim is not to keep them safe, but to keep the foreign policy and economic interests of the U.S. safe.

…

Undermine the Syrian government was the goal, and Roebuck had a plan on how to do it. The main points were about "the conflict between economic reform steps (however limited) and entrenched, corrupt forces, the Kurdish question, and the potential threat to the regime from the increasing presence of transiting Islamist extremists."

Third Place (8 SBD)

Exit Festival

by @palikari123

Last but definitely not least, another superb entry by our friend @palikari123 that focuses on the Exit Festival. This premier European music festival is highly acclaimed and has grown over the years to have several offshoots. The festival was started by student democratic movements in the year 2000, that push an agenda of social consciousness and political “change”. @palikari123 details how this seemingly benign event and others like it have been sponsored by organizations such as USAID, The National Endowment for Democracy and George Soro’s Open Society among others. These organizations have ties to social upheavals in numerous countries including the Ukraine and Syria.

it also explains how the main driving force of opposition was achieved through external forces, using local and grass roots efforts to obscure the external influences of material and economic support.

This piece not only highlights how the US openly interferes and aims to influence the politics of sovereign nations (see Russia-gate hysteria) but it also highlights how ‘soft power’ is employed to achieve strategic objectives aligned with US foreign policy.

Fascinating piece, and keep up the wonderful work!

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Incoming Wikileaks Releases?

Early today, Deep Dives researcher and fellow steemian @fortified posted about the recent cryptic tweets from the Wikileaks twitter account.

Wikileaks | Quest of Random Clues

The excellent detective work by @fortified and others reveal that Data Centers / Clouds / Surveillance State are likely the focus of upcoming revelations. It also suggests that we could expect a new batch of Wikileaks being released soon, perhaps in the days and weeks to come.

If there’s a new release, @deepdives will be conducting a special edition research challenge open to anyone who wishes to join in. Keep a close eye on Wikileaks’ official twitter and official website in the coming days.

https://twitter.com/wikileaks

https://wikileaks.org

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