New documents reveal a covert British military-intelligence smear machine meddling in American politics
The
Integrity Initiative has mobilized an international disinformation
campaign across Europe. Now, with government and right-wing
foundation money, this massive “political smear unit” is
infiltrating the US.
by
Max Blumenthal and Mark Ames
Part
7 - The “Main Event” in Seattle
An
Integrity Initiative internal document argues that because “DC
is well served by existing US institutions, such as those with which
the Institute [for Statecraft] already collaborates,” the
organization should “concentrate on extending the work of the
Integrity Initiative into major cities and key State capitals [sic]
across the USA.”
This
December 10, the Integrity Initiative organized what it called
its “main event” in the US. It was a conference on disinformation
held in Seattle, Washington under the auspices of a data firm called
Adventium Labs. Together with the Technical Leadership
Institute at the University of Minnesota, the Integrity Initiative
listed Adventium Labs as one of its “first partners
outside DC.”
Adventium
is Minneapolis-based research and development firm that has reaped
contracts from the US military, including a recent $5.4 million
cyber-security grant from the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, or DARPA.
Inside a
modest-sized hotel conference room, the Adventium/Integrity event
began with a speech by the Integrity Initiative’s Simon
Bracey-Lane. Two years prior, Bracey-Lane appeared on the American
political scene as a field worker for Bernie Sanders’ 2016
presidential primary run, earning media write-ups as the “Brit for
Bernie.” Now, the young operator was back in the US as the advance
man for a military-intelligence cut-out that specialized in smearing
left-wing political figures like Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader
widely regarded as the British version of Sanders.
Bracey-Lane
opened his address by explaining that Integrity Initiative
director Chris Donnelly had been unable to appear at the event,
possibly because he was bogged down in the scandal back home. He
proceeded to read remarks prepared by Donnelly that offered a window
into the frighteningly militaristic mindset the Integrity
Initiative aims to impose on the public through their media and
political allies.
According
to Donnelly’s comments, the West was no longer in a “peace
time, rules based environment.” From the halls of government to
corporate boardrooms to even the UK’s National Health System, “the
conclusion is that we have to look for people who suit a wartime
environment rather than peacetime.”
During
Q&A, Bracey-Lane remarked that “we have to change the
definition of war to encompass everything that war now encompasses,”
referring vaguely to various forms of “hybrid warfare.”
“There
is a great deal to be done in communicating that to young people,”
he continued. “When we mean being at war we don’t mean sending
our boys off to fight. It’s right here in our homes.”
The
emphasis on restructuring society along martial lines mirrored the
disturbing thinking also on display in notes of a private meeting
between Donnelly and Gen. Richard Barrons in 2016. During that chat,
the two officers decided that the British military should be removed
from democratic supervision and be able to operate as “an
independent body outside politics.”
While
Bracey-Lane’s presentation perfectly captured the military mindset
of the Integrity Initiative, the speakers that followed him
offered a diverse array of perspectives on the concept of
disinformation, some more nuanced than others. But one talk stood out
from the rest — not because of its quality, but because of its
complete lack thereof.
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