Yesterday I wrote a blog entry which discussed the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association, which is sponsoring a self-described “competing” Fort Hood memorial event, on 21 November. The event is being organised by Walid Shoebat – who goes around churches preaching that the Bible predicts a “Muslim anti-Christ” and that Obama is a Muslim – and speakers include the anti-Islam activist Robert Spencer and Gen William Boykin, who teaches that the USA is in religious war against Islam. The ICTOA’s sponsorship was noted just recently by WorldNetDaily, and the ICTOA’s director Michael Riker is apparently “conducting interviews on this topic” alongside Shoebat’s handler Keith Davies. [UPDATE: A new press release adds:
“This unofficial Ft Hood Memorial Event will deal with issues of terror that have been swept under the carpet. In the last several years political correctness is destroying law enforcement’s ability to defend the citizens of America as evidenced by the tragedy of the Ft Hood massacre. You will also hear experts outline how law enforcement is hampered in their ability to do their jobs properly, to protect the public and our military.” says Mike Riker…]
So, as I do, I decided to look into who exactly Riker is and what exactly the ICTOA do. I previously noted that in October it had held an anti-terror conference involving the likes of Ilana Freedman, Steve Emerson, Shoebat, Aaron Richman, and Ben Venzke; in 2009, speakers had included Jarret Brachman.
Riker is a retired police officer, and he apparently works closely with a organisation calling itself “Griffith Colson Intelligence Service”; he has contributed to its websites and reportedly has had long discussions over the phone on security matters with W. Edward Griffith, who until recently was in charge of GCIS. However, there was something weird about the GCIS: there is strange a web of self-referencing on-line newspapers and magazines, until recently published by Griffith but since sold off, containing very little original (if any) material besides information about GCIS and its associates.
The only “outsider” to have taken an interest was a certain “Shabbir Azim”, about whom there is very little on-line. However, according to one a report supposedly from “IslamicWorldJournal” (but now deleted):
A private spy chief is out of a job following revelations that he once worked as a transvestite prostitute and particpated in countless gay sex parties during his term as head of his agency.
…Griffith, who is a known transvestite, was the subject of a major media assault when Islamic activist Shabbir Azim launched a campaign to out Griffith sexcapades and history of prostitution.
By coincidence, IslamicWorldJournal was published on tumblr – as were some sites controlled by Griffith. Sites controlled by Griffith are also the only other source for details about the sex scandal (which he has admitted occured before he came “to know God”).
Further mention of Azim comes from Griffith’s Bramford Times:
The conflict started Sunday morning, after Griffith had delivered a radio broadcast the night before in remembrance of 911… His speech was aggressive, clearly defining Islamic extremism as “the most violent enemy in our nation’s history”. Sunday morning Azim said he would launch a Facebook and twitter protest against Griffith’s radio address and likened the 43-year old GCIS chief to Hitler and Hussein. Describing himself as an “activist”, Azim went a step further and had posted a comment on Facebook that vowed to attack the online network of GCIS.
…Monday morning began with a compiled report on Azim’s posts and a summary was sent to Facebook corporate headquarters. A request to have Azim’s profile removed went unacknowledged. As they waited, Cohen and her team, under orders from the Director, began launching what was billed as a series of “cyber security exercises”… At 3:45 Wednesday morning Director W. Edward Griffith gave the order and Cohen’s team brought Azim’s Facebook profile down.
Around the same time, Azim also posted a one-off message to a conspiracy theory forum:
Questions surround a new security start-up that is building on plans to create a massive private intelligence network to aid government intelligence agencies, says a source who believes the project is more than meets the eye.
Securitas Global Group (SGG) is a super secret international corporate octopus, founded in 2010 by entrepreneurs and assembled from a variety of different businesses. Some have even gone as far as to say the firm is really a ‘Shadow Government’ and is at the beckon call of intelligence agencies. The goal of SGG is to create the largest private intelligence outfit in the world (and some say beyond, with plans to take intelligence communications to space). “The posts held by SGG officers are cryptic. they are part of a complex international intelligence and communications web (an interconnected control system) which links Tri-lateralist plans, the Council on Foreign relations, the Illuminati and other interlocking groups”, says once source who wishes to remain anonymous.
Financed by private money from Max Baumann, SGG is a privately held company with an undergound corporate headquarters located somewhere in Virginia. The mandate if SGG, says our source, is the disruption of Islam and the growth of Islam in the United States. They are crusaders for the war on terror and are strong supporters of Bush/Cheney. The center of SGG operations, says the source, is unknown. Some believe the company operates from Israel, while other believe Washington D.C. or London is the central headquarters.
GCIS describes itself as a “division” of SGG.
Yesterday, I received two interesting comments to my blog. At 8.36pm one came from Azim, whose fluency in English has strangely deteroriated:
I pleased for you that you stand with the Ummah. They close my website these people
Ten minutes later, a certain “Jason Kline” commented:
Your sympathies for Muslims and left-wingers says all that needs to be said. It is clear you report from the surface and don’t care about the work being done. It is a shame when you can’t be fair because of your lack of a lass. Your little bio says volumes about what motivates you. I thought I would enjoy your take on the events of the day. You clearly lack balance in your blogging.
Perhaps readers will not overly be surprised to learn that “Kline”‘s email address in fact resolves on Facebook to Max Baumann. And perhaps readers will not be stunned and amazed by the remarkable coincidence that Kline and Azim have exactly the same IP address: 173.72.229.37.
I sense a recurring theme here somewhere…
Filed under: Uncategorized
There are a few points you make that need clarity. First of all, there is nothing weird about an organisation holding media assets for private sector promote, self-promotion or business. I would also add that many companies and organisations hold these assets also for the benefit of their clients and the promotion of their work. The government, in turn, often awards contracts to these organisations to manage press and media on certain matters of defense. Ex-KGB officer Alexander Lebedev continues to expand his media base, buying online and off-line newspapers and sources in an effort to carry on his own work.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-24/ex-kgb-spy-lebedev-hunts-journalist-killer-as-he-expands-u-k-media-empire.html
Building influence in a competitive marketplace is nothing new and certainly not weird. You also stated in a previous article that Mr. Riker’s organisation is made up of a FEW law enforcement and security personnel. In fact, the ICTOA has a large membership which include man and women on the frontline of combating terrorism and making certain the public has the information they deserve and require to remain vigilant. The work of organisations like the JIDF, NMIA, ICTOA and others like ours all hold a common goal…to make the effort to providing information to combat terrorism clearly available. On the matter of the ICTOA conferences…these have proven to be vital training and educational tools and have been among the most informative of its kind.
One thing I would like to mention is that all of these organisations have one thing in common. They are self-supportive and self-funded. They do not accept government funds or the funds of any political group. I have a hand in volunteering daily to the work of GCIS. Whether it is adding programming to the online broadcasting channels or networking the live feeds, I do it for the same reason we all do it. Our work targets extremism in any form. religious extremism, whether it is Islamic or Christian, and it is a threat to our society. With the boom in private intelligence and intelligence communications, not everyone is in it for the money. You should talk with some of us and learn a little more about what we do everyday. The Internet age has also unleashed an era of self promotion on every level. Whether a blogger or a business, self-promotion has always been the active ingredient in a competitive market and in every other facet of business or even politics. The number of security and intelligence companies and private organisations alone that have media outlets or publishing units is staggering, though a mainstay. As far as the use of tumblr as a venue for our former media outlets, the use of that format is simply the best. newsweek, the New Yorker, and even Pentehouse have gone with tumblr because it is simply the very best. (You may want to look into that for your own blog).
On that note, I leave you with a quote from the ‘Master of the Deal’ himself…Donald Trump:
“The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts.”
Avi
“People’s fantasies” being the key term here.
As for “making certain the public has the information they deserve and require to remain vigilant”, the likes of Shoebat and Spencer can hardly be relied on to do that.
I have to admit that I appreciate your take on what you’ve written. You articulate a very independent view. I want to explain the difference between how you perceive GCIS and what we do everyday.
Our primary focus is intelligence communications from open sources that provide the top briefings into one network. While we are not the only one’s that have done this, we have built a solid network with partners in many areas of disaster preparedness and security. We also built an online media network to further that work and give added support to promoting our clients, our partners and those in the field.
The “Will Griffith element” was removed from GCIS because of his inability to keep his sex life in check. His sexual flamboyance was embarrassing and irresponsible. Our directors voted for his removal and we turned many of our media resources over to an independent party because he had utilized those sources for his own agenda.
We have a strong operating policy in supporting human rights, no bias toward any religion, political affiliation and do not, by any means, take a religious view in our work.
The problem with Mr. Griffith at the helm was that while he was talking about his conservative, religious faith, he participated in a private life that went against the grain of that.
With regard to Mr. Riker, the ICTOA is a valued contributor to the work of counter-terrorism. The perception that he is close to GCIS is the case, but he neither condones nor is he close with Mr. Griffith.
GCIS was founded as a communications network focused on open source intelligence and remains focused on that. Our work is consistent and does not hold that terrorism is confined to any particular religion. We have networked information concerning Rev. Fred Phelps and other Christian extremist groups who spew hatred laced in religious doctrine. Any form of extremism, whether religious or political, is distasteful and a threat to people in general.
The dialogue you create by focusing on religion in your writings is commendable and important. I just hope that you will give GCIS the benefit of doing what it has always done without holding us in judgment over the personal life of Mr. Griffith.
Our work is valued by our partners and those who come to us for information. We have made every effort to provide that to them with consistency and responsibility.
We do not purport to be the authority on these matters, but we do what we set out to do.
The integration of religion in policy is, quite simply, bad policy. We do work with cyber security companies in monitoring sites that are based on hate and injustice. Whether that sites spews its hate against a Jew, a Muslim, a gay or lesbian or another political view, we try to network and communicate that information in the interests of respecting humanity in all of its stations in life.
Your blog does bring focus in that regard. You project the integration of religion in policy as a threat, and in this we agree.
We are still growing. We rely on the suggestions of people to do our job better and to be more balanced. Our partners and our team work together to make certain we achieve this on a daily basis.
Thank you for the opportunity to explain. Whether you allow this post or not, at least you know that you did not go unheard and that while there may be differences in perception, we are closer to being on the same page than perhaps we both realized.
Sincerely,
David
The USA is certainly going downhill if it is that easy to milk cash from the whitehouse.
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