Plotting a Coup In the Internet Age

chrb writes "The Guardian is reporting on the attempts of an exiled Sheikh to regain power in a bloodless coup. The plot, led by British solicitor Peter Cathcart, involves the use of Washington political lobbyists, PR agencies writing fake blogs and Twitter accounts, and a newspaper advertising campaign in the US. The coup attempt is remarkable in its choice of modern communications and political lobbying, rather than the traditional resort to violence."

Comments

Not a coup...

[marco.antonio.costa]

attempts of an exiled Sheikh to regain power in a bloodless coup. The plot, led by British solicitor Peter Cathcart, involves the use of Washington political lobbyists, PR agencies writing fake blogs and Twitter accounts, and a newspaper advertising campaign in the US.

That's called politics.

Re:Historically wrong

[fnj]

It's an interesting thought. The American "Revolution" was not so much a revolution as a war of independence (as was the American "Civil" War). One succeeded (with important outside help), and one failed. Both were clearly different from real revolutions such as the French Revolution and the October Revolution. I am not sure what bearing, if any, this has on your remark about bloodless revolutions. I think the reason that bloodless revolutions, if successful, seldom have return engagements, is simply that the status quo side is not very committed - else they would not have been bloodless in the first place.

Re:It's legal for foreign money to be spent lobbyi

[Hadlock]

I think you're twisting what I'm saying here. Otherwise known as trolling. I am saying to limit lobbying from international entities. Only allow domestic dollars and companies to lobby our government. In practice domestic entities are typically looking for some sort of gain.
 
I'm sure the Chinese or Russians wouldn't like it very much if I started paying their party leaders to enact policies that awarded me (not a Chinese or Russian citizen) lots and lots of contracts for military hardware, sold me the state-owned mineral rights to oil fields and gold and precious gem mines at 10% of the actual value, and then export those raw goods duty (export tax) free to the USA where their prices are much higher. The Russians lose money on that deal, the Chinese loose money on that deal, but I come out way, way ahead. How much would it cost to keep my loyal politicians in support of my raping of their lands, despite public outcry and my willful ignorance of environmental law? Not nearly as much as the money I'm making.
 
Surely the Russians and Chinese in that instance would not approve of my foreign money influencing their politics that way? Would you allow that sort of abuse of our government on our watch? Let the domestic lobbyists do what they will, at least when they're abusing our government, the majority of the money stays in the country. Right now we're exporting literally billions, tens of billions of dollars in hard currency in addition to military hardware based on private international lobbying efforts. The cost:benefit ratio in these situations is very, very high, that is, unless you're a politician facing a difficult reelection.

Re:Is there a missing link?

[Anonymous Coward]

My guess would be to start here: http://twitter.com/sheikhkhalidrak
and here: http://www.rakforthepeople.com/blog/

Captcha: unrest

Re:It's legal for foreign money to be spent lobbyi

[Hadlock]

Corporations have to funnel money through PACs. PAC spending is closely monitored by competing PACs. PACs are generally limited to ~$5,000 per employee. Shell corporations only have a handful of employees. It's not a perfect system and can be abused, but at least something exists to avoid wholesale abuse of the lobbying system. From wikipedia:

Contributions by individuals to federal PACs are limited to $5,000 per year. Federal multi-candidate PACs are limited in the amount of money they can contribute to candidate campaigns or other organizations:

• at most $5,000 per candidate per election. Elections such as primaries, general elections and special elections are counted separately.
• at most $15,000 per political party per year.
• at most $5,000 per PAC per year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee

Re:It's legal for foreign money to be spent lobbyi

[techno-vampire]

You can donate a maximum of $1100 to each party or candidate every year.

Yes, and there are people who follow the lead of Howard Hughes, and do exactly that: give the maximum to every candidate, no matter what their platform. That way, whoever wins, they'll be able to say, "I gave."

Re:It's legal for foreign money to be spent lobbyi

[qbzzt]

Nope, that would just be silly.... 100% public funds. Not a dime out of their own pockets could be spent towards the election.

So I'm not allowed to endorse a candidate in my own publication? Or on my own Web page? That would kill freedom of speech.

Re:It's legal for foreign money to be spent lobbyi

[Dishevel]

Every other civilized country in the world has done it.

Your statement proves beyond any doubt whatsoever that you sir are and most likely always will be an idiot. You lose.