CIA officer interviewed on RTE/US Military-industrial-intelligence infiltration

sabat

I saw this feature on the news the other day-it was presented as a typical puff-piece of Irish tech doing well/jobs for the West etc with an angle of airplane safety-just your typical mildly interesting RTE filler. Then at 1:40 the CEO of Aireon appears- a man with such a blatant case of "agency face" that he might as well have 'CIA' tattooed across his forehead:

https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2019/0709/1060947-aireon-alert-shannon/

His profile on the company's website more or less confirms this-ex-military then to the companies Iridium, ORBCOMM and ObjectVideo, all with intelligence connections.

Iridium turned out to be very useful. The U.S. Government put in money after the bankruptcy to keep it alive, in exchange for half of the airtime. After the US invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, that turned out to be very useful.
The system has satellite-to-satellite links, and a call between two Iridium handsets doesn't go through ground stations. Back in 1999, the FBI was concerned that they wouldn't be able to wiretap Iridium calls. A capability for that was added. When the Government took a share in the system, network control was moved from Schaumburg, IL, to the Virginia suburbs near CIA HQ.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8737127


https://aireon.com/company/board-of-directors/don-thoma/

The company's chairman is a former Transportation Secretary, via the notorious CIA propaganda outfit Hill & Knowlton, while the bios of the other board members read like a roll-call of the usual names of the military-industrial complex (Lockheed-Martin etc):

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/LIE/HK/HK2.html

https://aireon.com/company/us-advisory-board/honorable-norman-y-mineta/

So the question is this:have the US military established a satellite listening station on Irish soil (yes IMO) and why has our government permitted them to do so in such an underhanded fashion (via the semi-state Irish Aviation Authority)?

Dohnjoe

They are setting up a system to track all planes with satellites - seems like a decent system to have. The IAA appear to be one of the first to invest in it, as a result looks like they have secured the headquarters to be located in Clare.

Just to get this right, you suspect this as being a cover for some sort of satellite listening system? as in the US are using it to "spy" on foreign satellites or?

sabat

Dohnjoe wrote: »

Just to get this right, you suspect this as being a cover for some sort of satellite listening system? as in the US are using it to "spy" on foreign satellites or?

No, I'm saying that this is a US military intelligence installation to track all types of aircraft from a strategically important location, and which has been given a veneer of neutrality by facilitating it via an ersatz private company and emphasising its civilian use. If you listen to the radio segment on the same rte page the interviewer asks the guy how much it will cost airlines to use the service and you can detect just the slightest awkwardness when he states that it's free-Aerion obviously being one of those American corporations famed for giving away stuff for the good of humanity.

Beechwoodspark

“agency face”. The hell?!!

sabat

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

“agency face”. The hell?!!

If he hadn't appeared in the clip I would have forgotten about this whole thing already but his appearance, demeanor and presence at an event like this just jumped off the screen at me. It's a combination of things-the haircut is probably the same one he's got since the day he joined the airforce but grown out a bit for business, the fairly expressionless face, the clipped, measured way of speaking etc. Do you at least acknowledge, after reading his CV, that he and his company are part of what is commonly understood as "the military-industrial complex?" Do I at least get some points for clocking him as ex-military (confirmed as true)?

Nigzcurran

sabat wrote: »

If he hadn't appeared in the clip I would have forgotten about this whole thing already but his appearance, demeanor and presence at an event like this just jumped off the screen at me. It's a combination of things-the haircut is probably the same one he's got since the day he joined the airforce but grown out a bit for business, the fairly expressionless face, the clipped, measured way of speaking etc. Do you at least acknowledge, after reading his CV, that he and his company are part of what is commonly understood as "the military-industrial complex?" Do I at least get some points for clocking him as ex-military (confirmed as true)?

No you don’t

sabat

Nigzcurran wrote: »

No you don’t

That's disappointing coming from such a long-standing and respected poster as yourself.

Phileas Frog

sabat wrote: »

That's disappointing coming from such a long-standing and respected poster as yourself.

I'm sure you will get over the disappointment

Nigzcurran

sabat wrote: »

That's disappointing coming from such a long-standing and respected poster as yourself.

Maybe I’m an agency plant