Infiltration, Provocation and Surveillance American Style

AI Generated Photo of Trump Arrest

Dmitry Orlov

I now live in Russia, a happy country where roughly 90% of the population supports the president and his special operation in the former Ukraine, feels that the country is moving in the right direction and is generally unified and patriotic.

This is quite unlike the US, where I lived before and where roughly half the population absolutely hates the government, making no comparison to Russia even possible. What’s more, the other roughly half of the US population absolutely hates their country, taking pleasure in burning flags and toppling historical monuments. It’s a manic, bipolar sort of country with a touch of schizophrenia.

What makes this situation particularly amusing is that the first, government-hating half includes plenty of both former and acting soldiers, policemen and spooks while the second half is stocked with all sorts of activists, anarchists, would-be terrorists and general misfits and malcontents. Both sides have formed organizations with memberships into the hundreds of thousands of potential torch and pitchfork wielding maniacs seemingly ready to launch into waves of murder and mayhem at a drop of a hat.

So, what keeps this entire moiling fiasco of a country under control? Why hasn’t it blown up yet? The keys to keeping a tight lid on it are infiltration, provocation, surveillance and very long prison terms for anyone who tries to act rather than just talk. Every organization is chock-full of agents and informants. Any incipient action finds ready support from agents skilled in the arts of provocation and entrapment.

The scheme is basic and simple and becoming an agent is far easier than, say joining a gang or the mafia. Agents have more money, more free time and can safely show more initiative than the rest. If their techniques don’t work, the troublemakers can have a little accident and find themselves under the wheels of a truck, or end up in jail for some reason or other (the laws are such that an average American commits several felonies per day, most of them unwittingly).

Most of the better-known cases against both the right-wing and the left-wing extremists have involved persons almost half of whom are agents. Sometimes this is positively comic; for instance, out of the five people in the car that was on the way to try to kidnap the governor of Michigan, three were FBI agents. Tens of those involved in the January 9th event are not identified by name — because they are agents. And it turned out that the head of one of the most vilified right-wing organizations — the Proud Boys — is an FBI agent, but this in no way deterred the authorities from accusing these white supremacists of every crime imaginable.

Where infiltration doesn’t seem worthwhile, there is surveillance. Almost every single gathering of any size is monitored: churches, mosques, synagogues, clubs, down to condominium associations and sewing and knitting circles. Where active surveillance isn’t considered worthwhile, there is artificial intelligence. Do you have a Facebook or a Twitter account? Do you use WhatsApp? Well then, you can be sure that all of your communications are being scanned by an automated agent for signs of subversive activity.

But suppose you are a very quiet person and don’t share your subversive, revolutionary thoughts with anyone at all. Well then, there is a technique to lure you out: attempts will be made to befriend you, to invite you to gatherings or to otherwise involve you in some group of other that may seem quite innocuous and pleasant so as not to spook you. If you let your guard down and voice your disapproval of the government or suggest that it needs to change, your name will go on a list and you will be scrutinized for signs of subversive activity, including your physical movements, financial transactions and your family members. If you are then found to be a sufficiently high risk subject, an agent will approach you and offer you some remuneration for your participation in some action or other. You will be kept in the dark about the nature of the action up until your arrest — but good luck proving that in court!

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