Should Chinese Government be Hired to Obtain Bush Administration E-mails?

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

With the recent revelation of what seems to be the Chinese government hacking into the White House computer system and stealing information, perhaps Congress should look into hiring them.

With the inability of lawmakers such as Reps. John Conyers and Henry Waxman to get access to White House e-mails and other information, even after issuing subpoenas, this frightening news might get some wheels turning in Congress.

Earlier this year, the Pentagon admitted to being foiled by the Chinese, reportedly losing a prolonged cat-and-mouse game with persistent hackers. Other governmental agencies, from Labor to Health and Human Services to Commerce, have reported similar breaches. There are also indications that the Chinese have hacked into the computer networks of both the Obama and McCain presidential campaigns. Even Congress itself says it has been the target of Chinese hackers.

So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  Or at least get them working for you.

Congress has failed to get information from the White House and other government agencies in a variety of cases, including Plamegate, the illegal firing of U.S. attorneys, the rationale for going to war with Iraq, the use of RNC e-mail accounts to do government business, and warrantless wiretapping, not to mention dozens of additional subpoenas and requests for information with which the White House has refused to comply or even openly mocked.

If it's too late to impeach Bush for ignoring subpoenas, then perhaps Congress should go after the information in the only way that's shown successes: subversion.

But, in all seriousness, this is a real cause for concern. The Chinese are doing this sort of thing all over the planet, in a concerted effort to achieve "electronic dominance" over the rest of the world by 2050.

Still, they are specifically targeting the U.S.  And it's not just innocuous information they seek, either. The Pentagon attack reportedly was an effort to get the technology to jam our aircraft carrier battle fleet.

The Chinese have used a variety of techniques to gain access to information at all levels of the U.S. government. This is a huge problem.

Let's hope the incoming president, with his post-Baby Boom worldview, will be as interested in defending our technology and information as the last president was in protecting oil companies' interests. If the way Obama's campaign was run is any indication, he's got a few tech-savvy people at his disposal. And let's all thank our lucky stars we didn't end up with the candidate who doesn't know how to use a computer.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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