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There's also the added bonus of timing, as the torture report seemed to only be gaining steam up until this. Also, the concept of "cyber-terrorism" being a thi

by ddod 12y ago

There's also the added bonus of timing, as the torture report seemed to only be gaining steam up until this. Also, the concept of "cyber-terrorism" being a thing seemed kind of ubiquitous to me, but from what I've been hearing, it really wasn't on the minds of the populous until the 24 hour news networks started drumming it up in relation to the Sony hack.

mpyne 12y ago
> There's also the added bonus of timing, as the torture report seemed to only be gaining steam up until this. I doubt it was that, if only because North Korea has been complaining about this movie since long before the CIA torture report was released (so it's not like "The Interview" just popped up into the media after that). Moreover the report itself is more a catalyst for discussing something everyone knows about than an announcement of something novel. The world has known the U.S. was torturing people during Bush for more than a decade by now. That's the whole reason terms like "waterboarding" are in our lexicon. Likewise Obama publicly eliminated the use of torture on his second full day in office, after running on a public campaign of banning torture during his Presidential run. Choosing to exchange a report that is only a 'source of heat and light' for a serious cyberhacking incident that demonstrates the weakness of U.S. options vs. North Korea isn't really an upside for the U.S. government as far as I can tell. Extortion and blackmail from state actors is precisely the thing the U.S. government is supposed to protect U.S. persons and corporations from, so a U.S. admission that North Korea has managed to "reach out and touch Sony Pictures" is bad news for the U.S. government, not good news.
- crdoconnor 12y ago
  >Extortion and blackmail from state actors is precisely the thing the U.S. government is supposed to protect U.S. persons and corporations from, so a U.S. admission that North Korea has managed to "reach out and touch Sony Pictures" is bad news for the U.S. government, not good news. The relevant actor in this case is not the whole US government acting on its own agenda, but departments of the federal government acting on theirs. I already explained why it's great news for them - precisely because it engenders the same reaction that you just had. Good enough that they'd invent it even if it weren't true (just like yellowcake).
waterlesscloud 12y ago
> the torture report seemed to only be gaining steam up until this. This isn't remotely true. There was no 'gaining steam'. It was a topic for a week, and then it was always going to fall off the table. There was no need to distract from something that was already fading from the spotlight.

by ddod 12y ago

mpyne 12y ago

> There's also the added bonus of timing, as the torture report seemed to only be gaining steam up until this. I doubt it was that, if only because North Korea has been complaining about this movie since long before the CIA torture report was released (so it's not like "The Interview" just popped up into the media after that). Moreover the report itself is more a catalyst for discussing something everyone knows about than an announcement of something novel. The world has known the U.S. was torturing people during Bush for more than a decade by now. That's the whole reason terms like "waterboarding" are in our lexicon. Likewise Obama publicly eliminated the use of torture on his second full day in office, after running on a public campaign of banning torture during his Presidential run. Choosing to exchange a report that is only a 'source of heat and light' for a serious cyberhacking incident that demonstrates the weakness of U.S. options vs. North Korea isn't really an upside for the U.S. government as far as I can tell. Extortion and blackmail from state actors is precisely the thing the U.S. government is supposed to protect U.S. persons and corporations from, so a U.S. admission that North Korea has managed to "reach out and touch Sony Pictures" is bad news for the U.S. government, not good news.

crdoconnor 12y ago
>Extortion and blackmail from state actors is precisely the thing the U.S. government is supposed to protect U.S. persons and corporations from, so a U.S. admission that North Korea has managed to "reach out and touch Sony Pictures" is bad news for the U.S. government, not good news. The relevant actor in this case is not the whole US government acting on its own agenda, but departments of the federal government acting on theirs. I already explained why it's great news for them - precisely because it engenders the same reaction that you just had. Good enough that they'd invent it even if it weren't true (just like yellowcake).

waterlesscloud 12y ago

> the torture report seemed to only be gaining steam up until this. This isn't remotely true. There was no 'gaining steam'. It was a topic for a week, and then it was always going to fall off the table. There was no need to distract from something that was already fading from the spotlight.