Just too funny to not share

[Tridimity]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-23962379

 

From the BBC News Magazine Monitor:

 

The animals mistaken for spies

Egyptian authorities detained a stork last week on suspicion of espionage, mistaking its migration tag for spying equipment. In fact the stork was innocent - like a number of other animals falsely accused over the years of undercover work, writes Mohamed Madi.

In 2011, Saudi authorities arrested a high-flying vulture on suspicion that it was flying missions for Israel's famously ingenious Mossad agency. And a spate of shark attacks near the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in 2010 was blamed by one TV station on GPS-controlled predators planted by Israel in order to harm the Egyptian tourism industry.

Iran has also felt threatened by animal agents. In 2007 the Iranian army arrested a team of 14 "spy squirrels" found near a nuclear enrichment plant. Officials said they succeeded in apprehending the suspects "before they were able to take any action".

 

[WWLabRat]

It's a reasonable enough suspicion... I mean animals were used for various things all through both world wars and then some... Still funny though.

[Deidre]

wow, paranoid much?

[WWLabRat]

Me or the Egyptians?

[CaptainPanic]

It's not so far fetched at all. It is only funny because they probably got it wrong. But as WWLabRat said, there are plenty of animals that were used for spying and other military purposes.

Examples:

- Mine clearing military dolphins

- Bomb sniffing rats

- (Homing) pigeons for carrying messages and photography

 

Obviously dogs and other domestic animals are used all the time, but the list is really much longer than you think...

[Iggy]

It is only funny because they probably got it wrong.

 

Yeah, probably got it wrong. Probably.

 

More funny, from your link:

 

In 2007 Iranian authorities captured 14 squirrels, which were allegedly carrying spying equipment. The story was widely dismissed in the West as "nuts".^[17]

A number of spying scares in the Middle East involved birds. According to Israeli ornithologist Yossi Leshem, Sudanese authorities detained an Egyptian Vulture in the late 1970s, and a White Pelican in the early 1980s, both carrying Israeli equipment used for animal migration tracking. A more mediatized event was the 2011 capture by a Saudi farmer of a Griffon Vulture, which was eventually released by the Saudi authorities after they determined that the Israeli equipment it carried was used for scientific purposes. This was followed by international mockery and criticism of the Arab media outlets which uncritically had reported on the bird's alleged role in espionage.^[18] In 2012, a dead European Bee-eater tagged with an Israeli leg band was found by villagers near the south-eastern Turkish city of Gaziantep. The villagers worried that the bird may have carried a micro-chip from Israeli intelligence to spy on the area. Turkish authorities examined the corpse of the bee-eater and assured villagers that it is common to equip migratory birds with rings in order to track their movements.^[19]

 

It makes sense to me. They used to use horses in war, and carrier pigeons for passing messages, so if I ever found a bird with a bracelet on its leg I'm quite sure I'd take it to the authorities to do an autopsy searching for Israeli microchips. I'd probably have to tell the media too, so they could report the capture of a zionist espionage bird.

 

Civic duty. You never know who your pets are working for. Loose lips sink ships.

[Deidre]

Me or the Egyptians?

Both

 

Kidding...no, the Egyptians.

[Tridimity]

Just the mental image of a stork, perched on one leg in a cell, incredulous and being stared out by paranoid authorities. Okay, I know it probably doesn't go down quite like that.

[Phi for All]

The Israelis had small RC drone planes long before the US started using them, mostly for spying. I wouldn't be surprised if that technology was improved upon and animals were used.

 

It seems ridiculous because we picture interrogators trying to question squirrels, but the spy game evolves just like everything else, and they get to do so funded by undisclosed budgets and fueled by paranoia and politics.

 

The shark attack part though, probably not. I would think an economically depressed and desperate Egypt would be more dangerous than an Egypt prosperous from tourism and anxious to keep the status quo. Aggression isn't good for tourism.

[Deidre]

Just the mental image of a stork, perched on one leg in a cell, incredulous and being stared out by paranoid authorities. Okay, I know it probably doesn't go down quite like that.

lol I can't imagine having that kind of time on my hands that I'm paranoid of animals spying on me.

[CaptainPanic]

lol I can't imagine having that kind of time on my hands that I'm paranoid of animals spying on me.

Heh, true. Why would the NSA use animals when they can just crack your encryption to read all your email?

 

(This may be considered a thread hijack, but it is only my intention to make a little joke... if you plan to write a lengthy reply about the NSA, please make a new thread, and I'll join the discussion there).

[Phi for All]

lol I can't imagine having that kind of time on my hands that I'm paranoid of animals spying on me.

 

I don't think it's a matter of too much time on their hands. I think it's because governments have spies and they're always coming up with ever trickier ways of spying. When you pay people lots of money to be paranoid, they think of paranoid things.

[Deidre]

Heh, true. Why would the NSA use animals when they can just crack your encryption to read all your email?

 

(This may be considered a thread hijack, but it is only my intention to make a little joke... if you plan to write a lengthy reply about the NSA, please make a new thread, and I'll join the discussion there).

I wonder if the animals know how to do this too?

 

 

I don't think it's a matter of too much time on their hands. I think it's because governments have spies and they're always coming up with ever trickier ways of spying. When you pay people lots of money to be paranoid, they think of paranoid things.

I suppose you could 'bug' an animal and have it record conversations. I'm paranoid now.

[Strange]

Remotely controlled roaches could search for survivors Edited September 6, 2013 by Strange

[Iggy]

The Israelis had small RC drone planes long before the US started using them, mostly for spying. I wouldn't be surprised if that technology was improved upon and animals were used.

I don't think it's a matter of too much time on their hands. I think it's because governments have spies and they're always coming up with ever trickier ways of spying. When you pay people lots of money to be paranoid, they think of paranoid things.

 

A google search for "middle east conspiracy theories" couldn't hurt, or watching Bassem Youssef on the daily show.

 

Their conspiracy theories have nothing to do with anything probable or possible, or anything that can be rationalized -- it's all to do with conspiratorial thinking (on a level the west really can't understand)

 

 

While the conspiracy mentality exists in all regions of the world, it is outstandingly common in the Middle East. Few there resist its impact; leading politicians, religious figures, intellectuals, and journalists espouse wild fears of world domination by enemies. These ideas have a home at the heart of the political spectrum and therefore influence the tenor of Middle East political life. Nothing is so false that someone will not believe it; and transparent silliness does not reduce the importance of conspiracy theories.

 

Conspiracy theories spawn their own discourse, complete in itself and virtually immune to rational argument. Five assumptions distinguish the conspiracy theorist from more conventional patterns of thought: appearances deceive; conspiracies drive history; nothing is haphazard; the enemy always gains; power, fame, money, and sex account for all.

 

In the Middle East, moreover, almost every speculation about the hidden hand ultimately refers back to two grand conspirators: Zionists and imperialists. And imperialism, of course, means primarily the U.S. government. Communists and others come into consideration only to the extent they ally with one of these two principals.

 

Daniel Pipes -- Orbis -- 1992

 

It's the same in Pakistan, and some other south, central, and western Asian countries... all incidentally Islamic... hummm...

Edited September 7, 2013 by Iggy

[Phi for All]

 

A google search for "middle east conspiracy theories" couldn't hurt, or watching Bassem Youssef on the daily show.

 

Their conspiracy theories have nothing to do with anything probable or possible, or anything that can be rationalized -- it's all to do with conspiratorial thinking (on a level the west really can't understand)

 

 

 

It's the same in Pakistan, and some other south, central, and western Asian countries... all incidentally Islamic... hummm...

 

I've always thought most conspiracy theories get started to cover up the REAL conspiracies. I'm sure there are many real ones, but it does seem like religious teachings that take the place of a secular education tend to breed irrational thinking and paranoia. Ignorance makes the squirrels seem dangerous.

[Iggy]

I'm sure there are many real ones, but it does seem like religious teachings that take the place of a secular education tend to breed irrational thinking and paranoia.

 

I agree. I think it started with Napoleon. He impressively blew through the middle east, knocking the whole thing over. Everybody was thoroughly impressed with his use of modern technology, and they wanted it. The Imams told everyone that they should accept the power of modern technology, but not to accept the philosophy that developed it -- not to accept the scientific method. That created a chasm that put them on the receiving end of the benefits of the modern world, but destined them not to be the drivers of it. I think conspiracy theories fill that chasm like nothing rational can. It's sad in a way.

[John Cuthber]

Of course nobody here would be stupid enough to do that (any more)

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