FIVE
Operation Bahrain
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“The tipping point for me was watching things deteriorate in Bahrain, and knowing that the situation there is highly influenced and dependent on the ability of the U.S. press to report accurately on that story.”
~~ Amber Lyon - Journalist
Friday - February 15, 2013 approx. 7:00 AM ET - "Safe House" Fredericton, New Brunswick - CANADA
In the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain, led by one "King" Khalifa - the manufacture, sale, or possession of a Guy Fawkes Mask is a felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. This is the story of how that came to be. This is the story of how a small group of western Information Activists banded together with desperate pro-democracy protesters in the dying days of one of the world's last "absolute monarchies", and turned the Kingdom of Bahrain inside out. This is a union and struggle that persists at least until the printing of this book. And as long as there is breath in my body and a pulse in my veins, there will be an Anonymous Operation Bahrain. Because I will live long enough to visit a truly free Bahrain, where I will straight away visit the tomb of this "King" Khalifa, and spit on his grave.
I will plague this "monarchy" for the rest of my natural life. I have heard that there is a fatawa, a death warrant - secretly issued for me by the Bahrain "King". I say fucking bring it dictator. Because that is all "King" Khalifa is, a petty tin-pot dictator who is brutally abusing his own "subjects" in a desperate bid to keep it from not being the middle ages anymore. I will out live you, you bastard "King". I will plague you until the day your old sorry ass pops from a stroke, and I will make sure your entire fucking bloodline spends the rest of their days in exile, or preferably in prison where they belong. I will outlast and defeat you all, you fucking animals.
And I am far from alone within the Hacker Underground sharing this passionate hatred of this petty tyrant. Operation Bahrain remains to this day very active and very well supported by the Global Collective. In the six years since the launch of Anonymous Operation Bahrain the hacktivists have inflicted hundreds of millions of dollars of damage both to the Bahrain government cyber-space, as well as peripheral targets such as the F1 races which directly benefit its largest investor, the "Royal" Family.
The bid to topple "King" Khalifa will end only with his exile, death, or imprisonment. But it started on February 15, 2011, two years ago as we pick up the story now, as part of the roll-out of a series of Anonymous Operations to support the "Arab Spring" uprisings that were spreading like a wildfire across the Middle East that were dubbed the Freedom Operations. As with all Anon Ops since those days, it started with a Press Release and video spread virally across the Internet. Anonymous was going after yet another dictator, this time - a "King".
Anonymous Press Release - Operation Bahrain
Tuesday - February 15, 2011
Dear Free-Thinking Citizens of THE WORLD --
The Bahrainian government has shown by its actions that it intends to brutally enforce its reign of injustice by limiting free speech and access to truthful information to its citizens and the rest of the world. It is time to call for an end to this oppressive regime. The most basic human right is the transparency of one's government, and Bahrain's is no exception. By interfering with the freedom to hold peaceful protests, the Bahraini government has made itself a clear enemy of its own citizens, and of Anonymous. The actions of this regime will not be forgotten, nor will they be forgiven.
When people are faced with such injustices, Anonymous hears those cries, and we will assist in bringing to justice those who commit criminal acts against the innocent. We will not remain silent and let these crimes against humanity continue. The attempts to censor the Bahrainian people from the Internet - which prevents them from communicating their struggle to the outside world - are despicable strategies and show the cowardice of this regime, as well as the measures they are willing to take to cover their crimes.
To the people of Bahrain: We stand with you against your oppressors. This is not only your struggle, but one of people who are struggling for freedom all over the world. With the recent success in Tunisia and Egypt, we believe your revolution will succeed. Your brave actions will maintain the momentum of revolution for citizens all around the world wishing to regain their own freedoms.
We Are Anonymous
We Are Legion
We Do Not Forgive
We Do Not Forget
Expect Us
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Today OpNoPro and I were managing something truly rare, unique, historic, and epic. Something Anonymous had only successfully accomplished once before, in Syria. We were sending a small team of western hacktivists into Bahrain to visit several villages and assist activists, protester, and journalists, and human rights workers - in securing their communications with encryption and media organizations to better project their messages to the world. The small team of four included two European Anons, one American Anon, and a member of my own crew who was also American. They brought in with them laptops and a great deal of equipment, entering the country on a journalist visa posing as "YouTubers". It was the sort of crazy super dangerous human rights work that Anonymous has done more of than most, and for which we so seldom receive any credit for in main stream media. Only our big hacks are "sexy" enough for the news cycles. Backpacking over the Syrian border, or flying into Bahrain with a payload of illegal encryption software - these things some people would prefer to ignore when discussing Anonymous.
The team got through customs just fine, and OpNoPro and I began putting their adventure out on social media in real-time. Years later, many would still blame this decision, to not keep the mission secret until it was over - on what happened at the end. I feel compelled to say that the person from my crew, the one that was on the ground, who blamed me personally the loudest years later, was adamantly in favor of us journalizing their adventure for the world in real-time. Media is my expertise, but the media strategy for that mission was specifically approved by the entire ground team. The Europeans on the ground team found the whole drama amusing, and decided American activists need to man up and pay attention.
The Team's itinerary was no nonsense. There would be almost no video, recorded or streamed. The actual routes were secret and known only to the ground team. OpNoPro and I only knew of general villages they intended to try to get to. We had long since contacted activists in each village on the list, our crack team of western "hackers" were eagerly expected by local Bahrainis in each. Over the next many hours of blazingly hot daylight, our team was taxied in beat up old cars from village to village.
They had a prepared program of instruction, a couple of powerpoint and video presentations, pre-made software disks and thumb drives, and then whatever time was left before their ride got there to take them to the next village, they would devote to getting hospitality and answering questions. The plan only called for them to be on the ground in Manama for forty-eight hours, and there was no sleep at all scheduled. The plan was for them to sleep on the plane, coming and going - and not stop moving once they hit the ground. We actually hoped to cover ten main villages populated heavily by Shia Muslims, who were the biggest demographic amongst the pro-democracy protesters. They would succeed. But I get ahead of myself.
The rest of the day was a blur. OpNoPro and I had hung a huge color map of Manama on the wall of his living room, and drinking many pots of coffee, using the highly encrypted instant messenger Jabber with OTR, we followed the ground team from village to village, and reported on them and from them to social media and through that channel to the main stream media - who steadfastly refused to report on it. But the entire Anonymous Global Collective was following the action and making it viral. The world was watching. OpNoPro and I were determined to, in our small way - emulate the heroism of this ground team by not sleeping ourselves until tomorrow, when they would hopefully all get on flights home and it would be over.
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Sunday - February 17, 2013 approx. 8:30 PM ET - "Safe House" Fredericton, New Brunswick - CANADA
As yet another winter snow storm piled more meters of the white stuff on top of us, an exhausted OpNoPro and I had finally tracked our ground team back to the airport in Manama. Time to quietly exit stage left, and get the fuck out of Dodge. But it was not going to be that easy. There were two sets of checkpoints to get through in order to board. Our team made it through the first one in a mere ten minutes, and we were already getting ready to celebrate when the other shoe fell. Plain clothes police in suits came at our team from all directions in the lounge of the airport. The team leader was able to blast off a final series of tweets detailing the action as other team members ran interference for him by arguing with the police.
As OpNoPro and I sat there staring blankly at our screens in shock, the entire Anonymous Global Collective flew into a mindless panic wondering what they could do. But of course the answer for them was absolutely nothing, and we knew it - because it was our Op and we were totally helpless as well. We waited.... Four hours went by. Four agonizing hours. The first sign of life was an unintelligible and brief tweet. Our thought was it was the police messing with our team's mobile. But it was followed ten minutes later by more tweets. Our team had been released, and were boarding their respective flights. But they had been relieved of....everything, except the clothes on their backs. Even their luggage was seized and never returned.
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In retrospect analysis we discovered the likely reason our team was not immediately transported to a Bahrain prison or jail, as was the famous and award-winning investigative journalist Amber Lyon - was that it appears that that very day some big arms deal with the USA was on the line and waiting to be signed. In the interest of getting his guns and bombs with which he could continue to oppress and kill his own people, "King" Khalifa was more than happy to serve up the good will offering of a few well-meaning but misguided "hacktivists" from the West. We got amazingly, blindingly, lucky.
The seeds our team sowed in Bahrain continue to bear fruit to this day, where the pro-democracy resistance against the rule of "King" Khalifa continues un-abated - and utilizing the very tools we delivered to them those fateful days. Anonymous didn't come bearing money, weapons, food, or medicine. We came bearing something that in the end may be more valuable than any of those things in resisting Empire. We came bearing information.
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Monday - April 15, 2013 approx. 6:00 AM ET - "Safe House" Fredericton, New Brunswick - CANADA
Today, we were launching our second strike in what was becoming an annual ritual - the yearly attack on the F1 race in Manama. This was our third attack on the F1 in total, as related in my previous book - we also wrecked them badly in Montreal during the massive protests there in 2012. The misogynist bigoted prick who owned F1, one Bernie Ecclestone - was beginning to seriously hate Anonymous. Then again, after two years of relentless strikes - we weren't exactly favorites of the Bahrain Royal Family either. We openly called for Ecclestone and the Royal Family to share cells in the Hague together. OpNoPro and I were spending the morning blasting the Press Release and video to the mainstream media.
Anonymous Operation Bahrain Press Release: F1 To Be Targeted Again
Monday 15 April 2013
Greetings World --
We are Anonymous. And we have watched since the last Grand Prix F1 race in Manama, Bahrain. Since last year, we have had millions of eyes trained on the continuing oppression of our freedom-loving brethren in Bahrain by the self-made “King” in Manama.
Since last year, when Anonymous in solidarity with hundreds of thousands of Bahraini – shut down the Grand Prix F1 race and said “no” to blood racing. One year since Anonymous dumped the personal information including credit card and passport numbers, of all the F1 attendees in Bahrain – and yet Bernnie Ecclestone and the “Royal Family” of Bahrain have learned nothing. So we are coming forward this year to wreck your little party again Mr. Ecclestone. Anonymous will not stand by and allow you a race fueled by the blood of our freedom loving comrades in Bahrain.
Beginning with the opening festivities of your little blood race, you can expect the presence of Anons from all over the globe inside your intertoobz. We will remove you from the world wide web, whether you be Grand Prix or Bahrain government – we shall take it all down. We will expose the personal data of any person who supports this race in any way. You have been warned. Once the festivities for this race begin in Bahrain, all bets are off. We call upon Bernie Ecclestone while there is still time; cancel your blood race now.
We Are Anonymous
We Are Legion
We Do Not Forgive
We Do Not Forget
Bernie Ecclestone & Bahrain Royal Family, it’s too late to expect us!
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Around Noon things took an interesting turn when a hacker Crew from the Middle East contacted me and asked for a chat.
FreeBahrain: Thanks for speaking with me Commander X, it's an honor.
X: Just "X", please. What can I do for you?
FreeBahrain: I need you to announce an enforced boycott of the official F1 ticket and merchandise website. Tell anyone who makes a purchase that they will be punished by us dumping their credit card and other personal information.
X: Shit.....are you serious? That's pretty....extreme, don't you think.
FreeBahrain: Look, we got in and we're downloading the data now. We are dumping it, whether you warn people or not. Remember, we did it last time Ecclestone came here. We're serious.
X: Ok, ok - you got it. I'll put it out under the Anonymous flag as a warning, user beware.
OpNoPro and I spent the morning pushing out a Communique warning people not to buy from the F1 site. The amount of data that eventually ended up getting dumped this second time was a bit less damaging to end users than the previous year. But you had to brace up when doing hacktivism in the Middle East. These people faced serious and brutal tyranny, and they didn't play when it came to resistance!
As the day wore on, the above data dump was followed by a good half dozen defacements of fan related race websites. At least two dozen others were taken offline throughout the day by way of crowd-sourced DdoS attacks. In all, several tens of millions of dollars of damage was done in the course of four days of concerted attacks. Fuck Bernie Ecclestone.
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Wednesday - August 14, 2013 approx. 8:00 AM ET - Starbucks Montreal, Quebec - CANADA
Having survived the winter in New Brunswick with OpNoPro, I said my good byes, making 'the old man' as he was known in Anonymous - an honorary Commander in the soon to be defunct Peoples Liberation Front. The PLF never really recovered internally from the stress of Operation Bahrain, and before the end of the year I would resolve to disband it as a no longer useful anachronism. I gave away some of the assets, and folded the rest into my new fledgling Crew I was forming called Legion Security. Meanwhile, I had relocated to Montreal via a brief visit with the Anon known as Sage in Quebec City, where I began the task of finally writing my first book, Behind The Mask: An Inside Look At Anonymous. I had actually had a title, cover, and a brief outline in my possession since I began this run in 2011. But I was finally attempting to find some spare time from either running from the law (or committing more cyber crimes to further piss them off) to work on actually writing down the story in my first tome.
Operationally within Anonymous I had remained pretty focused on Anonymous Operation Bahrain throughout the late winter and spring, as the snow finally retreated and summer crept onto the scene. Summer in Montreal is about the happiest place a crypto anarchist like myself could imagine, especially for one living on the run as I was.
Today found me as usual, in a Starbucks and messing yet again with "King" Khalifa. Today, the activists across Bahrain had planned their annual Tamarrod Bahrain Action wherein they swarmed the streets and celebrated their peaceful revolution against their "King". I had spent the previous night up late preparing a special Press Release and video for Anonymous Operation Bahrain participation in cyber space.
Anonymous Operation Bahrain Press Release: Tamarrod Bahrain Action
Wednesday - August 14, 2013 6:30 AM ET USA
Greetings World --
We are Anonymous. We have been fighting along side our noble brothers and sisters in Bahrain now since February 2011. When the Saudi Troops came across the causeway to crush the courageous occupation at the now destroyed Pearl Roundabout, we were there to bear witness and help with media. When the self-proclaimed "King" of Bahrain ordered the arrest of doctors and nurses for treating protesters we attacked the government websites and servers in Bahrain relentlessly. When the human scum Bernie Ecclestone ran his blood race in Bahrain two years in a row, we wrecked the F1 Grand Prix sites and dumped the personal data of all who supported these blood races by purchasing tickets. Every day we monitor the ongoing protests in Bahrain, lending assistance where we can sometimes one individual at a time. We scan the Bahrain Internet, watching for any shutdown, interference - or attempts to surveil activists or journalists. We are gratified that our mask, the physical symbol of our movement has been outlawed in Bahrain. So long as the "King" reigns in Manama, and the people of Bahrain remain steadfast - we will never abandon our comrades.
Today, the Bahrain Resistance will begin a new phase of their rebellion: Tammarrod Bahrain. This afternoon Bahrain will be flooded with protesters for the Tamarrod Bahrain day. Bahrain's prime minister said on Monday his government would "forcefully confront" protests, and warned those behind planned demonstrations that they would be punished. This is unacceptable, undemocratic and we will not tolerate this. Anonymous will conduct the following action in support of Tammarod Bahrain:
1) Beginning at 1:00 PM ET USA Anonymous will launch a TwitterStorm to enlighten the world regarding the atrocities committed by the "King" of Bahrain.
2) Also beginning at 1:00 PM ET USA and running throughout the day, Anonymous will attack various websites of the regime and also of anyone who supports the regime. This may include western pr firms who are paid to white wash the crimes of the dictator in Manama.
These actions may include other activities not mentioned, as we will do whatever is necessary as the situation unfolds. We anticipate the protests will extend beyond today, and our action will continue for however long the Tammarod Bahrain movement sustains protests in the streets. Anonymous will never abandoned Bahrain. We encourage the media to follow the Twitter accounts mentioned on the bottom of this press release.
We call upon everyone outside of Bahrain to use their virtual skills to give Bahrainis their voice back. Bloggers, twitterians, facebookians, artists, hackers. To the brave and noble people of Bahrain: If you do not want to go to the streets get on the Internet. Contact us and let us know what is happening on the ground. Let us know the truth so we can spread it. We stand by your side on this glorious day. Be brave dear friends, have no fear and know that we in Anonymous are with you always.
We Are Anonymous
We Are Everywhere
We Are Legion
We Do Not Forgive Tyranny
We Do Not Forget Crimes Against Humanity
To the "King" in Manama, your days are numbered - expect rebellion. Expect Tammarod. And Expect Anonymous
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Operation Bahrain - www.OperationBahrain.tk
Anonymous Global - www.AnonymousGlobal.org
Follow These Twitter Accounts For Updates:
@AnonymousWWN
@LegionSecGlobal
@OpBahrain_
@Anonymous_vii
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Once again we see the emergence of the information warfare tool Twitter Storm. For the past year we had seen a serious spike upwards in the effectiveness and reach of this strange social media platform, where you were constrained, among other things, to a mere one-hundred and forty characters per post. More and more it was apparent that he who ruled Twitter had the upper hand in many ways. The ability of a few activists to cause something as ephemeral as a hashtag to go viral around the world in minutes, and the fact that it will reach the ear of the powerful and elite - remains nothing short of astounding to me. While OpNoPro managed that effort and kept an eye on the IRC channels, I busied myself cataloging the many successful hacks and data dumps and pushed that ever growing list out to the media, giving many interviews along the way. It was all exhausting work.
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As the reader can tell by now I'm sure, I am very passionate about the situation in Bahrain. I have been obsessed with the freedom struggle there since I was part of the inception of Anonymous Operation Bahrain during the original Freedom Operations in 2011. Along the way I played a tiny roll in the making of the documentary movie The Clouds Of Death that showed the brutal over-use of CS tear gas (most of it from American manufacturers) that resulted in many deaths during the Bahrain Uprising. I've coordinated with Amber Lyon an award-winning investigative journalist formerly from CNN, and Barrett Brown wielding his Project PM to expose the PR firm Qorvis. Qorvis had targeted Amber herself for her critical media coverage of Bahrain. Here's a piece from Barrett's exhaustive investigation of them that relates to Bahrain as it remains published on Project PM:
Qorvis acquired its Bahrain account from Bell Pottinger in July 2010, for whom it served as a subcontractor until August 2011. In its November 2011 FARA statement, the firm declared having rendered the following services to the Kingdom:
monitoring daily media coverage relevant to Bahrain;
conducting press activities for government officials
drafting/distributing fact sheets, op-ed pieces speeches and news articles by e-mail in order to position Bahrain as a committed player in the war on terror, an agent of peace in the Middle East and other unspecified issues "pertinent to the Kingdom."
Service began approximately one month prior to a major crackdown on Shiite opposition figures and domestic media outlets. The New York Times speculated that the clampdown was part of the lead-up to the October 2010 parliamentary elections in which the Sunni establishment was expected to lose power to representatives of the Shiite demographic majority.
Qorvis sparked criticism in March, 2011, after issuing a misleading press release on behalf of the Bahraini government. After a draconian crackdown in which security forces in the Bahraini capital violently dispersed unarmed demonstrators, interrupted telecommunications services and reportedly hindered the treatment of injured civilians, Hilary Clinton issued a strong criticism of the government's actions. Qorvis responded by issuing a press release that emphasized Clinton's positive comments by presenting them out of context, while completely skirting her critical statements:
PARIS, March 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today emphasized the commitment of the United States toward Bahrain and her hope for the success of the National Dialogue in the island kingdom. She also affirmed the "sovereign right" of Bahrain to invite security forces from allied countries, and stated that the U.S. shared the goals of the GCC regarding Bahrain.
Since the uprising in Bahrain began, Bahrain's Crown Prince has called on all parties to engage in a dialogue to reconcile differences. Secretary Clinton said the goal of the United States is "a credible political process that can address the legitimate aspirations of all the people of Bahrain."
Ambassador Houda Nonoo appreciated the Secretary's comments that dialogue should unfold in a peaceful, positive atmosphere that ensures that students can go to school, businesses can operate and people can undertake their normal daily activities. Said Ambassador Nonoo, "The government of Bahrain has consistently maintained that differences should be resolved peacefully around the negotiating table, but unfortunately, the opposition has not responded to this offer and instead has chosen to continue along the path of violence and disruption of normal life in Bahrain. It is my government's belief that wisdom will prevail among the opposition and they will come to the negotiating table to resolve all differences peacefully."
This has been issued by Qorvis Communications on behalf of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States.
SOURCE Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States*
Aside from misleading press releases and an incident described below involving activist Maryam al-Khawaja, the extent of Qorvis' role in the regime's managing of foreign perceptions may perhaps best be summed up via two specific incidents:
1. A 2012 event in D.C. in which three pro-regime youth were portrayed as embodying "the leading voice for change and reform" despite criticizing the more widespread opposition movement, and despite the event having been overseen by Qorvis and promoted by staffer Adam Croglia.
2. A 2012 Washington Post profile of Bahrain's ambassador to the U.S., Houda Nonoo, in which Nonoo consented to the interview only under the condition that a Qorvis representative would be in the room during its entirety.
Recent media:
'How Bahrain works Washington' from Salon (Dec 9, 2011)
'Meet Bahrain's Lobbyists' from The Hill (Dec 9, 2011)
Attack on Maryam al-Khawaja
In May, 2011, Bahrani human rights activist Maryam al-Khawaja was invited to speak as part of a panel discussion 'Dawn of a New Arab World' at the Oslo Freedom Forum. Writing in the Huffington Post, Oslo Freedom Forum founder and CEO Thor Halvorssen notes that 'the Bahraini government has been aided by a coterie of "reputation management" experts, including professionals from the Washington, D.C., offices of Qorvis Communications and the Potomac Square Group, in addition to Bell Pottinger out of their offices in London and Bahrain.' He goes on to describe:
'Within minutes of Maryam's speech (streamed live online) the global Bahraini PR machine went into dramatic overdrive. A tightly organized ring of Twitter accounts began to unleash hundreds of tweets accusing Maryam of being an extremist, a liar, and a servant of Iran. Simultaneously, the Oslo Freedom Forum's email account was bombarded with messages, all crudely made from a simple template, arguing that Maryam al-Khawaja is an enemy of the Bahraini people and a "traitor." Most of the U.S.-based fake tweeting, fake blogging (flogging), and online manipulation is carried out from inside Qorvis Communication's "Geo-Political Solutions" division.
The effort is mechanical and centrally organized, and it goes beyond the online world. In fact, right before Maryam was to give her speech, she noticed two young women in the crowd who stalk her speeches and heckled her a few days earlier at an event in the U.S. More so than intimidation, violence, and disappearances, the most important tool for dictatorships across the world is the discrediting of critics like Maryam.'
An earlier Huffington Post article on Qorvis, linked to by Halvorssen, states:
'One of the methods used by Qorvis and other firms is online reputation management -- through its Geo-Political Solutions (GPS) division, the firm uses '"black arts" by creating fake blogs and websites that link back to positive content, "to make sure that no one online comes across the bad stuff," says the former insider. Other techniques include the use of social media, including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.'
Attacks made on Maryam al-Khawaja through Twitter were numerous at that time and this, from @ActivateBahrain, is representative: #OFF2011 Maryam Al Khawaja is presenting a falsified presentation in #oslo about #Bahrain it is a package of lies and exaggerations.
Another, from @Dand00na86, and posted to the #Bahrain h