The Chicoms are Coming! Quick, Close the "AI" Gap!
by James Corbett
corbettreport.com
November 24, 2024
By now everyone and their dog has heard about the existential threat of the Chinese bulk carrier fleet. The People of the Free World™ are rightfully cowering in fear of the diabolical Chinese plot to plunge Europe back into the pre-digital Dark Ages by cutting their undersea internet cables. But are they sufficiently afraid of the Salt Typhoon?
No, I'm not talking about the latest DARPA-directed weather weapon. I'm talking about the shadowy Chinese government-linked "hacking collective," which—as the US Department of Homeland Security and its media mouthpieces helpfully inform us—is behind a "recent sweeping Chinese infiltration into a slew of telecommunications firms and infrastructure."
If you haven't heard of "Salt Typhoon" or "FamousSparrow" or "UNC4841" or whatever cool nickname cybersecurity researchers are giving to China's shadowy hacker army this week, I have a feeling you'll be hearing about it in the near future. After all, we've known for years that the next spectacular false flag event is likely to be a "virtual flag," and, as Newsweek advises us, "China's Hacker Army Outshines America."
But wait, there's more! Even if you are aware of (and sufficiently scared of) Salt Typhoon, it turns out there's an even bigger Chinese cyber threat on the horizon for you to worry about: the "AI gap."
Never heard of it? Then buckle in, because you're in for a wild ride through one of the military-industrial complex's most successful psyops.
The "Missile Gap"
Do you remember how JFK came to power in 1960?
No, I don't mean the Kennedy/Mafia plot to steal the (s)election for Jack.
I mean, remember when JFK upstaged Nixon in the 1960 presidential debate with that stirring speech about world peace? Remember how he promised to dismantle the US military and end the Cold War? And remember when he proudly hoisted his bottle of Duff and everyone got up and clapped and voted him into office?
Yeah, I don't remember that either. Because that's not what happened at all.
No, in reality, JFK came into power running to the right of Nixon on foreign policy. Observe:
Mr. Nixon talks about our being the strongest country in the world. I think we are today. But we were far stronger relative to the Communists five years ago, and what is of great concern is that the balance of power is in danger of moving with them. They made a breakthrough in missiles, and by nineteen sixty-one, two, and three, they will be outnumbering us in missiles. I’m not as confident as he is that we will be the strongest military power by 1963.
Strange as it may seem today, the JFK of 1960 was a convinced Cold Warrior who was told that the Soviets were pulling ahead of the US in missile production—the so-called "missile gap" theory—and ran with that lie all the way to the Oval Office.
In fact, when Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara finally bothered to inform Kennedy that the missile gap story was actually a bunch of hooey created by "emotionally guided but nonetheless patriotic individuals in the Pentagon," JFK wasn't even upset. Instead, the newly elected President merely observed that he himself was one of those "patriotic and misguided men" who "put that myth around."
Never heard of the "missile gap" saga? OK, long story short: In 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik 1. As the first manmade satellite to successfully achieve low earth orbit, the otherwise unremarkable 58-centimetre-diameter probe provided the Cold Warriors in the American military-industrial complex the perfect excuse to whip up public hysteria over the rising Soviet menace. After all, if the dastardly Russkies can do this, how many nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles must they have waiting in the wings, ready to turn the US of A into a smoldering rubble pile?!
On the back of this generated hysteria, the military deep state managed to hijack a commission on the utility of nuclear fallout shelters appointed by President Eisenhower (himself a noted skeptic of the missile gap theory) and turn it into a general report on nuclear deterrence and US military expenditures. And you'll never guess what that commission—initially chaired by Rand Corporation co-founder Horace Rowan Gaither—concluded.
. . . Oh wait, you totally will.
After noting that the Gross National Product (GNP) of the Soviet Union is now one-third (one-third!!!!) that of the United States and projected to reach fully one-half (ONE-HALF!!!!) of US GNP by 1980 (a mere twenty-three years in the future!), the committee warned that the Russians had "probably" surpassed the US in ICBM development and had "probably" developed submarine-launched cruise missiles. Their report concludes that the only way to counter this (completely hypothetical) threat was—whodathunkit?—to inject massive amounts of money into the military-industrial complex.
Specifically, the committee's proposed measures would "probably involve expenditures in excess of the current $38 billion defense budget," but that's OK because "[t]he American people have always been ready to shoulder heavy costs for their defense when convinced of their necessity."
You see, first you make people scared out of their wits . . .
. . . and then you provide them with a government-backed, military contractor-provided assurance of "security." Of course, those promises are really excuses for powerful vested interests to take greater control of citizens' lives and to pick their pockets in the process, but before the average rube figures out he's being fleeced, the next bogeyman can be ginned up out of thin air.
And that's how the Cold War-era "missile gap" hoax transmogrified into . . .
The "AI Gap"
Last month the "Biden-Harris" administration quietly released a National Security Memorandum (NSM) on artificial intelligence (AI).
The NSM, to quote the administration's press release, "directs the U.S. Government to implement concrete and impactful steps to (1) ensure that the United States leads the world’s development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI; (2) harness cutting-edge AI technologies to advance the U.S. Government’s national security mission; and (3) advance international consensus and governance around AI." It also includes a lot of woolly rhetoric about making sure the coming AI godhead "reflects democratic values" and "protects human rights."
The document itself makes only one specific mention of China, a simple reminder that, oh, by the way, the Chicoms co-sponsored the UN General Assembly Resolution on AI that was adopted back in March.
But in case there remained any confusion about this NSM's purpose, the same day that the White House trumpeted it, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan delivered a speech at the National Defense University clarifying the memorandum.
In that speech, Sullivan warns his audience about a "critical gap" in funding for AI research and development between the US and China.
This fiscal year, federal funding for non-defense R&D declined significantly. And Congress still hasn't appropriated the science part of the CHIPS and Science Act, even while China is increasing its science and technology budget 10 percent year over year. That can mean critical gaps in AI R&D.
He then proposes that the answer to this "AI gap" is . . . wait for it . . . more money! Specifically, Sullivan explains that the new NSM "establishes addressing adversary threats against our AI sector as a top-tier intelligence priority, a move that means more resources and more personnel will be devoted to combating this threat."
Anyway, you get the picture. The Cold War-era "missile gap" playbook has been dusted off and is now being used to sell an "AI gap" panic to the American public (and the people of the world). And the usual suspects in the "alternative" online media (*cough*Epoch Times*cough*) are only too happy to play their part in feeding into the hysteria.
Phoney as a Three-Yuan Bill
As my readers know by now, the original Cold War was as phoney as a three-dollar bill. And as you should also know by now, the New Cold War between the US and China is as phoney as a three-yuan bill. (Or should that be a three-yuan digital credit on Weibo?)
Yes, I'm sorry to burst the bubble for anyone still waking up to reality, but the US government aided, funded, supplied, equipped and armed the Red Menace during the original Cold War as part of an elaborate deep state plot. That plot succeeded in:
justifying ever-increasing expenditures for the military-industrial complex;
furnishing the deep state's minions with a pretext for expansion of the American Empire across the globe;
and convincing the public to give up ever more rights in the name of combatting the Red menace.
And yes, the US government has aided, funded, supplied, equipped and armed the New Red Menace in Cold War 2.0 as part of an elaborate deep state plot. That plot is succeeding in:
justifying ever-increasing expenditures for the military-industrial complex;
furnishing the deep state's minions with a pretext for expansion of the American Empire across the globe;
and convincing the public to give up ever more rights in the name of combating the Red menace.
Do you see the difference between these two narratives? Yeah, neither do I.
Now, just because this "AI gap" story is being used to whip up war fever and line the pockets of the military contractors, this doesn't mean that "AI" is safe or that the AI threat is itself made up. Whatever side you take in the interminable "does a toaster have a soul" debate over the reality (or lack thereof) of artificial "intelligence," there is no doubt that autonomous weapons and AI-powered drone targeting systems and weaponized Large Language Models are a real threat and will undoubtedly be used against the public in the event of the next Great Powers war. Heck, they're already being deployed as we speak in the Ukrainian battlefields and the slaughter grounds in Gaza, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Thielversian contractors who are spearheading this Cold War 2.0 push.
Yes, the Cold War bogeyman may be a scare story, but the reality of the coming WWIII (i.e., the war on everyone) is only too real.
But before we get swept up in the "AI gap" story, we need to take a moment to remember that it's all a story. You're being manipulated into wanting war. Don't fall for it.
As the great orator of our time George W. Bush once put it:
There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again.
Or can we?
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