Robert David Steele - The Open-Source Everything Manifesto: Transparency, Truth, and Trust

Praise for Robert David Steele

Few have thought as deeply or imaginatively about such questions as a super-smart former Marine and intelligence officer named Robert D. Steele.

Alvin and Heidi Toffler, authors of War & Anti-War: Survival at the Dawn of the 21st Century

Robert Steele is unusual for an American he is clearly internationalist in his orientation. He has written a book that can bring us together in facing our greatest enemies: ignorance, poverty, and mistrust.

Rear Admiral Hamit Gulemre Aybars, Turkish Navy (Retired)

Robert Steeles vision for the future of intelligence is clearly internationalist in nature. It focuses on regional partnerships and on the value of open-source intelligence collection.

Rear Admiral Dr. Sigurd Hess, DE N (Ret.), Former Chief of Staff, Allied Command Baltic Approaches

Constantly committed to truth and honesty, [his work] demonstrates his ability to grasp the real issues and to take into account the views and concerns of men of good will from all nations and all cultures.

Admiral Pierre Lacoste, French Navy (Ret.), Former Director of Foreign Intelligence

Robert Steele goes well beyond the original visions of the best of the Directors of Central Intelligence, and has crafted a brilliant, sensible, and honorable future for the intelligence profession.

Major General Oleg Kalugin, KGB (Ret.), Former Elected Deputy to the Russian Parliament

Over a broad canvas reflecting the changing nature of information and information technologies, Robert Steele lays the foundation for the future of e-intelligence.

Commodore Patrick Tyrrell, OBE, Royal Navy, United Kingdom

Steele consistently has been well ahead of the pack in his appreciation for everything from open-source research to the implications of technology his work thrills with its insights and ideas.

Ralph Peters, author of Fighting for the Future: Will America Triumph?

Steeles concept is simple: Empower the citizen and private sector to gather and analyze intelligence so that we can make informed decisions [using] Open-Source Intelligence gathering [that] is faster, smarter, cheaper.

Robert Young Pelton, author of Worlds Most Dangerous Places and producer of Come Back Alive

Robert Steele deserves our admiration and our focused attention for bringing the idea of open-source information to the fore. His passion to serve the nation by developing this new approach is exemplary.

Lieutenant General Patrick Hughes, U.S. Army (Ret.), Former Director, Defense Intelligence Agency

Copyright 2012 by Robert David Steele. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout written permission of the publisher. For information contact Evolver Editions c/o North Atlantic Books.

Published by Evolver Editions, an imprint of North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712

Cover art direction and design by michaelrobinsonnyc.com

The Open-Source Everything Manifesto: Transparency, Truth, and Trust is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Steele, Robert David, 1952
The open-source everything manifesto : transparency, truth, and trust / Robert David Steele; foreword by Howard Bloom.
p. cm.
Summary: Written by a former CIA covert ops and intelligence expert, The Open-Source Everything Manifesto provides a roadmap for empowering the public to return to an informed, engaged democracy of, by, and for the peopleProvided by publisher.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-457-8
1. Open source intelligenceUnited States. I. Title.
JK468.I6S744 2012
327.12dc23

2012005230

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Put enough eyeballs on it, no bug is invisible.

The truth at any cost lowers all other costs.

Ive known Robert D. Steele for over fifteen years now, ever since he invited me to speak in 1996 to a gathering of international spies, intelligence managers, and professional intelligence analysts in Washington, DC.

Then in 2005, what looked like peaceful revolution showed up in the streets of Egypt and Lebanon. But it was hard to tell whether the footage of protests blossoming on Middle Eastern TV stations showed the activity of a lunatic fringe or revealed something that went far deeper. So at three AM one night, I convened an online group that included: a member of the State Department; one of UNESCOs top hundred intellectuals of the Islamic world; the former editor-in-chief of Newsweek; a tiny handful of others and Robert D. Steele. Steele said it was one of the best brain trusts since Winston Churchills late-night brainstorming sessions and FDRs kitchen cabinet. But he was prejudiced. He was part of the group. (Our Islamic intellectual, Dr. Munawar Anees, by the way, made a powerful case that the Arab lust for democracy was real.)

In all these encounters, I had the same reaction that Howard Rheingold and John Perry Barlow had when they spoke at Steeles first conference in 1992: Robert D. Steele was onto something.

What was it? Lets start with Julian Assangeof the United States. And I felt I was also supposed to be outraged by the carefully spooned-out flow of Assanges WikiLeaks. Outrage was my duty as a patriotic American. But I wasnt angered. My real feelings were held down below, way down at a non-verbal level. Why? Because I had been aware of many of the truths in WikiLeaks revelations. I had shared many of the same opinions of the world leaders we are forced to deal with. The only truly objectionable material in Assanges leaks was the names of sources, names whose publication could get those sources killed and could shut down future flows of vital information.

I dont know about you, but I felt cheated by the fact that the government would not share its thinking with me. Maybe you are asking: Why in the world should our government share its thought process with the likes of you and me? You and I are just water molecules in a vast sea, grains of sand on an enormous beach. Surely we dont have the level of sophistication it takes to understand the subtle currents of international affairs. But research on collective smarts among every sort of beast from bacteria and baboons to Marxists, capitalists, and kleptocrats indicates one thing. A whompingly impressive processing power emerges when when we are all used together as components in a learning machine. Whats more, my booksbooks like