Google planned to help Syrian rebels bring down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a leaked Hillary Clinton email suggested.
The 2012 email from Google executive Jared Cohen, a former Clinton advisor, detailed a mapping tool that would track defections,
The Independent reported. It was among thousands of Clinton's personal emails that have been published by
WikiLeaks.
Cohen said in the email: “Please keep close hold, but my team is planning to launch a tool on Sunday that will publicly track and map the defections in Syria and which parts of the government they are coming from. Our logic behind this is that while many people are tracking the atrocities, nobody is visually representing and mapping the defections, which we believe are important in encouraging more to defect and giving confidence to the opposition.”
Cohen was a Clinton advisor until 2010 before becoming President of Google Ideas, a think tank now known as Jigsaw, The Independent said. The email was sent to members of Clinton’s team and forwarded to the Secretary of State by senior Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan with the note: “FYI — this is a pretty cool idea,” according to reports.
The
Google Ideas website detailed the mapping tool, explaining that the technology used metadata, including names, descriptions, dates of defection and relationships to the organization of defectors, to create a visual account of political trends in Syria.
“In addition to providing a historical accounting of the defections, the map shows patterns and trends in support. It reveals that the once coherent network of political, familial and military actors unraveled as the conflict persisted,” the site said.
In the leaked email, Cohen said Al-Jazeera would take primary ownership of the tool and asked the Clinton team if there was anything they should consider before its launch.
Published in English and Arabic, the defection tracker tool became the most-viewed graphic feature on Al-Jazeera’s site, the Google Ideas website noted.
The Daily Mail noted at that details about the leaked email are emerging as President Barack Obama revealed Google’s plans to expand Internet access in Cuba.
“Does Google basically work for the White House?” The Daily Mail wrote.
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