December | 2009 | intelNews.org

Blackwater CEO admits he was CIA agent

December 6, 2009 by intelNews 5 Comments

Erik Prince

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The founder and CEO of private security company Blackwater has revealed he worked as a CIA spy and carried out a number of secret missions before being fired by the Obama administration. Erik Prince, who heads Blackwater Worldwide, recently renamed Xe, gave a rare interview to Vanity Fair magazine, in which he revealed that his relationship with the CIA was not only that of an operations contractor, but also that of an asset, that is, a spy. Prince’s revelation will not surprise seasoned intelligence observers; as I commented last August, it had become increasingly difficult to distinguish any operational demarcations between the CIA and the company formerly known as Blackwater. However, the mercenary company’s leading role in controversial CIA plans to assassinate high-level foreign officials was seen as a step too far by the new CIA leadership of Leon Panetta. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, black operations, Blackwater, Bush Administration, CIA, Erik Prince, intelligence outsourcing, Leon Panetta, News, Obama Administration, Valerie Plame-Wilson, Xe

News you may have missed #0207

December 6, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Congo court upholds death sentences for Norwegian ‘spies’. A Congolese court has upheld death sentences for Tjostolv Moland and Joshua French, two Norwegians arrested last May in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on spying charges.
Judge unseals records of man claiming to be FBI spy. A Superior Court judge on Thursday lifted a seal on court records and transcripts that Craig Monteilh says will prove he was an informant for the FBI, tasked with spying on area mosques.
Is this a classified CIA drone? A new photo of what appears to be a classified US drone aircraft has been published on a blog belonging to the French newspaper Libération. But some say that the photo might be a deliberate disinformation effort aimed to confuse black ops spotters.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with American Muslims, CIA, Craig Monteilh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, espionage, FBI, informants, Joshua French, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, Norway, Predator drones, Tjostolv Moland, United States

US embassy worker caught monitoring Pakistan naval site

December 5, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ghafoor's ID card

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Pakistani news outlets have reported the arrest last month of an employee at the US embassy in Islamabad who was reportedly caught monitoring Pakistan’s Naval Headquarters at Zafar Chowk, a site targeted by a suicide bomber on December 3. Leading Pakistani daily The Nation published the US embassy identity card of the man, Abdul Ghafoor, who was reportedly apprehended by Pakistani Naval Police and intelligence officers in the morning of November 18. Interestingly, Ghafoor, who was said to have been acting “suspiciously”, was found to be carrying a camera with him, and to be riding a motorcycle “with a number plate that was found to be fake when checked”. Several commentators have suggested that the case points to a routine surveillance operation, which warrants further investigation in light of the December 3 suicide bombing attack at the Naval Headquarters. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abdul Ghafoor, Islamabad (Pakistan), Leon Panetta, News, Pakistan, Pakistani 1923 Official Secrets Act for Spying, Pakistani Naval Police, Pakistani Navy, surveillance, United States, US embassy in Pakistan, Zafar Chowk (Pakistan)

News you may have missed #0206

December 5, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

UK sets up counter-hacking unit. Britain’s Office of Cyber Security has formed Computer Emergency Response Teams to deal with “more than 300 cyber attacks a year”. It will operate out of the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Australia may be moving in the same direction.
Czech artist denies having spied on US diplomats. Joska Skalnik a famous Czech artist and anti-communist dissident, has denied allegations he spied on US diplomats in Prague on behalf of StB, the country’s communist secret service during the Cold War.
Ex-Shin Bet chief hints Israel won’t strike Iran without US consent. Avi Dichter, former head of Israel’s domestic spy service, the Shin Bet, told an Australian audience that it is “up to the US to take the lead in international efforts to confront Iran on the nuclear issue. This should be a role for superpowers and Israel is not a superpower”, he said.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Australia, Avi Dichter, Cold War, cyberespionage, cybersecurity, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, GCHQ, Iran, Israel, Joska Skalnik, News, news you may have missed, Office of Cyber Security (UK), Office of Cyber Security Computer Emergency Response Teams (UK), Shin Bet, StB (Czechoslovakia), UK, United States, US embassy in Czechoslovakia

US government urged to release data on social networking spying

December 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Facebook

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An Internet watchdog has filed a court complaint to force the US government to disclose how its law enforcement and spy agencies monitor social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. IntelNews regulars have known since October that the CIA has invested in a private software company specializing in monitoring online social media, such as YouTube, Twitter and Flickr. Additionally, we have previously reported on persistent rumors that the National Security Agency, America’s communications spying outfit, is actively monitoring popular social networking sites in order to make links between individuals and construct maps of who associates with whom. Now the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) wants to find out the extent to which US intelligence and law enforcement agencies are secretly monitoring social networking sites on the Internet. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, declassification, DNI, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Facebook, Flickr, FOIA, government secrecy, In-Q-Tel, Internet, MySpace, News, NSA, open source intelligence, social networking, Twitter, United States, US Department of the Treasury, YouTube

Obama’s Afghan plan includes expanding CIA ops in Pakistan

December 4, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Predator drone

By I. ALLEN & J. FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The Obama Administration’s plan to increase US military presence in Afghanistan includes expanding the CIA’s work in neighboring Pakistan, a country with which the US is officially not at war. An article published yesterday in The New York Times notes that the President has authorized the CIA to expand its Predator drone assassination program to include strikes in places like Baluchistan, which are outside Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal areas and far from the Afghan-Pakistani border. This development represents a major policy victory for the hawkish wing in the Pentagon’s senior leadership, which has been pressing Obama’s advisors to expand CIA assassination operations deeper into Pakistan since November of 2008. It also further reveals the Obama Administration’s policy preference toward undercover operations with a strong deniability proponent. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, assassinations, Baluchistan (Pakistan), CIA, covert operations, ethics, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Pakistan), intelligence oversight, News, Obama Administration, Pakistan, Predator drones, United States, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0205

December 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Iran plans to charge five British yachtsmen as spies. Iran’s espionage trials against Westerners are becoming as predictable as the stupidity of said Westerners who keep entering Iranian territory without the necessary travel documentation.
CIA recruiting in Guam (of all places). The Agency tells University of Guam students that they should attend its recruitment information session if they are “interested in foreign affairs, […] enjoy foreign travel and have an aptitude to learn foreign languages”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, espionage, Guam, intelligence recruitment, Iran, News, news you may have missed, travel documentation, United States

Iraqi agents planned to bomb US radio station, claim Czech spies

December 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

RFE old Prague HQ

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Czech counterintelligence officials have alleged that Iraqi agents planned in 2000 to attack the Prague headquarters of US government-funded radio station broadcasting to Iraq, among other countries. Intelligence observers may remember that, in April of 2001, the Czech government expelled Iraqi diplomat Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani Ibrahi, who was caught photographing the headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). RFE/RL is a radio station established by the US government during the Cold War, to broadcast anti-communist messages to Eastern Europe. It began broadcasting to Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries in 1998. Now Jan Subert, a representative of the Czech Security Information Service (BIS), has alleged that Ibrahi’s expulsion was connected to a secret plan by Iraqi agents to silence RFE/RL’s Iraqi program by attacking the station with rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and machine guns, from an apartment building across the street from RFE/RL’s downtown Prague headquarters. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim Samir al-Ani Ibrahi, Cold War, Czech Republic, Czech Security Information Service (BIS), diplomatic expulsions, Eastern Europe, Iraq, Iraqi embassy in the Czech Republic, Jan Subert, News, propaganda, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, RFE/RL, United States

News you may have missed #0204

December 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Release of secret US reports to be postponed (again). Millions of secret US government documents are scheduled to be declassified at the end of the year, unless President Barack Obama extends the deadline, like his predecessors have done. The White House is reportedly preparing an executive order that will postpone the declassification, in order to assuage various US intelligence agencies “unwilling to part with their secrets”. Change, Mr. Obama?
Analysis: Why India needs an intelligence revamp. We have written before about the urgent need to restructure Indian intelligence agencies.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, Barack Obama, declassification, government secrecy, India, intelligence reform, News, news you may have missed, United States

Analysis: Is an obscure US military unit replacing the CIA?

December 3, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

JSOC logo

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An obscure US military unit established in 1980 is gaining prominence in America’s “war on terrorism” and may be slowly replacing the CIA’s functions, according to a well-researched piece in The Atlantic magazine. The US Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) was created soon after the fiasco of the attempted rescue of the hostages held at the US embassy in Tehran. Since 9/11, the unit has emerged from its relative obscurity to join the forefront of America’s so-called “global war on terrorism”. Gathering evidence from a variety of sources investigating the use of paramilitary operations in America’s post-9/11 wars, Max Fisher argues that, even under the Obama Administration, JSOC may in fact be “taking on greater responsibility, especially in areas traditionally covered by the CIA”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, Analysis, Bush Administration, CIA, intelligence oversight, Joint Special Operations Command, JSOC, Obama Administration, Pakistan, paramilitary units, United States, US DoD, US Special Forces, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0203

December 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

N. Koreans arrested for revealing Kim Jong-Il’s whereabouts. A number of North Koreans have been arrested and could face execution for leaking to a South Korean Internet newspaper information on the movements of Kim Jong-Il’s February 24 trip to the city of Hoeryong.
Authority to spy on Americans unclear as PATRIOT Act expires. Controversial provisions in the Act, which grant US the government far-reaching domestic surveillance and seizure powers, are due to expire on December 31. These provisions will have to be discussed in Congress, “but only when the Senate isn’t backlogged by health care” according to insiders.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with civil liberties, domestic intelligence, Hoeryong (North Korea), Kim Jong Il, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, United States, US Congress, USA PATRIOT Act

FBI in hot seat over controversial use of informants

December 2, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Craig Monteilh

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, America’s primary domestic counterintelligence agency, is facing a storm of criticism over allegedly using informants to spy on Muslim and ultra right-wing groups. The most controversial of the two cases is arguably that of New Jersey talk radio host and blogger Harold “Hal” Turner, who has been described as a vocal supporter of white supremacist groups. Turner was charged last June for arguing on his blog that three Chicago federal appeals court judges “deserve to be killed”, and for posting photographs of the judges along with their work addresses and an area map of the Chicago federal courthouse. If convicted, Turner faces a $250,000 restitution fine and up to 10 years in prison. What is interesting, however, is that Turner told a judge that he was a paid FBI informant, code-named “Valhalla”, and was trained by the Bureau to infiltrate and monitor white supremacist groups. The FBI denied any connection to Turner, but The Bergen Record newspaper in New Jersey gained access to court records and verified the truth in Turner’s claims. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ACLU, American Muslims, California, Craig Monteilh, domestic intelligence, FBI, Harold Turner, informants, lawsuits, New Jersey, News, racism, United States, Valhalla

News you may have missed #0202

December 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Russia claims intel agents have left Crimea base. Alleged move follows last June’s expulsion by the Ukrainian government of several Russian FSB operatives stationed in the Russian naval base in Sevastopol.
Here’s how US communications providers make money by spying on users. One provider, Cox Communications charges the US government $2,500 to fulfill a pen register/trap-and-trace order for 60 days, and $2,000 for each additional 60-day-interval. It also charges $3,500 for the first 30 days of a wiretap, and $2,500 for each additional 30 days.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with communications interception, Cox Communications, Crimea, diplomatic expulsions, FSB, News, news you may have missed, Russia, Sevastopol (Ukraine), telecommunication service providers, telecommunications, Ukraine, United States

Israeli listening bugs found in UN meeting room: Swiss paper

December 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

The UN in Geneva

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Switzerland’s most esteemed newspaper has revealed that a number of listening devices, most likely of Israeli origin, were discovered in a room designated for sensitive meetings on disarmament issues, at the United Nations building in Geneva. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), quoted “a senior official” of the Service for Analysis and Prevention (Dienst für Analyse und Prävention), Switzerland’s domestic intelligence agency, who said the bugs were among several discovered throughout the building during regular maintenance work in 2006. The anonymous official said counterintelligence experts drew on “technical and geopolitical criteria” to create a shortlist of the possible culprits. Israel topped the list, which also included North Korea, Britain, China, Russia, France and the United States. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Britain, China, communications interception, counterintelligence, espionage, France, Geneva (Switzerland), Israel, News, North Korea, Russia, Service for Analysis and Prevention (Switzerland), Switzerland, United Nations, United States

Analysis: The role of spies in Latin America

December 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Latin America

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
These days it’s a full-time job keeping up with intelligence news coming out of Latin America. In recent weeks alone, there were major spy scandals involving the busting of an alleged Colombian espionage ring in Venezuela, the acknowledgment by Bogotá that it spied on Ecuador, and the ongoing high-level intelligence scandal that some say may cause recalls of diplomats between Chile and Peru. So what is going on in Latin America? How widespread is espionage in the continent and is it on the rise? The BBC’s Juan Paullier has consulted several regional and international experts for his well-written analysis on the subject. Read more of this post