Bush Administration | intelNews.org

Ex-CIA agent says Cheney “damaged the CIA more than anybody has”

September 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Robert Baer

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Robert Baer, the retired CIA field officer whose bestselling memoir, See No Evil, formed the basis of the 2005 motion picture Syriana, has said that former Vice President’ Dick Cheney “damaged the CIA more than anybody has, including the press or the Department of Justice”. Speaking on PBS’ The Tavis Smiley Show, Baer claimed that Cheney was the leading proponent of the CIA’s torture program, which the Bush Administration “invented as we went along”, and which never provided any critical intelligence. Baer said that in some cases FBI interrogators resorting to torture tactics extracted false leads from detainees. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, Afghanistan War, Bush Administration, CIA, Dick Cheney, Iraq, Iraq War, News, Robert Baer, torture, United States, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0084

August 28, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Cargo ship with Israeli weapons destined for Philippines seized. The arms were apparently destined for “rebel groups or criminal organizations”. No word yet from the Israeli government.
Even more CIA documents to be disclosed. Word comes that, in response to pending requests from the ACLU, more CIA documents about Bush-era interrogations and detentions could be released as early as Monday.
Double spy’s son admits guilt. Nathaniel James Nicholson, youngest son of Harold James Nicholson, who in 1997 became the highest-ranking CIA officer to be convicted of spying on behalf of a foreign agency, pleaded guilty Thursday to collecting cash from Russian officials who owed his father for selling CIA secrets in the 1990s.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with ACLU, Bush Administration, CIA, declassification, double agents, Harold James Nicholson, interrogation techniques, Israel, lawsuits, maritime surveillance, Nathaniel James Nicholson, News, news you may have missed, Philippines, Russia, United States, weapons smuggling

CIA loses turf war as new US interrogation unit is unveiled

August 27, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

CIA HQ

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
The CIA appears to have been stripped of its senior role in America’s post-9/11 interrogation program, as the Obama Administration announced this week the creation of a new interrogation unit. The new High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG) will be an elite interagency squad, which will report to the National Security Council and answer directly to the White House. But, according to several insiders, the unit will be housed at the FBI, and not the CIA. The two agencies have been fighting a bitter turf war after 9/11. Officials at Langley view this development as a severe blow to the Agency, which the Bush Administration had tasked with overseeing America’s post 9/11 interrogation program. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 9/11, Bush Administration, CIA, FBI, High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, intelligence outsourcing, interrogation techniques, Ishmael Jones, National Security Council, News, Obama Administration, torture, turf wars, United States, War on Terrorism

World poring over released CIA documents

August 26, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

CIA report cover

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
It will take some time before the world’s media and other interested parties manage to comb through the recently released report (.pdf) by the CIA inspector general, as well as a host of other newly declassified documents pertaining to the Agency’s post-9/11 interrogation program. The volume of data is so extensive that some news outlets are apparently requesting assistance from readers. The report on the CIA’s counterterrorism detention and interrogation activities between 2001 and 2003 is not new. It was originally produced in May of 2004 and was released in 2008 by the Bush Administration, in a heavily redacted version. Although the current release is less heavily redacted, several observers have questioned the wisdom of remaining redactions (the National Security Archive has published a useful side-by-side comparison of the Bush and Obama Administration versions of the report). Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bush Administration, CIA, declassification, interrogation techniques, News, Obama Administration, torture, United States, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0077

August 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US military to stay in Philippines. This probably partly explains the frequent visits to the Philippines by US intelligence officials in recent weeks.
Egypt begins trial of 26 alleged Hezbollah spies. Egypt began the trial on Sunday of 26 men suspected of links with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and accused of planning attacks inside Egypt.
Obama administration renews efforts to quash wiretap lawsuit. The Obama administration is again urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by now-defunct Saudi-based charity, Al-Haramain, against the Bush Administration’s post-9/11 warrantless wiretapping scheme.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Al-Haramain, Bush Administration, Egypt, espionage, Hezbollah, lawsuits, Lebanon, News, news you may have missed, Obama Administration, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, United States, warrantless communications interception

News you may have missed #0063

August 10, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

UK government ministers, MI6 boss, reject torture accusations. Britain’s home secretary, Alan Johnson, and foreign secretary, David Miliband, have rejected claims that the UK operated a “policy to collude in, solicit, or directly participate in abuses of [war on terrorism] prisoners” or to cover up abuses. The outgoing director of MI6, Sir John Scarlett, has also said that there has been “no torture and there is no complicity with torture” by British agents.
Ex-spy may succeed Kazakh leader. An unnamed senior security official may eventually succeed Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled Kazakhstan for 20 years.
Congressman tells Holder to widen torture probe. Several news outlets are verifying earlier rumors (reported on by intelNews on July 13) that the Obama Administration is considering the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the use of torture by US intelligence agencies after September 11, 2001. Congressman Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, has said he wants US Attorney General Eric Holder to extend the rumored investigation beyond CIA interrogators, and determine whether high-level officials of the Bush administration committed war crimes.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Alan Johnson, Bush Administration, Central Asia, CIA, David Miliband, Eric Holder, Jerrold Nadler, Kazakhstan, MI6, News, news you may have missed, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Sir John Scarlett, torture, UK, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0062

August 10, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Hacking, Lock-Picking, Booze and Bacon. Excellent illustrated review of some of the highlights of DefCon 17, the world’s largest hacking convention, which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Were NC terror suspect’s stories an exaggeration? There are more doubts over the genuineness of the Afghan exploits of Daniel Boyd, who was recently arrested along with seven others in North Carolina on domestic terrorism charges.
Ex-DHS boss comes out in support of controversial NSA project. Michael Chertoff, who directed the US Department of Homeland Security under the Bush Administration, has come out in support of EINSTEIN 3, a rumored joint project between the NSA and US telecommunication service providers, which requires the latter to route government data carried through their networks to the NSA, via secret rooms installed in exchange sites. Critics have condemned the project as “antithetical to basic civil liberties and privacy protections” in the United States.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with American Muslims, Bush Administration, civil liberties, communications intelligence, computer hacking, Daniel Boyd, DefCon conference, domestic intelligence, EINSTEIN 3, Michael Chertoff, News, news you may have missed, NSA, telecommunication service providers, United States, US Department of Homeland Security

CIA director says Congress should let go of CIA’s past actions

August 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Leon Panetta

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
CIA director Leon Panetta has criticized Congress for its “focus on the past” that “threatens to distract the CIA from its crucial core missions”. In an editorial published last weekend in The Washington Post, Panetta says he is becoming “increasingly concerned” that “wrong judgments” made by the Bush Administration after 9/11 have damaged the broad agreement between the executive and legislative branches of the US government about the CIA’s role and activities. But the CIA director says the “sincerity or the patriotism” of Bush Administration officials should not be questioned, as they “were trying to respond as best they could” in the aftermath of 9/11. Instead, Panetta argues for learning “lessons from the past without getting stuck there”, and warns that “classified information that shapes […] conversations” between the CIA and Congress must be protected. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 9/11, Bush Administration, Chile, CIA, extraordinary rendition, intelligence oversight, Leon Panetta, Melvin A. Goodman, News, Richard Helms, Salvador Allende, torture, United States, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0038

July 23, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

NZ spy satellite dish to be repaired after activists’ raid. New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau says it is preparing to mend a spy satellite dish in Waihopai Spy Base, which was “totalled” by Ploughshares peace group activists last year.
Group plans lawsuit to reveal CIA’s Pentagon Papers. The Washington-based Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to force the CIA and other US intelligence agencies to come clean on their “war on terrorism” practices under the Bush administration.
NSA using cloud model for intelligence sharing. The US National Security Agency is implementing cloud-computing technologies in a new intelligence collection system. The new system, currently in testing, will be geographically distributed in data centers around the United States.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bush Administration, CIA, cloud computing, ECHELON, Electronic Frontier Foundation, GCSB (New Zealand), lawsuits, New Zealand, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Ploughshares, political activism, Waihopai (New Zealand), War on Terrorism

Judge accuses CIA of fraud in 15-year court case

July 22, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Judge Lamberth

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
A 15-year old lawsuit against the CIA unexpectedly resurfaced yesterday, after a US federal judge accused the CIA attorneys of fraud and warned the former and current CIA leadership of serious legal sanctions. US District Judge Royce Lamberth said the CIA misled him on several occasions by falsely claiming that the “state secrets” clause applied to the case, which three consecutive US administrations have tried to bury. The case was filed in 1994 by retired Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officer Richard A. Horn, who claimed that CIA agents illegally wiretapped his conversations while he was stationed in Burma. It appears that, at the time, the US diplomatic representation in Burma and the CIA station in Rangoon were at loggerheads with the DEA. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Arthur Brown, Bill Clinton, Burma, Bush Administration, CIA, corruption, DEA, Franklin Hurdle Jr., George Tenet, Jeffrey Yeates, John A. Rizzo, Judge Royce C. Lamberth, lawsuits, Leon Panetta, News, Obama Administration, Rangoon (Burma), Richard A. Horn, Robert T. Eatinger, State Secrets clause, United States, war on drugs, wiretapping

News you may have missed #0032

July 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Russian spy devices found on Norwegian shores. A Russian spy buoy used for monitoring ship traffic in international waters has been discovered on a shore in Arctic Norway. Apparently, it’s the third of its kind found on Norwegian shores this year.
Analysis: Who is the CIA allowed to kill? Some aspects in the recent CIA assassination squad controversy point to the possibility that the plan “imposed no geographical limitations on the agency’s actions”. This raises the likelihood that the program would have violated national sovereignty.
Revisiting ECHELON: The NSA’s clandestine data mining program. Jason Leopold speculates that the NSA’s ECHELON program may have helped facilitate the Bush Administration’s domestic spying efforts after 9/11.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 9/11, Arctic circle, assassinations, Bush Administration, CIA, covert operations, domestic intelligence, ECHELON, maritime intelligence, maritime surveillance, News, news you may have missed, Norway, NSA, Russia, United States, warrantless communications interception

Attorney behind NSA domestic wiretapping defends his views

July 17, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

John Yoo

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The former US Justice Department lawyer who authored legal memos sanctioning the legality of the Bush administration’s secret wiretapping program has defended his views. John Yoo, who on 9/11 was a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, has penned an article in The Wall Street Journal, in which he voices disagreement over a recently published US government report that criticizes the wiretap program’s secrecy and dubious legal basis. The report was authored by the Offices of Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, CIA, NSA, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It says that the Bush administration’s decision to keep NSA’s domestic wiretap program secret even from senior Department of Justice and intelligence officials hampered the broader intelligence community’s ability to use the program’s output, and subverted the government’s ethical standing in the so-called “war on terrorism”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bush Administration, communications interception, FBI, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John C. Yoo, News, NSA, Office of Legal Counsel, operation STELLAR WIND, Terrorist Surveillance Program (STELLAR WIND), United States, US Department of Justice, War on Terrorism, warrantless communications interception, wiretapping, World War II

News you may have missed #0029

July 16, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Iranians revolting against Nokia for alleged spying complicity. Consumer sales of Nokia handsets in Iran have allegedly fallen by up to 50%, reportedly because of the company’s membership in the Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) partnership. As intelNews has been pointing out since last month, NSN allegedly helped supply the Iranian government with some of the world’s most sophisticated communications surveillance systems.
Analysis: Why NSA’s Einstein 3 project is dangerous. This editorial argues that US President Barack Obama’s decision to proceed with a Bush administration plan to task the National Security Agency with protecting government computer traffic on private-sector networks is “antithetical to basic civil liberties and privacy protections” in the United States.
New US government report says Bush secrecy hampered intelligence effectiveness. A new report from the Offices of Inspectors General of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, CIA, NSA, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, says that the Bush administration’s decision to keep NSA’s domestic wiretap program secret seriously hampered the broader intelligence community’s ability to use the program’s output.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bush Administration, civil liberties, communications interception, domestic intelligence, EINSTEIN 3, government secrecy, Iran, News, news you may have missed, Nokia Corporation, Nokia Siemens Networks, NSA, operation STELLAR WIND, privacy, Terrorist Surveillance Program (STELLAR WIND), United States, warrantless communications interception, wireless communications interception, wiretapping

Private companies to help NSA monitor US government networks

July 9, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

NSA HQ

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
We have already mentioned on this blog that US President Barack Obama has decided to proceed with a Bush administration plan to use National Security Agency (NSA) assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks. NSA is America’s largest intelligence agency, which is tasked with worldwide communications surveillance, as well as communications security. Critics of the program suspect it may include EINSTEIN 3, a rumored joint project between the NSA and US telecommunication service providers, which requires the latter to route government data carried through their networks to the NSA, via secret rooms installed in exchange sites. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Bush Administration, domestic intelligence, EINSTEIN 3, News, NSA, Obama Administration, telecommunication service providers, telecommunications, TUTELAGE, United States

News you may have missed #0013

July 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

CIA report on detention, interrogation to be released later today. We were expecting this internal CIA report, on the Agency’s secret detention and interrogation practices under the Bush administration, to come out a fortnight ago, but it was delayed “over debates about how much of it should be censored”. An earlier version of the report was “published” late last year, but was over 90% redacted. Watch this space for more information.
Retired Romanian football star denies being a spy. Gheorghe Popescu, whose international career included playing for British teams, has denied reports (here and here) in Romanian daily Adevarul that he was an informer for Romania’s Securitate, the secret service of communist Romania. ()
Ex-CIA chief in Algiers formally charged with sexual abuse. Back in February, intelNews reported on the Agency’s station chief in Algiers, who was unceremoniously recalled to Washington after being accused of drugging and raping two Algerian women at his official residence. He has now been “indicted in Washington on a charge of sexual abuse involving an alleged sexual assault of an unidentified Algerian woman”. He could face a life sentence, if convicted.