Trump’s photo tweet gave away US secrets, say experts
September 2, 2019 8 Comments
A tweet by United States President Donald Trump may have compromised secrets about America’s reconnaissance satellite capabilities, according to experts who analyzed it over the weekend. The American president posted a message about Iran’s space program on his personal Twitter account on Saturday, August 30. The message read: “The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One”.
Trump was referring to an apparent rocket launch failure that happened on Friday, August 29, at the Semnan Space Center in northern Iran. The suspected rocket failure caused significant damage to Semnan’s Site One launching pad, some of which appears to have burned down. It is thought to be the second such incident in Iran and it must be a source of frustration for Tehran, which has been trying to place a new satellite in orbit for almost a year now. Washington and other countries have criticized Tehran’s space program, saying it is a disguised missile program that could potentially be used to launch a nuclear bomb.
Along with his written message, the US president tweeted an aerial photograph showing the damage at the Semnan Space Center. Some have since claimed that the photograph, which Trump appears to have taken from a printed document given to him by a US spy agency, offers “an unprecedented example of US spy satellites at work” and inadvertently reveals some of America’s most closely guarded satellite capabilities. Experts say they have been able to determine that the photograph was taken by a satellite, rather than a surveillance aircraft or unmanned drone. Some say they have even been able to pinpoint the exact satellite that was used to generate the image, by analyzing the angle of the photograph. It is believed that it was taken by USA 224, which is one of America’s top-secret optical reconnaissance satellites.
More importantly, the US president’s tweet may have provided Washington’s adversaries with an example of the precise power of America’s reconnaissance satellites. Their exact surveillance capabilities are a closely held secret that is known by specialists at the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, two of America’s most obscure intelligence agencies. It has long been speculated that the images captured by American spy satellites far surpass the 25 centimeter resolution that is available to commercial satellite services. A number of experts have suggested that the photograph tweeted by Trump displays a resolution that “is amazingly high” and must be “at least 10 centimeters, if not better”. One specialist juxtaposed the image tweeted by the US president next to an image of the same launch site taken with a commercial satellite. The difference is indeed remarkable. One expert told the NBC news network that Trump’s “utterly careless” tweet would “have global repercussions”.
Last year Nada Bakos, who spent 20 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, wrote an editorial in The Washington Post in which she warned that foreign intelligence agencies were paying close attention to the US president’s tweets. Bakos argued that President Trump’s “Twitter feed is a gold mine for every foreign intelligence agency”. She added that, throughout her CIA career, she and her team “never had such a rich source of raw intelligence about a world leader, and we certainly never had the opportunity that our adversaries (and our allies) have now”, because of Trump’s social media presence.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 02 September 2019 | Permalink
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The United States Central Intelligence Agency will not collect human intelligence on the United Arab Emirates, even though the oil kingdom’s actions often run directly counter to American interests, according to sources. The CIA’s policy, which some sources described as “highly unusual”, fails to recognize the growing distance between American interests and the UAE’s foreign policies, according to Reuters. The news agency cited “three former CIA officials familiar with the matter” who claimed that the CIA’s policy is out of touch and may be endangering US national security.
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Russian bank accused of being ‘den of spies’ relocates to NATO member Hungary
September 3, 2019 by Joseph Fitsanakis Leave a comment
In 1991, following the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, the IIB entered a period of stagnation, as did many Soviet institutions of the Cold War period. But in 2002 Russian President Vladimir Putin spearheaded a government-led effort to revive the bank. Today the Russian government has a 47 percent stake in the IIB, with the remaining 53 percent owned by its other member-countries. These are all communist of former communist states: Cuba, Vietnam, Cuba, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Each of these member states is represented on the IIB with an official who speaks for his or her government.
Some critics express concerns that the IIB continues to serve as a front company for Russian intelligence. Some point to the IIB’s director, Nikolai Kosov, whose parents were officers in the KGB and served in several European countries, including Hungary, during the Cold War. Such criticisms resurfaced earlier this year, when it was announced that the IIB would move its headquarters to Budapest. The Hungarian government said it would host IIB’s 100 personnel and granted the IIB building privileges that are usually extended to diplomatic facilities. For instance, Hungarian authorities will not be able to enter the IIB premises without prior authorization by the bank.
The Hungarian government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that the IIB’s relocation to Budapest will further-strengthen Hungary’s relations with Russia and help promote the former Soviet ally as a growing financial hub in Europe. But one critic told the Al Jazeera news network that the IIB “is more likely to make Budapest a Russian intelligence center than a financial hub”. Another critic, referred to by Al Jazeera as a “diplomatic source”, said that NATO has limited its sharing of classified information with Hungary “due to fears it leaves the door open to Russia”.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 03 September 2019 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with COMECON, front companies, Hungary, International Investment Bank, News, Nikolai Kosov, Russia