Predator drones | intelNews.org

We have spies, but not troops in Pakistan, says US

December 25, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Predator drone

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
American spies, but not combat troops, are active on Pakistani soil, according to Washington’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Speaking last Tuesday on PBS’ Charlie Rose, Richard Holbrooke said “there are no American troops in Pakistan”, but that the US has “members of our intelligence services in every country in the world”. Asked to clarify whether “[n]o members of the American military or CIA are in Pakistan”, the American diplomat responded: “I only said there are no American troops in Pakistan”. His comments appear to contradict several reports in Western media that US military forces are secretly operating in Pakistan, including a report last February in The New York Times, which stated that over 70 US “military advisers […] and technical specialists” were helping Pakistan’s armed forces fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the remote Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan. Read more of this post

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News you may have missed #0218

December 13, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US Pentagon joins CIA drone war in Pakistan (yes, we know). Wired magazine’s Noah Shachtman (Danger Room blog) reports that the US military is gradually joining the CIA’s unmanned drone war in Pakistan –but this is old news, Noah.
Part 4 of CIA defector’s writings now available. Former FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Eringer has published the fourth installment of the writings of Edward Lee Howard, a CIA officer who defected to the USSR in 1985 (see here for previous intelNews coverage). In this part, he advises the reader to “never wear a disguise past police or immigration unless it is a dire emergency”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, Cold War, defectors, Edward Lee Howard, history, KGB, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Predator drones, United States, US DoD, USSR

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

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 #0191

November 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Peru-Chile spy dispute deepens. Not only was senior Peruvian Air Force officer Victor Ariza Mendoza, who was arrested in Lima last Saturday, a spy for Chile, but there were six other individuals involved in the ring, according to Peruvian authorities. Peru has even asked Interpol to get involved in the affair.
UN-Iran in secret nuclear negotiations, says paper. The London Times has alleged that the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency is secretly negotiating a deal to persuade world powers to lift sanctions against Iran and allow Tehran to retain the bulk of its nuclear energy program, in return for co-operation with UN inspectors.
Analysis: The real spy war between CIA and DNI. For months, the CIA and the office of the Director of National Intelligence fought an intense and acrimonious turf battle over covert action oversight and access to White House officials. Now new details are emerging about deeper and more sensitive conflicts between the two agencies, including which agency is responsible for oversight of the CIA’s controversial and classified Predator drone program.

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News you may have missed #0149

October 23, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Why is CIA fighting to keep JFK documents sealed? For years, the CIA has fought in US federal courts to keep secret hundreds of documents detailing the relationship between Lee Harvey Oswald and a CIA anti-Castro front group. The Agency says it is only protecting legitimate secrets. But some researchers are questioning this.
Up to 320 Pakistani civilians killed in US drone war. As many as 320 innocent civilians may have been killed in the CIA-led US drone war in Pakistan, according to an analysis by the New America Foundation. That’s about a third of the 1,000 or so people slain in the robotic aircraft attacks since 2006. Previous research has shown that approximately 80% of the airstrikes have failed to kill what the US Pentagon calls “high value targets”.
Analysis: What are the risks of the CIA’s covert drone program? “It’s easy to understand the appeal of a ‘push-button’ approach to fighting al-Qaeda, but the embrace of the Predator program has occurred with remarkably little public discussion, given that it represents a radically new and geographically unbounded use of state-sanctioned lethal force. And, because of the CIA program’s secrecy, there is no visible system of accountability in place, despite the fact that the agency has killed many civilians inside a politically fragile, nuclear-armed country with which the US is not at war”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, CIA, Cuba, declassification, Fidel Castro, front groups, government secrecy, John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Predator drones, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0139

October 12, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Pakistan tells US diplomat to be quiet. Perturbed by the recent remarks of US Deputy Chief of Mission in Islamabad, Gerald Feierstein, that top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders are presently hiding in Quetta, Pakistan has summoned the US diplomat and demanded that he stops discussing intelligence issues in media. The move follows a closed-door meeting last week between the director of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Ahmed Shuja Pasha, and CIA director Leon Panetta.
Analysis: HUMINT worries al-Qaeda more than drone assassinations. The CIA-operated drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan get all the headlines. But what’s really worrying al Qaeda are the agents in their midst, says Adam Rawnsley of Wired magazine’s Danger Room blog.
Chinese spymaster complains about US news leak. It has emerged that Major General Yang Hui, China’s most senior military intelligence official, recently made a secret visit to the US and complained to the Pentagon over the US press leak on the Chinese submarine that secretly shadowed the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in 2006. He said senior Chinese leaders suspect the Pentagon deliberately disclosed the encounter as part of an effort to send a “tough” message to China’s military.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with al-Qaeda, Analysis, assassinations, China, diplomacy, espionage, Gerald Feierstein, HUMINT, maritime surveillance, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Predator drones, Quetta (Pakistan), secret meetings, Taliban, United States, US DoD, USS Kitty Hawk, Yang Hui

Comment: Daring US Raid in Somalia is Risky Policy

September 17, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Saleh Nabhan

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
The political aftereffect of a recent raid by US Special Forces in southern Somalia may be more significant than its outcome. The operation, which took place in the early hours of Monday, killed a number of al-Qaeda-linked militants and captured at least two, according to local witnesses. Unnamed US officials said that among the dead is Saleh Ali Nabhan, a 30-year-old Kenyan al-Qaeda operative who is said to have participated in the 2002 attack on an Israeli-owned resort in his homeland, among other acts. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Africa, assassinations, black operations, blowback, covert operations, Dennis Cutler Blair, DNI, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Islamic Courts Union, Islamist extremism, Joseph Fitsanakis, Kenya, Pakistan, Predator drones, Saleh Ali Nabhan, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, Somalia, US Special Forces, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0092

September 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Pakistan to build own unmanned drones. But until it does, it will have to rely on the CIA’s Predator drones.
Cuba protests US denial of visa to wife of jailed spy. Obama is too much like Bush, say the Cubans. Jailed spy Gerardo Hernandez is one of the Cuban Five, who Cuba has offered to exchange for political dissidents held on the island.
Israeli spies allegedly diverted Lebanese Internet traffic. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah says two Israeli spies, Jerry Orenstein and Ronen Neuhaus, used their telecommunications expertise to divert Lebanese Internet network traffic through Cyprus to Israel’s Haifa exchange center, where it could be intercepted by Israeli authorities. This blog has written extensively about the telecommunications wars currently taking place in the Middle East.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, communications interception, Cuba, Cuban Five, espionage, Hezbollah, information security, Internet, Israel, Jerry Orenstein, Lebanon, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Predator drones, Ronen Neuhaus

Taliban execute Mehsud’s family members on espionage charges

August 24, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Baitullah Mehsud

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Four relatives of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud were reportedly arrested last week by Taliban militants, who suspect them of having informed Pakistani and US intelligence about Mehsud’s whereabouts. Pakistani and US officials say they are almost certain that Mehsud was killed in an unmanned drone air strike (probably remotely operated by the CIA) earlier this month. Mehsud’s family members arrested by the Taliban include his father-in-law, Ikramuddin Mehsud, his son, Ziauddin Mehsud, his brother, Saeedullah Mehsud, and his nephew, Iqbal Mehsud. Earlier today, Pakistan’s Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, told reporters that the Taliban have executed Mehsud’s family members, listed above, after “confirming” their espionage activities. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team, assassinations, Baitullah Mehsud, CIA, Hakimullah Mehsud, Ikramuddin Mehsud, Iqbal Mehsud, Lahore (Pakistan), News, Pakistan, Predator drones, Rehman Malik, Saeedullah Mehsud, Taliban, War on Terrorism, Ziauddin Mehsud

Comment: Blackwater’s role in CIA ops runs deep

August 21, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

Blackwater/Xe

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
North Carolina-based military and intelligence contractor Xe had a major role in the CIA’s rumored post-9/11 assassination program and is active today in the Agency’s Predator drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The New York Times and The Washington Post cited “government officials and current and former [Xe] employees” in revealing that the CIA worked briefly with Xe –formerly known as Blackwater– in the context of a top-secret program to locate and murder senior al-Qaeda leaders. According to The Washington Post, Blackwater’s role in the operation was far from consultative, and included “operational responsibility for targeting terrorist commanders [and awards worth] millions of dollars for training and weaponry”. The New York Times alleges that Blackwater’s central role in the operation was “a major reason” in CIA director Leon Panetta’s decision last June to inform Congress about the program, which CIA had kept hidden from Congressional oversight for seven years. Read more of this post

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Intelligence sources speak of clashes between rival Pakistani militias

August 12, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Mehsud

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Exactly one week after Pakistani officials announced the assassination of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, there are unconfirmed reports of serious clashes between rival armed factions in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Canadian sources are quoting unnamed intelligence officials who claim that Mehsud’s Taliban fighters are engaged in an all-out offensive against militia followers of Turkistan Bitani, a tribal warlord backed by the Pakistani government. Bitani spoke to the Associated Press saying that 90 fighters have so far died in the offensive and that at least 40 houses have been destroyed. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, Baitullah Mehsud, CIA, Jandola (Pakistan), News, Pakistan, Predator drones, South Waziristan, Taliban, Turkistan Bitani, United States, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0065

August 12, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

CIA investigator admits to fabricating reports. CIA employee Kerry Gerdes has pleaded guilty to falsifying interview reports while performing background checks on Agency employees and potential employees.
Mehsud killed while getting leg massage, say US sources. American officials have dismissed rumors that Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban chief, is alive, and say he was killed while on the roof of his father-in-law’s home in South Waziristan.
Paris furious at French woman’s espionage confession on Iranian TV. Iranian state television has aired footage of Clotilde Reiss, a French student who was arrested in Iran last July, confessing to spying for France. Soon afterward, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced he would take time off from his holiday to make her release his priority.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, Baitullah Mehsud, CIA, Clotilde Reiss, France, intelligence recruitment, Iran, Kerry Gerdes, News, news you may have missed, Nicolas Sarkozy, Pakistan, Predator drones, South Waziristan, Taliban, United States

Is Mehsud dead, and if so, who or what killed him?

August 10, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Baitullah Mehsud

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
There is confusion about the fate of Pakistan’s senior Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud. On August 7, the Pakistani military told the world’s media that an unmanned drone air strike (probably operated by the CIA) had killed Mehsud. The Associated Press reported that a Taliban commander in Pakistan, Kafayat Ullah, had confirmed that “Mehsud and his wife died in the American missile attack in South Waziristan”. Pakistani military officials said they were “reasonably sure” of the accuracy of these reports, but that they did not possess irrefutable “forensic evidence” of Mehsud’s death. Over the weekend, however, other Taliban leaders came forward to contest Ullah’s account. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with assassinations, Baitullah Mehsud, CIA, Hakimullah Mehsud, Kafayat Ullah, Maulvi Umar, News, Pakistan, Predator drones, South Waziristan, Taliban, United States, War on Terrorism

News you may have missed #0041

July 25, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ex-CIA analyst scolds Ignatius for defending CIA’s assassination program. Melvin A. Goodman, author of Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA, calls The Washington Post‘s David Ignatius “the mainstream media’s leading apologist” for the CIA.
Tajikistan uranium factory boss accused of espionage. The Tajik government has detained Shavkat Bobojonov, director of its Vostokredmet uranium-reprocessing plant, considered by many a strategic facility, of spying for neighboring Uzbekistan.
US says it focuses “new intelligence effort” on Taliban. The US Pentagon says it is consolidating into a unified effort “for the first time” data from several intelligence sources, including unmanned drones and other aircraft, intercepted messages, and ground troops.