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News you may have missed #0031

July 18, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Ex-Boeing engineer convicted of spying for China. A US court has convicted Dongfan “Greg” Chung, a Chinese-born Boeing engineer, of multiple counts of espionage and of passing critical trade secrets on the US space program to China.
Second US Marine charged with leaking documents to police. Another US Marine at Camp Pendleton has been charged in a bizarre intelligence leaking case, in which secret military and CIA documents were leaked to an anti-terrorism task force formed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Spy watchdog urges major changes at CSIS. Canadian intelligence is in urgent need of “major changes” to meet legal and public demands in the post-9/11 world, according to a new report by the Security Intelligence Review Committee of the Canadian government.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Camp Pendleton, Canada, China, CIA, corporate espionage, CSIS (Canada), Dongfan Chung, espionage, Greg Chung, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, News, news you may have missed, United States, US Marine Core, US space program

News you may have missed #0030

July 17, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

German intelligence denies Iran nuclear estimate. The BND has denied reports in the German press that it believes Iran is capable of producing and testing an atomic bomb within six months. A BND spokesperson said that the agency’s view is that Iran would not be able to produce an atomic bomb for “several years”.
Ex-CIA Director Woolsey defends CIA assassination plan. James Woolsey, the Director of the CIA during the Clinton administration has defended the principle, as well as secrecy, behind the rumored post-9/11 CIA plan to set up assassination squads and unleash them after al-Qaeda’s leadership.
India and Pakistan to share more intelligence. India and Pakistan said yesterday that they agreed to increase communication- and information-sharing. But soon afterwards India announced there would be no resumption of formal normalization talks with Pakistan until Islamabad brings those behind last year’s Mumbai attacks to justice.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2008 Mumbai attacks, assassinations, BND, CIA, Germany, India, intelligence estimates, intelligence sharing, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, James Woolsey, News, news you may have missed, nuclear proliferation, Pakistan, United States

Analysis: Why were CIA assassination squads canceled?

July 17, 2009 by intelNews 3 Comments

CIA HQ

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Despite all the razzmatazz surrounding the rumored secret CIA plan to set up assassination squads, several questions remain unanswered. IntelNews is among a number of websites that believe that something in the entire controversy doesn’t add up. The fact is, as I have mentioned before, the ongoing strikes by US unmanned drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan effectively amount to

deliberate assassinations of suspected terrorists, which are planned and implemented outside the framework of even elementary judicial oversight. Regardless of one’s feelings about terrorism, the democratic process […] explicitly forbids the circumvention of longstanding legal norms, which specify concrete judicial means of arrest, detention, trial and punishment of accused criminals.

So, if it is the case that the CIA is already following a policy of targeted assassinations –which often result in indiscriminate murder of civilians– then why all the fuss about the CIA assassination squad revelations? Moreover, why was the project reportedly canceled? Writing for The Los Angeles Times, Greg Miller provides a possible explanation. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, assassinations, CIA, paramilitary units, Predator drones, United States, War on Terrorism

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

News you may have missed #0028

July 15, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Iran could have the bomb in six months, says German intelligence. Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) alleges that if the Iranians “wanted to they could test a nuclear bomb within half a year.”
Australian PM threatens China over Rio Tinto spy case. Kevin Rudd warned China it has “economic interests at stake”, less than a week after Beijing arrested the Australian chief of the Anglo-Australian mine company’s iron ore operations in China.
12 Mexico intelligence officers mutilated and killed. The mutilated bodies of the one female and 11 male federal intelligence officer were left in a heap beside a road in rural Michoacan state. Drug gangsters launched a brutal offensive against the Mexican government last Saturday, after the capture of their senior leader, Arnaldo “La Minsa” Rueda. “We’re waiting for you,” read a taunting sign left with the bodies.
NRO releases unclassified portions of 2009 budget. The super-secretive US National Reconnaissance Office, which is in charge of US satellite spying, has released fragments of its FY2009 Congressional Budget Justification Book. Incidentally, a couple of weeks ago there were rumors circulating in Washington that NRO may be broken up into several smaller agencies.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Arnaldo Rueda, Australia, BND, China, energy resources, Germany, intelligence budget, intelligence estimates, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, Kevin Rudd, Mexico, Michoacan state (Mexico), News, news you may have missed, NRO, nuclear proliferation, Rio Tinto, Stern Hu, United States, war on drugs

Comment: Not So Fast, Cyberwarriors! [updated]

July 14, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

Hoekstra

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Rep. Peter Hoekstra wants to launch a cyberwar against North Korea. The Republican from Michigan, who heads his party’s delegation on the US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, urged the US government last Thursday to “launch a cyber attack” or at least increase international sanctions on Pyongyang. Hoekstra urged this in response to a series of mysterious cyber-attacks that paralyzed major South Korean and US government websites for three days earlier this month. And he’s not alone. Last Friday, ABC News technology pundit Michael Malone effectively echoed Hoekstra and warned that “enemies of freedom everywhere” could use cyberterrorism to kill untold numbers of Americans by remotely controlling “fetal monitoring systems, surgical equipment, robotic bomb demolition equipment and ICBMs”. But South Korean cybersecurity specialists, who intensely monitor North Korean information systems, and were the ones who actually informed their US counterparts of the unfolding cyber-attacks on July 4, are not so sure that Pyongyang was behind the attacks. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with cybersecurity, cyberterrorism, cyberwar, Joseph Fitsanakis, Michael Malone, National Intelligence Service (South Korea), North Korea, Pete Hoekstra, South Korea, United States, US House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Analysis: Ulterior Motives In Panetta’s Philippines Visit

July 14, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Panetta, Arroyo

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
Few heads outside Southeast Asia were turned last Sunday by CIA director Leon Panetta’s brief visit to the Philippines. Panetta arrived in Manila early Sunday morning and left at 10 p.m. on the same day. But he managed to squeeze in meetings with Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, as well as her most senior cabinet executives, such as Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. Panetta’s meeting with the President was brief, reportedly lasting around 30 minutes, but its significance was enormous for Washington’s continuing military and intelligence presence in the region. To understand the level of that commitment, one must consider the rare telephone call that US President Barack Obama recently placed to his Philippine counterpart. Read article →

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Abu Sayyaf Group, Alberto Romulo, Barack Obama, espionage, FBI, Gilbert Teodoro Jr., Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Ian Allen, Joseph Estrada, Leandro Aragoncillo, Leon Panetta, Michael Ray Aquino, Moro ethnic group, NPIG (Philippines), Philippines, RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement, Southeast Asia, United States, US Joint Civil Military Operation Task Force

News you may have missed #0026

July 13, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

US Attorney General considers torture probe. The Associated Press is among several news outlets reporting that Eric Holder is considering the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the use of torture by US intelligence agencies after September of 2001.
Iran’s invisible Nicaraguan embassy. The US State Department has been raising alarm bells about the Iranians supposedly “building a huge embassy in Managua”. But nobody in Nicaragua can find any super-embassy, The Washington Post reports.
Kim Jonh Il likely to die soon, CIA tells S. Korean spy agency. According to South Korean sources, the CIA now believes that Kim Jong-Il’s chances of surviving the next five years are less than 30%. Last June, intelNews relayed reports that Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong Il’s third son, appears to be his father’s most likely successor.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, diplomacy, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, Iran, Kim Jong Il, News, news you may have missed, Nicaragua, North Korea, South Korea, torture, United States, US Department of Justice, US Department of State

News you may have missed #0023

July 10, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Spies target Swiss banks for the secrets they hold. Jürg Bühler, acting director of Switzerland’s counter-intelligence agency, says foreign services are increasingly interested in the financial data locked in Swiss banks, especially as the global hunt for undeclared assets stiffens.
South Korea says North was behind cyberattacks on S. Korean, US web sites. South Korean intelligence officials say they believe North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces committed cyberattacks that paralyzed major South Korean and US government websites last weekend.
British MP accuses government of outsourcing torture. Britain’s former shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, has accused British intelligence services of “outsourcing torture”. He was commenting in the case of Rangzieb Ahmed, who claimed he was offered bribes to drop allegations that he was tortured in Pakistan, while on British custody.
Philippines President to meet CIA chief. Leon Panetta will be meeting Glorya Arroyo next week in Manila, “to discuss security concerns and to map out ways to further strengthen the bilateral partnership between the Philippines and United States”.
Former Turkey intelligence head questioned over alleged coup. The court case concerns Ergenekon, a shadowy ultranationalist network with strong links to the Turkish armed forces, which has reportedly been trying to stage a coup in Ankara.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with CIA, cyberwar, DAP (Switzerland), David Davis, economic espionage, Ergenekon, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Leon Panetta, MI6, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Rangzieb Ahmed, Service for Analysis and Prevention (Switzerland), South Korea, Switzerland, torture, Turkey, United States

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

Israel directs cyberwar resources against Iranian nuclear program

July 8, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Ahmadinejad

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An Israeli cyberwarfare project that began in the late 1990s is a major tool in the Jewish state’s covert war on the Iranian nuclear program. A former member of the Israeli Knesset has anonymously confirmed the program’s existence to the Reuters news agency, while US experts said they view the clandestine project as “the likely new vanguard” in Israel’s attempts to hamper Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Israel’s cyberwarfare program is apparently encouraged by Washington’s resistance to an all-out military confrontation with Tehran, which includes US President Barack Obama’s rumored reluctance to endorse conventional air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. As intelNews has reported before, the Israeli cyberwarfare project is probably part of a wider Israeli operation, which British newspaper The Daily Telegraph has described as a covert “decapitation program”. The operation, which involves assassinations, front companies and bribing, among other tactics, is supplemented by an extensive CIA operation approved by President George W. Bush in early 2008 and “hand[ed] off to President […] Barack Obama”, according to The New York Times.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with cyberwar, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, Israel, News, United States

Larry Franklin, implicated in Israeli spy affair, breaks silence

July 6, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Franklin

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Lawrence Anthony Franklin, the former US Defense Department analyst whose 12-year prison sentence was suspended last month, has finally broken his silence. Franklin, who was accused by the US government of handing classified US military information to two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists, has told Jeff Stein of SpyTalk that he handed out the secret information “in hopes that it would be passed on to the White House”. He said he was “worried” the Bush administration pursued a schizophrenic policy on Iran and had not calculated the Iranian reaction to a possible US invasion of Iraq. He therefore decided to pass on the classified information, which included “the names and locations of Iran’s secret agents and safe houses in Iraq”, to AIPAC lobbyists Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, who claimed they had senior contacts in the Bush administration. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with AIPAC, CIA, Dick Cheney, disappearances, Douglas Feith, espionage, FBI, Iran, Israel, John Hannah, Keith Weissman, Lawrence Anthony Franklin, lawsuits, Manucher Ghorbanifar, News, Paul Wolfowitz, Steve Rosen, United States, William Luti

News you may have missed #0016

July 3, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Wife of cleric kidnapped by CIA seeks European Court trial. Nabila Ghali, the second wife of Hassan Mustafa Omar Nasr, who was kidnapped by the CIA from a street in Milan, Italy, in 2003, announced plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights against the Italian government’s state secrecy clauses that are hampering the Italian trial on Nasr’s abduction.
NSA to build huge facility in Utah. The National Security Agency, which is tasked with worldwide communications surveillance, as well as communications security, is in the process of renovating its soon-to-be-unveiled 470,000-square-foot Texas Cryptology Center, which will cost upwards of $130 million and be used primarily to store intercepted communications data. This is now to be coupled with another, 1-million-square-foot data center, to be built at Utah’s Camp Williams.
US government to keep CIA black sites open, for now. A government prosecutor has disclosed during the ongoing trial of former Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Galani that the CIA does not plan to close down its black sites “for now”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Ahmed Galani, Camp Williams (Utah), CIA, CIA Milan station, European Court of Human Rights, government secrecy, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, Italy, Milan (Italy), Nabila Ghali, News, news you may have missed, NSA, United States, Utah

Coalition requests disbarment of government lawyers behind CIA torture

July 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

John Rizzo

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Yesterday I wrote about John A. Rizzo, the CIA Acting General Counsel who is preparing to step down from his post despite being termed “the most influential career lawyer in CIA history”, according to The Los Angeles Times. The reason behind his sudden early retirement is the discovery earlier this month by several anti-torture critics in Congress that he gave the CIA legal advice in support of the Agency’s “enhanced interrogation” program. But the controversy over Rizzo’s role in the torture scheme is likely to stay with him even after he leaves Langley. Yesterday, the Velvet Revolution, an activist network of over 120 groups, issued formal requests with the New York and DC bar associations to disbar Rizzo and two other government lawyers behind the CIA torture program. Read more of this post