Archive for the 'Covert Operations' Category
Blackwater Said to Pursue Bribes to Iraqi Officials After Murder of 17 Civilians
November 11th, 2009Via: New York Times: Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials. Blackwater approved the […]
TV Footage Shows Afghan Insurgents with U.S. Ammo
November 10th, 2009Via: AP: Television footage broadcast Tuesday showed insurgents handling what appears to be U.S. ammunition in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan that American forces left last month following a deadly firefight that killed eight troops. The U.S. military said the forces that left the area said they removed and accounted for their equipment. Al-Jazeera […]
Hasan Known to U.S. Intelligence Agencies; Congressional Requests for Information Refused
November 10th, 2009Via: ABC News: U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News. According to the officials, the Army was informed of Hasan’s contact, but it is unclear […]
CIA Had People Raped with Broken Bottles, Boiled Alive
November 5th, 2009Via: Raw Story: The CIA relied on intelligence based on torture in prisons in Uzbekistan, a place where widespread torture practices include raping suspects with broken bottles and boiling them alive, says a former British ambassador to the central Asian country. Craig Murray, the rector of the University of Dundee in Scotland and until 2004 […]
Italy Convicts Former CIA Agents in Rendition Trial
November 5th, 2009Via: Reuters: An Italian judge sentenced 23 Americans to up to eight years in prison on Wednesday for the abduction of a Muslim cleric, in a symbolic condemnation of the CIA “rendition” flights used by the former U.S. government. The Americans were all tried in absentia because the United States refused to extradite them. The […]
U.S. Needs Hit Squads, ‘Manhunting Agency’
November 4th, 2009Ah, so now we can pretend that the U.S. hasn’t had this capability for decades? Via: Wired: CIA director Leon Panetta got into hot water with Congress, after he revealed an agency program to hunt down and kill terrorists. A recent report from the U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations University argues that the CIA didn’t […]
NSA To Build 1.5 Million Square Foot “Cybersecurity” Data Center
November 2nd, 2009Don’t forget NSA’s other 470,000-square-footer in Texas. Via: Information Week: The massive complex, comprising up to 1.5 million square feet of building space, will provide intelligence and warnings related to cybersecurity threats across government. The NSA is building the facility to provide intelligence and warnings related to cybersecurity threats, cybersecurity support to defense and civilian […]
NSA Has Conspicuous Role in New Federal Cybersecurity Center
November 2nd, 2009Don’t miss the last sentence. Via: Newsweek: If anything, the Obama administration, citing the threats of computer hacking and cyberterrorism, is now moving to involve the NSA more deeply in domestic security issues. The growing role of the NSA—a Defense Department agency with thousands of military personnel—in domestic matters was on semi-public display on Friday. […]
Obama Administration: Toss Wiretap Lawsuit
November 1st, 2009Via: AP: Attorney General Eric Holder says a lawsuit in San Francisco over warrantless wiretapping threatens to expose ongoing intelligence work and must be thrown out. In making the argument, the Obama administration agreed with the Bush administration’s position on the case but insists it came to the decision differently. A civil liberties group criticized […]
U.N. Can’t Account for Millions Sent to Afghan Election Board
October 30th, 2009Via: ProPublica: The United Nations cannot account for tens of millions of dollars provided to the troubled Afghan election commission, according to two confidential U.N. audits and interviews with current and former senior diplomats… As Afghanistan prepares for a second round of national voting, the documents and interviews paint the fullest picture to date of […]
