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Secret CIA Program Revealed?
In an effort to take Obama’s economic failures off the front page, democrats once again resurrected an issue that so far has also been a failure — CIA witch hunts.
CIA Director Leon Panetta supposedly told Congress about a CIA program last week that up until that point had been kept from Congress at the behest of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Liberals in Congress predictably ran to the press and pointed to Panetta’s disclosure as proof that the CIA lies to Congress, which means Nancy Pelosi was telling the truth when she made that accusation some weeks ago.
You can’t tell the media about a “secret” program they can’t know about, because like a child they’ll keep digging and begging until they find out the secret.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting today new details on the secret program that Panetta disclosed to Congress.
Apparently, the program involved the assassination of top Al-Qaeda leaders.
Amid the high alert following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a small CIA unit examined the potential for targeted assassinations of al Qaeda operatives, according to the three former officials. The Ford administration had banned assassinations in the response to investigations into intelligence abuses in the 1970s. Some officials who advocated the approach were seeking to build teams of CIA and military Special Forces commandos to emulate what the Israelis did after the Munich Olympics terrorist attacks, said another former intelligence official.
"It was straight out of the movies," one of the former intelligence officials said. "It was like: Let’s kill them all."
I hope liberal democrats are not hanging their hat on this one. If the left thinks Americans are going to be upset about a program to kill Al-Qaeda terrorists, they’re wildly mistaken.
Terrorists should be hunted down and killed. Not arrested, not brought back for Eric Holder to give rights to, but killed on the spot.
The most troubling aspect of this latest revelation is not that such a program was being discussed, but that such a program was not immediately implemented.
More troubling still, is the fact that Director Panetta’s knee-jerk reaction to learning of the program was to cancel it.
As usual, this latest CIA dust-up is more about politics than anything else. Like Eric Holder’s determination to prosecute the very people who’ve kept us safe, Democrats are determined to play politics with our national security.
CIA Station Chief Accused Of Multiple Rapes
This from ABC News:
The CIA’s station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women who claim he laced their drinks with a knock-out drug, U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
Officials say the 41-year old CIA officer, a convert to Islam, was ordered home by the U.S. Ambassador, David Pearce, in October after the women came forward with their rape allegations in September.
Cue the “America is evil”, “America is the real terrorist”, “America is raping Islam” stories. Let the America bashing commence.
-Chris Jones
Bush Orders Intel Community To Get Bin Laden Before He Leaves Office
A brand new effort has been launched to try and capture or kill Osama bin Laden. President Bush has asked the British special forces to assist U.S. forces in the effort and they have agreed. Some in the intelligence community believe they know what region of Northwest Pakistan Osama bin Laden is hiding and are prepared to take him out.
Special forces have been methodically rolling-up the Al-Qaeda network member by member both in the Pakistani tribal areas and around the world. The plan is to get those closest to him and push him back towards the Afghan border where unmanned drones flying overhead can spot him and take him out.
All this sounds like a great thing, but I don’t understand why we always have to know about it. We know from his recordings that UBL reads the papers, and is aware of what’s being discussed in the media. I’m sure he’ll be quite pleased to read about the plan to catch him.
-Chris Jones
Spy Satellite Falling From Orbit
From the AP:
A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and propulsion and could hit the Earth in late February or March, government officials said Saturday.
The satellite, which no longer be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret.
New Intelligence Director Has Big Plans For Cyberspace Spying
An article in today’s Wall Street Journal will likely cause seizures at the ACLU and among Congressional Democrats.
The new Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is drafting a plan to protect America’s cyberspace that will raise privacy issues and make the current debate over FISA and wiretapping look like a “walk in the park.”
“This is going to be a goat rope on the Hill. My prediction is that we’re going to screw around with this until something horrendous happens.”
Just saying “goat rope” in reference to the new intelligence plan probably has Harry Reid and Chris Dodd breaking out into cold sweats.
At issue, McConnell acknowledges, is that in order to accomplish his plan, the government must have the ability to read all the information crossing the Internet in the United States in order to protect it from abuse. WHOAA!
This should be interesting.
-Chris Jones
Transcript of Al-Qaeda Intercept Discussing Bhutto Assassination
The Pakistani authorities claim they have proof that Al-Qaeda was responsible for the Bhutto assassination. The alleged proof is a telephone conversation between two Al-Qaeda operatives that was intercepted by Pakistani intelligence. Here is the official transcript of that phone intercept released earlier today.
The conversation is between militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, who is referred to as Emir Sahib, and another man identified as a Maulvi Sahib, or Mr. Cleric.
Maulvi Sahib: Peace be on you.
Mehsud: Peace be on you, too.
Maulvi Sahib: How are you Emir Sahib?
Mehsud: Fine.
Maulvi Sahib: Congratulations. I arrived now tonight.
Mehsud: Congratulations to you, too.
Maulvi Sahib: They were our men there.
Mehsud: Who were they?
Maulvi Sahib : There were Saeed, the second was Badarwala Bilal and Ikramullah was also there.
Mehsud: The three did it?
Maulvi Sahib: Ikramullah and Bilal did it.
Mehsud: Then congratulations to you again.
Maulvi: Where are you? I want to meet with you?
Mehsud: I am in Makin. Come I am at Anwar Shah’s home.
Maulvi Sahib: OK I will come.
Mehsud: Do not inform their family presently.
Maulvi Sahib: Right.
Mehsud: It was a spectacular job. They were very brave boys who killed her.
Maulvi Sahib: Praise be to God. I will give you more details when I come.
Mehsud: I will wait for you. Congratulation once again.
Maulvi Sahib: Congratulations to you as well.
Mehsud: Any service?
Mauvliv: Thank you very much?
Mehsud: Peace be on you.
Maulvi: Same to you.
-Chris Jones
Judge Appears Reluctant To Investigate Destruction of CIA Tapes
Much to the bitter disappointment of left-wing types, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy appeared reluctant today to open his own investigation into the destruction of interrogation tapes by the CIA.
U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy heard arguments from both sides on whether he should hold a hearing on the CIA’s controversial destruction of the videotapes in November 2005, five months after he had issued an order specifically ordering the government to preserve “all evidence and information regarding the torture, mistreatment and abuse of detainees now” at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Lawyer Joseph “Jody” Hunt, representing the White House, told the judge that Zubaydah and al-Nashiri were not being held at Guantanamo when the judge issued his order, noting that President Bush announced their transfer to the facility in September 2006. He also said the tapes destroyed by the CIA had no bearing on the case of the Yemeni men because, “It is inconceivable that the destroyed tapes could have been about abuse, mistreatment or torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.”
And Hunt asked the judge to refrain from conducting his own investigation because the Justice Department and CIA inspector general are already looking into the controversy, including whether the government violated any court orders to preserve evidence. He said that the Justice Department and the administration would notify the judge if the inquiry concludes that the court order was violated.
Judge Kennedy did not say when he would officially rule on these issues, but observers believe he will ultimately allow the Justice Department to conduct their own investigations without interfering.
Intel Official: Say Goodbye to Privacy
Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguards people’s private communications and financial information.
His comments came as he gave testimony to Congress regarding the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act.
Lawmakers hastily changed the 1978 law last summer to allow the government to eavesdrop inside the United States without court permission, so long as one end of the conversation was reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S.
The original law required a court order for any surveillance conducted on U.S. soil, to protect Americans’ privacy. The White House argued that the law was obstructing intelligence gathering.
Kerr’s testimony that citizens should say goodbye to privacy is gonna drive liberals absolutely crazy, but is he really saying anything new? As far as I can tell privacy has been dead for years. With cell phone cameras, tiny hidden cameras, and other technology, people no longer have an expectation of privacy.
A person is lucky to have any privacy even in their homes and that was the case long before the NSA began wiretapping without a warrant. If your a terrorist then you should be worried, otherwise get over it.
-Chris Jones
Faulty Intel Source for Iraq War Revealed
Take a look at this teaser from CBS about the upcoming episode of “60 Minutes.” It looks pretty interesting.
60 Minutes has identified the man whose fabricated story of Iraqi biological weapons drove the U.S. argument for invading Iraq. It has also obtained video of “Curve Ball,” as he was known in intelligence circles, and discovered he was not only a liar, but also a thief and a poor student instead of the chemical engineering whiz he claimed to be.
60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon’s two-year investigation will be broadcast this Sunday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Curve Ball is an Iraqi defector named Rafid Ahmed Alwan, who arrived at a German refugee center in 1999. To bolster his asylum case and increase his importance, he told officials he was a star chemical engineer who had been in charge of a facility at Djerf al Nadaf that was making mobile biological weapons.
60 Minutes has learned that Alwan’s university records indicate he did study chemical engineering but earned nearly all low marks, mostly 50s. Simon’s investigation also uncovered an arrest warrant for theft from the Babel television production company in Baghdad where he once worked.
Also appearing in Sunday’s segment is video that 60 Minutes obtained of Alwan at a Baghdad wedding in 1993 – the first time images of him have ever been made public.
He eventually wound up in the care of German intelligence officials to whom he continued to spin his tale of biological weapons. His plan succeeded partially because he had worked briefly at the plant outside Baghdad and his descriptions of it were mostly accurate. He embellished his account by saying 12 workers had been killed by biological agents in an accident at the plant.
More than a hundred summaries of his debriefings were sent to the CIA, which then became a pillar – along with the now-disproved Iraqi quest for uranium for nuclear weapons – for the U.S. decision to bomb and then invade Iraq. The CIA-director George Tenet gave Alwan’s information to Secretary of State Colin Powell to use at the U.N. in his speech justifying military action against Iraq.
Tenet gave the information to Powell despite a letter – a copy of which 60 Minutes obtained – addressed to him by the head of German intelligence stating that Alwan appeared to be believable, but there was no evidence to verify his story.
Through a spokesman, Tenet denies ever seeing the letter. “[Tenet] needs to talk to his special assistants if he didn’t see it,” says Tyler Drumheller, a former CIA senior official. “I am sure they showed it to him and I am sure … it wasn’t what they wanted to see,” he tells Simon.
Other CIA officials doubted Curve Ball’s authenticity, including former Central Group Chief Margaret Henoch, who speaks publicly for the first time, telling Simon she openly refuted Alwan’s story. “And it was like ‘Whack a Mole.’ He just popped right back up. It was unbelievable.”
Alwan was caught when CIA interrogators were finally allowed to question him and confronted him with evidence that his story could not be as he described it. Weapons inspectors had examined the plant at Djerf al Nadaf before the fall of Baghdad and found no evidence of biological agents.
In the end, however, Alwan got what he wanted. He is believed to be in Germany, free and probably living under an assumed name.
Why did he do it?
“It was a guy trying to get his green card essentially, in Germany, and playing the system for what it was worth,” says Drumheller. “It just shows … the law of unintended consequences,” he tells Simon.
Democratic Concessions Are Expected on Wiretapping
Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency.
Bush administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened wiretapping authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess, and some Democratic officials admit that they may not come up with the votes to rein in the administration.
As the debate over the N.S.A.’s wiretapping powers begins anew this week, the emerging legislation reflects the political reality confronting the Democrats. While they are willing to oppose the White House on the conduct of the war in Iraq, they remain nervous that they will be labeled as soft on terrorism if they insist on strict curbs on intelligence gathering.
Al-Qaeda Goes Dark After Video Leak
Al Qaeda’s Internet communications system has suddenly gone dark to American intelligence after the leak of Osama bin Laden’s September 11 speech inadvertently disclosed the fact that we had penetrated the enemy’s system.
The intelligence blunder started with what appeared at the time as an American intelligence victory, namely that the federal government had intercepted, a full four days before it was to be aired, a video of Osama bin Laden’s first appearance in three years in a video address marking the sixth anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. On the morning of September 7, the Web site of ABC News posted excerpts from the speech.
This tipped of Al-Qaeda’s Internet security apparatus that their had been a breach. U.S. intelligence officials then watched in real time as the terror group shut down there network within minutes.
What U.S. intelligence had been monitoring was Al-Qaeda’s internal communications on what amounted to a corporate intranet. This was also the method in which the terror groups media arm known as As-Sahab disseminated freshly made Jihadi videos to Al-Qaeda members for them to distribute around the world.
In addition to As-Sahab, this intranet also dealt with matters such as expense reporting and clerical memos to mid- and lower-level Al-Qaeda operatives throughout the world. This communications network is known to intel officials as Obelisk and it took years to penetrate.
While intranets are usually based on servers in a discrete physical location, Obelisk is a series of sites all over the Web, often with fake names, in some cases sites that are not even known by their proprietors to have been hacked by Al Qaeda.
The leaking of the Bin Laden video a full four days before it was supposed to air has dealt a major blow to U.S. intelligence gathering operations.
America’s Obelisk watchers even saw the order to shut down the system delivered from Qaeda’s internal security to a team of technical workers in Malaysia. That was the last internal message America’s intelligence community saw.
UPDATE:
The organization that provided the video to U.S. intelligence early was the SITE institute which is a private intelligence firm that tracks terrorist on the Internet. They often provide official intelligence agencies with information uncovered about Al-Qaeda.
U.S. agencies have responded by saying they have their own sophisticated means of watching al-Qaeda on the Web.
“We have individuals in the right places dealing with all these issues, across all 16 intelligence agencies,” said Ross Feinstein, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
-Chris Jones
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