Western Intel

Obama doesn’t believe secret NSA surveillance violated privacy rights: chief of staff

"While he defended the surveillance, McDonough said 'the existence of these programs obviously have unnerved many people.' He said Obama 'welcomes a public debate on this question because he does say and he will say in the days ahead that we have to find the right balance, and we will not keep ourselves on a perpetual war footing.' Revelations of the NSA’s broad monitoring of phone and Internet data has drawn criticism that the Obama administration has extended, or even expanded, the security apparatus the George W. Bush administration built after the September 11, 2001, attacks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama doesn’t believe secret NSA surveillance violated privacy rights: chief of staff

CIA preparing to deliver Syrian rebels weapons through Turkey and Jordan

"The CIA is preparing to deliver arms to rebel groups in Syria through clandestine bases in Turkey and Jordan that were expanded over the past year in an effort to establish reliable supply routes into the country for nonlethal material, U.S. officials said. The bases are expected to begin conveying limited shipments of weapons and ammunition within weeks, officials said, serving as critical nodes for an escalation of U.S. involvement in a civil war. Syria experts cautioned that the opposition to Assad remains a chaotic mix of secular and Islamist elements, highlighting the risk that some American-provided munitions may be diverted from their intended recipients." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA preparing to deliver Syrian rebels weapons through Turkey and Jordan

Welcome to Utah, the NSA’s desert home for eavesdropping on America

"The $1.7bn facility, two years in the making, will soon host supercomputers to store gargantuan quantities of data from emails, phone calls, Google searches and other sources. It was designed to be largely anonymous. Instead, after Guardian disclosures of data-mining programs involving millions of Americans, the Utah Data Center provokes an urgent question: what exactly will it do? 'Revelations about surveillance did not prove abuse of power,' said Bluffdale’s mayor, Derk Timothy. 'I don’t think they crossed the line. They’ve been good partners to us, especially when it comes to water. They’ve been building that facility as if they’re going to stay forever.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWelcome to Utah, the NSA’s desert home for eavesdropping on America

Naomi Wolf: My creeping concern that the NSA leaker is not who he purports to be

"I hate to cast any skepticism on what seems to be a great story of a brave spy coming in from the cold in the service of American freedom. And I would never raise such questions in public if I had not been told by a very senior official in the intelligence world that indeed, there are some news stories that they create and drive — even in America (where propagandizing Americans is now legal). But do consider that in Eastern Germany, for instance, it was the fear of a machine of surveillance that people believed watched them at all times — rather than the machine itself — that drove compliance and passivity." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNaomi Wolf: My creeping concern that the NSA leaker is not who he purports to be

Eric Holder ‘confident’ of bringing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden ‘to justice’

"The United States is confident it will bring Edward Snowden to justice for 'extremely damaging' leaks about secret internet surveillance programmes, US Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday. 'The national security of the United States has been damaged by those leaks. The safety of the American people and safety of people in allied nations is at risk,' he said. Holder also said that he had agreed to share details with the European Union about the so-called PRISM programme, which was exposed after Snowden spoke to British and American newspapers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Holder ‘confident’ of bringing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden ‘to justice’

Paul Craig Roberts: What Is The Government’s Agenda?

"How can something as rare as terrorism justify the destruction of the US Constitution and US civil liberty? How safe is any American when their government regards every citizen as a potential suspect who has no rights? What is the government’s real agenda? Clearly, 'the war on terror' is a front for an undeclared agenda. In 'freedom and democracy' America, citizens have no idea what their government’s motives are in fomenting endless wars and a gestapo police state. The only information Americans have comes from whistleblowers, who Obama ruthlessly prosecutes. The presstitutes quickly discredit the information and demonize the whistleblowers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: What Is The Government’s Agenda?

Bill Bonner: What the Papers Aren’t Reporting About the NSA Scandal

"Booz Allen earned $1.3 billion pretending to protect approximately nobody from a mostly non-existent threat. What it was actually doing was helping the feds snoop on the law-abiding people who pay the bills. The company shareholders get rich. Its executives get rich. Ex-public servants walk through the revolving door into the company's plush offices... and they get rich too. What's not to like? And who's going to oppose more anti-terrorism spending? But wait, there's more!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: What the Papers Aren’t Reporting About the NSA Scandal

James Bamford: The Secret War

"Tens of thousands of people move through more than 50 buildings—the city has its own post office, fire department, and police force. But as if designed by Kafka, it sits among a forest of trees, surrounded by electrified fences and heavily armed guards, protected by antitank barriers, monitored by sensitive motion detectors, and watched by rotating cameras. To block any telltale electromagnetic signals from escaping, the inner walls of the buildings are wrapped in protective copper shielding and the one-way windows are embedded with a fine copper mesh. This is the undisputed domain of General Keith Alexander, a man few even in Washington would likely recognize." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJames Bamford: The Secret War

NSA gets early access to zero-day exploit data from Microsoft, others

"The NSA isn’t alone in the business of swapping secrets with the corporate world. The FBI, CIA, and DOD also have programs enabling them to exchange sensitive government information with corporate 'partners' in exchange for information that relate to network security. The NSA’s dual role as the security arbiter for many government networks and as point organization for the US government’s offensive cyberwarfare capabilities means that the information it gains from these special relationships could be used to craft exploits to gain access to the computer systems and networks of foreign governments, businesses, and individuals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA gets early access to zero-day exploit data from Microsoft, others

Key anecdote to defend NSA data gathering is full of holes

"James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said a data collection program by the National Security Agency helped stop an attack on a Danish newspaper for which Headley did surveillance. And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the Senate intelligence chairwoman, also called Headley’s capture a success. But a closer examination of the case, drawn from extensive reporting by ProPublica, shows that the government surveillance only caught up with Headley after the U.S. had been tipped by British intelligence. And even that victory came after seven years in which U.S. intelligence failed to stop Headley as he roamed the globe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKey anecdote to defend NSA data gathering is full of holes