Western Intel

Judge Napolitano on Obama’s Drone Strike Policy: ‘This Is the Power Claimed by Kings and Tyrants’

"'It says 'any informed high-level U.S. government official can strip an American of his or her constitutional protections and order the killing of that American if the person is overseas, if it's difficult to arrest that person,' said Napolitano, explaining that the memo does not clearly define what 'imminent danger' to the United States means. 'This is the power claimed by kings and tyrants. This is about as un-American a power as one could imagine,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge Napolitano on Obama’s Drone Strike Policy: ‘This Is the Power Claimed by Kings and Tyrants’

Incoming CIA Director John Brennan refuses to say whether waterboarding is torture

"At his confirmation hearing on Thursday, President Barack Obama’s nominee for CIA director refused to state whether or not waterboarding was a form of torture. When pressed by Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, John Brennan said the simulated drowning technique should be banned. However, he repeatedly declined to label the practice torture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIncoming CIA Director John Brennan refuses to say whether waterboarding is torture

Extraordinary rendition report claims 54 countries ‘offered covert support’ of CIA torture operation

"The full extent of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition programme has been laid bare with the publication of a report showing there is evidence that more than a quarter of the world’s governments covertly offered support. A 213-page report compiled by the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), a New York-based human rights organisation, says that at least 54 countries co-operated with the global kidnap, detention and torture operation that was mounted after 9/11, many of them in Europe. So widespread and extensive was the participation of governments across the world that it is now clear the CIA could not have operated its programme without their support, according to the OSJI." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingExtraordinary rendition report claims 54 countries ‘offered covert support’ of CIA torture operation

Panetta: US needs to keep up drone war

"The assassination of Al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia with unmanned, robotic aircraft has provoked widespread criticism from human rights groups and some US allies, but Panetta said the US campaign has been effective. Asked if the CIA 'targeted killings' should be curtailed in coming years, Panetta told AFP in an interview that there was still a need to continue the drone strikes more than a decade since the attacks of September 11, 2001. 'I think it depends on the nature of the threat that we’re confronting. We are in a war. We’re in a war on terrorism and we’ve been in that war since 9/11.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPanetta: US needs to keep up drone war

Obama gets power to wage pre-emptive cyber warfare

"A secret internal review has concluded that President Barack Obama can lawfully engage in pre-emptive cyber attacks in the event that the U.S. faces an imminent threat, according to The New York Times. The legal guidance was key to rules the administration hopes to adopt in the coming weeks to govern cyber warfare operations. The Times added that those rules will classified similarly to the policies governing the nation’s drone warfare program. The president is only known to have launched one cyberwar operation, against Iran." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama gets power to wage pre-emptive cyber warfare

Massive espionage malware targeting governments undetected for 5 years

"Researchers have uncovered an ongoing, large-scale computer espionage network that's targeting hundreds of diplomatic, governmental, and scientific organizations in at least 39 countries, including the Russian Federation, Iran, and the United States. Operation Red October, as researchers from antivirus provider Kaspersky Lab have dubbed the highly coordinated campaign, has been active since 2007, raising the possibility it has already siphoned up hundreds of terabytes of sensitive information. The main purpose of the campaign is to gather classified information and geopolitical intelligence." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMassive espionage malware targeting governments undetected for 5 years

Military judge orders government to stop censoring 9/11 hearings

"A military judge ordered the US government Thursday to stop censoring September 11 pre-trial hearings from outside his courtroom. Judge James Pohl said the government must 'disconnect the outside feed or ability to suspend the broadcast' from outside his court. Proceedings are heard in the press room, and in a room where human rights groups and victims families sit, with a 40 second delay. This is done so that a security officer sitting next to the judge can block anything deemed classified. The ruling means classified information could still be blocked, but only by order of the judge and not from outside the courtroom." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary judge orders government to stop censoring 9/11 hearings

Former Obama Intel Chief: Pentagon, Not CIA Should Control Drone Strikes

"Admiral Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence from January 2009 to May 2010, told a Council on Foreign Relations conference call that current U.S. policy has created 'all kinds of legal knots' regarding how and when America uses the controversial counterterrorism tactic. Last week The Washington Post reported that the Obama administration is almost done with its 'playbook' designed to establish clear rules for targeted-killing operations, but the CIA will continue to be exempt from the rules for the next year or more." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Obama Intel Chief: Pentagon, Not CIA Should Control Drone Strikes

Talk of CIA prisons censored at Guantanamo hearing

"US authorities censored part of a preliminary hearing Monday at a Guantanamo military tribunal that touched on CIA secret prisons where suspected 9/11 plotters say they were tortured. Reporters watched the proceedings against the five 9/11 suspects at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba behind a thick, sound-proof glass wall and listened to piped-in audio with a 40-second delay. But when a defense lawyer mentioned the CIA secret sites at Monday’s hearing, a red light flashed on and the sound from the courtroom was cut off. The audio from the proceedings was replaced by white noise, preventing journalists from listening." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTalk of CIA prisons censored at Guantanamo hearing

North Africa Explodes?

"The Financial Times is reporting that the West 'faces decades of conflict in N. Africa.' The world's biggest news aggregator, Matt Drudge, is featuring the news on his front page. No doubt it's being promoted throughout the mainstream media as if what's going on is a surprise. The current war blowing up in Mali is, however, a perfect example of directed history. It has been 'in the works' for at least two years but probably far longer than that. Not only has it been planned, it has been gradually developed through a series of supporting wars in the Middle East and Africa. All of this manipulation was intended to make this outcome look inevitable and natural. It is not." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNorth Africa Explodes?