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New DOD and CIA appointments signal shift in military thinking
In appointing General David Petraeus as the next director of the CIA and Leon Panetta as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’s replacement, President Obama is helping to solidify the increasingly intertwined roles of the two departments; in recent years, the CIA has become more of a tactical agency frequently engaging in kinetic operations with its predator drone program above the skies of Pakistan, while the Defense Department has stepped up its own intelligence operations; observers note that the increasing muddying of the two organizations is part of a shift in thinking on combat operations and intelligence needs in the post 9/11 world; critics of this trend say that this may reduce each agency’s operational effectiveness
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The killing of OBL: from enhanced interrogations to presidential speech writing
Four quick points: first, there is little doubt that the information obtained by U.S. intelligence about the people in the different circles surrounding Osama bin Laden — information that finally allowed the United States to follow the route of one of OBL’s couriers all the way to OBL’s hideout — was obtained without reading the Miranda right to those interrogated and without advising them of their right to remain silent; second, was the invasion of Iraq a diversion from the hunt for OBL? Third, the war against terrorism is not a war over territory and assets; it is a war over symbols, psychology, perception, and public opinion; killing bin Laden from the air by bombing his compound would have achieved the same physical results, but not the same psychological results; fourth, on the prose and poetry of leadership
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Syria intensifies its repression campaign
The government of Basher al-Assad has intensified its campaign to suppress the anti-government protests that have challenged the regime. The number of civilians killed by the security forces has risen to 560, with the number of people injured by the live rounds the military is using against the protesters reaching thousands; over the weekend, the government has also launched a campaign of mass arrests
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DHS offers grants for interoperable border communication
DHS announced $25.5 million in grant funding under the Border Interoperability Demonstration Project (BIDP) — a one-time competitive grant program focused on developing solutions to strengthen interoperable emergency communications along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico
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Bin Laden's killing: intriguing questions, few answers
The brilliant operation conducted by the U.S. Navy SEALs to kill Osama bin Laden should be celebrated, but the information provided so far by the administration leaves many questions unanswered; one of them has to do with Pakistan: it is inconceivable that bin Laden and his entourage could have stayed in their ostentatious compound for five years without elements in the Pakistani security services protecting them; it is bad enough for Pakistan to train and support several local Islamist terrorist groups so that they do Pakistan’s bidding in its conflict with India; it is another thing altogether for Pakistan to help hide the leader of a movement that declared war on — and has pursued active acts of war against — the United States, and do so while receiving billions of dollars in aid from the United States; we typically use the adjective “ambivalent” to describe Pakistan’s attitude toward the war on Islamic terrorism; perhaps it is time to search for another adjective; there are also some intriguing questions about the operational aspects of the raid on bin Laden’s compound
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U.S. commandos kill Osama bin Laden
In a brilliant commando operation deep inside Pakistan, a Navy Seal team killed Osama bin Laden then took his body to an American military base in Afghanistan for DNA verification of his identity; the DNA matched; the operation got underway last August when information was gathered showing bin Laden hiding in a compound in a small Pakistani town 150 km north of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital; President Obama gave the go-ahead to the operation on Friday, 29 April; in addition to Bin Laden, three other men were killed in the operation, including one of Bin Laden’s sons — and a woman who was used by the men as human shield
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Coalition escalates pressure on Gaddafi
The continuing ineffectiveness of the anti-Gaddafi rebels, and the flexibility and adaptability that the pro-Gaddafi forces have shown, have led the coalition to ratchet up the military pressure on Gaddafi: Britain, France, and Italy have decided to inject military advisers into rebel-held eastern Libya, and the United States began continuous patrols of armed drones over Libya; the latest, and probably most important, step was the decision to launch air strikes targeting command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) hubs and facilities; in one such attack over the weekend, one of Gaddafi’s sons — who was at the compound at the time — was killed, along with his three children; some have speculated that the coalition is now targeting Gaddafi and his family, but analysts say that legal questions aside, such targeting will have no effect on the military realities on the ground while making it politically and diplomatically more complicated to carry on the campaign
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U.K. universities accused of being "hotbeds of Islamic extremism"
British universities have been accused of being fertile breeding grounds for violent extremism; a recent investigation by British MPs claims that Islamic fundamentalism has flourished at universities and school officials have done little to stop it; school officials have denied these charges and insist that the report is entirely lacking in factual evidence; university vice-chancellors said the parliamentary report conflates the fact that young people are susceptible to radicalization and that a very large percentage of young people in the United Kingdom attend universities
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247 on U.S. terror watch list bought guns, explosives in 2010
There are eleven reasons why an individual may not be able to buy firearms or explosives in the United States — for example, being a convicted felon or an illegal immigrant; those on the U.S. terror watch list, however, are free to buy firearms and explosives; according to the FBI, in 2010 247 of them did — a similar number to that of 2009; some lawmakers want the attorney general to be able to prevent an individual on the watch list to buy a gun, but the counterargument is that the list is not always accurate, and that the attorney general is a political appointee; moreover, the list is secret, and letting people know they are on it may complicate the ability of law enforcement to track them and their associates
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Strikeout! Yankees release ticket holders' personal data
Apple and Google, Sony and Microsoft have all made news with security failures in the last weeks; the venerable New York Yankees baseball franchise now joins that list with the release of personal information of half of their season-ticket holders; this is but the latest example of cyber vulnerability owing to human fallibility
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Palestinian missteps; Assad may need a mid-course correction
Over the past four years, since Salam Fayyad became prime minister of the Palestinian Authority on 15 June 2007, the Palestinians have made steady progress toward realizing their dream of self-determination; Fayyad openly said that his plan was to emulate the way the Zionist movement, from the turn of the last century until the declaration of Israel’s independence in 1948, worked diligently to build the economic, social, political, and educational infrastructure of the state so that when the state did come it would have solid foundations; he has been successful, adding to his success the fact that the level of mutual confidence and cooperation between the Palestinian and Israeli security services has never been higher; in September, the UN will recognize Palestine as a state and accept it to membership; all these achievements may be derailed by the dramatic announcement on Wednesday of a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation; further north, in Syria, the Assad regime is using ever-increasing violence to suppress the anti-government protests; the question is what will happen first: the end of the protests, or the refusal by the military to continue to kill 100-200 unarmed civilians a week
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California school building regulators had ties with anti-regulation lobby group
A California watchdog group recently revealed that state officials in charge of enforcing earthquake standards for school buildings have had a long and questionable relationship with a lobbying group that actively works to oppose building safety regulations in public schools; senior officials with the Division of the State Architect had been dues paying members of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing, which actively lobbies for less regulation on school construction; in 1997, state regulators were told that taxpayers would reimburse their membership dues to be a part of the lobbying group; officials maintain that there has been no corruption; in 2010 a major regulatory provision in place since 1933 was removed
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U.S. reducing number of data centers, moving to the cloud
The U.S. government operates 2,100 data centers; these centers, together, occupy more than 350,000 square feet; to cut cost and increase security, the government plans to close 137 of the centers by the end of the year, part of a broader plan to close 800 data center within the next five years; in addition, 100 e-mail systems serving about one million government employees will be moved to the cloud
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Sony's gaming network hacked, Microsoft's follows suit
Gamers are in a frenzy over Sony’s announcement that its PlayStation network security had been breached, resulting in the exposure of a large amount of each user’s personal and financial information; the first of an expected flood of lawsuits, as well as class action is filed in U.S. District Court; Microsoft announces an exploited vulnerability in one of their game titles leading to phishing attempts, and acknowledged that previously banned “modded” consoles were attaching to the network again
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Syria is set to join the UN Human Rights Council
The Syrian regime has intensified its campaign against anti-government protesters; some 400 protesters have been killed so far and many hundreds have been wounded by live rounds the Syrian police and military use against the protesters; dozens of people suspected of harboring anti-regime sentiments have disappeared — apparently abducted by secret service agents and sent to remote prison camps; the military has surrounded several cities in a move reminiscent of Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez, who, in February 1982, ordered the destruction of the city of Hama in a scorched-earth policy against the Muslim Brotherhood; the grim news from Syria notwithstanding, the UN is scheduled to vote on 20 May on Syria’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council; the United States will vote against Syria’s membership, but the majority of the members of the UN will support it
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More headlines
The long view
Preventing Another 'Jan. 6' Starts by Changing How Elections Are Certified, Experts Say
The 2024 presidential election may be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but preventing a repeat of Jan. 6, 2021 — when false claims of a stolen election promoted by Donald Trump and his allies led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol —will be top of mind this election year. Research finds broad support among public for nonpartisan certification commissions.
States Rush to Combat AI Threat to Elections
This year’s presidential election will be the first since generative AI became widely available. That’s raising fears that millions of voters could be deceived by a barrage of political deepfakes. Congress has done little to address the issue, but states are moving aggressively to respond — though questions remain about how effective any new measures to combat AI-created disinformation will be.
Chinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
LNG Exports Have Had No Impact on Domestic Energy Costs: Analysis
U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports have not had any sustained and significant direct impact on U.S. natural gas prices and have, in fact, spurred production and productivity gains, which contribute to downward pressure on domestic prices.
Don’t Buy Moscow’s Shameless Campaign Tying Biden to Its Terrorist Attack
Russia has offered many different explanations to the ISIS-K’s 22 March 2024 terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, but the most recent explanation offered by Russia is the most audacious yet: Russia now charges that the Ukrainian energy company Burisma financed the attack. Burisma is at the center of an effort by a congressional committee to impeach President Biden, but the case has all but collapsed. Hunter Stoll writes that Russia’s disinformation and propaganda apparatus appears to be searching for ways to keep Burisma in the news ahead of the U.S. presidential election.