Russia Federal Agents (FSB) Suspected of Treason Reportedly Passed Secrets to the CIA.

Russia Federal Agents (FSB) Suspected of Treason Reportedly Passed Secrets to the CIA. (MT).

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents arrested for treason and illegal hacking reportedly passed confidential information to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, sources close to the investigation told the news agency Interfax.

Sergei Mikhailov, a top cybersecurity specialist in the FSB, and his deputy Dmitry Dokuchaev are being accused of “breaking their oath and working with the CIA,” Interfax reported, citing an anonymous source that did not specify if Mikhailov and Dokuchaev worked directly with the CIA or through intermediaries.

“Four people have been arrested in this case, and eight individuals in total have been identified as accomplices. Only four suspects have been charged, and the others could get off as witnesses,” the source told Interfax.

Another source told the news agency that the treason charges and allegations of illegal hacking against Mikhailov and his accomplices are separate cases that do not intersect.

“Each of the suspects performed his own role. One person developed and deployed the cyberattacks, and another person collaborated with foreign intelligence agents. And these operations were parallel and, as a rule, they didn’t intersect,” the second source told Interfax, explaining that the group’s members were acquainted in the IT and information security sectors.

“And the the main link in this chain wasn’t the person with the most senior position and rank,” the source said.

Last week, the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Sergei Mikhailov, Dmitry Dokuchaev (who worked in the same FSB unit as Mikhailov), Ruslan Stoyanov (the head of cybercrime investigations at Kaspersky Labs), and a fourth suspect had been arrested on suspicion of leaking secret information to the U.S. intelligence community.

'We need Civilian Security Force' - John Brennan's reforms would turn the CIA into a paramilitary organization.

Full video here.

 'We need Civilian Security Force' - John Brennan's reforms would turn the CIA into a paramilitary organization. (TheWeek).

While "cyber" and "innovation" are certainly newsier buzzwords than "restructuring," Brennan's planned changes to the CIA's internal architecture are generating controversy and conversation, and rightly so. 

Brennan's reform would extend the model of the Counterterrorism Center (CTC), a division already inside the CIA to the entire agency. This means analysts and operations officers will no longer work separately, but side by side in regional and thematic units. This is a major shift which overcomes a decades-old division of labor.

The CTC model is not without its advantages. Analysts with deep knowledge of their enemies would be able to target operations more efficiently, and they could more easily assess the reliability of incoming information. Intelligence would circulate more freely among those working on the same topic and officers would be able to apply their talents and expertise to a wider range of tasks.

If Brennan's suggested reform comes to pass, any pretense of disinterested objectivity in the CIA would disappear. The CIA would become a largely paramilitary agency with no separation between analysts and operators, the opposite of what Kent had envisioned.

The likely consequence would be a multiplication of the biased assessments like the ones on the drone and interrogation programs. In the long run, the CIA would lose its reputation for objectivity, its ready access to senior policy-makers and its centrality in the policy process. Read the full story here.

Video - Jon Stewart Talks Judaism and His Coverage of Israel, Claims Iran Views Him as a Mossad Agent.

Video - Jon Stewart Talks Judaism and His Coverage of Israel, Claims Iran Views Him as a Mossad Agent. HT: Algemeiner.

“In Iran, I’ve already been outed as a Mossad agent and a CIA agent,” he told Canada’s National Post. “They’ve already produced 60 Minutes-style pieces describing me as a Mossad agent.”

Ex-CIA chief overheard criticising Obama administration in 'off-record' interviews on train.

Ex-CIA chief overheard criticising Obama administration in 'off-record' interviews on train.HT: NDtv.

A former CIA and National Security Agency chief was overheard criticizing President Barack Obama's administration on Thursday in what he thought was an anonymous interview, which instead ended up on Twitter.

Retired general Michael Hayden made the mistake of giving a series of interviews to reporters by phone "on background" while riding a train, in public.

Unbeknownst to Hayden, he was sitting near Tom Matzzie, the former Washington director of the liberal, activist MoveOn.org Political Action Committee who immediately divulged the juiciest bits of the exchanges on Twitter.

The NSA spying scandal, CIA secret prisons abroad and Obama's smartphone were all topics of conversation.

Word of Hayden's comments came just hours after reports that the US government has spied on 35 world leaders.

"Former NSA spy boss Michael Hayden on Acela behind me blabbing 'on background as a former senior admin official' Sounds defensive," Matzzie tweeted at 4:20 pm, more than an hour after the express train had left Washington, headed towards New York.

"On Acela listening to former NSA spy boss Michael Hayden give 'off record' interviews. I feel like I'm in the NSA. Except I'm in public."

Hayden was being interviewed by several reporters, likely including Time magazine's Massimo Calabresi according to Matzzie, and asked each time that he only be interviewed as a "former senior administration official."

The former spy chief spoke with the journalists about allegations the US spied on foreign allies, a "famous Blackberry" (Obama's) and was "bragging about rendition and black sites," said Matzzie, who once led US activist campaigns to end the war in Iraq.

An increasingly nervous Matzzie worried he would be found out by Hayden.

"Phone ringing. I think the jig is up. Maybe somebody is telling him I'm here. Do I hide?" he asked some 15 minutes after he started tweeting about Hayden's conversations. "New call. I am totally busted I think."

Although Hayden's office did apparently call him to inform him of the tweets, the former spy chief "graciously" offered Matzzie an interview.

Matzzie, who now runs a renewable energy company, later tweeted: "I have to say. I'm actually a little afraid. The intelligence world is kind of dark and scary."Read the full story here.

CIA was transferring surface-to-air missiles from Libya to the rebels in Syria through Turkey?

CIA was transferring surface-to-air missiles from Libya to the rebels in Syria through Turkey?(VoiceOfRussia).

The CIA was transferring surface-to-air missiles from Libya to the rebels in Syria through Turkey when the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi took place, a CNN report has revealed.

As part of the investigation into the death of US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans last September, the CNN reported on Thursday that up to 35 CIA spies were working in an annex near the US consulate on a project to supply missiles from Libyan armories to Syrian rebels. According to one source, at least seven others wounded, some seriously. It is unknown how many of them were CIA.
CNN said the CIA is involved in what one source calls an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency's Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out, subjecting its agents to frequent polygraph examinations.
The circumstances of the attack are being probed as some Congressional leaders pressed for a wide-ranging investigation suspecting that the government has withheld details of its activities in Benghazi.
Congressman Frank Wolf in Langley, Virginia, said.
“I think it is a form of a cover-up, and I think it's an attempt to push it under the rug, and I think the American people are feeling the same way.”
“We should have the people who were on the scene come in, testify under oath, do it publicly, and lay it out. And there really isn't any national security issue involved with regards to that.”
A CIA spokesman said it had been open about its activities in Benghazi.
“The CIA has worked closely with its oversight committees to provide them with an extraordinary amount of information related to the attack on US facilities in Benghazi,” a CIA statement said. “CIA employees are always free to speak to Congress if they want," the statement continued. “The CIA enabled all officers involved in Benghazi the opportunity to meet with Congress. We are not aware of any CIA employee who has experienced retaliation, including any non-routine security procedures, or who has been prevented from sharing a concern with Congress about the Benghazi incident.”
The State Department told CNN it was only helping the new Libyan government destroy weapons that was “damaged, aged or too unsafe retain,” and that it was not involved in any transfer of weapons to other countries.
The CIA would not comment on whether it was involved in the transfer of any weapons.Read the full story here.

Related:

Turkish Envoy Playing Role of Middle Man in Arms Trafficking to Yemen.

Video - Russia's FSB says CIA agent nabbed in Moscow.

Video - Russia's FSB says CIA agent nabbed in Moscow.(RT).Promises of millions, a new face and detailed instructions on a double-agent conspiracy in Moscow. Bearing the hallmarks of a Cold War spy thriller, Russia’s counterintelligence agency says it nabbed a CIA officer trying to flip a Russian operative.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) Public Relations Center has announced that the person detained is Ryan Christopher Fogle, a career diplomat working as the third secretary of the Political Section of the American embassy in Moscow.

The agency stressed that Christopher had special technical equipment, printed instructions for the Russian citizen being recruited, a large sum of money and means to change the person’s appearance.

The detainee was delivered to the FSB receiving office where he has been questioned and after all the necessary procedures he has been handed over to representatives of the US embassy in Moscow.

The website of the American embassy in Russia informs that its Political Section is engaged in “bringing to the attention of the Russian government the US position on the issues of foreign policy and security.” The section’s other task is to “inform Washington about the main provisions of the foreign and defense policy of Russia,” as well as Russian domestic political life.

US Ambassador to the Russian Federation Michael McFaul refused to comment on the detention of his subordinate for espionage activities. On his Twitter account he simply wrote ‘no’ answering a question about Ryan Fogle.

But tomorrow he will definitely have to have an answer to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he has been summoned to give an explanation concerning the incident.Read the full story here.

Iranian TV airs documentary on revealing and capturing CIA spies.

Iranian TV airs documentary on revealing and capturing CIA spies.(TI).Iranian TV has recently aired a documentary titled "Hunter in a Trap", about Iranian intelligence services revealing and capturing CIA spies in the country, the young journalists club website reported.
The documentary features a man, who calls himself "Matthew Waluk" from Slovenia, that describes how the operation was set up.
According to him, in 2008 he established a website online, that offered bogus jobs in Slovenia, in the spheres of science, biotechnology, IT, and others.
After several Iranians got interested in the offer, the website forwarded their names and other sensitive information to the CIA.
There are six people in the video, who are presented as CIA's undercover agents in Iran, and their numerous meetings at different hotels, streets, shops and other places are shown.
The detainees speak about their missions in the film as well.
In 2011, Iranian media reported that 12 agents of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who were targeting its military and nuclear program, were arrested in Tehran.Read the full story here.

Video - Islam ‘Helped to Shape’ CIA Nominee John Brennan’s World View. 'Islam is a face of peace and tolerance and great diversity'

Hmmm.....Obama: "The Future Does Not Belong To Those that Slander the Prophet" - "Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance"

You might be a psychopath if you don't join Facebook? Some employers and psychologists say staying away from social media is 'suspicious'.

You might be a psychopath if you don't join Facebook? Some employers and psychologists say staying away from social media is 'suspicious'.(DM).Facebook has become such a pervasive force in modern society that increasing numbers of employers, and even some psychologists, believe people who aren’t on social networking sites are ‘suspicious.’

The German magazine Der Taggspiegel went so far as to point out that accused theater shooter James Holmes and Norwegian mass murder Anders Behring Breivik have common ground in their lack of Facebook profiles.
On a more tangible level, Forbes.com reports that human resources departments across the country are becoming more wary of young job candidates who don’t use the site.

Normal: Facebook has become so pervasive in this culture that not having a profile is considered ‘abnormal’

The common concern among bosses is that a lack of Facebook could mean the applicant’s account could be so full of red flags that it had to be deleted.
Slate.com tech reporter Farhad Manjoo wrote in an advice column that young people shouldn’t date anyone who isn’t on Facebook.'If you’re of a certain age and you meet someone who you are about to go to bed with, and that person doesn’t have a Facebook page, you may be getting a false name. It could be some kind of red flag,' he says.
Manjoo points out that these judgements don't apply to older people who were already productive adults before social media became widespread.
The tech news site Slashdot summed up Der Taggspiegel's story about social networking as 'not having a Facebook account could be the first sign that you are a mass murderer.'Hmmmmm......Is Obama or the rest of the family on facebook?Read the full story here.

CIA has “inadvertently overlooked” documents related to bin Laden movie.

CIA has “inadvertently overlooked” documents related to bin Laden movie.(AA).The Central Intelligence Agency said it “inadvertently overlooked” documents related to an upcoming movie about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, now titled “Zero Dark Thirty,” CNN reported on Wednesday. According to the report, the CIA had failed to hand over the documents, which were related to the agency’s assistance to filmmakers creating the movie, as part of a lawsuit filed against the CIA and the Department of Defense. A court document revealed the oversight in the lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, “which is seeking information about how much the CIA and Pentagon disclosed about the raid by cooperating with filmmakers,” CNN reported. “The CIA discovered a 4- to 5-inch stack of records,” the filing by the government’s attorney, Marcia Berman told CNN. “From its initial review of the documents, the CIA has determined that the newly discovered documents are responsive to plaintiff’s request but contain some duplicates of produced records,” Berman added.
Judicial Watch said the documents, which consist of 30 files (primarily e-mails), were supposed to be handed over two months ago under a federal court order. “The documents showed, for example, that a defense official offered the filmmakers access to a planner from SEAL Team 6, the super-secret Special Operations unit that successfully executed the high-stakes raid in Pakistan last year,” CNN reported, adding that it is not clear if any such access eventually took place. U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said in August last year that the Defense Department is cooperating with filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal as they work on a motion picture about the raid that killed bin Laden. The two, who collaborated on the Oscar-winning Iraq war movie “The Hurt Locker,” had reportedly been developing the bin Laden film even before the al-Qaeda leader was killed on May 2011 in a raid on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. The CIA documents reportedly include a transcript from a meeting, on July 14 of last year, in which “Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers told Bigelow and Boal that the defense department would offer up a plum interview,” CNN reported.
“This new ‘discovery’ and resulting delay stinks to high heaven - maybe an independent criminal leak investigation can look into this issue, too,” Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, told CNN. The government has asked the court for an extension until August 24 to properly review the documents but Judicial Watch is objecting to the request. “They are suggesting that many are duplicative, so even less reason,” not to turn them over sooner,” he said. In August last year, the U.S. administration dismissed concerns that classified information has been divulged to assist moviemakers producing a film about the U.S. special forces raid that killed bin Laden. Republican Peter King, Chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, had called for an investigation into contacts between the administration and the filmmakers. King questioned whether special operations methods had been compromised. “The claims are ridiculous,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told a White House briefing in August 2011. “We do not discuss classified information. And I would hope that as we face the continued threat from terrorism, the House Committee on Homeland Security would have more important topics to discuss than a movie,” Carney added. According to a Reuters report also in August 2011, the film, focusing on one of President Barack Obama’s key successes in office, is due to be released in October 2012, less than a month before the election in which the Democrat is seeking a second term. Hmmmm......."had reportedly been developing the bin Laden film even before the al-Qaeda leader was killed on May 2011?"Read the full story here.

Palestinian Authority TV airs story of alleged CIA report that predicts end of Israel by 2022.

Palestinian Authority TV airs story of alleged CIA report that predicts end of Israel by 2022.(PalWatch).By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik.TV host prays for realization of "CIA report".Palestinian Authority television interviewed a Syrian journalist who claimed to have seen a top secret CIA memo from the Clinton administration. This CIA memo allegedly predicted that Israel would not survive beyond the year 2022. The PA TV host responded with a short prayer that this prediction should be fulfilled:

Syrian journalist, Al-Bujayrami: "What I'm going to say, no one has ever heard. A report was submitted by the American Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, to former US President Clinton. It was written on the report: 'Eyes only.' 'Eyes only' means for the President's eyes only. No one else is allowed to see it."
PA TV host: "Top secret."
Al-Bujayrami: "It's more classified than 'top secret.' ... The CIA says [in this report]: 'If things continue as they are, we don't think that Israel will continue to exist after the year 2022...'"PA TV host: "By Allah, from your mouth to Allah!"

[PA TV (Fatah), June 12, 2012]

Palestinian Media Watch has reported that PA officials and the PA controlled media often present the image of a world without Israel and express the goal for Israel to be destroyed or cease to exist. The following are some recent examples: 
This recent op-ed in the PA daily expressed hope for Israel's destruction:

"We remember you, all of Palestine. You are present within us... until we return to you, oh Haifa, Acre, and Jaffa, all of historical Palestine... and all the temporary ones [Israelis] will go  away... May their [Israeli] independence collapse, and may Palestine come back to life."

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, May 15, 2012}.Read the full story here.

Video - " Thank You Suckers! " - Mark Zuckerberg Awarded CIA Surveillance Medal.

Disney's Race to Witch Mountain “Alien language” presented by CIA & Disney.

Disney's Race to Witch Mountain “Alien language” presented by CIA and Disney.(SSS).HT: Cryptogon.One of the most eyebrow-raising cases of government involvement in a Hollywood UFO movie in recent years is that of Race to Witch Mountain (2009), which apparently received extensive support from the CIA – albeit in an ‘off the books’ capacity – despite its plot drawing extensively from UFO mythology (with references both to Area 51 and Roswell) and its presentation of a sinister government UFO cover-up. In 2010, the film's director, Andy Fickman – a self-described “UFO enthusiast” born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico – told me that, although he personally shaped the majority of the film’s UFO-related content, at least some of it was the result of CIA input. The director claims that, in a highly unusual production arrangement, he and his crew were closely assisted by an active employee of the CIA whose advice extended to designing the alien writing seen in the flying saucer during the film’s climactic scenes. Despite my best efforts, Fickman has been unwilling to reveal to me the identity of his CIA advisor, but claims he’s a former Air Force Technical Intelligence Officer, that he had been “very active in Hollywood,” and “had a lot of connections in the computer world and [experience in] satellite imagery.” Fickman said of his CIA advisor:
All of the on-camera alien language in terms of their spaceship and everything – that was all designed by him in the sense [of what] the mathematics of communication would be, so you know... there would be a similar mathematical equation that the government probably has if they were to ever come across an alien race. So a lot of the things we ended up using were things he was bringing to me... and the next thing you know, that’s what I had on screen. The alien “language” to which Fickman refers appears onscreen in Race to Witch Mountain in the form of holographic symbols aboard the Nordic aliens’ flying saucer. Some are simple, some are more elaborate. Read and see the full story here.

Apparently Osama Bin Laden Died Twice? Former Turkish CIA Agent states: Bin Laden Died of Disease in 2006.

Apparently Osama Bin Laden Died Twice? Former Turkish CIA Agent states: Bin Laden Died of Disease in 2006.(Fars).Tehran - Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda chief, died a natural death nearly 5 years before it was announced that he was eliminated by the American commandos in Pakistan, unveiled a former CIA agent.Speaking in an interview with Russia's Channel One, Berkan Yashar, a Turkish politician and former US intelligence agent claimed that the Americans did not kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and, in fact, he died naturally. The journalists of Channel One first met Yashar in 2008. At the time he was featured in the documentary "Plan Caucasus," talking about the attempts of the western intelligence services in the early 1990's to separate the Northern Caucasus and, in particular, Chechnya from Russia. Chechen by nationality, Yashar is now a Turkish politician, but in those years he was one of the ideologists of Johar Dudayev. He asked for a meeting, promising to tell the truth about the death of Osama bin Laden whom he met in the early 90-ies in Chechnya. "In September of 1992,  I was in Chechnya, that's when I first met the man whose name was Bin Laden. This meeting took place in a two-story house in the city of Grozny; on the top floor was a family of Gamsakhurdia, the Georgian president, who then was kicked out of his country. We met on the bottom floor; Osama lived in the same building, "said Berkan Yashar. Berkan said he did not know why bin Laden visited while in Grozny, and said only one thing about his meetings: "Just wanted to talk." However, according to Channel One, in those years the former employee of Radio Liberty Berkan Yashar already had an operational name Abubakar, given to him by the CIA. According to Berkan, after that trip Chechen nationals appeared in Osama bin Laden's circle. Berkan Yashar emphasized that they did not participate "directly in the terror bombings." "They protected bin Laden, it was his choice because he trusted them entirely, and knew that they would never betray," said Yashar. According to Yashar he was not the only one who knew about it, but the Russian security services and the CIA were aware of this as well. Answering the question whether he believed that the Americans killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, Berkan Yashar answered, "Even if the entire world believed I could not possibly believe it." "I personally know the Chechens who protected him, they are Sami, Mahmood, and Ayub, and they were with him until the very end. I remember that day very well, there were three sixes in it: 26 June 2006. These people, as well as two others from London and two Americans, all seven of them, saw him dead. He was very ill, he was skin and bones, very thin, and they washed him and buried him," said Berkan Yashar. Yashar stressed that although the two American Muslims and two British Muslims the guards of bin Laden and saw him dead, they did not participate in the funerals. "Only three Chechens buried him, according to his will," said Yashar. Bin Laden was buried, according to Yashar, in the mountains on the Pakistan-Afghan border. "There was no assault," said Yashar. "I know the American operations from the inside: they find the grave, dig out bin Laden and tell everyone about this. They need to show how technologically the security services worked, how each step was controlled, and then present it as a great victory to show that taxpayers are not paying taxes for nothing. " Berkan now blames himself for the fact that the Chechens from the protection of bin Laden, "the terrorist number one" are no longer alive after the US intelligence services began to tap Berkan's telephone conversations. He said he was the first one who announced the date of death of bin Laden. "I was the first one who announced the date of his death in November of 2008 at a conference in Washington, not naming any names, and it looks like it was when the Americans began to track my contacts," he said. The last security guard Berkan saw Sami, who, according to him, a few days before bin Laden was declared killed, was kidnapped by the US intelligence agencies. According to Berkan, most likely, it was him who disclosed to them the exact place of burial in the mountains on the Pakistan-Afghan border. In any case, the last call from Sami was from Pakistan. Berkan explained why he informed the journalists of Channel One: he feared for his life. According to him, only wide publicity around the world can protect him from the CIA. However, just in case, the Turkish secret services, according to him, provided him with guards and weapons.Hmmmm........Is this why no pictures or documents can be disclosed or found of the Taking down of Osama Bin Laden.........Except the White house  pictures? Read the full story here.

CIA Counterterrorism Chief Is a Convert to Islam.

CIA Counterterrorism Chief Is a Convert to Islam.(WP).Is it wise to put a Muslim in charge of efforts to stop Muslim terrorists?This is a country where a Muslim can become a CIA chief. How intolerant and bigoted can we be?

WASHINGTON POST--For every cloud of smoke that follows a CIA drone strike in Pakistan, dozens of smaller plumes can be traced to a gaunt figure standing in a courtyard near the center of the agency’s Langley campus in Virginia.

The man with the nicotine habit is in his late 50s, with stubble on his face and the dark-suited wardrobe of an undertaker. As chief of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center for the past six years, he has functioned in a funereal capacity for al-Qaeda.

Roger, which is the first name of his cover identity, may be the most consequential but least visible national security official in Washington — the principal architect of the CIA’s drone campaign and the leader of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. In many ways, he has also been the driving force of the Obama administration’s embrace of targeted killing as a centerpiece of its counterterrorism efforts.
Colleagues describe Roger as a collection of contradictions. A chain-smoker who spends countless hours on a treadmill. Notoriously surly yet able to win over enough support from subordinates and bosses to hold on to his job. He presides over a campaign that has killed thousands of Islamist militants and angered millions of Muslims, but he is himself a convert to Islam. Hmmmm..........Obama: "We will hold sacred the beliefs held sacred by others."And which form of Islam is the "Right one"?And how about our beliefs?Read the full story here.

Pentagon may put special ops in Afghanistan under CIA control to meet 2014 pullout deadline

                          Yes you're not dreaming that's Karzai (Middle Row, Third from Left).

Pentagon may put special ops in Afghanistan under CIA control to meet 2014 pullout deadline.(MN).WASHINGTON -- Top Pentagon officials are considering putting elite special operations troops under CIA control in Afghanistan after 2014, just as they were during last year's raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, sources told The Associated Press.The plan is one of several possible scenarios being debated by Pentagon staffers. It has not yet been presented to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the White House or Congress, the sources said.
If the plan were adopted, the U.S. and Afghanistan could say there are no more U.S. troops on the ground in the war-torn country because once the SEALs, Rangers and other elite units are assigned to CIA control, even temporarily, they become spies.No matter who's in charge, the special operations units still would target militants on joint raids with Afghans and keep training Afghan forces to do the job on their own.
The idea floated by a senior defense intelligence official comes as U.S. defense chiefs try to figure out how to draw down troops fast enough to meet the White House's 2014 deadline. Pentagon staffers already have put forward a plan to hand over much of the war-fighting to special operations troops. This idea would take that plan one step further, shrinking the U.S. presence to less than 20,000 troops after 2014, according to four current and two former U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.Pentagon spokesman George Little denied the idea is being discussed.
A CIA-run war would mean that the U.S. public would not be informed about funding or operations, as they are in a traditional war. Oversight would fall to the White House, top intelligence officials, and a few congressional committees. Embedding journalists would be out of the question.
Two senior defense officials said that neither the CIA nor Special Operations Command has put this plan forward officially to Panetta.The notion of longer-term assignments to the CIA does not sit well with some senior commanders, who want their units to remain autonomous in order to keep their troops under Defense Department legal parameters. If CIA-assigned troops are captured, for example, they are treated like spies, not protected by the Geneva Conventions.Hmmmm......"Nobel Peace Medal Winner"......Kinetic actions Mogul.Read the full story here

Facebook's 25 staffers to Handle Requests for User Information from Law Enforcement.

Facebook's 25 staffers to Handle Requests for User Information from Law Enforcement.(Forbes).If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world and Joe Sullivan would be head of Homeland Security.
The dirt Facebook holds on its users makes it as attractive to cops as to criminals. Among Sullivan’s responsibilities are daily decisions about how much user information to give to law enforcement when it comes calling. And, as a digital nation’s DHS, Sullivan and his team actively police the site for user data worth volunteering to the authorities. Still, he says, “we err on the side of not sharing and have picked quite a few fights over the years.”
Users may have constitutional rights against unreasonable searches by the state, but the only Facebook Constitution is the company’s dense terms of service agreement.
It focuses on prohibitions for users, such as bullying, creating fake accounts or uploading images of violence or nudity, as well as Facebook’s rights to intellectual property uploaded to the site. It doesn’t spell out when Facebook may dive into data for ­policing purposes or hand it over to the authorities.
Should Facebook give users a Miranda warning before they sign up—that anything they post and do on the site can and will be used against them?
Most of his security team is based at headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. and sits at clusters of desks close enough to take dead aim at one another with Nerf darts. Broken roughly into five parts, the team has 10 people review new features being launched, 8 monitor the site for bugs and privacy flaws, 25 handle requests for user information from law enforcement, and a few build criminal and civil cases against those who misbehave on the network; the rest are handling security situations as they arise and acting as digital bodyguards protecting Facebook staffers (“We have someone trying to hack an employee’s account every day,” says Sullivan). If you include the physical security guards who patrol Facebook headquarters, Sullivan’s team numbers 70 people.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                          Morning Posting.

• Gaddafi's Next Move: Sabotage Oil and Sow Chaos?There's been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos. Two weeks ago this same man had told me the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt would never touch Libya. Gaddafi, he said, had a tight lock on all of the major tribes, the same ones that have kept him in power for the past 41 years. The man of course turned out to be wrong, and everything he now has to say about Gaddafi's intentions needs to be taken in that context. The source went on and told me that Gaddafi's desperation has a lot to with the fact that he now can only count on the loyalty of his tribe, the Qadhadhfa. And as for the army, as of Monday he only has the loyalty of approximately 5,000 troops. They are his elite forces, the officers all handpicked. Among them is the unit commanded by his second youngest son Khamis, the 32nd Brigade. (The total strength of the regular Libyan army is 45,000.) My Libyan source said that Gaddafi has told people around him that he knows he cannot retake Libya with the forces he has. But what he can do is make the rebellious tribes and army officers regret their disloyalty, turning Libya into another Somalia. "I have the money and arms to fight for a long time," Gaddafi reportedly said.As part of the same plan to turn the tables, Gaddafi ordered the release from prison of the country's Islamic militant prisoners, hoping they will act on their own to sow chaos across Libya. Gaddafi envisages them attacking foreigners and rebellious tribes. Couple that with a shortage of food supplies, and any chance for the rebels to replace Gaddafi will be remote. Pressed, my Libyan source acknowledged Gaddafi is a desperate, irrational man, and his threats to turn Libya into another Somalia at this point may be mostly bluffing. On the other hand, if Gaddafi in fact enjoys the loyalty of troops he thinks he has, he very well could take Libya to the brink of civil war, if not over. Hmmmm........We all know who we have to thank for the rising petrol prices these days.Perhaps a few more drilling bans would be usefull to speed up the destruction of the American economy?Is this why only Time has this destruction of pipelines story?Read the full story here.

• ‘Google caused Egypt unrest’.Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s deputy blamed Google Inc. in an interview published on Tuesday for stirring up trouble in the revolution that ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. “Look what they have done in Egypt, those highly-placed managers of Google, what manipulations of the energy of the people took place there,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told the Wall Street Journal. Such strong comment from one of Putin’s most trusted deputies is a clear signal of growing concern among Russian hard-liners about the role of the Internet in the unrest which has swept across the Arab world. Sechin gave no further details on his concerns. Google executive, Wael Ghonim, became an unlikely hero of the uprising in Egypt which led to Mubarak’s deposition. In contrast to state television, Russia’s Internet is remarkably free and the home to often scathing criticism of Putin, President Dmitry Medvedev and the entire Russian elite.Hmmmm......Obama.....Google....I'm glad he said it and for once not I,anyone else of the same opinion?Read the full story here.

• Russian President Medvedev Predicts “Fires for Decades” if Islamists Come to Power in Toppled Arab Countries.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday predicted decades of instability in the Arab world if protesters whom he called fanatics come to power, adding no such scenario will be permitted at home.Medvedev’s words fall in sharp contrast with the European Union, which said in a statement on Monday that it “deplores the violence” and “repression” against the pro-democracy protesters by authorities in one of the troublespots, Libya.Speaking at a security meeting in the Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz, Medvedev didn’t name countries, but he was referring to the crisis in the Middle East and North Africa — which has brought down governments in Tunisia and Egypt and sparked protests in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Iran, Morocco and Jordan.“These states are difficult, and it is quite probable that hard times are ahead, including the arrival at power of fanatics. This will mean fires for decades and the spread of extremism,” Medvedev said in televised comments.“They have prepared such a scenario for us before, and now more than ever they will try and realize it. In any case, this scenario won’t succeed,” he said, without identifying the people he considers could threaten the Kremlin.Hmmmm.......Obama...."I will stand with my Muslim brothers"?Read the full story here.

• Arab League suspends Libya; minister defects.In response to fiery speech in which Gaddafi vowed to cling to power, US says will take ' appropriate steps'. Al-Jazeera says Libyan interior minister announced his support for 'February 17 revolution'. official news agency says 'brother leader told Berlusconi Libya is fine'.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday Libya must end violence against protesters seeking to end Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year rule and the United States would take "appropriate steps" in time. "As we gain a greater understanding of what actually is happening -- because you know, of course, that communication has been very effectively shut down and we are trying to gather as much information as possible -- we will take appropriate steps in line with our policies, our values and our laws," she told reporters during a news conference. "But we are going to have to work in concert with the international community." Witnesses streaming out of Libya into Egypt said Gaddafi had used tanks, warplanes and mercenaries to try to crush protesters who have taken to the streets following uprisings that overthrew authoritarian rulers in Tunisia and Egypt.Earlier, the State Department said it had been unable to move any of its nonessential US diplomats and embassy family members out of Libya on Tuesday and expected them to depart in coming days.German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's speech on Tuesday, in which he vowed to cling to power, as very frightening and said he had virtually declared war on his own people. Merkel told a news conference she would support eventual sanctions against Libya if Gaddafi failed to stop the violence. "The news we've had from Libya yesterday and today is worrying and the speech by Colonel Gaddafi this afternoon was very, very frightening, especially because he virtually declared war on his own people," said the German chancellor. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa stated after Gaddafi's speech that the organization has decided to halt the participation of the Libyan delegations from all Arab League sessions, the Al-Jazeera network reported.Gaddafi, facing the worst popular revolt against his 41-year rule, told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday that his country was fine."The brother leader reassured during (the) telephone conversation the friend Berlusconi that 'Libya is fine, its people are ... holding on to its security, stability and national unity'," the official JANA news agency said."Whoever wants to know the truth should closely follow the Libyan media and not turn to the lies and the fabricated information broadcast by the organs of traitors and the depraved," JANA added.Hmmmm.....No word from Obama it's easyer to bully an 82year old man?Read the full story here.

• HT:TundraTabloids.Video - Israel,s apprehension validated.2 million Egyptians in Tahrir Square chant “To Jerusalem we are heading, Martyrs in the millions.Hmmmm.....Just think these are the 'people'Obama is giving 1,57 $Billion in 2012!If ever a President needed to be impeached it's now!Read and see the full story here.

• HT:AmnonAndJonathan.Gadafi :- "It takes a mad man to split Libya" !Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi vowed to fight on to his "last drop of blood" and roared at his supporters to take to the streets against protesters demanding his resignation, shouting and pounding his fist in a furious speech today after two nights of a bloody crackdown in the capital trying to crush the uprising that has fragmented his regime. It was the second time Gaddafi has appeared during the week of upheaval across his country. Swathed in brown robes and a turban, he spoke on state TV from behind a podium in the entrance of his bombed-out Tripoli residence hit by US airstrikes in the 1980s and left unrepaired as a monument of defiance. At times the camera panned back to show a towering monument of a gold-coloured fist crushing an American fighter jet, outside the building. But at the same time, the view gave a surreal image of the Libyan leader, shouting and waving his arms wildly all alone in a broken-down lobby with no audience, surrounded by broken tiles dangling from the ceiling, shattered conrete pillars and bare plumbing pipes. "Libya wants glory, Libya wants to be at the pinnacle, at the pinnacle of the world," he proclaimed, pounding his fist on the podium. "I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents ... I will die as a martyr at the end," he said, vowing to fight "to my last drop of blood." "Let us show them what the popular revolution is like," he said. "Go out from your homes starting now." "Forward, forward, forward!" he barked at the speech's conclusion, pumping both fists in the air as he stormed away from the podium. He was kissed by about a dozen supporters, some in security force uniforms. Then he climbed into a golf cart-like vehicle and puttered away. His call could signal a sharp escalation of bloodshed in the Libyan capital of two million people after two nights of clashes. Streets in several neighbourhoods were littered with the bodies of dead protesters this morning after a fierce crackdown through the night, as pro-Gaddafi militiamen shot on sight anyone found outdoors to crush protests.He insisted that since he has no official title, he cannot resign — Gaddafi is referred to as the "brother leader," but is not president. He said he had not ordered police to use any force used against protesters — that his supporters had come out voluntarily to defend him. "I haven't ordered a single bullet fired," he said, warning that if he does, "everything will burn." He said that if protests didn't end, he would stage a "holy march" with millions of supporters to cleanse Libya. He demanded protesters in Benghazi hand over weapons taken from captured police stations and military bases, warning of separatism and civil war. "No one allows his country to be a joke or let a mad man separate a part of it," he declared. Read the full story here.

• Indiana Exodus: Dems trigger Statehouse showdown.Seats on one side of the Indiana House were nearly empty today as House Democrats departed the the state rather than vote on anti-union legislation.A source tells The Indianapolis Star that Democrats are headed to Illinois, though it was possible some also might go to Kentucky. They need to go to a state with a Democratic governor to avoid being taken into police custody and returned to Indiana.The House came into session twice this morning, with only three of the 40 Democrats present. Those were needed to make a motion, and a seconding motion, for any procedural steps Democrats would want to take to ensure Republicans don’t do anything official without quorum.With only 58 legislators present, there was no quorum present to do business. The House needs 67 of its members to be present.House Speaker Brian Bosma said he did not know yet whether he would ask the Indiana State Police to compel the lawmakers to attend, if they can be found.Hmmm....Anyone still doubting this is the dear leader his way to finally get to revolution and dictatorship?This is no longer democracy but pure tiranny.First Tsars now 'Brownshirts"?Read the full story here.

• HT:SultanKnich.The protests in Wisconsin represent a split in American politics. Not a split between Republicans and Democrats, but between those who believe that the government should continue expanding, and those who see the continued expansion of governments as the greatest threat to their political and economic freedoms. This is not just a debate over budgets, it is a battle over political power, and it is the country's most fundamental split since the Civil War.The combination of abuses of power by an out of touch liberal party, an economic recession and growing insecurity about America's future have touched off something that is more than a taxpayer's revolt. Instead it's turning into a showdown over the nature of government itself. This is not a war between the rich and the poor. For the most part it is a civil war within the middle class. The American middle class is shrinking and endangered. Too many Americans can foresee a day when, as in George Orwell's 1984, the remaining middle class consists only of government employees. And if government continues expanding, that is exactly how it will be. The choice is between a small subsidized middle class and a larger unsubsidized middle class. That is also what the taxpayer's revolt is really about.Obama's victory lit the fuse of the taxpayer's civil war. The Republicans had failed to present a meaningful alternative, and when the party crumbled, a grass roots movement gained force. Its adherents understand that their economic survival depends on cutting back government. On taking away its power to constantly raise and spend money, and its drive to regulate everything. Once they had pushed past the elites of the media and the political kingmakers to be heard, the pro-government forces pushed out their armies of the redistributive electorates, the people who had been cashing their checks for years and could be counted on to challenge one revolution with a counter-revolution of their own. At stake is the simple question of freedom. Political freedom originates inextricably from economic freedom. There is no political independence without economic independence. A government that begins to tightly restrict economic freedoms will eventually also restrict political freedoms. The redistribute electorates are the greencoats of big government. They are the beneficiaries of the destructive economic policies and their final line of defense. If they go on as they are, then they will bankrupt the system. Like Rome's Praetorian Guard, they will appoint new emperors who will do what they say regardless of the consequences.No fundamental change is possible without confronting and defeating them. The taxpayer has lost battle after battle to them. We lost California. We can't afford to lose Wisconsin.Hmmmmm......."The beginning of the Fight for freedom has begun,the choice is yours Freedom or Dictatorship",choose wisely.Read the full story here.

• HT:TundraTabloids. Video - Obama admin spending US Tax Dollars on building Mosques and Muslim internet services.Great. While the US taxpayer is fighting for his and her financial life and the jihad rages around the world, the US under the Obama administration is freely spending money it doesn’t have on building mosques or refurbishing them, while building up the Islamic world’s internet infrastructure. What in the hell are these jerks thinking? This will all be used against the West, with imams and jihadis laughing at the US taxpayer while they preach jihad and actively work to carry it out. Calling it a moronic policy is an understatement.Hmmmm......."They don't trust me because of my middle name"?Read the full story here.

• Lawsuit alleges FBI violated Muslims' freedom of religion.An FBI informant who infiltrated a California mosque violated the constitutional rights of hundreds of Muslims by targeting them for surveillance because of their religion, the ACLU and a Muslim group said in a lawsuit Tuesday. The lawsuit, filed against the FBI and seven of its agents and supervisors, focuses on the actions several years ago of Craig Monteilh, a paid FBI informant. Monteilh has said he was instructed to spy on worshipers at an Irvine mosque in a quest for potential terrorists, allegations that prompted fierce criticism of the FBI from some Muslims in Southern California and nationwide. The lawsuit alleges that Monteilh was ordered by his FBI handlers to conduct "indiscriminate surveillance" of Muslims, violating their First Amendment right to freedom of religion. Filed on behalf of three Muslim plaintiffs, the 64-page document seeks class action status, unspecified damages and a court order instructing the FBI to destroy or return the information Monteilh collected."The FBI should be spending its time and resources investigating actual threats, not spying on every American who happens to worship at a mosque,'' said Peter Bibring, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, which filed the complaint along with the Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.Hmmmm......We are above the law?Read the full story here.

• Video: Arrow 2 missile defense successfully tested.Missile defense system tested off California coast, destroys simulated Iranian missile; Barak calls development a milestone.Israel conducted a successful test of the Arrow 2 ballistic missile defense system off the coast of California early on Tuesday morning, when it destroyed a target simulating an Iranian ballistic missile.It was the 18th test of the Arrow, and the second in which the modified Arrow 2 was tested in its entirety, along with the Green Pine radar manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries.The test was conducted jointly by the IAF, the Defense Ministry’s Homa Missile Defense Agency and the US Missile Defense Agency. The Arrow is a project developed in cooperation by the IAI and Boeing.The Arrow interceptor was launched at around 10:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time from a US Navy base along the California coast and intercepted a missile fired from a nearby navy vessel. Defense officials said the “enemy” missile impersonated a “future threat that Israel could one day face in the region.”Defense officials lauded the successful launch as another indication of Israel’s defense capabilities in the face of Iran’s continued quest for a nuclear weapon. They said that the Arrow system could protect Israel from all of the missiles in Iran’s arsenal.The Green Pine Radar – an integral part of the Arrow missile defense system – detected the enemy missile and, after identifying it, related the information to the Arrow battery, which launched the missile interceptor.Arieh Herzog, head of the Homa Missile Defense Agency, said the Arrow system worked as designed and completely destroyed the target.The interceptor used in the test incorporated new software that will now be installed in all of the Arrow interceptors currently in IAF use.“This test is important for Israel as it prepares to counter the ballistic missile threat in the region,” Herzog said. “This test proves the success of the system after it underwent new upgrades.”Israel and the US are also jointly moving forward with the development of Arrow 3, which will be called Reshef (Flash) in Hebrew. The first flyout test of the Arrow 3 is scheduled for later this year and the system is expected to become operational in 2015.Hmmmm......Is it wise to base your defence on an American President who's clearly anti Israel?I believe this could be the worst mistake ever.Read the full story here .

• HT:JudicialWatch.U.S. Fails To Secure Flight Schools.Nearly a decade after terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon how could the U.S. government permit an illegal immigrant to obtain a pilot’s license and run a school that trains dozens of foreigners to fly small aircraft?The question is directed at the Homeland Security agency responsible for scrutinizing all foreign flight students before they can take lessons or get a pilot’s license in the U.S. Here’s a hint; the agency was created after 9/11 specifically to prevent another terrorist attack by protecting the nation’s transportation system, especially aviation. It’s the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).A few months ago a news report alerted TSA officials that a flight school in Stow Massachusetts, a rural community about 25 miles west of Boston, was operated by an illegal immigrant who somehow got a U.S. pilot’s license. Enrolled in the school (TJ Aviation Flight Academy) were more than 30 illegal aliens who were actually cleared by the TSA to train as pilots. Several of them had entered the U.S. legally but their visas expired, just like several of the 9/11 hijackers.Many have been deported but the TSA has failed to implement any security controls to prevent a similar atrocity, though the agency is working “to refine the process for checking the immigration status of alien flight school students,” according to a spokesman quoted in a Boston newspaper this week. The story reveals that Homeland Security officials have not instituted new safeguards to stop other flight schools from enrolling illegal immigrants who could present national security threats.The TSA, which has 55,000 employees, has compromised the nation’s security on many occasions and its lapses have been well documented over the years. The agency approved background checks for illegal immigrants to work in sensitive areas of busy airports, violated federal standards by not screening cargo and passengers on hundreds of thousands of planes that fly over the U.S. annually and allowed guns and bombs to slip by at major U.S. airports during random tests.In the meantime tax dollars keep pouring into TSA coffers. President Obama has given the agency more than $3 billion in recovery funds—including $98 million for “advanced technology X-ray units” that screen baggage—and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wants Congress to increase its 2012 budget by $459 million to a whopping $8.1 billion.Hmmmm........Time to put a stop to another "Obamination"?Read the full story here.

• HT:NewsRealBlog.Palestinian Authority insults the US – and no one says a word.

"This first veto of the administration of President Barack Obama puts the credibility of the sponsor of the peace process in jeopardy…We see the U.S. veto as encouraging Israel to move forward in the processes of settlement and Judaizing Jerusalem, and the construction of a wall of annexation and expansion. [We] hold the U.S. administration to be fully responsibile for the consequences and repercussions."

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what an an insult looks like.The PA is officially calling the United States an “obstacle to peace.” It is saying that the US – a nation that has worked harder than any other to bring about peace, a nation that brokered Camp David – cannot be an honest broker in negotiations. Whether you agree or disagree with the present administration, this press release is an unacceptable slap in the face of the world’s superpower by an entity that cannot conceive of the idea of compromise for peace.This hateful screed has, so far, been ignored both by the media and by the current administration. There have been no public calls for apologies, no calling out of president Mahmoud Abbas who is responsible for this statement.Not only did Susan Rice’s little speech meant to blunt the veto not placate the Palestinian Authority – it is entirely possible that it emboldened them to slam the United States.In fact, it might be even more than an insult – it is practically a public statement that the Palestinian Arabs no longer subscribe to the peace process.Yet there are no angry recriminations, no evidence of displeasure, no outrage. It is almost as if the Obama administration is afraid of upsetting the Palestinian Arabs while they do not hesitate to find ways to be “insulted” by its friends.There is something deeply and profoundly wrong with this picture.Hmmm......The only thing wrong is this President and his administration.Read the full story here.

• HT:Ross'sRightAngle.Castaway! ‘Transportation to Desert Island’ Revived as ‘Final Solution’ to Ahmadi ‘Problem’.HM Busro said it was necessary to consider his scheme. “We’ve got a lot of of empty islands, 17 thousand islands in total, many of them empty,” he said in Parliament last week. According to Busro, disputes arise because people reject the Ahmadi presence. “Separation from non Ahmadis votes could settle down the conflict. We let them choose the island. They’re our brothers too,” he explained.The exasperating thing about Busro is that he appears genuinely to think this is a fair and reasonable proposal. He sounds quite idealistic about it, which just goes to show how far thinking on democratic rights is getting skewed here.The Ahmadiyah are NOT the problem. The ignorant Islamists ARE the problem.Despatch the FPI to some desert island. They might even have to do an honest day’s work there building log cabins etc. A novel change of life-style for the idle louts.Take the MUI along for the sheer adventure of it all. They could impose their loony fatwas on each other, no hair straightening, no girl motor-cycle taxi-drivers, no yoga, no wedding photos – what a delightful, care-free, killjoy castaway existence they’d have.They could stand on the beach, like sirens of legend, crooning to passing mariners, ‘Welcome to my Paradise!’Let FPI and MUI be the hardy pioneers, and once they’d installed the infrastructure, then start rounding up the hundreds of nasty cretins in Banten and Bogor and Lombok and Tasikmalaya and any others who object to living next door or even along the street from somebody of a different religion, and put them on boats and point them towards Ignoramus Island.They don’t belong in a nice civilised country like Indonesia.Don’t forget, many Ahmadis were driven from their own homes and farms by bigoted scum.Hmmmm....Obama "Indonesia is an example of religious tolerance".Read the full story here.

• Total suspends part of Libya oil production.French energy giant Total said on Wednesday that it was "starting to suspend" part of its oil production in Libya where protests against Moammer Gadhafi's rule have killed hundreds."We have started to suspend some of our production capacity in Libya," a Total spokesman told Agence France-Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity.Total produced an average of 55,000 barrels per day, or bpd, from its Libyan wells in 2010.Italy's ENI, which produced 244,000 bpd in Libya in 2009, said on Tuesday it was temporarily suspending some of its oil and gas production activities and was also cutting its Greenstream gas pipeline between Libya and Italy.Total said on Monday it was repatriating most of its expatriate staff from Libya, although some would stay behind "with reinforced security measures".Read the full story here.

• Two Iranian warships pass through Suez Canal.Shalom: Iran’s goal is to show the Arab world ‘who the new leader is’. Islamic Republic's naval vessels haven't sailed through canal since 1979. Two Iranian Navy warships crossed the Suez Canal on Tuesday, for the first time in over 30 years, in a belligerent move that the government says is an attempt by the Islamic Republic to project its power throughout the Middle East.The ships – the Kharg, which has 250 crew members and can carry three helicopters, and the Alvand, which has a crew of 135 and is armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles – entered the canal early on Tuesday morning and arrived in the Mediterranean Sea by the evening.Defense officials said the vessels did not pose a threat to the Israel Navy, which would be watching them from a distance and would not engage them. The Iranian ships will pass Israel at a distance as they make their way to Syria, where they are expected to dock for several months.“This is a major provocation,” a senior defense official said. “We will keep an eye on the ships.”It’s the first time Iranian military vessels have sailed into the Mediterranean since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.The ships reportedly paid about $300,000 in fees for the passage.Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told reporters the move is part of an Iranian struggle “against the West for hegemony and control in the Middle East.”Iran’s goal is to show the Arab world “who the new leader is in the Middle East,” he said.Hmmmmm......."Egypt also cannot search naval ships passing through the waterway".Read the full story here.

• Media Fails to Note Muslim Group’s Controversial History.One of the largest Muslim organizations in North America is considering plans to build a summer camp on 114 acres of land in the Adirondacks.The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), based in Queens, New York, is not devoid of controversy in a history that spans over 40 years, yet there is scant mention of these controversies by the media. The Times Union article states that, “U.S. law enforcement agencies have investigated, but never prosecuted, ICNA for terrorist connections.” And there is coverage of a fundraiser involving speakers having made anti-American statements in the past, which is quickly justified by saying, “the meeting raised money for homeless women.”But the ICNA has so much more to offer in the way of newsworthiness, including an event involving radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, as well as a link to the presently relevant Muslim Brotherhood.But if you’re looking for a current piece of news regarding the ICNA, then look no further than Egypt. Considered to be the North American branch of the aforementioned Jamaat-e-Islami, the ICNA also maintains close ties to international groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood has objectives far different than the simple establishment of a camp for various religions.Or, in the case of today’s media, we can simply watch them build a summer camp without so much as a cursory look at who’s behind the project. A doctor named Sayeeda Tahera Jafar transferred the deed on the 114.4-acre property to the ICNA last week.Hmmm........Nothing to see here…Read the full story here.More here.

• Turkey - Diplomacy on the brink: From zero problems to zero tolerance.Otto von Bismarck was recognized for his diplomatic skills. His approach of Realpolitik, the type of foreign policy focused on practical rather than moralistic considerations, was often seen as pragmatic and offensive and yet he advised, “Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rule of politeness.” In fact, isn’t the art of diplomacy all about gaining the strategic advantage through negotiating with the hope of turning unsuitable conditions into gold? Not in Turkey.Unfortunately, for the last couple of months Ankara has been falling short on conducting both successful public and foreign policy. The main reason behind this is the extremely harsh rhetoric of the government officials and their lack of tolerance for criticism.In January, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the "Monument to Humanity " in the eastern province of Kars a “freak.” As a result, the prime minister’s comment provoked a new public distrust in Erdoğan’s commitment to tolerance. The monument, which was built as an expression of the friendship between Turkey and Armenia, became a center of this discussion and eventually deteriorated the bilateral affairs between the two countries. Hence, let alone fostering good relations, the outcome of Erdoğan’s remark created a no-win situation for Turkey.On another front, since last December, it’s been hard to miss battle-like scenes between students and police on television. For months, university students have been protesting against government policies and these demonstrations grew stronger as the police force used remarkably heavy measures to deter protestors. The “youth of Turkey’s future” tried to protest against the fact that they were not allowed to attend a meeting as an audience at their own university where the country’s science policies were determined; instead they were pepper-sprayed. They protested for their fellow students who were harshly beaten by security services only to be greeted by tear gas.While the memory of these beatings is still fresh, a new case opened against a blogger, Barış Ünver, hit the news. Almost a week after Erdoğan’s speech stating that “he personally experienced the oppressive period of 1980s, therefore coercive measures cannot be their way of handling things in Turkey,” the 22-year-old blogger was sued by Erdoğan’s lawyers and he is now facing a two-year prison sentence for stating an opinion about last year’s constitutional referendum.This time Erdoğan referred to Turkish Cypriots as “dependents” and said they have no right to protest against Turkey, a country that shed blood for their survival. He couldn’t defend a legitimate idea any worse. First of all, everyone has a right to protest in a democracy.Last but not least, four journalists working at Oda TV, a controversial news portal known for its criticisms about the AKP government, were detained. They have been arrested for more than three days and we are yet to find out the charges about them. Many see this as evidence of political pressure against the media and a violation of press freedom. One thing is for sure though, with the image that Erdoğan created so far, it looks like it is easier to silence the opposition than to make solid arguments against it.The level of acceptance in freedom of thought and expression seems to be diminishing at a dangerous pace. Time magazine recently wrote about Erdoğan that “he has sued more journalists than any previous leader.” They also made a note of Erdoğan’s recent dismissal of critics of a new law about limiting alcohol consumption, where he said, “Let them drink until they spew up."In this regard, both Erdoğan and other government officials might need to work harder to master the art of staying calm and not giving hard line declarations. Otherwise, what they will achieve will project nothing but a frustrated population and tightened foreign relations. In this light, one can’t help but remember Talleyrand’s words: “A diplomat who says ‘yes’ means ‘maybe’, a diplomat who says ‘maybe’ means ‘no’ and a diplomat who says “no” is no diplomat.”Hmmmmm......Once again "Get Turkey out of NATO and keep them out of Europe".Read the full story here.

• HT:EmergingCorruption.Must Read: Russia, China, Radical Islam and the Latin American Threat to US Survival.Brazilian philosopher, Olavo de Carvalho is an expert on the Latin American Left and its ties to Islam, Russia and China.In this interview, with Jeff Nyquist, de Carvahlo eloquently and forcefully states a theme I’ve long promoted on this blog – that Russia, China, Cuba, Iran radical Islam and the Latin American Left, co-ordinated by Cuba and Brazil through the Sao Paolo Forum, are working together to destroy the the United States of America.I emphasize – not to weaken, to marginalize, to impoverish – but to DESTROY the USA.It is worth noting that the Brazilian Workers Party came to power on the back of an alliance of Trotskyists, communists, black radicals, environmental activists, Christian socialists, youth activists and the poor – sound familiar America?Such alliances were promoted across the world in the early 1990s, by the Trotskyite 4th International and allied groups.Barack Obama was very much part of this movement, through his ties to Committees of Correspondence, Democratic Socialists of America and the Chicago New Party.The idea was to cobble together an big enough alliance to gain power ONCE. Then it became a matter of marginalizing and destroying your opposition, until your power could no longer be challenged.America is in this stage now.If the Obama Alliance is not decisively defeated in 2012, America will almost certainly go the way of Brazil and Venezuela – as will the rest of us eventually.Hmmmm.....New World order anyone?Read the full story here.

• HT:Wired.U.S. Admits: Jailed ‘Diplomat’ Actually Works for CIA.He didn’t fire off any drone strikes. At one point, he worked for the most infamous private security firm on the planet. But U.S. officials have finally given up the ghost: the “diplomat” detained in Pakistan for shooting two men is part of its spy apparatus.Raymond Davis, who holds a diplomatic passport, is the source of a widening diplomatic rift between Washington and its frenemies in Islamabad. Pakistani authorities arrested him in Lahore last month after an incident in which he shot two men he claims were trying to rob him. In Davis’ possession were some non-standard diplomatic items, like a Glock and a telescope.U.S. officials have insisted for weeks that Davis is a diplomat, assigned to the U.S. consulate in Lahore. Pakistani media have speculated widely that he’s a spy. After reports circulated this weekend quoting officials with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence confirming Davis’ CIA affiliation, U.S. officials lifted their request to news organizations about hiding his CIA ties.So who’s Davis? Piecing together reports, he’s a contractor working for the agency, not a spy himself. Davis is a Special Operations veteran who began working in Pakistan as a contractor in early 2010, protecting CIA case officers as they move through Pakistan to meet with their contacts. The Washington Post reports that the unit Davis protects conducts “surveillance of militant groups in large cities” and has ties to the military’s elite terror-hunters in the Joint Special Operations Command At some point, he worked for Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, and it’s unclear if he still does. An anonymous official told the Wall Street Journal that it’s “simply wrong” to assert that Davis has anything to do with drone strikes.Of course, the Pakistani government is complicit in the lethal strikes against terrorist targets on its territory. But it resents additional U.S. spying in Pakistan, and is refusing Washington’s insistence that Davis possesses diplomatic immunity. (Diplomatic cover is a time-honored cover for spy work.) Cynically, the security services and the press have presented Davis as a whipping boy for the unpopular partnership with the U.S., even leaking the above video of Davis’ initial police interrogation, which has circulated on Pakistani TV.Davis is held at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat prison, where U.S. officials fear for his safety. The Guardian reports that dogs are sniffing and even tasting his food for poison. Yesterday, State Department officials told reporters that he’s still entitled to diplomatic protection even if the CIA pays his bills, and it told Pakistani authorities that last month.Hmmm.....And now what?Read the full story here.

• HT:Wired.Did a Spy Flap Stop the Drones From Blasting Pakistan?Is a spat over the diplomatic status of an American contractor in Pakistan responsible for the slowdown in U.S. drone strikes? Newsweek says so. But so far, the provable connections between the two events seems pretty thin — more like correlation than causation.The magazine’s Ron Moreau and Sami Yousafzai published a story today claiming that anger in Pakistan over the case of an American employee at the U.S. embassy charged with double murder has caused the American government to take an almost month-long break in drone strikes in the country.The last unmanned attacks in Pakistan took place on January 23, according to the New America Foundation’s drone strike database. That’s just four days before Raymond Davis, a “technical” employee at the American embassy in Pakistan, was arrested for shooting and killing two men chasing him on motorcycles. Speculation over Davis’ association with U.S. intelligence have only added to public outrage in Pakistan and chilled relations with America. It’s an open question whether Davis, still detained in Pakistan, is entitled to the protections of diplomatic immunity.The Newsweek story connects the Davis incident and the strike halt with a quote from a “senior Pakistani official,” who says the U.S. has nixed the attacks recently so as not to further inflame public opinion in the country.But there may be other explanations for the slowdown in drone strikes, such as increasingly cautious behavior on the part of the Haqqani network, a frequent target of such attacks.“The Haqqanis have gone to ground and the pace of drone strikes was slowing even before Davis’ arrest,” says Joshua Foust, a fellow at the American Security Project, in an email to Danger Room.Hmmmm.....The fact that the Obama administration is talking to the Taliban has nothing to do with it?Read the full story here.

• HT:Greenbaypressgazette.Missing Wisconsin state senators lose direct-deposit paychecks.MADISON — Wisconsin state senators who miss two or more session days will no longer get paid through direct deposit. They’ll have to pick up their checks in person on the Senate floor during a session.The new rule is aimed at forcing the return of 14 Senate Democrats who have been hiding in Illinois since Thursday. They fled the state to stall a vote on an anti-union bill, and have threatened to stay away until Republican Gov. Scott Walker agrees to compromise. Tuesday’s vote was along party lines. The three Republicans on the Committee on Senate Organization voted for it and the two Democrats opposed it. The measure applies to paychecks, per diem checks, and any expense reimbursements. The absent senators will have to collect their checks from the Senate majority leader.Hmmmmm......Somehow i get the feeling "Someone" is paying them right now.Read the full story here.