U.S. military wants to exert influence over private cyber infrastructure 29 Aug 2010

[CLG_News]

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
29 Aug 2010
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U.S. military wants to exert influence over private cyber infrastructure --The Pentagon is urging that its defense expertise be put in play beyond the .mil domain to include .gov and .com and wants policy makers to figure out how best to do that. 26 Aug 2010 The U.S. military wants to exert more influence over the protection of power grids, transportation networks and financial network systems, a Pentagon official says in a broad-ranging essay published in Foreign Affairs. The reasons are that the military relies on these networks to deal with suppliers and that these networks could become military targets, says William J. Lynn III, undersecretary of defense, in the essay called "Defending a New Domain."

'The facts are that bad things were done by the Americans after 2002 and they didn't tell anyone else.' Miliband: Britain was slow to act against US torture --Critics of Labour leadership frontrunner accuse him of 'burying his head in the sand' over abuses 29 Aug 2010 The United States did "bad things" to terror suspects in the wake of 9/11 which Britain was too slow to realise, David Miliband acknowledges today as he brandishes his record as Foreign Secretary to bolster his Labour leadership ambitions. In an exclusive interview with The Independent on Sunday, the contest's frontrunner speaks bluntly about both the behaviour of Britain's closest intelligence ally and the failings of his predecessors at the Foreign Office in not recognising sooner the US's unacceptable treatment of detainees prisoners.

First Military Tribunal Case Could Damage U.S. Reputation 28 Aug 2010 After working for a year to redeem the international reputation of military tribunals, Obama administration officials are alarmed by the first case to go to trial under revamped rules: the prosecution of a former child soldier whom an American interrogator implicitly threatened with gang rape. The defendant, Omar Khadr, was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan and accused of throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier.

How Bush and Blair plotted in secret to stop Brown 28 Aug 2010 Tony Blair attempted to prolong his time as prime minister after he was warned that George W Bush's US administration had "grave doubts" about Gordon Brown's suitability to follow him into No10, well placed sources have revealed. The White House warnings, which were reiterated by other leading US-based figures, played a key role in Mr Blair's attempt to cling on to power until at least 2008, and to groom David Miliband as his successor, The Sunday Telegraph has been told.

U.S. wasted billions in rebuilding Iraq --Hundreds of infrastructure projects are incomplete or abandoned 29 Aug 2010 As the U.S. draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted -- more than 10 percent of the some $50 billion the U.S. has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency. That amount is likely an underestimate, based on an analysis of more than 300 reports by auditors with the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. And it does not take into account security costs, which have run almost 17 percent for some projects. [Notice the GOP blocks spending for any domestic infrastructure projects, but has no problem with over-funding the pseudo-rebuild in Iraq and Afghanistan? That's because only corporaterrorists and mercenaries benefit from such projects - not the people in those nations. See also: The Obusha AfPak Money Pit By Lori Price.]

Mission accomplished! Halliburton's $150m Iraq Oilfield Deal 22 Aug 2010 Further to our report last week Halliburton has confirmed that it has been awarded a letter of intent by Shell Iraq Petroleum Development B.V. for the development of the Majnoon field in Southern Iraq. Dow Jones suggests the contract for the 15 wells could be worth $150m. The giant Majnoon field is one of the world's largest oilfields.

Mission accomplished! KBR to Execute Two Refinery Contracts for Iraq's Oil Ministry 27 Aug 2010  Iraq's Oil Ministry has awarded two contracts to global engineering services company KBR Incorporated for the proposed 150,000-barrel-per-day Maysan refining complex.

KBR Worker Admits Taking Bribes 27 Aug 2010 A former KBR employee in Afghanistan pleaded guilty today to taking $200,000 in bribes from subcontractors, and laundering the money. Daniel Freeman admitted he took the money while working as a contracts supervisor for KBR, federal prosecutors said. Freeman pleaded guilty to a two-count information accusing him of accepting corrupt payments while working on a federal program, and money laundering.

CIA making secret payments to members of Karzai administration --Some aides function as CIA informants, but others collect stipends under more 'informal arrangements' 27 Aug 2010 The CIA is making secret payments to multiple members of President Hamid Karzai's administration, in part to maintain sources of information in a government in which the Afghan leader is often seen as having a limited grasp of developments, according to current and former U.S. officials. The payments are long-standing in many cases and designed to help the agency maintain a deep roster of allies within the presidential palace.

Colonel Kicked Out of Afghanistan for Anti-PowerPoint Rant By Spencer Ackerman 27 Aug 2010 The NATO command in Afghanistan has fired a staff officer who publicly criticized its interminable briefings, its over-reliance on Microsoft's slide-show program, and what he considered its crushing bureaucracy. Army Col. Lawrence Sellin, a 61-year old reservist from New Jersey who served in Afghanistan and Iraq prior to this deployment, got the sack Thursday from his job as a staff officer at the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command in Kabul. The hammer fell barely 48 hours after United Press International ran a passionate op-ed he wrote to lament that "little of substance is really done here."

WikiLeaks war logs posting 'will lead to free speech ruling' --US supreme court likely to have to rule on issue of balancing national security and freedom of speech, says judge 27 Aug 2010 US supreme court justice Sonia Sotomayor has said the court is likely to have to rule on the issue of balancing national security and freedom of speech due to WikiLeaks posting a cache of US military records about the Afghan war. Sotomayor said the incident, which has been condemned by the Pentagon, was likely to provoke legislation in Congress that would require judicial scrutiny.

Murdered Spy May Have Met His Killer On Missions to USA 27 Aug 2010 The hunt for the killer of British spy Gareth Williams switched to the USA yesterday. Grieving relatives of the MI6 code breaker revealed that he had been sent on several missions to America. He is understood to have returned from there shortly before he was killed. Police investigating the murder of the brilliant mathematician are trying to establish who he met in the US and if any of his contacts visited Britain recently.

Osama bin Laden 'is a bought and paid for CIA agent' claims Cuban leader Fidel Castro [and lots of other people] 27 Aug 2010 Cuban leader Fidel Castro has claimed Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden is a bought-and-paid-for CIA agent. The country's former president has said that the world's most wanted terrorist always popped up when former US President [sic] George W Bush needed to scare the world, and argued that recently published documents on the internet prove it.

Murdered spy's family 'deeply upset' about private life claims --Cousin says family in state of shock, as report says Gareth Williams was regular visitor to Pentagon listening post 27 Aug 2010 The family of a murdered British spy said today they were "deeply upset" over claims about his private life and suggested the security services may be behind a smear campaign. Gareth Williams's body was discovered in a holdall in the bath of a flat in Pimlico, central London, on Monday. Williams, 30, worked at GCHQ, the eavesdropping and security centre, was days from completing a year-long secondment at MI6 and, it has emerged, was a regular visitor to the US national security agency that intercepts and analyses foreign communications.

CIA probes British spy murder as it emerges he was sent on frequent missions to Pentagon's high-security listening post 27 Aug 2010 The CIA was called in to help investigate the murder of an MI6 spy last night as it emerged he was sent on frequent secret missions to the United States. American intelligence officers are poring over every detail of Gareth Williams's work and personal life to see if the circumstances of his death endangered U.S. national security. The Daily Mail can reveal that the 31-year-old codebreaker flew to the National Security Agency, the Pentagon's listening post and the largest intelligence agency in the world, up to four times a year.

A lucky escape: How David Cameron was almost shot down by a Taliban rocket --'It was a much closer thing than anyone said at the time.' 27 Aug 2010 David Cameron came close to being assassinated at the hands of the Taliban on his last trip to Afghanistan, it emerged yesterday. Military sources revealed that insurgents armed with shoulder launched rockets knew which helicopter to target when the Prime Minister visited a base in Helmand province. Intercepted communications by the militants referred to the desire to shoot down the Chinook carrying the 'Big Commander'.

Gunmen kill Afghan election candidate 28 Aug 2010  Unidentified gunmen [Blackwater?] killed a candidate for Afghanistan's parliamentary elections in the west of the country Saturday, a government official said, the fourth candidate to be killed ahead of the September 18 poll. Poor security, particularly in Taliban strongholds in the south and east, already looms as the biggest challenge to the ballot, along with corruption and fraud.

2 mercenaries killed in Afghanistan by 'friendly fire' 28 Aug 2010 Two mercenaries in Afghanistan were killed by coalition forces who mistook them for insurgents, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said Saturday. The incident happened Friday on a highway in the central province of Wardak, ISAF said. Coalition forces learned afterwards that the two people killed were private security contractors, ISAF said. 

Afghans protest killing of civilians --The demonstrators also chanted anti-US slogans and blocked the area's main roads for several hours. 28 Aug 2010 Hundreds of Afghan people have held took to the streets in the eastern province of Ghazni to protest against the presence of private security firms in the country. Over 500 protesters condemned the killing of two Afghan civilians by mercenaries in the region, a Press TV correspondent reported on Saturday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for the expulsion all private security firms operating in the country.
'US-led troops killed Afghan children' 27 Aug 2010 Police in Afghanistan have confirmed that the US-led warplanes are to blame for the killing of six Afghan children in the country's volatile east. Police said on Friday that the children were collecting scrap metal in the mountain of eastern Kunar Province when a US-led plane dropped bombs on the area on Thursday. "In the bombardment six children, aged six to 12, were killed. Another child was injured," AFP quoted a regional police commander as saying.

5 kidnapped Afghan campaign workers found dead 29 Aug 2010 An Afghan official says villagers have found the bodies of five kidnapped campaign workers for a parliamentary candidate in the western province of Herat. District chief Nasar Ahmad Popul says residents of Herat's Adraskan district reported finding the bodies early Sunday.

7 US troops killed in latest Afghanistan fighting 29 Aug 2010 Seven U.S. troops have died in weekend attacks in Afghanistan's embattled southern and eastern regions, NATO said Sunday. Two servicemen died in bombings Sunday in southern Afghanistan, while two others were killed in a bomb attack in the south on Saturday and three in fighting in the east the same day, NATO said.

Ahmadinejad reveals source of all crises 29 Aug 2010 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says corrupt monarchies and hegemonies with huge military spending are "the source of all global crises." "Corrupt powers are not qualified to govern the international community neither theoretically nor practically," Ahmadinejad said on Sunday. "Monarchic regimes and hegemonic powers are the source of all global crises," the Iranian president's official website reported.

Honduran journalist killing makes 8 for the year 26 Aug 2010 A Honduran reporter was found shot to death Tuesday in the city of San Pedro Sula, making him at least the eighth journalist killed in the country this year. Unidentified gunmen shot Israel Zelaya Diaz twice in the head and once in the chest, according to local press reports. Zelaya worked for broadcaster Radio International.

Federal contractor charged with leaking top secret North Korea intel to Fox News 27 Aug 2010 The Obama administration on Friday accused an analyst who worked at the State Department of leaking top secret information about North Korea to a reporter. Steven Kim, who worked at State as an employee of a contractor, maintains his innocence. He was named in a federal indictment unsealed Friday and charged with illegally disclosing national defense information, which carries a top penalty of 10 years in prison, and with making false statements to the FBI, which has a maximum five-year sentence.

Ex-US President Carter frees American from North Korea 26 Aug 2010 Former US President Jimmy Carter has secured the release of an American citizen detained in North Korea. Aijalon Mahli Gomes, 31, was sentenced to eight years' hard labour in April, after being found guilty of illegally entering the country from China. Mr Carter met senior North Korean officials after arriving in Pyongyang on Wednesday. He has now left to fly back to the US with Mr Gomes, who had entered North Korea in January.

Radioactive Material Found at Walter Reed Medical Center --NRC: 'There were two apparent violations that involved a failure to control access to radioactive materials.' 26 Aug 2010 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating an incident that took place at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Federal regulators are trying to find out why two packages of radioactive material sat under a counter in the medical center's main lobby for almost two days.

Strange twist in terror probe --Justice of peace grants bail to suspect; police re-arrest man minutes later 29 Aug 2010 The investigation into Ottawa's alleged terror cell took a bizarre twist Saturday when a 20-year-old man arrested early Friday by the RCMP appeared in court on two unrelated charges. Awso Peshdary was released by the RCMP Friday evening after what sources say was a six-hour "interview" at Ottawa police headquarters on Elgin Street.

ACLU Blasts Jailhouse Pain Ray, Condemns 'Star Wars Tech' By Noah Shachtman 27 Aug 2010 To the shock of absolutely no one, the ACLU hates the idea of blasting Los Angeles prisoners with an invisible heat ray. The civil liberties organization has sent a letter to L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca, begging him to not use the pain weapon, less than a week after its installation at the Pitchess Detention Center... The Assault Intervention Device is a small-scale version of the U.S. military's Active Denial System, which blasts a target with millimeter waves that penetrate a 64th of an inch beneath the skin.

Homeland Security head praises Chicago's security cameras 27 Aug 2010 U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday ranked Chicago's Big Brother network of well over 10,000 public and private surveillance cameras as one of the nation's most extensive and integrated - and Mayor Daley wants to make it even bigger. "Expansion of cameras citywide is one of the highest priorities that will help us here in the city of Chicago," Daley said with Napolitano at his side.

Hack early, hack often: California students get tracking devices --System cost $50,000, funded by federal grant 18 Aug 2010 California officials are outfitting preschoolers in Contra Costa County with tracking devices... When at the school, students will wear a jersey that has a small radio frequency tag. The tag will send signals to sensors that help track children's whereabouts, attendance and even whether they've eaten or not.

Swine flu vaccine safety probed over link to rare sleep disorder --The safety of a swine flu vaccine is to be investigated by European drugs regulators after it was linked to a rare condition that causes people to fall asleep suddenly. 27 Aug 2010 The investigation has been prompted after health officials in Finland announced they were suspending the vaccination programme there following reports of narcolepsy in people who had received the jab. So far there have been 27 reports of suspected narcolepsy in people across Europe who had previously been vaccinated with Pandemrix, the H1N1 swine flu vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline.

Dream deferrers converge on DC 29 Aug 2010 A huge rally of US conservatives in Washington has drawn criticism from progressive groups as it has coincided with the anniversary of a civil rights event. At the "Restoring Honor" rally, about 100,000 conservatives and advocates of the Tea Party movement gathered at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday to, as the organizers of the event said, honor US principles. The event was led by right-wing icons whackjobs such as Fox News conservative talk show host Glenn Beck and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, AFP reported.

Mega barf alert *and* gag me with a chainsaw: Beck sounds religious rallying call ahead of 'Restoring Honor' event --'My role is ... to wake America up to the back-sliding of principles and values and, most importantly, of God' 28 Aug 2010 Glenn Beck promised his Restoring Honor the Third Reich rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Saturday would fundamentally transform the U.S., sounding a deeply religious note in advance of the controversial event. Some 100,000 conservative, tea party supporters -- including potential 2012 presidential candidate Sarah Palin -- are expected at the demonstration on the same spot where Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech 47 years ago to the day.

Tea Party Group [Allegedly] Hit With Death Threats --Armey: FreedomWorks will hire additional security 25 Aug 2010 One of Washington's principal supporters of the [corporaterrorist-backed] Tea Party movement, former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, has been receiving death threats and profanity-laced phone calls as it gets involved in the fall elections. The number and intensity have reached such heights that the organization is leaving its downtown location near the FBI and moving to a high-security building near the U.S. Capitol. [I wouldn't believe Dick Armey if his tongue came notarized.]

After Katrina, Cops Given OK to Shoot 'Looters' --ProPublica: Hazy Directives to "Take Back the City" and Word of Martial Law Contributed to Itchy Trigger Fingers 25 Aug 2010 In the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina [and exploded levies], an order circulated among New Orleans police authorizing officers to shoot looters, according to present and former members of the department. It's not clear how broadly the order was communicated... The accounts of orders to "shoot looters," "take back the city," or "do what you have to do" are fragmentary. It remains unclear who originated them or whether they were heard by any of the officers involved in shooting 11 civilians in the days after Katrina. 
GOP plans wave of White House probes 27 Aug 2010 If President Barack Obama needed any more incentive to go all out for Democrats this fall, here it is: Republicans are planning a wave of committee investigations targeting the White House and Democratic allies if they win back the majority. Everything from the New Black Panther party to the [Bush] bailouts - is on the GOP to-do list, according to a half-dozen Republican aides interviewed by POLITICO.

Sarah Palin Speech Contract Should Not Have Been Secret, Rules Judge --California School Paid $75K, Contract Required 'Bendable' Straws, Lux Hotel 27 Aug 2010 A California judge has ruled that the $75,000 in fees paid to Sarah Palin for her speech at a state university should not have been kept secret. The ruling issued this week serves as a postscript to the flap over Palin's June visit to California State University Stanislaus, where university officials repeatedly refused to disclose how much they had paid to lure the A-list Republican celebrity-pol to serve as keynote speaker for a fundraising gala.

Desperate homeowners line up for mortgage modification marathon --At least 1,000 people arrived before the doors opened. 27 Aug 2010 The Palm Beach County Convention Center filled again Friday with tales of mortgage woe. Before dawn, with a plump white moon overhead, a line of desperate home­owners trailed around the outside of the building... Because for most of the people in the queue, the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America is the end of the line. The last chance to save their homes. The nonprofit will be here through Tuesday helping people get lower monthly payments through loan modifications.

NASA called in to support 33 trapped Chilean miners 27 Aug 2010 The 33 miners trapped inside a Chilean mine since August 5 have been told for the first time that they could be stuck underground for as long as four months, the head of the rescue operation said Friday. But Andre Sougarret, the mines manager for the state mining company, and Chilean government representative Jimena Matos also said they are working on a "Plan B," which could help speed up the rescue process.

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Previous lead stories: C.I.A. Paid Entire Budget of Afghanistan's Spy Service From 2002 to 2009 --Key Karzai Aide Arrested in Corruption Inquiry Is C.I.A. Informant 26 Aug 2010 The aide to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan at the center of a politically sensitive corruption investigation is being paid by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to Afghan and American officials. Mohammed Zia Salehi, the chief of administration for the National Security Council, appears to have been on the payroll for many years, according to officials in Kabul and Washington... Other prominent Afghans who American officials have said were on the C.I.A.'s payroll include the president's half brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, suspected by investigators of playing a role in Afghanistan's booming opium trade.  Earlier this year, American officials did not press Mr. Karzai to remove his brother from his post as the chairman of the Kandahar provincial council.

Stryker soldiers allegedly formed 'kill team' to carry out random executions of Afghan civilians 24 Aug 2010 Last December, Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs began joking with other soldiers about how easy it would be to "toss a grenade" at Afghan civilians and kill them, according to statements made by fellow platoon members to military investigators. One soldier said it was a stupid idea. Another believed that Gibbs was "feeling out the platoon." Others told investigators Gibbs eventually turned the talk into action, forming what one called a "kill team" to carry out random executions of Afghans. In one of the most serious war-crimes cases to emerge from the Afghanistan war, five soldiers from a Stryker infantry brigade based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord are now charged with murder for their alleged roles in killing three Afghan civilians.

Obama officials call for drones, military strikes in Yemen 24 Aug 2010 For the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, CIA analysts see one of al-Qaeda's offshoots - rather than the core group now based in Pakistan Langley - as the most urgent threat to U.S. security, officials said. The sober new assessment of al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen has helped prompt senior Obama administration officials to call for an escalation of U.S. operations there - including a proposal to add armed CIA drones to a clandestine campaign of U.S. military strikes, the officials said. "We are looking to draw on all of the capabilities at our disposal," said a senior Obama administration official, who described plans for "a ramp-up over a period of months." 

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CLG Editor-in-Chief: Lori Price. Copyright © 2010, Citizens For Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved.
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