Tag Archives: National Security

Articles of Interest

Congress To Probe Lethal Crash That Killed SEAL Team 6 Members

Leave a comment

By Breaking News

SEALs 2 SC Congress to probe lethal crash that killed SEAL Team 6 members

Congress has launched an investigation of the helicopter crash that killed 30 Americans in Afghanistan, including members of the Navy’s elite SEAL Team 6 unit, The Hill has learned. [WATCH VIDEO]

The victims’ families say the Pentagon hasn’t provided answers to their many questions about the deadly attack, which took place on Aug. 6, 2011, three months after Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by Team 6 forces.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on National Security, told The Hill, “We’re going to dive into this.”

Chaffetz said he met with the victims’ families about a month ago in what he described as an “emotional” gathering. He is poised to send questions to the Pentagon and may hold hearings on the matter.

Charlie Strange, whose son Michael was among those killed, said he asked President Obama two years ago at Dover Air Force Base to fully investigate. The death toll in the crash was the largest of any single incident for the U.S. military during the Afghanistan war.

Read More at The Hill . By Bob Cusack.

Related posts:

  1. Seal Team VI Family: Obama’s Getting Our Warriors Killed On August 6, 2011, the Taliban fired on a CH-47D…
  2. To Obama, SEAL Team Six’s Sacrifices Were Worthy Of Only A Form Letter Last year, American warriors were killed when a CH-47 Chinook…

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism

Computers

Microsoft: We don't give NSA direct access to email

Leave a comment

Microsoft does not give the U.S. National Security agency direct access to its customers’ email or instant messages, contrary to previous news reports, a company executive said.

News reports last week suggested that Microsoft has helped the NSA circumvent the company’s own encryption in order to conduct surveillance on email accounts through Outlook.com, but company General Counsel Brad Smith said Tuesday that’s not true.

“We do not provide any government with direct access to emails or instant messages,” Smith wrote in a blog post. “Full stop.”

The company does not help government agencies circumvent its encryption, he added. “To be clear, we do not provide any government with the ability to break the encryption, nor do we provide the government with the encryption keys,” he wrote. “When we are legally obligated to comply with [government] demands, we pull the specified content from our servers where it sits in an unencrypted state, and then we provide it to the government agency.”

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Articles of Interest

Benghazi, The Muslim Brotherhood Connection, And The Libyan Intelligence Report

Leave a comment

By Marinka Peschmann

sharif libya letter Benghazi, the Muslim Brotherhood Connection, And the Libyan Intelligence Report

Appearing in CFP.

About two weeks ago, new information came out that claimed the Muslim Brotherhood and recently deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi were involved in the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attack that killed four Americans including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

The new information, a Libyan Intelligence document, was reportedly prepared by Mahmoud Ibrahim Sharif, Director of National Security for Libya, and was addressed to the nation’s Minister of Interior. The Obama administration did not release the report; neither did the various Republican Committees investigating Benghazi. It became public in the West thanks to prolific author and Middle East/Islam expert Raymond Ibrahim. Ibrahim reported that the intelligence document came from Arabic websites and was leaked to the Kuwaiti paper, Al Ra’i. It has since been authenticated by the Libyan government’s chief of the Department of Security in Tripoli.

As Ibrahim wrote:

“[The Libyan intelligence document] discusses the preliminary findings of the [Benghazi] investigation, specifically concerning an “Egyptian cell” which was involved in the consulate attack.” Based on confessions derived from some of those arrested at the scene” six people, “all of them Egyptians” from the jihad group Ansar al-Sharia (“Supporters of Islamic Law), were arrested.

According to the report, during interrogations, these Egyptian jihadi cell members “confessed to very serious and important information concerning the financial sources of the group and the planners of the event and the storming and burning of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi…. And among the more prominent figures whose names were mentioned by cell members during confessions were: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi; preacher Safwat Hegazi; Saudi businessman Mansour Kadasa, owner of the satellite station, Al-Nas; Egyptian Sheikh Muhammad Hassan; former presidential candidate, Hazim Salih Abu Isma’il…”

Here’s the kicker. According to a translation of the entire Libyan Intelligence report provided by Walid Shoebat (a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood and author of numerous books including Why I left Jihad: The Root of Terrorism and the Return of Radical Islam, and Why We Want to Kill You: The Jihadist Mindset and How to Defeat it), the report stated: “In addition, there were extremely crucial information as to the financial sources of this group and the planners and executers of the operation which carried out the breaking and entering of the American Consulate in Benghazi and killing all occupants including the desecration of their bodies in revenge for the film which was produced by the Crusaders who produced the film that insults the Messenger, Peace and Prayers be upon Him (emphasis mine).” See the entire translation at the end.

Oh, the anti-Muslim film, the infamous YouTube video surfaces again? This is disinformation on several levels.

Why? Because the Libyan Intelligence report, dated September 15, 2012 (four days after the Benghazi attack), backs up the false claim that a YouTube video—an anti-Muslim film — was the cause of the Benghazi attack, the same lie that the Obama administration (including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former United Nation Ambassador Susan Rice, White House spokesman Jay Carney, and then Central Intelligence Director David Petraeus) told the world. Since then, …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism

News, Politics, Government

Air Force general, wife killed in small plane crash in Virginia

Leave a comment

Authorities are investigating a plane crash that killed a decorated Air Force general and his wife near Williamsburg.

The Air Force said Maj. Gen. Joseph D. Brown IV and his wife, Susan D. Brown, died Friday when the single-engine Cessna 210 he was flying crashed.

Joseph Brown was commandant of the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He formerly was assigned to U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the crash occurred at 4:53 p.m. Friday near the Williamsburg-Jamestown Airport, where the plane was supposed to land. The Browns’ dog also was killed. There were no other passengers on the plane.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/x0aPj8wpseQ/

News, Politics, Government

Sri Lanka to probe mass grave with 150 skeletons

Leave a comment

A Sri Lankan presidential commission will be appointed to investigate a mass grave where more than 150 skulls and bones, most likely of Marxist rebels killed decades ago, were found last year, a government spokesman said Monday.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had decided to appoint the commission to investigate into the mass grave found at a state-run hospital in the central region of the country, said Lakshman Hulugalle, head of the government‘s Media Centre for National Security.

He told reporters the commission’s probe will be in addition to an ongoing police investigation, adding names of the members of the commission will be announced soon.

Workers found the remains while doing construction last December at the hospital in Matale, about 105 kilometers (65 miles), northeast of the capital, Colombo. The skeletons were found buried in neat rows, five or six stacked on top of one another, totaling 154 bodies.

Last month, a judge declared the mass grave a crime scene, and said the skulls and bones recovered date back 25 years, strengthening suspicions that they belonged to suspected Marxist rebels killed at the time.

Magistrate Chathurika de Silva told a court in Matale that tests carried out by archeological and judicial medical officials showed the remains dated to between 1987 and 1990. During that period, thousands of men and women suspected of having ties to the rebels disappeared after being arrested by security forces.

When the bodies were found, there were initial claims that they belonged to those killed in an epidemic in the 1940s or in a mudslide. However, hospital authorities did not have any records of bodies buried on the premises.

A Marxist group, the People’s Liberation Front, which led two uprisings first in 1971 and again in 1987 to 1989 against the government, said the bodies may belong to its members killed by security forces and demanded that the government to conduct a full investigation.

The Marxists were mostly rural Sinhalese, the country’s majority ethnic community. They complained of economic disparities and said that rural people were denied equal opportunities.

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Is This Energy Source a Key to National Security?

Leave a comment

By Travis Hoium, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

When I think about energy and national security, the first thing that comes to mind is usually a disruption in oil imports or some sort of nuclear disaster. The form and function of the electrical grid itself wasn’t at the top of the list — until now.

Recent comments from David Crane of NRG Energy have made me think that maybe solar energy could play a role in national energy security. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal‘s ECO:nomics conference late last month, he said that solar energy may be a national security issue. When you step back and think about it, he’s probably right.

Solar energy is the first energy source we’re able to generate economically at home. A roof filled with solar panels can power an entire house, assuming it has some energy storage or grid backup. This is problematic for utilities, because solar owners will be using the grid only for backup, potentially adding cost to other consumers, but from a security standpoint it may be a step forward.

Look at the Fukushima disaster in Japan last year. The country shut down all nuclear reactors, which added to fossil fuel imports and disrupted service. A similar disaster or attack on major power plants in the U.S. could leave portions of the country without power for weeks. It took weeks to get power back to parts of New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy and the Northeast blackout of 2003 left millions without power without any notice.

Solar energy changes the landscape. A blackout would be more manageable for consumers if they have solar power during the day and may go unnoticed if they have battery backup. Maybe it’s true that solar power could be a piece of improved energy security.

The military is on board
We know that the U.S. military is already seeing solar as a powerful energy source. SunPower built a 14 MW plant at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, generating 30% of the base’s annual power needs.  

On a smaller basis, the Army has introduced portable power solutions for forward bases and is testing other solar technologies and energy storage. If distributed energy on the grid doesn’t make you feel safer for the energy grid, giving usable power to our troops in the field should. Solar will not only be a useful tool for soldiers, but it will also save cost, since transporting fuel is an expensive and dangerous task on the battlefield.  

The winners in distributed solar
Distributed solar is one piece of a more secure energy grid, and investors can get onboard in a few different ways. NRG Energy owns large solar plants and is getting into the distributed solar business as well. SolarCity is the dominant player in residential solar, and panel manufacturer SunPower is expanding its reach through a leasing program. Finally, MEMC Electronic Materials is transforming itself into a project developer and is putting a big …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Articles of Interest

US Spy Chiefs: Cyber Threat Is on Par With Terrorism

Leave a comment

By Mark Russell With China , Iran , and other countries increasingly hacking the United States, its infrastructure, and its companies, the Pentagon is stepping up its cyber defense operations in a major way—provided Washington’s budget battles don’t hamstring its efforts, reports the Washington Post . Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the National Security… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

The North Korean Black Swan

Leave a comment

By 24/7 Wall St.

95008285

Filed under:

Unemployment, fighting over the federal budget, a drop in GDP growth, and slowing of the progress of corporate earnings are the most often mentioned reasons that the stock market could fall from current record levels. That list misses a single global crisis, which may be unlikely, but would cause a swift sell-off in shares. The present problems in Korea are a perfect example.

So far, all that has happened in Korea are military exercises, a report in a North Korean paper that its government has “nullified” a truce that goes back the end of the Korean War, as well as media reports from the North that leader Kim Jong Un says that the nation’s troops should be on “maximum alert,” whatever that may mean.

In reaction, National Security adviser Tom Donilon told the Asia Society in New York that: “There should be no doubt: We will draw upon the full range of our capabilities to protect against, and to respond to, the threat posed to us and to our allies by North Korea.” Whatever that means – particularly due to the uncertain role of China.

North Korea is obviously a danger to peace in the Asia region because it does have powerful offensive weapons, even if they are crude by U.S. standards. And Kim Jong Un has an unstable personality and may be full-on crazy. With one push of a button, he could engage armed forces from South Korea and America. Japan could be extremely threatened by an attack.

And the stock markets would react badly.

The ongoing rise in global markets signals that the chances of real trouble in Korea are nearly nil. The odds that is so likely are more than 99%. However, in reality, North Korea is something of a black swan that is paddling around the Sea of Japan and walking the boarder between North and South Korea.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Politics

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Luna Sells Secure Computing and Communications Group

Leave a comment

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Luna Sells Secure Computing and Communications Group

Deal with MacAulay-Brown, Inc. to help Luna focus on core strengths in fiber optics

ROANOKE, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Luna Innovations Incorporated (NAS: LUNA) , which develops and manufactures new-generation products for the healthcare, telecommunications, energy and defense markets, today announced the sale of its Secure Computing and Communications (SCC) group to MacAulay-Brown, Inc. (MacB).

The sale of SCC will enable Luna to more narrowly focus on the company’s key strategic initiatives that relate to its core strength in fiber optic sensing while reducing the company’s exposure to reductions in government spending.

“We are very proud of the unique expertise we developed in secure computing technology. The sale of SCC allows us to increase liquidity and focus on the growth potential of our core fiber-optic technology,” said My Chung, Luna’s CEO. “MacB has a strategic focus in areas where our SCC technology is already being applied as well as the infrastructure to advance this technology for military and intelligence customers. This is truly an ideal home for this unique technology and the talented people of SCC.

“This sale accelerates the monetization of our secure computing technology while mitigating exposure to reductions in government spending,” Chung added. “We look forward to working with MacB and SCC‘s customers on a smooth transition.”

Since 2003, SCC has conducted research and development of innovative electronic components and methods, and has provided technical services with a focus on critical U.S. military and National Security applications. In addition, SCC is a leader in the development of methods and technologies to build trust into integrated circuits and energy management systems.

“We are delighted to welcome SCC to our growing portfolio,” said Sid Fuchs, President and CEO of MacB. “This advanced technology is a good strategic fit that builds on the role we play in our nation’s defense. In working with SCC to verify the capability and usability of its products, we recognized the benefits of this growing technology for our existing customers and our ability to bring this technology to market.”

Employees of SCC, as well as the business and intellectual property portfolio, will shift to MacB, a privately held company that provides advanced engineering services and national security solutions.

About Luna

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance