Can you spell treason? How about racketeering? This would seem to call for the indictment, conviction, and loss of pensions for the top NSA deciders, and enough RICO lawsuits to put RSA out of business. Shame!
Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden show that the NSA created and promulgated a flawed formula for generating random numbers to create a “back door” in encryption products, the New York Times reported in September. Reuters later reported that RSA became the most important distributor of that formula by rolling it into a software tool called Bsafe that is used to enhance security in personal computers and many other products.
I am not an Obama fan, as anyone who reads SR regularly knows. I find the disconnect between the soaring language in his speeches and the reality of how his Executive Branch operates — an issue distinct from the problems of his having to deal with a corrupt Theocratic Rightist House — very alarming. Two of the most disturbing aspects are the rise of the Orwelli! an surveillance under Obama's Administration, and, concurrently, the suppression of freedom of the press. A democracy without a free aggressive press very quickly ceases to be a democracy. History is quite clear on this. Here is an excellent essay on the relevant issues. This special report originally appeared on the Committee to Protect Journalists website, and is reprinted here with their permission.
This report will examine all these issues: legal policies of the Obama administration that disrupt relationships between journalists and government sources; the surveillance programs that cast doubt on journalists’ ability to protect those sources; restrictive practices for disclosing information that make it more difficult to hold the government accountable for its actions and decision-making; and manipulative use of administration-controlled media to circumvent scrutiny by the press.
Given the amount of confusion that has existed about the role of external actors in Venezuela, the article seeks to present the key facts and data regarding Chinese loans, oil investment and other support to the Venezuelan petroleum sector, in the context of Indian and Russian activities in the sector as well. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to a number of experts in the Venezuelan petroleum, financial, and other sectors who shared their knowledge and dedicated the time so that I could get the story right.
Dr. Evan Ellis is a professor of national security studies, modeling, gaming and simulation with the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies at the National Defense University, with a research focus on Latin America's relationships with external actors, including China, Russia and Iran, as well as work on populism in the Andes, transnational criminal organizations and gangs in Mexico and Central America, energy security, and non-traditional national security topics. Dr. Ellis has published over 50 works, including the 2009 book China in Latin America: The Whats and Wherefores, as well as articles in national security, finance, and technical journals.
Although he may not have intended it as such, all the publicity surrounding the recent published book by Erik Prince, founder of the private security firm once known as Blackwater, has actually served a useful public policy purpose; namely, highlighting the near ubiquitous presence of private military and security contractors (PMSC), as well as other types of private contractors, and the cost and benefits of using them.
When it comes to the costs of outsourcing formerly inherently governmental functions there are many different ways to calculate them but one relatively under-examined way is to consider the dangers of allowing what in almost any other industry would be considered a conflict of interest. Or. To put it more colorfully, does it really serve the public interest to allow a PMSC fox guard the government hen house?
Specifically, does anyone really think it is reasonable to assume that placing personal services contractors (Note: “personal services” is the umbrella category that all PMSC contracts fall under) in government procurement offices will produce dispassionate, objective assessments of the pros and cons of using PMSC?
Does anyone think that is a good idea; anyone, anyone at all? Hmmm, your silence is deafening.
Well, if you think this is an absurd idea rest assured you are not alone. William Charles Moorhouse is in the house. Major Moorhouse serves in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and is currently the Chief of Contract and Fiscal Law for the U.S. Army Expeditionary Contracting Command.
The United States bears a moral responsibility for the murderous state of affairs in Iraq, but contemporary American grand strategy has become a self-referencing mix of arrogance, narcissism, and exceptionalism; so it is not surprising that most Americans have dismissed Iraq their minds (as they are now dismissing Afghanistan). Below is an excellent reminder of the situation in Iraq.
Patrick Cockburn, one of the very best journalists now covering conflicts in the Arab World and Central Asia interviews Muqtada al-Sadr, one of the most influential Shia clerics in Iraq and leader of the Mehdi Army, a powerful Shia faction. Sadr is now a member of the Shia dominated Iraqi government, but he is becoming increasingly alienated from its leader, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Sadr argues that a toxic mix of (1) sectarianism, (2) governmental incompetence and corruption, and (3) external interference by the U.S. and U.K. and Iran is plunging Iraq into an ever-deepening state of chaos, with no light at the end of the tunnel. (Note: I inserted a few clarifying comments in red.)
In a rare interview at his headquarters in Najaf, he tells Patrick Cockburn of his fears for a nation growing ever more divided on sectarian lines.
The future of Iraq as a united and independent country is endangered by sectarian Shia-Sunni hostility says Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia religious leader whose Mehdi Army militia fought the US and British armies and who remains a powerful figure in Iraqi politics. He warns of the danger that[1] “the Iraqi people will disintegrate, [2] its government will disintegrate, and [3] it will be easy for external powers to control the country”.
In an interview with The Independent in the holy city of Najaf, 100 miles south-west of Baghdad – the first interview Mr Sadr has given face-to-face with a Western journalist for almost 10 years – he expressed pessimism about the immediate prospects for Iraq, saying: “The near future is dark.”
Introduction | The Deterioration of Government John j. Hamre
PART 1: GETTING OUR HOUSE IN ORDER
Can We Rebuild a National Security Consensus? Kathleen h. Hicks
The Snowden Effect: Can We Undo the Damage to American Power? James a. Lewis
What Battlefield Lessons Have We Learned from 12 Years of War? Maren Leed
What Has Syria Taught Us about the Right Time to Use Force? Clark a. Murdock
How Can We Develop a Sustainable Resource Strategy for Defense? David j. Berteau
PART 2: THE CHANGING ORDER IN THE MIDDLE EAST
What Should the United States and its Allies Expect from the Middle East? Anthony h. Cordesman
What Should the Middle East Expect from the United States and its Allies? Jon b. Alterman
Is Russia Back as a Power in the Middle East? Andrew c. Kuchins
Can We Stop Violent Extremism from Going Mainstream in North Africa? Haim Malka
PART 3: SUSTAINING THE RE BALANCE
Should We Change Our Security Approach in Asia? A conversation with Michael j. Green , Victor Cha, and Christopher k. Johnson moderated by Zack Cooper
How Important Is TPP to Our Asia Policy? A conversation with Ernest z. Bower ,
Matthew Goodman , and Scott Miller moderated by Murray Hiebert
How Will the Shifting Energy Landscape in Asia Impact Geopolitics? Sarah o. Ladislaw
How Should We Address Nuclear Risks in Asia? Sharon Squassoni
PART 4: NONTRADITIONAL SECURITY APPROACHES
Are There Opportunities to Bolster Regional Security Cooperation? A conversation with Heather a. Conley, Jennifer G. Cooke , Carl Meacham , aram nerguizian, and Ralph a. Cossa moderated by Samuel Brannen
What Can Civilian Power Accomplish in Foreign Crises? A conversation with j. Stephen Morrison, Daniel f. Runde, and Johanna Nesseth tuttle moderated by Robert d. Lamb
Can We Adapt to the Changing Nature of Power in the 21st Century? Juan Zarate
Phi Beta Iota: CSIS means well, but it does not know what it does not know, and that makes its “analysis” inherently unreliable. By this point in time CSIS could — if it wanted to — have a holistic analytic model (ten threats, twelve policies, eight demographics), and also have embraced a cradle to grave true cost economic methodology. This is a mixed group of essays, some of which are outrageously out of touch with both ethics and reality.
Pakistan-Pakistani Taliban: The Pakistani Taliban rejected peace talks with the government on Thursday after electing hardline militant Mullah Fazlullah as their new leader.
Earlier this month militant sources said that the consultative Shura council of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chose Khan Said Mehsud known as Sajna as the new leader. But the election of Sajna, who leads the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan, reportedly was opposed by Taliban's other groups. Fazlullah was reported to have strongly objected to the choice of Sajna.
Shahidullah Shahid, the main spokesman for the TTP said talks with the government were a “waste of time” and the new chief Maulana Fazlullah was against them. “Holding of peace talks is not even an issue to discuss — this government has no authority, it is not a sovereign government, it is a slave, a slave of America. Holding peace talks is a waste of time.”
Fazlullah's men shot and wounded Malala Yousafzai last year, instantly turning Malala into a global hero for the education of girls.
Comment: Fazlullah's election does not necessarily mean that negotiations will never occur. Hardline leaders often are the only ones capable of negotiating with credibility. But that is for the future. Meanwhile, no peace talks are likely in the near term. Pakistani Pashtun savagery against Pashtun women will increase, including murder attempts against Malala in the UK.
Fazlullah's election signifies rejection of Prime Minister Sharif's peace overture. It also highlights a degenerative leadership pattern resulting from the US program of leadership decapitation. First, there is always someone waiting for the chance to be leader. Second, the new leaders are less experienced and wise than the men they replace. Third, the new generation of leaders is more extreme and theologically rigid than its predecessors. Finally, the new leaders tend to be unknown to intelligence relative to their predecessors. Decapitation is not a permanent solution to an insurgency or an uprising.
