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Bad Guys

New emails emerge about the still-secret CIA review on torture

Joshua Eaton
ThinkProgress
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 19:07 UTC
Mark Udall Dianne Feinstein
© Tom Williams/ CQ Roll CallForm Sen. Mark Udall (right), and Sen. Dianne Feinstein make their way to a vote in the capitol
Newly released emails detail the contentious back-and-forth between two Democratic senators and the Central Intelligence Agency for access to an internal review of the United States' controversial post-9/11 torture program. Despite the senators' efforts, that CIA review remains hidden from both Congress and the public, leaving questions about whether the CIA lied to Congress and the White House.

The three email threads recently released to ThinkProgress add new details to the story of how former Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) pressed the CIA in 2014 for access to the "Panetta Review," an internal review of the agency's detention and interrogation program commissioned by former CIA director Leon Panetta. The senators believed the Panetta Review contradicted the CIA's official claims about its detention and interrogation program, which used brutal tactics like controlled drowning, body slams, and rectal feeding on foreign terror suspects captured abroad.

The CIA released the new emails in response to a lawsuit this reporter filed after the agency did not respond to a public records request. They show exchanges in early 2014 between a member of Udall's staff and the CIA.
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Wolf

Creepy-Veep Biden boasts about bribing Kiev to sack Ukraine's prosecutor general


RT
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 17:36 UTC
Biden
© The FederalistFormer VP Joe Biden
Former US vice president Joe Biden boasted that he had a word to say in another state's internal affairs, admitting to have pressured the Ukrainian government into sacking a prosecutor general in just a few hours.

"I looked at them and said: 'I'm leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you're not getting the money,'" Biden said during a meeting of the US Council on Foreign Relations. He was referring to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and former Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk. Biden added that the prosecutor was then fired.

"Well, son of a b***h. (Laughter.) He got fired."

The incident that Biden referred to dates back to late March 2016. At that time, the then-US vice president met Ukrainian government officials to discuss the situation in Ukraine as well as US financial assistance to Kiev. Biden apparently used US guarantees of a third loan worth $1 billion as a means of applying pressure on Kiev. "I said, 'I'm telling you, you're not getting the billion dollars,'" he said at the meeting on Tuesday, recalling on the incident.

Comment: Did Biden 'sweeten' Merkel's decision as well? Money can't buy you love, but it can guarantee obedience.

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Magnify

AG Sessions announces DOJ probe of missing FBI text messages

Olivia Beavers
The Hill
Mon, 22 Jan 2018 08:32 UTC
JeffSessions
© Time MagazineAG Jeff Sessions
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday announced the Justice Department will investigate missing text messages sent between two FBI agents critical of President Trump, joining the chorus of Republican lawmakers who are eager to recover the exchange.

GOP officials have seized on the messages as evidence of FBI bias against Trump in the probes into Russian election meddling and Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of State.

"We will leave no stone unturned to confirm with certainty why these text messages are not now available to be produced and will use every technology available to determine whether the missing messages are recoverable from another source," Sessions said in a statement.

"I have spoken to the Inspector General and a review is already underway to ascertain what occurred and to determine if these records can be recovered in any other way. If any wrongdoing were to be found to have caused this gap, appropriate legal disciplinary action measures will be taken," he continued.

Comment: See also:

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Attention

Turkish military operation in Syria escalates: Is US base of operations Manbij next? [UPDATES]


RT
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 11:24 UTC
Turkish military tank
© Khalil Ashawi / ReutersA Turkish military tank is seen near Mount Barsaya, northeast of Afrin, Syria January 23, 2018
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Ankara will start from the town of Manbij in northern Syria to "thwart games" along its borders.

Manbij, controlled by US-backed Kurdish militia, is located some 100km from Afrin, where Turkey's general staff officially declared the start of 'Operation Olive Branch' on Saturday.

The move follows Erdogan's promise to "strangle" the new Border Security Force (BSF) in Syria. The US-led coalition announced earlier in January that it would help create the 30,000-strong BSF, half of which would be comprised of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.

Comment: U.S. ally Turkey vs. U.S. ally SDF. What can go wrong? According to Turkey's Deputy PM Bekir Bozdag, there is a "small" possibility that the U.S. and Ankara will come face to face in Manbij. U.S. military planners don't seem to have really thought through the consequences of pissing off their biggest ally in the region.

As for today's Operation Olive Branch updates, the SDF says it has killed dozens of Turkish troops and their FSA rebel allies in the past 5 days and that Ankara is exaggerating the number of Kurds they say they've killed. (Both claims are probably true: the SDF is likely exaggerating just as much.) Erdogan acknowledged that 8 elite Turkish soldiers were killed in fighting. YPG had posted photos of the dead soldiers and their gear. Afrin authorities say 35 civilians have been killed so far in the fighting.


Al-Mayadin says that an armored column has entered Tellet el-Is in Aleppo in order to crush the Kurds in Afrin. Firat news agency says the Kurds repelled an FSA attack, destroying 3 tanks.

Turkey has reportedly detained 150 people for posting comments against the Afrin op on social media.

Some Syrian refugees in Turkey are reportedly signing up to join Turkey's fight against the Kurds in Afrin. Meanwhile, al-Nusra in Idlib is berating jihadists for joining the Turks to fight Kurds instead of staying to fight the Syrian Army in Idlib.

In the midst of all this, the YPG apparently thought it a good idea to kidnap some Syrian soldiers (including Captain of Qamishli Airport Ahmed Suleiman and Lieutenant Wassim Mahal), in order to blackmail the Syrian government to allow them to transfer heavy weaponry from the Kurdish-held eastern territories over to Afrin. (If the Syrian government does that, they would risk the Turks bombing the convoys on Syrian-held territory.) Now, after refusing to allow the Syrians control of the territory (which would have stopped the Turkish invasion before it started), the Kurds are apparently now realizing their mistake, saying that government forces are "allowed" to operate within Afrin.
"We welcome the Syrian Army to enter the whole Afrin region, as there is an agreement between us and the Syrian government to solve all the issues between us," the YPG official said.

"We took up arms to defend ourselves - the Syrian government was never an enemy to us, we just want to be part of the political solution in Syria and our weapons will be handed over to Syrian government once a political settlement is in place," he explained.

"The YPG were never part of the US coalition and we did not get any support from them. Our weapons and support are all from the Syrian government," he emphasized. The change of opinion has come as the YPG are feeling immense pressure in the northwest canton as they battle the Turkish military and their Syrian proxies, as well as ISIS in eastern Syria.
...
Before the Turkish invasion of Afrin officially began on Saturday, Russia pleaded with Kurdish authorities to allow the Syrian Army and Syrian government officials into the canton to take up some positions, but was refused.
Update: Ankara-Backed FSA Planning to Send 10,000 Fighters to Manbij in Northeastern Syria
We have no shortage in terms of weapons, ammunition or fighters, and we are morally ready as well. A 10,000-strong force is ready for Manbij," Afeisi said in an exclusive interview with Yeni Şafak daily.

Highlighting the significance of a possible operation in Manbij, Afeisi pointed to the US activities in the region.

"We regard Manbij as strategically important as Afrin, so as Syria's National Army ("al-Jaysh al-Watani") we have declared war against the Kurdistan workers' Party (PKK) formations in Manbij. Rather than the PKK, the US is the more pressing problem. In the case that the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the FSA were to enter Manbij, the US, as it did in Afrin, will withdraw its support from the terrorists. If it does not, we will battle US forces deployed in that region as well."
See also: Turkey launches Manbij offensive in northeast Aleppo - extends Afrin mission to Azaz district (UPDATES)

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Attention

Pentagon aware Afghan forces committed child abuse, kept on funding them


RT
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 07:16 UTC
soldier child
© UnknownThe beauties and the beasts.
The Pentagon funded Afghan military and security forces despite knowing that some of them were involved in numerous human rights abuses, including sexual assaults on children, a government watchdog says. The stunning revelation came in the form of a declassified report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a US government agency tasked with delivering independent oversight of reconstruction projects and activities in Afghanistan.

The 63-page document - parts of which were heavily redacted - maintains that the Obama administration funded the Afghan military, which it knew was committing human rights abuses, including sexual assaults on children. It was composed back in June 2017, but was cleared for publication on January 18. The Pentagon funded 12 Afghan units complicit in 14 human rights incidents in 2013, the SIGAR report said, adding that nine additional units received US funding with some limitations on the use of the money.

A law in the US called the Leahy Law forbids the US military and the State Department from funding foreign military or police units in cases where there is reliable evidence that the units have carried out gross violations of human rights. Despite the Pentagon and the State Department being aware of confirmed human rights violations committed by the Afghan forces, a legal loophole in the DoD's Appropriations Act allows the Leahy Law to be bypassed when support for the units in question is essential for a "national security concern."

According to the SIGAR report, which was due to declassification in 2042, 22 of the 75 violations reported were classified at a level above "secret" and could not be disclosed, while seven involved "child sexual assault." A further 46 involved other gross violations of human rights, including extrajudicial killings and torture of prisoners. The violations occurred from 2010 to August 2016.


Comment: The funding of Afghan military activities are considered "a (US) national security concern"? And this excuses the funding of pedophilia, extrajudicial killings and torture of prisoners how? Seems like the Pentagon can use any excuse for any atrocity, knowing the real (those not 'secret') situations won't be public knowledge until decades later, too late to change or cause concern. For more on this topic:

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Arrow Down

RT Editor in Chief: Registering as 'Foreign Agent' in the US hampers work


Sputnik
Mon, 22 Jan 2018 12:00 UTC
Simonyan
© SputnikRT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan
RT's registration under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) has seriously affected the broadcaster's activities in the United States, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said in the interview with the Associated Press.

"A lot... In fact, for us it means that we have our accreditations revoked; people, of course some of the people are leaving because it is tough for them morally to work as foreign agents; less guests are coming, and more importantly even a lot of our partners in the US are now telling us that they either have to cancel our agreements or reconsider the agreements, the prices, the conditions that we have had for many years," Simonyan said, asked how the registration affected RT's operations.

She went on to say that the broadcaster was told that "FARA registration is just a registration" and that it "does not have any consequences, [and] is meant to serve the purposes of clarity, honesty, whatever." But, as Simonyan so clearly pointed out, the United States' actions had, in fact, led to a lot of consequences.

Comment: RT got a raw deal amounting to 'bait and switch.'

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Pirates

YPG is recruiting captured ISIS terrorists with ultimatum: 'Fight for us or stay in prison'

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 19:32 UTC
Euphrates Post
The intelligence services of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) has given ISIS prisoners under their control in Raqqa three choices according to the Euphrates Post:

1. Stay in prison.

2. Join the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces who operate in northern and eastern Syria.

3. Join the YPG in their battle against the Turkish Army and their Syrian proxies in the northwest canton of Afrin.

Comment: If threats don't work, they're bribed to change sides. This has been happening throughout the so-called 'Syrian Civil War' - it's a free-for-all of mercenaries from multiple countries. Today they're 'ISIS', tomorrow they're 'Syrian Democratic Forces', the day after they're 'Free Syrian Army'...

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Bullseye

NSA updates mission statement to more accurately reflect objectives, removes 'honesty and 'openness' from core values


Source
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 18:13 UTC
National Security Agency NSA
© Brooks Kraft LLC / Corbis / Getty Images
The National Security Agency has subtly edited its mission statement to remove any references to "honesty," "openness" and "honor."

Honesty was previously top of the agency's list of "core values" as set out by the mission statement on its website.

"We will be truthful with each other, and honor the public's need for openness, balanced against national security interests," the document read.

An archived copy of the website shows that "Honesty" featured alongside "Respect for the Law, Integrity and Transparency" as the NSA's guiding principles. However, The Intercept reports, that the NSA recently updated their core values and honesty no longer gets a look in.
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Star of David

Meet the spies injecting Israeli propaganda into your social media news feed

Asa Winstanley
Electronic Intifada
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 17:43 UTC
Sima Vaknin-Gil bds Israel
© WikipediaSima Vaknin-Gil, now in charge of running Israel's anti-BDS ministry, was once chief military censor.
When Sima Vaknin-Gil took over as director-general of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs at the start of 2016, a crucial fact went largely unnoticed.

For years, she had been a high-ranking officer with an Israeli spy agency. This means that for the last two years a former intelligence officer has been running Israel's global war against BDS, the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

Her ministerial boss is Gilad Erdan, a key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They were last month revealed to have spent huge sums creating anti-BDS propaganda targeting social media and news media.

It should be a big wake up call to all defenders of free speech and human rights when a peaceful civil society campaign is targeted by spy agencies responsible for hacking, torture, kidnapping and murder in Palestine and around the world.

Comment:

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Bad Guys

SOTT Focus: The Netherlands: A Leading Distributor And Producer of Child Pornography

Sanne Bosma
Sott.net
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 18:58 UTC
Dutch newspaper articles promoting pedophilia
Dutch newspaper articles promoting pedophilia in the 80s
Twenty years ago, unspeakable crimes committed against children became public knowledge when the Dutroux pedophile networks in Belgium came to light. Soon thereafter, the authorities - through careful perception management and historical revisionism - sent it back into the darkness. Dutroux and his ex-wife Michelle Martin (a teacher) abducted several young girls and delivered them to an international ring that tortures, rapes and murders children. Martin, who drove the van, filmed her husband raping girls, and left two girls to starve to death while her husband was incarcerated, was released from prison in 2012, despite angry public protests.

But when the news about the Dutch Zandvoort pedophile rings broke two years later in 1998, the Dutch people did not take to the streets to voice their outrage the way Belgians had done during their 'White March' which nearly brought about a revolution. In an earlier article we wondered why this horrendous case did not shock Dutch society to its core.

The newspaper NRC wrote the following in 1998 about the 'Zandvoort File':
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