Georgetown Security Law Brief

Commentary: Approach to a blue-sky overhaul of surveillance laws

2013-05-20T11:30:00-04:00

05/20/13: Lawfare posted the third of David Kris's commentaries on a blue-sky overhaul of surveillance laws which outlines a proposed approach to reform. The first task in any overhaul effort would probably be to define the conduct to be regulated. The project would need to consider more than just electronic surveillance. It could include physical searches, and other methods of collecting information. Current law governing intelligence collection offers a starting point for defining the scope of the project, but perhaps we would want to regulate more, or less, than we currently do. The Fourth Amendment provides another starting point, but it may be too narrow because many current statutes (e.g., those governing pen-trap surveillance) regulate conduct that is not a Fourth Amendment search or seizure. Extant foreign intelligence collection activity (as opposed to regulation) might also serve as a guide, but that too is subject to change, and not all current foreign intelligence activity is equally regulated. Kris identifies four broad areas on which expound: (1) distinctions concerning the target of surveillance and/or interlocutors, (2) distinctions based on how the government conducts the surveillance, (3) levels and types of approvals for surveillance, and (4) use of information obtained or derived from surveillance.

'Terrorist attack' in Moscow prevented

2013-05-20T11:22:02-04:00

05/20/13: The BBC reports Russian counter-terrorism agents have carried out a raid on a group planning a terrorist act in Moscow killing two suspects, officials say. Local media quoted the National Anti-Terrorism Committee as saying the group was located in a house in the town of Orekhovo-Zuyevo, east of the capital. A third suspect was held in the raid. One agent was slightly hurt. The suspects are said to be Russian citizens who had undergone training in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

Hezbollah suffers losses in fierce battle for Syrian city

2013-05-20T09:42:32-04:00

05/20/13: The New York Times reports fighting raged on Monday in the strategic Syrian city of Qusayr, as the government unleashed new airstrikes and rebels resisted fiercely in parts of the city even as their makeshift hospitals overflowed with the wounded, Syrian opposition activists said. The toll of dead and wounded also continued to rise for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is fighting its biggest battle yet on the side of President Bashar al-Assad. Both sides have depicted the fighting in Qusayr as a turning point in the war that is raising regional tensions as Hezbollah plunges more deeply into the conflict. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition watchdog group, reported that at least 23 Hezbollah guerrillas had died in the fighting. If confirmed, that would be by far the largest toll for Hezbollah in a single Syrian battle. Rebels said they destroyed seven armored vehicles and killed dozens more government and Hezbollah fighters, according to an activist in Qusayr.

In Litvinenko case, secrecy wins out over inquiry

2013-05-20T09:37:23-04:00

05/20/13: The New York Times reports ever since Alexander V. Litvinenko died, his supporters have nurtured a hope of one day learning answers to two critical questions: Did the Kremlin plan his poisoning in central London in November 2006? And could British spymasters have prevented it? The answers would have weighty implications for both Moscow and London. Mr. Litvinenko, 43, was a turncoat KGB officer, a whistle-blower assailing organized crime and the Kremlin; he was a newly naturalized British citizen with ties to the late Russian oligarch Boris A. Berezovsky; and according to his widow, he was an employee of the British Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. The toxin that killed him, moreover, was a rare radioactive isotope, polonium 210, the bulk of which is produced supposedly under strict safeguards in Russia. British prosecutors accused another former KGB officer, Andrei K. Lugovoi, of murder — a charge he denied. Last Friday, Robert Owen, the senior judge acting as the coroner at an oft-postponed inquest into Litvinenko's death, ruled in favor of a request from the British foreign secretary, William Hague, to exclude evidence relating to the “possible involvement of Russian state agencies” and to the British authorities’ “knowledge and/or assessment of threats to Mr. Litvinenko’s life.” With those words, the central questions — and the likelihood of answers — were removed from the inquiry.

Indian and Chinese Premiers pledge cooperation on border issues

2013-05-20T09:29:12-04:00

05/20/13: The New York Times reports the prime ministers of India and China papered over their recent border dispute on Monday with a friendly joint statement and an array of promises for future economic and military cooperation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India emphasized in his remarks that friendly relations between the Asian giants depended on “peace and tranquillity on our borders.” The two sides promised to appoint special representatives to investigate the reasons for the recent border spat. On April 15, a contingent of 50 Chinese troops was found to have set up camp in the mountainous Ladakh section of Kashmir that India claims as its own. India then stationed troops about 300 yards away from the Chinese troops and the two camps faced each other for weeks before the dispute was resolved. The two sides pledged Monday to enhance cooperation and agreed to joint military training exercises later this year. Their statement also referred to improved cooperation on maritime security. China’s growing maritime presence, including the building of ports in countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan in what has been called a “string of pearls” strategy, has alarmed India. Mr. Li is scheduled to leave India on Tuesday to visit Pakistan.

Obama to speak on legality of drone program

2013-05-20T09:22:47-04:00

05/20/13: The Washington Times reports President Obama will discuss the legality of his administration’s secret drone program and other counterterrorism practices during a speech Thursday, a White House official said. Mr. Obama’s speech will be an attempt to fulfill his State of the Union pledge to be more “transparent” with the public about the controversial drone program that has become the centerpiece of the White House's efforts to combat terrorism. The official said Mr. Obama would also use Thursday’s address at the National Defense University to discuss efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The president had vowed to renew those efforts despite being thwarted in his attempts to close the prison during his first term. Civil liberties groups and an unusual coalition of Democratic and Republican lawmakers have criticized the White House for keeping most details of the drone program secret. Particularly concerning for these critics has been the administration’s rare use of drones to kill American citizens overseas. The administration is expected to increase its use of drones and other counterterrorism techniques as the war in Afghanistan winds to a close at the end of 2014 and the vast majority of US troops return home.

Colombia Farc rebels ask for 'more time' for peace deal

2013-05-20T09:20:22-04:00

05/20/13: The BBC reports Colombia's left-wing Farc rebels have rejected criticism that efforts to end almost fifty years of conflict are moving too slowly. Farc lead negotiator Ivan Marquez said achieving lasting peace in Colombia would take "more time". He spoke as the rebels and the Colombian government marked six months since peace talks began. President Juan Manuel Santos has said he hopes a deal can be reached within months rather than years. Peace negotiations began in Cuba in November. Mr Marquez told reporters in the capital, Havana, on Sunday that he did not understand why the pace of talks was being described as slow. Talks remain stalled over the issue of land redistribution in Colombia, the first of a five-point agenda. The Colombian government has promised to return millions of hectares of stolen land to displaced peasants, one of the rebels' main demands. But Bogota insists that the rebels must first put down their guns and cease hostilities.

Russia expels former American embassy official

2013-05-20T09:18:14-04:00

05/20/13: The New York Times reports a former senior Justice Department official at the American Embassy here was declared “persona non grata” and barred from Russia this month, according to people familiar with the case, possibly because he had rebuffed an effort by the Russian Federal Security Service to recruit him as a spy. The former official, Thomas Firestone, had been living and working in Moscow as a lawyer for an American law firm, and had extensive contacts in the Russian government. He was detained at Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow on May 5 while trying to return to Russia from a trip abroad; the authorities held him for 16 hours and then put him on a flight to the United States. Mr. Firestone was contacted in March by Russian intelligence operatives who sought to enlist him to spy for the Russians, according to one person who is familiar with the case. Mr. Firestone turned them down, the person said. It was not clear whether the episode was the cause of his ejection from Russia. The Obama administration has raised the matter of Mr. Firestone’s expulsion with the Russian government, according to one American government official. Spokesmen for the White House, the State Department, and the American Embassy in Moscow all declined to comment.

M23 rebels attack DRC army as UN force deploys

2013-05-20T08:58:09-04:00

05/20/13: The BBC reports heavy fighting has taken place between government and rebel forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This was the first clash between the two sides since the UN began deploying an attack force to the area last week. Meanwhile, Rwandan President Paul Kagame told the BBC that UN troops had "in some cases" made the situation in DR Congo worse. The UN has nearly 20,000 peacekeepers in eastern DR Congo, where armed groups have wreaked havoc for two decades. The BBC's Maud Jullien in the capital, Kinshasa, says it is the most serious fighting in the area since the M23 withdrew from the regional capital, Goma, in December 2012. An army commander, Lt Col Mamadou Ndala, said 600 commandos were being deployed to protect the city, which the rebels seized last November before pulling out under intense diplomatic pressure, AP news agency reports. M23 rebels attacked government troops about 12 km (7 miles) north of Goma, said army spokesman Olivier Hamuli. The army pushed back the rebels after two hours of heavy fighting, but sporadic clashes were continuing, he added. The M23 had probably launched the attack to disrupt the deployment of the UN brigade, government spokesman Lambert Mende said. But the M23 accused government troops of attacking them first.

Chinese hackers resume attacks on US targets

2013-05-20T08:51:44-04:00

05/20/13: The New York Times reports three months after hackers working for a cyberunit of China’s People’s Liberation Army went silent amid evidence that they had stolen data from scores of American companies and government agencies, they appear to have resumed their attacks using different techniques, according to computer industry security experts and American officials. The Obama administration had bet that “naming and shaming” the groups, first in industry reports and then in the Pentagon's own detailed survey of Chinese military capabilities, might prompt China’s new leadership to crack down on the military’s highly organized team of hackers — or at least urge them to become more subtle. But Unit 61398, whose well-guarded 12-story white headquarters on the edges of Shanghai became the symbol of Chinese cyberpower, is back in business, according to American officials and security companies. It is not clear precisely who has been affected by the latest attacks. Mandiant, a private security company that helps companies and government agencies defend themselves from hackers, said the attacks had resumed but would not identify the targets, citing agreements with its clients. But it did say the victims were many of the same ones the unit had attacked before. The hackers were behind scores of thefts of intellectual property and government documents over the past five years, according to a report by Mandiant in February that was confirmed by American officials. They have stolen product blueprints, manufacturing plans, clinical trial results, pricing documents, negotiation strategies and other proprietary information from more than 100 of Mandiant’s clients, predominantly in the United States.

Egypt sends extra troops to Sinai after abductions

2013-05-20T08:15:00-04:00

05/20/13: The BBC reports Egypt has increased its security presence in the Sinai peninsula, four days after seven members of its forces were abducted there. Armoured vehicles were seen crossing into northern Sinai on Monday in response to the kidnapping. A video emerged at the weekend apparently showing the men pleading for their release. The Egyptian president held emergency meetings with security chiefs on Monday morning. The BBC's Shaimaa Khalil in Cairo says the high level meetings and the troop deployment come amid speculation that force could be used to rescue the seven servicemen. President Mohammed Morsi has ruled out negotiating with the abductors, saying there was "no room for dialogue with the criminals". The kidnappers are said to be demanding the release of political detainees. The men, six police officers and a border guard, were captured while travelling in minibuses in northern Sinai, east of the city of El Arish. While the identity of their captors is unclear, reports suggest they are jihadist militants.

Bombing kills key figure in northern Afghan province

2013-05-20T08:01:00-04:00

05/20/13: The New York Times reports a suicide bomber disguised as a police officer killed 14 people on Monday, including the head of a provincial council in northern Afghanistan, officials said. The head of the council, Rasul Mohseni, commonly known as Rasul Khan, was widely regarded as the most powerful man in Baghlan Province and was a veteran commander who had led northerners in revolt against the Taliban regime. He was killed along with four of his bodyguards and three police officers, as well as six civilians, according to Zubair Akbari, the province’s director of public health. Nine other people were wounded. Mr. Mohseni, who was viewed as more powerful than either Baghlan’s governor or its police chief, had been accused of quietly rearming militia fighters in the north in case the Taliban again proved to be a threat. His brother Mustafa Mohseni is an Afghan general, and another brother, Azim Mohseni, is an influential member of Parliament. They were all prominent members of the Jamiat-i-Islami party, formerly led by Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was assassinated in 2011 by a Taliban suicide bomber pretending to be a peace emissary.

Kenneth Waltz, foreign-relations expert, dies at 88

2013-05-19T10:19:26-04:00

05/19/13: The New York Times reports Kenneth N. Waltz, a pre-eminent thinker on international relations who was known for his contrarian, debate-provoking ideas, not least his view that stability in the Middle East might be better served if Iran had a nuclear weapon, died on May 12 in Manhattan. He was 88. Leslie H. Gelb, emeritus president of the Council on Foreign Relations, characterized Mr. Waltz as one of five “giants” who shaped the study of international relations as a discrete discipline, the others being Hans Morgenthau, Henry A. Kissinger, Samuel P. Huntington and Zbigniew Brzezinski. The field developed in the 1950s, when the experiences of two world wars and the beginning of the cold war drove scholars to try to explain more precisely how nations interacted. The goal was to build a conceptual framework on which international politics could be analyzed, something earlier courses on military and diplomatic history had not offered. One of Mr. Waltz’s propositions was that wars are not caused simply by human aggression or bad governments but by the anarchic, dog-eat-dog nature of international relations. Each nation-state, he said, will push as far as it can to advance its own self-interests.

Iran hangs two men for spying for Israel and US

2013-05-19T10:17:00-04:00

05/19/13: The BBC reports Iran has hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel and the US, the authorities there have said. Mohammad Heydari was found guilty of passing intelligence on "security issues and national secrets" to Israeli Mossad agents in exchange for cash. Kourosh Ahmadi was convicted of providing intelligence to the CIA, Tehran's prosecutor's office said. Iran has repeatedly accused Israel and the US of carrying out covert intelligence operations. It comes amid continuing tension over its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but Western nations suspect is being used to build an atomic weapon. It is not clear when Heydari and Ahmadi were arrested or where they were tried. Their execution was handed down by Tehran's Revolutionary Court and confirmed by the Supreme Court, Iran's Fars news agency reported. It said the two men were hanged at dawn. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court overturned the death sentence given to Amir Mirzai Hekmati, an Iranian-American national accused of spying for the CIA. The judge found the verdict was "not complete" and ordered a retrial. Both Mr Hekmati and the US deny the spying allegations.

Visualizing international criminal justice

2013-05-19T10:16:00-04:00

05/19/13: Opinio Juris's Kevin Jon Heller calls attention to a remarkable new report on international criminal justice authored by Daniel McLaughlin, a former legal officer at the ECCC, for Fordham’s Leitner Center for International Law & Justice. As the introduction states, the report is an attempt — a very successful one — to visualize information about the criminal tribunals. One really can’t do the amazing graphics justice, so just click through and download the report for yourself! It’s a must read — a must look? — for anyone interested in the tribunals.

Nigeria army's offensive to continue "as long as it takes"

2013-05-19T10:15:43-04:00

05/19/13: The BBC reports Nigeria's army has vowed to continue its offensive against militants in the north-east "as long as it takes" to achieve its main objectives. Brig Gen Chris Olukolade told the BBC the aim was to assert Nigeria's "territorial integrity as a nation". Earlier, a 24-hour curfew was imposed in parts of the city of Maiduguri, where the military said it had arrested 65 "terrorists". Maiduguri has been an important base for Boko Haram Islamist militants. Earlier this week, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three north-eastern states - Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe - after a series of deadly attacks by militant groups. Nigerian military spokesman Brig Gen Olukolade said the army would continue its operation "as long as it takes to achieve our objective of getting rid of insurgents from every part of Nigeria". Earlier, an army statement named 12 areas of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, which would now be under permanent curfew.

Ban Ki-moon urges North Korea to end missile tests

2013-05-19T10:13:20-04:00

05/19/13: The BBC reports UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on North Korea to refrain from carrying out any further missile tests. He was speaking as Pyongyang test-fired a fourth short-range missile over the weekend. Such launches are routine but come as countries in the region are trying to break a stalemate in relations there, the BBC's Lucy Williamson says. Mr Ban urged Pyongyang to lower the tensions in the region and "resume dialogue" over its nuclear programme. Speaking in Russia after talks with President Vladimir Putin, Mr Ban called the missile tests "a provocative action".

Syrian troops said to strike town near Lebanon

2013-05-19T10:10:47-04:00

05/19/13: The New York Times reports Syrian troops backed by tanks and warplanes launched an assault Sunday on a strategic rebel-held town near the Lebanese border, pounding the area with airstrikes and artillery salvos that killed at least 30 people and forced residents to scramble for cover in basements and makeshift bunkers, activists said. The town of Qusair has been besieged for weeks by regime troops and pro-government gunmen backed by the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. The siege is part of a withering offensives forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have been pushing in recent weeks to regain control of the towns and villages along the Lebanese frontier. The region's strategic value is twofold: it links Damascus with the Mediterranean coastal enclave that is the heartland of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam; and rebels smuggle weapons and supplies from Lebanon across the porous frontier to opposition fighters in Syria. A government official in the nearby provincial capital of Homs said that regime troops have encircled the town and that "the offensive to liberate Qusair has begun." The official said government forces have advanced into the town, taking over the municipality building and other vital government institutions.

Karzai seeks Indian military aid amid Pakistan row

2013-05-19T10:08:24-04:00

05/19/13: The Miami Herald reports Afghan President Hamid Karzai will seek increased military aid from India during a three-day visit starting Monday and will discuss recent cross-border clashes with Pakistan, India's archrival, an aide said. The comments follow a weekend report by the Times of India that said Afghanistan's ambassador to India had said the country needs India's help with "equipment and weapons to fight." The Press Trust of India later quoted a spokesman for India's foreign ministry as saying the country is ready to meet any such request. "Yes, we will ask for assistance for the strengthening of our security forces," Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi said in a briefing Saturday ahead of the trip. He did not comment on the Indian reports. Karzai's visit could irk Pakistan, especially if any arms deal materializes. Pakistan considers Afghanistan its own backyard and suspects rival India of seeking greater influence there as a strategy to hem in the country from both sides. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since they were divided into two countries when they gained independence from Britain in 1947. Afghanistan and India signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2011 that has included Indian military training of Afghan security forces. Faizi indicated Saturday that Karzai would seek to expand that cooperation.

Pakistan adopts Chinese rival GPS satellite system

2013-05-19T10:05:06-04:00

05/19/13: Phys.Org reports Pakistan is set to become the fifth Asian country to use China's domestic satellite navigation system which was launched as a rival to the US global positioning system, a report said Saturday. The Beidou, or Compass, system started providing services to civilians in the region in December and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020. It also has military applications. Thailand, China, Laos and Brunei already use the Chinese system, which currently consists of 16 operational satellites, with 30 more due to join the system, according to English-language China Daily. Huang Lei, international business director of BDStar Navigation, which promotes Beidou, told the newspaper the company would build a network of stations in Pakistan to enhance the location accuracy of Beidou. He said building the network would cost tens of millions of dollars. American website Defensenews.com reported early May that Pakistani military experts were in favour of using the Chinese system, even though the availability of the signal could not be guaranteed in case of conflict.

Ivory Coast: Duekoue massacre suspect Oueremi held

2013-05-19T10:01:18-04:00

05/19/13: The BBC reports authorities in Ivory Coast have arrested a militia leader suspected of a role in one of the worst massacres during 2011 post-election violence. Human rights groups say Amade Oueremi's fighters executed hundreds of supporters of former President Laurent Gbagbo in the western town of Duekoue. Mr Oueremi was detained in a village close to a national park, where he had been based for more than 20 years. Some reports suggest the militia leader turned himself in. It was not immediately clear if he had been been charged with a crime. Human rights groups had criticised the new government's failure to arrest Mr Oueremi, saying that it showed it was not pursuing justice against both sides in the conflict, BBC Africa editor Richard Hamilton reports. Around 3,000 people were killed in Ivory Coast after Laurent Gbagbo refused to acknowledge that his rival, Alassane Ouattara, had won a presidential run-off.

Weekly Tech Updates 05/18/13

2013-05-18T11:49:39-04:00

05/18/13: Here are this week's technology updates related to national security:

North Korea 'fires three short-range missiles'

2013-05-18T11:47:53-04:00

05/18/13: The BBC reports North Korea has fired three short-range missiles from its east coast, South Korea's defence ministry said. Two missiles were fired on Saturday morning and one in the afternoon, the ministry said in a statement. Officials at the ministry said they were "monitoring the situation and remain on alert". The launches come at a time of stalemate between the two neighbours following weeks of high tension earlier this year. Saturday's missiles were fired in a north-east direction, and did not pose the same threat as the intermediate-range missiles Pyongyang was believed to have deployed along its coastline last month. It removed them from the launch site early in May, indicating a lowering of tension on the peninsula, a US official said. Such launches are routinely carried out by the Communist nation, the BBC's Lucy Williamson reports from Seoul. Tensions were high last month amid threats from North Korea to attack Japanese, South Korean and US military targets in the region and restart a mothballed nuclear reactor that produced plutonium for its weapons programme.

Blasts kill dozens of Iraqis as sectarian tensions boil

2013-05-18T11:45:30-04:00

05/18/13: The New York Times reports at least 66 people were killed in bomb blasts in Iraq on Friday, officials said, making it one of the bloodiest days this year as the country struggles to contain spiraling sectarian violence. Two bombs exploded in Baquba, the capital of Diyala Province, a turbulent region whose population is a mix of Sunni and Shiite Muslims. One of the bombs exploded at the edge of a bridge near a Sunni mosque where worshipers had gathered for Friday Prayer. Within minutes, after a crowd of people ran to help the wounded, another bomb exploded in their midst. Officials said 40 people were killed and 46 were wounded in the two blasts. The Saraya mosque, where the blasts took place, is one of the main mosques where Sunnis in Baquba pray and hear speeches to support protests in Anbar and other Sunni provinces calling for change in the Shiite-dominated government.

Gunmen assassinate Yemeni colonel

2013-05-18T11:43:27-04:00

05/18/13: Reuters reports gunmen shot dead a senior Yemeni military intelligence officer who had been targeted for assassination by al Qaeda-linked militants, a local security official said. Colonel Abdullah al-Rabaki was walking home in the city of Mukalla in Hadramawt Province late on Friday when the gunmen shot him six times with a revolver fitted with a silencer, the official said. They escaped on a motorbike. Leaflets from Islamist militants allied to al Qaeda had previously been circulated in the city on Yemen's south coast, calling for Rabaki's assassination, the official said. Tackling lawlessness in Yemen, which lies near important oil shipment routes and flanks the world's biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia, is an international priority for the United States and other Western countries. It is home to an al Qaeda wing that has planned international bomb plots. More than 60 army and security officers have been assassinated in the country's southern provinces in the past two years as government forces attempt to wrestle back control of areas seized by militants during the chaos of the Arab Spring. As well as battling an Islamist insurgency in the south, the government faces a southern separatist movement and a revolt among some tribes in the impoverished country's north.

In response to sex assaults, military to review staffing

2013-05-18T11:40:17-04:00

05/18/13: The New York Times reports Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel signed an order on Friday requiring the military to review and recertify each person assigned to programs for preventing sexual assault and assisting victims. The order requires a “review of credentials and qualifications of current-serving recruiters, sexual assault response coordinators and victim advocates,” and imposes “refresher training” for the approximately 25,000 personnel who are assigned to these programs. Mr. Hagel was responding to growing outrage — across the armed services and the public at large, in Congress and even from President Obama — at the high number of sexual assaults, the failure of military efforts to reduce the problem and inadequacies in assisting victims. Military officers acknowledged that recertification and retraining efforts, while helpful, were unlikely to prevent the type of assaults and violations of regulations that have so galvanized public attention.

US rues Russian missiles sent to Damascus

2013-05-18T11:37:55-04:00

05/18/13: The BBC reports the US has chided Russia for what it calls an "unfortunate decision" to send missiles to the Syrian government. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey said the shipment "will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering" that has killed 80,000. The sophisticated anti-ship missiles could be used to counter any future foreign military intervention, US officials told The New York Times. Some 1.5 million people have fled the conflict, says the UN refugee agency. Most have fled to Jordan and Lebanon, but not all have been registered yet, meaning the true total is likely to be far higher, according to the UNHCR. Meanwhile, Syria's national production has dropped by 40% and the number of people living below the poverty line has risen from two million to five million in just two years, according to the man in charge of the UN's plans for reconstructing Syria after the conflict. Abdullah al-Dardari, a former deputy prime minister in President Bashar al-Assad's administration, told the BBC that rebuilding what has been destroyed would cost up to $80bn.

Commentary: It's not just China, India is also buying and building aircraft carriers

2013-05-17T10:50:15-04:00

05/17/13: Foreign Policy published an article by John Reed who notes that as China commissioned its first-ever aircraft carrier aviation unit, Asia's other rising power, India, gave its carrier aviators a serious equipment upgrade with the introduction of 16 brand-new Russian-made MiG-29K and four MiG-29KUB carrier-borne fighters earlier this week. India has operated old British aircraft carriers for decades. Right now it flies aging Sea Harrier jump jets from INS Viraat, formerly the Royal Navy carrier Hermes. These Sea Harriers are subsonic attack planes with limited payloads operating from a carrier that was built in the 1950s. The supersonic MiG-29K is an updated, naval version of the Soviet Union's 1980s-vintage MiG-29, which was designed to counter U.S. Air Force F-15s and F-16s in the skies over Europe should the Cold War ever turn hot. The planes are way faster than the 1980s-vintage Sea Harriers and can carry more weapons capable of shooting down enemy planes and hitting enemy ships. The Indian navy's new MiGs are going to be flown off of India's newest carrier, the former Soviet navy "aircraft-carrying cruiser" Admiral Gorshkov. That vessel has been massively refurbished at a Russian shipyard into the soon-to-be delivered INS Vikramaditya, a full-on carrier that, after much work, looks remarkably similar to China's first carrier, the Liaoning -- herself an old Soviet carrier.

Debating the legal basis for the War on Terror

2013-05-17T09:44:27-04:00

05/17/13: The New York Times reports a top Pentagon official said Thursday that the evolving war against Al Qaeda was likely to continue “at least 10 to 20 years” and urged Congress not to modify the statute that provides its legal basis. “As of right now, it suits us very well,” Michael A. Sheehan, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations, said, referring to the “authorization to use military force,” often referred to as the AUMF, enacted by Congress in 2001. The statute authorized war against the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and those who harbored them — that is, Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Lawmakers are considering enacting a new authorization, because the original Qaeda network has been largely decimated, while the current threat is increasingly seen as arising from terrorist groups in places like Yemen that share Al Qaeda’s ideology but have no connection to the 2001 attacks. That possibility has elicited a decidedly mixed reaction. Human rights groups that want to see the 12-year-old military conflict wind down fear that a new authorization would create an open-ended “forever war.” Some supporters of continuing the wartime approach to terrorism indefinitely fear that the war’s legal basis is eroding and needs to be bolstered, while others worry that a new statute might contain limits that would reduce the power that the Obama administration claims it already wields under the 2001 version.

UN: 3 peacekeepers abducted between Israel-Syria

2013-05-17T09:42:03-04:00

05/17/13: The Miami Herald reports armed men broke into a UN outpost in a buffer zone separating Israel and Syria and abducted three UN military observers, the UN peacekeeping chief said Thursday. Herve Ladsous told a group of reporters that the unarmed observers were held by the Syrian men for about five hours and released unharmed Wednesday morning. It was the third abduction of UN peacekeepers in the tense region since March and underlined again their vulnerability in the spillover of the conflict in Syria, which is now in its third year. Ladsous called the latest abduction "a very serious incident ... that illustrates the very difficult conditions that now prevail" in and around the area separating Syrian and Israeli forces which is supposed to be free of armed groups. UNTSO, the first UN peacekeeping mission, was established in May 1948 to help supervise a truce after an Arab-Israeli war that followed the breakup of Palestine into two states. According to the UN, its military observers, numbering about 150, have remained in the Middle East to monitor cease-fires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating and assist other UN peacekeeping operations.

Soldier gets life without parole in Iraq killings

2013-05-17T09:39:56-04:00

05/17/13: The New York Times reports an Army sergeant was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq. A military judge, Army Col. David Conn, found Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder on Monday and imposed the sentence Thursday morning. The only other possible penalty for Russell would have been life in prison with the possibility of release. The 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. Under the agreement, prosecutors were allowed to try to prove to an Army judge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the killings were premeditated. A streamlined court martial ended Saturday. The shooting was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war and raised questions about the mental health problems for soldiers caused by repeated tours of duty. Russell's lawyers argued that he was deluded by depression and despair at the time. An Army mental health board found that Russell suffered from severe depression with psychotic features and post-combat stress. Russell had long sought help with sleep troubles and was stammering and crying for help in the days before the shooting. His commanders were so alarmed that they disarmed him and sent him for repeated visits to mental health clinics, said attorney James Culp. However, prosecutors argued that Russell was trying to paint himself as mentally ill in an attempt to win early retirement — just as he was facing a sexual harassment complaint that could derail his career and his benefits.

Sinai kidnapping: Egyptian police seal border with Gaza

2013-05-17T09:09:15-04:00

05/17/13: The BBC reports Egyptian police have sealed off the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in protest at the abduction of seven security personnel in Sinai. Reports say police locked the gates and placed barbed wire at the entrance. Rafah is the only regular exit from Gaza for 1.6m Palestinians living there. Other crossings into Israel are allowed only in exceptional cases. The three policemen and four soldiers were captured while travelling in the peninsula, east of El Arish. Four of the men worked at the Rafah crossing, reports said. An Egyptian security official said the Rafah crossing will remain closed until the group is released, the Associated Press news agency reported. The Palestinian Maan news agency said Gaza's Interior Ministry declared a state of alert along its border with Egypt and large numbers of Egyptian soldiers have been in the area. The BBC's Rushdie Abu Alouf, who is among some 150 Palestinians stuck on the Egyptian side, says people including the sick and elderly have been sitting on the ground under the heat of the sun since early morning waiting to cross.

Justice Department lost track of terrorists, report says

2013-05-17T09:02:13-04:00

05/17/13: The New York Times reports the Justice Department temporarily lost track of two former terrorists who had participated in its witness protection program and until recently did not disclose the fictitious identities it created for terrorism-linked witnesses to the agency that generates watch lists, allowing some who were on the no-fly list to take commercial flights under their new names, according to a new report. A public summary of the classified report, issued Thursday by the office of the Justice Department’s independent inspector general, Michael Horowitz, revealed that the internal watchdog raised alarms with senior department officials in early 2012 about how the witness protection program was dealing with terrorism-related witnesses, leading to an overhaul of its procedures. In a response to the report, Armando Bonilla, a senior counsel in the office of the deputy attorney general, said that department officials agreed that terrorism-related witnesses needed greater monitoring and that changes had been put in place, including a ban on commercial flights for all participants who had a “no-fly” status under their real names. But he also defended the use of the program for terrorism cases, saying that it had been key in securing cooperation from witnesses necessary for successful prosecutions, that no “terrorism-linked witness ever has committed a single act of terrorism after entering the program” and that an FBI review of participants revealed none who posed a threat to national security.

Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria air raids 'kill militants'

2013-05-17T08:59:35-04:00

05/17/13: The BBC reports an unknown number of militants have been killed during air raids on their training camps in north-eastern Nigeria, officials say. The army spokesman said jets and helicopter gunships had been used to attack several camps. He told the BBC that a plane had been hit by anti-aircraft fire but had managed to returned to base. States of emergency were declared this week in three north-eastern states hit by Boko Haram's Islamist insurgency. Meanwhile, explosions and gunfire have been heard overnight in Katsina state. Residents have told the BBC's Hausa service that banks, police stations and prisons were destroyed in the town of Daura, near the border with Niger. They said they had seen the bodies of five members of the security forces and three militants, but there has been no official confirmation of casualties. Mobile phone networks were not functioning in many parts of north-east Nigeria on Thursday. A security official told the AP news agency that the mobile phone service had been shut down during the military operation. Militants have previously attacked mobile phone masts in the area in an effort to disrupt communications.

Concerns arise on US effort to allow internet ‘wiretaps’

2013-05-17T08:52:51-04:00

05/17/13: The New York Times reports surveillance can be a tricky affair in the Internet age. A federal law called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act allows law enforcement officials to tap a traditional phone, as long as they get approval from a judge. But if communication is through voice over Internet Protocol technology — Skype, for instance — it’s not as simple. That conversation doesn’t pass through a central hub controlled by the service provider. It is encrypted — to varying degrees of protection — as it travels through the Internet, from the caller’s end to the recipient’s. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has made it clear it wants to intercept Internet audio and video chats. And that, according to a new report being released Friday by a group of technologists, could pose “serious security risks” to ordinary Internet users, giving thieves and even foreign agents a way to listen in on Americans’ conversations, undetected. The 20 computer experts and cryptographers who drafted the report say the only way that companies can meet wiretap orders is to re-engineer the way their systems are built at the endpoints, either in the software or in users’ devices, in effect creating a valuable listening station for repressive governments as well as for ordinary thieves and blackmailers.

Syria crisis: Russia 'sends sophisticated weapons'

2013-05-17T08:50:44-04:00

05/17/13: The BBC reports Russia has sent sophisticated anti-ship missiles to Syria, US media report. The New York Times quotes unnamed US officials as saying the missiles could be used to counter any potential future foreign military intervention in Syria. Without confirming details, Russia's foreign minister said Russian supplies did not break any international rules. It comes amid growing alarm that chemical weapons may be being used in Syria, something US President Barack Obama has said would be "a red line". Meanwhile efforts continue to arrange an international conference on Syria. The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Mr Lavrov in Sochi on Friday to discuss the plans for the conference, which would aim to bring together the Syrian opposition and members of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Report: Torture evidence found in Syrian prisons

2013-05-17T08:48:35-04:00

05/17/13: The Miami Herald reports rights activists visiting abandoned government prisons in the first Syrian city to come under rebel control have found torture devices and other evidence that detainees were abused there, Human Rights Watch said in a report Friday. Raqqa, in eastern Syria, was overrun in late February by rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad. The rebels facilitated the New York-based group's access to facilities that had belonged to a government security agency and military intelligence in late April. The HRW said its researchers found physical evidence that Syrians were tortured, including with a device which former detainees said was used to stretch or bend victims' arms and legs. The group also found documents indicating Raqqa residents were detained for legal actions like demonstrating or helping the injured. Rights groups and opposition activists have long claimed that civilians have been detained arbitrarily, tortured, and sometimes have disappeared since the uprising against Assad's regime began. HRW's findings appear to be one of the largest finds of physical evidence bolstering those claims to date.

Criticized on seizure of records, White House pushes news media shield law

2013-05-16T10:15:26-04:00

05/16/13: The New York Times reports under fire over the Justice Department’s use of a broad subpoena to obtain calling records of Associated Press reporters in connection with a leak investigation, the Obama administration sought on Wednesday to revive legislation that would provide greater protections to reporters in keeping their sources and communications confidential. President Obama’s Senate liaison, Ed Pagano, on Wednesday morning called the office of Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and asked him to reintroduce a version of a bill that he had pushed in 2009 called the Free Flow if Information Act, a White House official said. The bill would create a federal media shield law, akin to ones most states already have, giving journalists some protections from penalties for refusing to identify confidential sources in federal law enforcement proceedings, and generally enabling journalists to ask a federal judge to quash subpoenas for their phone records. Hours later, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing that covered a wide range of topics but repeatedly returned to the AP phone records. Lawmakers from both parties sought to grill him over why federal investigators secretly used a subpoena this year to obtain a broad swath of toll records — logs of calls sent and received — for several AP bureaus and reporters, without advance notice.

Yemeni kidnappers release Red Cross hostages

2013-05-16T10:12:48-04:00

05/16/13: The BBC reports kidnappers in southern Yemen have freed three Red Cross workers and their Yemeni interpreter. The foreign workers - a Swiss, a Kenyan and Egyptian - were kidnapped on Monday in the city of Jaar in Abyan province. The release followed mediation from local tribal leaders. Kidnaps of foreigners are common in Yemen. Tribes have been known to kidnap them as leverage for getting grievances addressed by the government. But militants linked to al-Qaeda have also claimed responsibility for abductions. Earlier this month a Finnish couple and an Austrian man abducted in December were freed. In February, a Swiss teacher was freed by her kidnappers in Yemen after nearly a year in captivity, following mediation by the Qatari government.

UN calls for political transition in Syria

2013-05-16T10:11:21-04:00

05/16/13: The New York Times reports as the bloodletting continued unabated in Syria, the 193-member General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution on Wednesday calling for a political transition to end the civil war there, putting the onus on the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop the killing. But even as the vote was being tallied, members recognized that it, like every other diplomatic initiative, would probably fail to stem the violence or coax out a political solution. While the resolution passed 107 to 12, it fell far short of the 133 votes in support of a similar resolution last August. The 59 abstentions reflected the widespread sentiment that the new initiative might not help push both parties toward new peace talks in Geneva proposed by the United States and Russia.

Turkey arrests four over bombings near Syrian border

2013-05-16T10:08:23-04:00

05/16/13: Reuters reports four suspects were arrested in Turkey late on Wednesday in connection with car bombings that killed 51 people in a town near the Syrian border at the weekend, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. The two bomb blasts in Reyhanli fanned fears that Syria's civil war is dragging in neighboring states. Damascus has denied Turkish allegations it was involved in the blasts. Turkish prosecutors sent eight suspects to a court in the southern city of Adana after questioning and the court released four, remanding the other four in custody, the agency said. It was not clear what charges they were facing. A total of 17 people have been detained in connection with the attacks and police were continuing to question the remaining suspects.

Baffling rise in suicides plagues the US military

2013-05-16T10:07:06-04:00

05/16/13: The New York Times reports of the crises facing American troops today, suicide ranks among the most emotionally wrenching — and baffling. Over the course of nearly 12 years and two wars, suicide among active-duty troops has risen steadily, hitting a record of 350 in 2012. That total was twice as many as a decade before and surpassed not only the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan but also the number who died in transportation accidents last year. Even with the withdrawal from Iraq and the pullback in Afghanistan, the rate of suicide within the military has continued to rise significantly faster than within the general population, where it is also rising. In 2002, the military’s suicide rate was 10.3 per 100,000 troops, well below the comparable civilian rate. But today the rates are nearly the same, above 18 per 100,000 people. And according to some experts, the military may be undercounting the problem because of the way it calculates its suicide rate. Yet though the Pentagon has commissioned numerous reports and invested tens of millions of dollars in research and prevention programs, experts concede they are little closer to understanding the root causes of why military suicide is rising so fast. An emerging consensus among researchers is that, just as among civilians, a dauntingly complex web of factors usually underlie military suicide: mental illness, sexual or physical abuse, addictions, failed relationships, financial struggles.

US sees China launch as test of anti-satellite muscle -source

2013-05-16T10:03:44-04:00

05/16/13: Reuters reports the US government believes a Chinese missile launch this week was the first test of a new interceptor that could be used to destroy a satellite in orbit, a US defense official told Reuters on Wednesday. China launched a rocket into space on Monday, but no objects were placed into orbit, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The object re-entered Earth's atmosphere above the Indian Ocean. The rocket reached 10,000 km (6,250 miles) above Earth, the highest suborbital launch seen worldwide since 1976, according to Jonathan McDowell at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. China has said the rocket, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in western China, carried a science payload to study the earth's magnetosphere. However, a US defense official said US intelligence showed that the rocket could be used in the future to carry an anti-satellite payload on a similar trajectory. Neither the US official nor the Pentagon released details of what the Chinese rocket carried into space.

White House releases Benghazi emails, documents

2013-05-16T09:58:27-04:00

05/16/13: The Washington Times reports the White House released more than 100 pages of e-mails Wednesday in an effort to quiet criticism that President Obama and his aides downplayed the role of terrorism in the deadly attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya The documents detail discussions between top administration officials on developing “talking points” to describe the attack last Sept. 11 that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The CIA originally drafted those talking points, and Republican lawmakers have said the administration scrubbed the memos to remove any references to a terrorist attack. In the early days and weeks following the attack, the administration portrayed it as a mob assault fueled by protests about an anti-Islam video. But in the CIA’s original set of talking points, the first bullet point included a reference that the Benghazi attack was “spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault against the US consulate and subsequently its annex.” It said the agency’s assessments could change “as additional information is collected and analyzed.” The second bullet point said the Benghazi assailants were “a mix of individuals from across many sections of Libyan society.”

Nigeria's Benue state conflict 'kills 53'

2013-05-16T09:54:26-04:00

05/16/13: The BBC reports fifty-three people have been killed and 13 villages burnt in central Nigeria's Benue state, local MP Sule Audu has told the BBC. The conflict, which started last week, is said to have been caused by a long-running dispute over land ownership between cattle herders and farmers. Forty people were killed on Sunday, in the worst attack carried out by Fulani herdsmen since last week, Mr Audu said. Nigeria is affected by a spate of conflicts over land, religion and oil. The violence in Benue is the latest sign of the growing security challenges facing the government, reports BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross. Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan cut short a trip to South Africa to deal with a spate of deadly attacks. People from the Fulani community confirm they carried out a series of raids on the rival Agatu farming community after several hundred of their cattle were stolen, our correspondent says. However, they deny killing as many 53 people, he adds. Mr Audu, who represents the Agatu community, told BBC Hausa it was unclear what caused the violence.

China joins Arctic Council but a decision on the EU is deferred

2013-05-16T09:49:22-04:00

05/16/13: The BBC reports China is one of a number of countries that has gained permanent observer status on the Arctic Council. At a meeting in Sweden, the eight members of the Council accepted India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. However following dissent from Canada, a decision on the EU's application has been deferred. The permanent observers have no decision making powers. The opening up of the Arctic to shipping and oil and gas exploitation has fuelled worldwide interest in the region. With a changing climate allowing ships to travel more cheaply and quickly across the Northern route, Asian countries with ship building industries are particularly interested in closer links to the region and the Council. The Artic Council was set up in the 1990s and has been mainly concerned with environmental matters including climate change and pollution, both of which are being felt more heavily in the Northern regions. It has eight permanent members made up of the five coastal Arctic countries, Norway, Russia, Canada, US and Denmark - it also includes three other non coastal members, Finland, Iceland and Sweden. It has limited powers, issuing non binding protocols on member states - but as the ice recedes and the wider exploitation of the region becomes possible, the rest of world has taken notice and wants to be involved. Already six European countries are permanent observers. Now the Council has accepted some of the world's most important emerging powers into what has been dubbed the "coldrush club", a name that reflects the opportunities many see for the exploitation of oil and gas resources in the region.

Russia building up missile systems while seeking to limit US defenses

2013-05-16T09:35:46-04:00

05/16/13: The Washington Times reports Russia is engaged in a major buildup of both nuclear and conventional missile defense systems at the same time Moscow is seeking legal limits on US missile defenses, according to US officials. The Russian military is developing and deploying an array of new and modernized anti-missile interceptors that are part of a strategic doctrine that calls for defending against what Moscow believes to be an increasing threat posed by offensive ballistic missiles, said US officials with access to intelligence reports. New systems monitored by US intelligence agencies under development or in the deployment phase include an advanced S-500 missile defense system currently being built in addition to the already available, and very capable, S-400 and S-300 defenses. Additionally, the Russians are upgrading the SH-08 nuclear-tipped anti-missile interceptors that have been deployed around Moscow for more than two decades. US officials said the defenses are assessed as effective against cruise missiles, bombers, jet fighters, short- and intermediate-range ballistic missile, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Disclosure of the Russian missile defense buildup comes as the Obama administration is seeking to reach an agreement that critics say could result in legally binding restrictions on US defenses.

Attack on US military vehicles kills at least 16 in Kabul

2013-05-16T09:31:22-04:00

05/16/13: The New York Times reports a Toyota Corolla packed with explosives rammed a pair of American military vehicles in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday, setting off a blast that killed at least 16 people, including 6 American military advisers, and shook the relative calm that has prevailed for months in the city, Afghan officials said. The explosion was powerful enough to rattle windows across the city. It left bodies strewn along the street and one of the American vehicles – an armored Chevrolet Suburban that weighed nearly five tons – lying in ruins more than 30 feet from the blast site. A witness called it a “dreadful scene.” Hezb-i-Islami, a relatively small insurgent faction that often competes with the Taliban for influence, took credit for the attack, which also wounded more than three dozen Afghans. Haroon Zarghon, the group’s spokesman, reached by telephone in Pakistan, said the bombing was carried out by a 24-year-old who grew up south of Kabul. It was the first significant attack in months on a Western target in Kabul, despite repeated efforts by insurgents to launch a major strike in the city..

Pentagon furloughs are set

2013-05-16T09:27:50-04:00

05/16/13: The New York Times reports Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Tuesday that most civilian Pentagon employees would be ordered to take unpaid furloughs of up to 11 days between July 8 and the end of September. The measure, which is a response to across-the-board spending reductions called sequestration, is less punitive than plans that would have seen Pentagon civilians forced to take 14 to 22 days of unpaid leave. “The department has been doing everything possible to reduce this shortfall while ensuring we can defend the nation, sustain wartime operations and preserve DoD’s most critical asset — our world-class civilian and military personnel,” Mr. Hagel said.

ICC launches inquiry into Israeli raid on Gaza flotilla

2013-05-16T09:25:54-04:00

05/16/13: The BBC reports the International Criminal Court has launched a preliminary inquiry into an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla which left nine Turkish activists dead. ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said it would establish whether there were grounds for a full investigation. The move follows a request from the Comoros islands, in which one of the vessels was registered. The boats were trying to transport aid supplies to Gaza in May 2010. The Free Gaza Flotilla, which had more than 600 pro-Palestinian activists aboard several ships, was trying to break Israel's naval blockade. The activists were killed when Israeli commandos boarded the lead flotilla vessel, Mavi Marmara. Israel's assault on the Mavi Marmara drew widespread foreign criticism and strained its ties with Turkey. A UN inquiriy in 2011 found the Israeli commandos' actions were "excessive and unreasonable". However, it also found Israel's naval blockade "was imposed as a legitimate security measure" which "complied with the requirements of international law". Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent weapons and ammunition being smuggled to the Gaza Strip, which has been governed by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas since 2007. The ICC investigates and tries cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity in countries that are unwilling or unable to prosecute them on their own, often at the request of ratifying states.