Vladimir Putin orders ground troops to Syria after Obama's use of moderate rebels flops | "For several years, a historical trickle of renunciations of U.S. citizenship has spiked materially." - RS And FBI Track Americans Who Renounce Citizenship. Why Is FBI List Longer? Forbes
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RS And FBI Track Americans Who Renounce Citizenship. Why Is FBI List Longer?
Forbes
The FBI and the IRS don't agree, yet both are ostensibly tracking the same data: how Americans are giving up their citizenship. For several years, a historical trickle of renunciations of U.S. citizenship has spiked materially.
A small but growing number of those who have left the Islamic State are risking reprisals and imprisonment to speak out.
Although the Russian leader is trying to save President Assad’s regime, President Obama must try to engage with him on the civil war and fighting ISIS.
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Forbes
The FBI and the IRS don't agree, yet both are ostensibly tracking the same data: how Americans are giving up their citizenship. For several years, a historical trickle of renunciations of U.S. citizenship has spiked materially.
Vladimir Putin views the Syrian army and its Iranian allies as incapable of defeating the Islamic State in Syria, prompting the Russian president to directly intervene in recent weeks by setting up an air base and sending in tanks, artillery and jet fighters, a report to Congress says.
Mr. Putin's ...
The CIA's release last week of more than 19,000 pages of declassified material has provided a window into one of Washington's most secretive documents, the President's Daily Brief, or PDB, which intelligence officials say has evolved since its creation in the early 1960s.
"It has grown in length and sophistication, ...
WEST SALEM, Wis. (AP) - The West Salem Police Department is one of a handful of law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin using a drone.
It's technology that can save lives, providing aerial views of search-and-rescue missions, fires, traffic crashes or disasters, said West Salem Police Chief Charles Ashbeck said.
"It ...
U.S. mulls abstention on Cuba embargo vote at U.N.by Bradley Klapper and Matthew Lee
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, the United States may be willing to accept a United Nations condemnation of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba without a fight, The Associated Press has learned.
U.S. officials tell the AP that the Obama administration is weighing abstaining from the annual U.N. ...
By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russia has started flying drone aircraft on surveillance missions in Syria, two U.S. officials said on Monday, in what appeared to be Moscow’s first military air operations inside the country since staging a rapid buildup at a Syrian air base.
The U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, could not immediately say how many Russian drones were involved in the surveillance missions or the scope of the flights.
The Pentagon declined to comment.
The start of Russian drone flights underscored the risks of U.S.-led coalition aircraft and Russian flights operating in Syria’s limited airspace.
U.S. and Russian defense chiefs agreed on Friday to explore ways to avoid accidental interactions, also known as “deconfliction” in military parlance.
The discussions may gain added urgency, now that Moscow has started drone flights.
The former Cold War foes have a common adversary in Islamic State militants in Syria, even as Washington opposes Moscow’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, seeing him as a driving force in the nation’s devastating, four-and-a-half-year civil war.
But Russia may also want to target opposition fighters that the United States supports in Syria, seeing them as equal threats to Assad.
Russia’s drone operations appeared to be staged out of an air base near Latakia, where it has moved heavy military equipment, including fighter jets, helicopter gunships and naval infantry forces in recent days, U.S. officials said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Jeffrey Benkoe)
The post Russia Starts Drone Surveillance Missions in Syria appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
Russia funds Moscow conference for US, EU and Ukraine separatists Conference includes representatives of Sinn Féin and radical black power Uhuru Movement despite Kremlin crackdown on its own dissidents A young couple attend an opposition rally in Moscow. The Kremlin has helped to fund a conference for European and US separatists. Photograph: Pavel Golovkin/AP Alec […]
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Faced with China’s growing anti-surface ship capacity, the United States should decrease its emphasis on large aircraft carriers in the Pacific and spend more on submarines, space capabilities and ways to make air bases and aircraft less vulnerable, according to a report released earlier this month by Rand Corp.
Pope Francis flies to eastern Cuba on Monday for the next leg of his pilgrimage after having met with both Raul and Fidel Castro but missing out on an encounter with Cuban dissidents.
Syrian activists say a missile attack by government forces has killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens in a rebel-held neighborhood of the northern city of Aleppo.
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This is not the first time the U.S. government has helped develop an Internet tool that was later adopted by criminal elements.
ISIS Defectors Reveal Disillusionmentby By KIMIKO DE FREYTAS-TAMURA
A small but growing number of those who have left the Islamic State are risking reprisals and imprisonment to speak out.Mr. Putin’s Mixed Messages on Syriaby By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Although the Russian leader is trying to save President Assad’s regime, President Obama must try to engage with him on the civil war and fighting ISIS.Celebrating Our Second Birthday… by Steve Vladeck
104 weeks ago today, we launched Just Security with the hope that it would “become a ready resource for decision-makers, analysts, and practitioners who address difficult U.S. national security law issues, and an invaluable reference for those simply trying to stay abreast of the daily developments in this ever-moving field.” As we celebrate our second birthday both on the blog and in person (with today’s “Going Dark” event at Georgetown University Law Center), I hope our readers share my own view, which is that we’ve more than succeeded in meeting both of those goals–and then some. From our social media presence to our special events, from the contributions of our truly world-class editorial board to our wide array of guest posts and letters to the editor, I like to think that Just Security has become far more than another blog–indeed, that we’ve not only been an invaluable forum for the most important conversations in contemporary U.S. national security law and policy, but that we’ve helped to shape those conversations, as well.
But none of this would have been possible without two groups of individuals: The first is you, our readers, who continue not only to consume our content at a remarkably high rate but also to interact with us, to respond, and to push us to broaden and diversify our horizons. I cannot thank you enough for your continuing interest in Just Security, and I cannot encourage you enough to continue to push us to do more, and do better, whether through offline e-mails, letters to the editor, or Facebook orTwitter engagement.
The second is our staff. That begins, of course, with our editorial board, which is responsible for the lion’s share of our content, and every member of which contributes to Just Security on their own time and their own nickel. But the unsung heroes of our enterprise are the Just Security staffers behind the curtain–Lauren Doney, Megan Graham, Nadia O’Mara, John Reed, and Audrey Watne–who (at times literally) keep the blog running, the best efforts of the editorial board to the contrary notwithstanding.
And so as much as I hope folks will take the opportunity today to join with us in celebrating our second birthday, I hope you’ll also join me in being thankful for and grateful to the people who makeJust Security possible. We’ve come further in two years than I had ever thought possible–and with folks like this on our team, I’m tremendously excited for what the next two years (and beyond) have to offer.
Read on Just Security »
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US, China seek arms deal for cyberspace
theday.com The rules under discussion would have done nothing to stop the theft of 22 million personal security files from the Office of Personnel Management, which the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr., recently told Congress did not ... |
Los Angeles Times |
Chinese President Xi Jinping eager to be seen as an equal in US visit
Los Angeles Times Meng held four days of meetings with FBI Director James B. Comey, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and national security advisor Susan Rice. The meetings took on an especially urgent tone as Meng prepared to depart. U.S. and Chinese staff ... US and China Seek Arms Deal for CyberspaceNew York Times all 1,217 news articles » |
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A British intelligence officer, who was found dead in his London apartment in 2010, was not a transvestite, as some media reports have speculated, but probably worked undercover dressed as a woman, according to a leading forensic investigator.
The countries are discussing what could be the first arms control
accord for online attacks on critical infrastructure.
accord for online attacks on critical infrastructure.
The United States and China are negotiating what could become the
first arms control accord for cyberspace, embracing a commitment by
each country that it will not be the first to use cyberweapons to
cripple the other’s critical infrastructure during peacetime,
according to officials involved in the talks.
first arms control accord for cyberspace, embracing a commitment by
each country that it will not be the first to use cyberweapons to
cripple the other’s critical infrastructure during peacetime,
according to officials involved in the talks.
The post Cyberspace may get its first arms agreement: Internet security pact on the table appeared first on In Homeland Security.
Huffington Post |
The No-Fly Follies
Huffington Post According to a suit filed by the CCR in 2014, as reported by Conor Friedersdorf in the Atlantic, Jameel Algibhah's troubles began in 2009, when he refused the FBI's request to infiltrate a mosque in Queens, New York. The legal complaint continues ... Flying the Unfriendly Skies of AmericaAntiwar.com all 3 news articles » |
AlterNet |
How No-Fly Lists Are Used to Punish Political Protesters
AlterNet According to a suit filed by the CCR in 2014, as reported by Conor Friedersdorf in the Atlantic, Jameel Algibhah's troubles began in 2009, when he refused the FBI's request to infiltrate a mosque in Queens, New York. The legal complaint continues ... Flying the Unfriendly Skies of AmericaAntiwar.com all 4 news articles » |
Forbes |
IRS And FBI Track Americans Who Renounce Citizenship. Why Is FBI List Longer?
Forbes The FBI and the IRS don't agree, yet both are ostensibly tracking the same data: how Americans are giving up their citizenship. For several years, a historical trickle of renunciations of U.S. citizenship has spiked materially. The trickle is now more ... |
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the Syrian Army is no threat to Israel.
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September 21, 2015, 8:09 AM (IDT)
DEBKAfile reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be attended by twelve military officers when he meets President Vladimir Putin at the presidential dacha outside Moscow later Monday. The executive plane is to carry, along with the prime minister, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gady Eisenkot, Military Intelligence Chief Maj. Gen. Hertzi Halevy and another 9 officers, each a specialist in one of the military aspects of the Syrian conflict. It will be a lightening trip. Straight after the meeting with Putin at midday, the prime minister and party are due to fly home.
September 21, 2015, 4:50 PM (IDT)
As Binyamin Netanyahu heads to Moscow for critical talks with Vladimir Putin, the impending arrival of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles in Syria raises serious questions about Russia’s real intentions in the country. Israel faces dilemmas in dealing with this and other unexplained aspects of the Russian buildup. Netanyahu has taken the bold step of taking with him to the Kremlin IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gady Eisenkot and the head of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Hertzi Halevi. debkafile reports that Putin will be attended by his national security advisor, Nikolai Patrushev.
September 21, 2015, 4:54 PM (IDT)
US officials disclosed Monday that Russia has started flying surveillance missions with drone aircraft in Syria, along with its rapid military buildup near Latakia. The Pentagon declined to comment.
At the state dinner, leave some seats empty for China's political prisoners
Washington Post Canceling this week's state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping or downgrading it to a burger-and-fries get-together, as some Republican presidential candidates proposed, would have been foolish. China is a force to be reckoned with, and President ... and more » |
BBC News |
China seeks 'new model' for relations with US
BBC News A game of brinkmanship is afoot and on cyber-hacking and contested atolls, it would need a reclamation project bigger and swifter than the one under way in the South China Sea for guest and host to find a piece of common ground to stand on. ... China ... and more » |
New York Times |
New York Military Academy's Sudden Closing, After 126 Years
New York Times CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — Among its thousands of alumni, the 126-year-old New YorkMilitary Academy counts the unlikely grouping of Donald J. Trump, Stephen Sondheim and John A. Gotti. Yet all three have this in common: They remember their ... |
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The evolving relationship between the US and China, charted
Quartz As Chinese president Xi Jinping embarks on his very first state visit to the US this week, the world's top economies are now more interdependent than they have ever been before in history. Despite frictions over everything from cyber-security and ... |
 Washington Times |
President's Daily Brief documents, newly declassified by CIA, reveal intel ...
Washington Times The CIA's release last week of more than 19,000 pages of declassified material has provided a window into one of Washington's most secretive documents, the President's Daily Brief, or PDB, which intelligence officials say has evolved since its creation ... Classified briefings released on events that shook White House in '60sCBS News New CIA Information on JFK AssassinationHuffington Post CIA documents from JFK-LBJ era shed light on turbulent periodMyStatesman.com Grand Haven Tribune -WLRN all 36 news articles » |
CIA, FBI And Much Of US Military Aren't Doing The Most Basic Things To Encrypt ...
Techdirt Yet the US military, the CIA and the FBI don't use it (the NSA does, because they're no dummies about encryption). Google and others in the tech industry have been begging email providers to use STARTTLS for a while, but apparently the US government ... |
Refugees feel rising urgency to escape bleak confines with a dangerous trek to Europe.
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Before he climbed aboard the rubber raft that brought him to Europe this month, Behzad Habibi, a former translator for U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, tried to escape his country the legal way. In his hometown of Herat, he’d received death threats from the Taliban for serving as an interpreter to the American military, and under a U.S. law passed in 2009—the Afghan Allies Protection Act—Habibi felt he was entitled to asylum in the U.S. But his application came up short: He was missing a recommendation letter from a U.S. military officer, and his visa was denied.
He wasn’t alone. Among the thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who aided the American war effort in their countries—usually as translators, drivers or guides—most were left behind as the U.S. forces withdrew. This summer, amid the mass exodus of migrants from the Muslim world, they have gotten a fresh chance to seek refuge in the West. But the U.S. has taken no new steps to accept them, focusing instead on the vast numbers of people fleeing the civil war in Syria.
Since 2011, when the Syrian civil war began, the U.S. has accepted only about 1,500 refugees from Syria, a drop in the ocean of roughly four million people who have fled that country in the last four years. Under increasing pressure from Europe to do more, Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the U.S. would boost its intake of refugees to 100,000 per year by 2017, up from the current yearly limit of 70,000. Kerry made the announcement while visiting Germany, which expects the arrival of more than 800,000 migrants this year, quadruple the number registered in 2014.
To help deal with the influx, the U.S. will focus on finding additional space for Syrians, Kerry told reporters in Berlin. But he made no mention of the Iraqis and Afghans who are also pouring into Europe. Their chances of getting to the U.S. have never been great. Starting in 2008, the U.S. passed a series of laws intended to grant special immigrant visas (SIVs) to the local guides and translators who helped the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. But these laws have been woefully implemented: The U.S. State Department acknowledged in 2012 that out of more than 5,700 Afghans who applied for these special visas, only 32 received them. Many of the others have since turned to far riskier means of escape, and they are not hard to find among the hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving by boat in Europe over the last few months.
Waad Turki-Abed is another case in point. Soon after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he says he agreed to work for U.S. forces as an informant in Baghdad, divulging the positions of militants leading the fight against coalition forces. Later that year, the Shi’ite militias in the Iraqi capital took revenge against Turki-Abed and his family by murdering his nine-year-old daughter. “They killed her because I worked for the Americans,” he says.
When TIME met Turki-Abed in early September, Greek coast guards had just pulled him aboard their patrol vessel in the Aegean Sea, rescuing him and 46 other migrants from the overcrowded dinghy they were using to cross from Turkey to Greece. Turki-Abed, sporting a greying goatee and a T-shirt that said On The Road, was among the few fluent English speakers among them. He said it was the second time in a decade that he’d been forced to flee his home because of war.
In 2007, as U.S. troops prepared to pull out of Iraq, Turki-Abed fled to Syria with his wife and son, settling in Damascus as refugees. Five years later, a different war came to Syria, and as the fighting intensified around the capital this summer, his 16-year-old son Noor set out on the migrant trail toward Western Europe. He called his parents in Damascus nine days later to say he was about to cross by boat from Turkey to Greece, and then Noor stopped answering his phone. After a few anxious days spent waiting for news, his father set out to find him. “I already lost a daughter,” Turki-Abed said aboard the Greek coast guard vessel. “I don’t want to lose my son.”
Folded and stuffed into his fanny pack is a copy of a letter from the U.S. military command in Iraq, certifying that he worked for the allied forces as a guide. Though his first priority is to find his son along the migrant trail, Turki-Abed, who is 56, says he then plans to present the letter to the nearest U.S. embassy and apply for refugee status for himself and his family. “If the U.S. helps us, then we will go to America,” he says.
But such pleas for help often run up against U.S bureaucracy. Habibi, the Afghan translator, says it would have been impossible for him to get all the documents required for a special immigrant visa. In 2011, the Taliban came to his home in Herat and threatened to kill him and his family if he worked one more day for the Americans. “My boss, a captain, called me and asked why I don’t come,” recalls Habibi. “I told him I can’t come to work anymore. It’s too dangerous.” Even traveling to the American base to receive the captain’s recommendation letter could have cost him his life, he says.
So he laid low and waited for his next chance to flee, this time illegally. Early this summer, as the tide of migrants heading toward Europe intensified, his parents began scrounging together the money for Habibi to leave as well. The most dangerous part of the journey was also the most expensive: human traffickers charge more than $1000 to bring migrants from Turkey to Greece on rubber boats. But the most difficult part was saying goodbye. “It’s f—ing hard to leave home, leave everything,” he says, his English tinged with the profane vernacular he picked up from U.S troops.
On Sept. 4, when his boat came ashore on the northern coast of Lesbos, one of the Greek islands nearest to Turkey, Habibi said his plan was to make it to Europe for now, most likely to Germany. But ultimately he wants to settle in the U.S. and bring his parents over from Afghanistan. “After all this,” he says, looking around at sea and the boat he had just used to cross it, “the Americans owe me.”
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The governor of Komi - a huge region in Russia's far north - is arrested along with top aides, on suspicion of running a criminal racket.
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