This Al-Jazeera documentary dissects the infamous “Collateral Murder” video.
CT
Counterterrorism
Somali Refugees Fear Being Thrown Out of Kenya
“Did the New Spooks on the Block Really Fix U.S Intelligence?” (Foreign Policy)
“For decades intelligence reformers sought to centralize the U.S. intelligence community in a single office with real power over budgets, personnel, and operations. Ten years ago they finally got their wish. Following an intense congressional fight, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) set up shop in April 2005 with high expectations. The office was supposed to ensure the kind of inter-agency coordination that was supposedly missing before the 9/11 attacks. It was to be the fulcrum of sharing and collaboration among agencies with long histories of mutual suspicion and occasional disdain. Ultimately it sought to unify a sprawling constellation of civilian and military agencies into “fully integrated intelligence community” that would “inform decisions made from the White House to the foxhole.”
The Untouchable John Brennan (Buzzfeed)
“How did the candidate of hope and change turn into the president of secret kill lists, drone strikes hitting civilians, and immunity for torturers? The answer may lie in his relationship with the CIA director, a career bureaucrat turned quiet architect of a morally murky national security policy who isn’t going to let a little thing like getting caught spying on the Senate bring him down.”
US law enforcement accused of using entrapment to ensnare ‘terrorists’ (Al-Jazeera)
“The recent arrests on terrorism-related charges of six young Somali-Americans from Minneapolis and others throughout the United States have prompted renewed questions over the issue of entrapment, and over the degree of real security achieved by disrupting plots that law-enforcement had helped shape.
The six, ages 19 to 21, were charged with conspiracy to aid and support a terrorist organization, and are accused of trying to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also called ISIS).
“These were focused men who were intent on joining a terrorist organization,” Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said at a news conference.
But the case relies partly on a confidential human source (CHS), who had been a part of the group seeking to join ISIL before he began cooperating with the FBI.”
France ‘foils five terror attacks’ – PM Valls (BBC)
“French police have foiled five terror attacks in recent months, Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said.
He said the latest was a planned attack on churches in Villejuif outside Paris.
An Algerian man was arrested on Sunday over the alleged plan, after he apparently shot himself by accident and called an ambulance.”
The Office of the DNI’s Greatest Hits (Foreign Policy)
“The DNI post was the centerpiece of landmark legislation enacted in 2004, informed by the findings and recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Presidential, legislative, and bureaucratic politics all contributed to a compromise law that sought to improve information sharing and strengthen central leadership of our sprawling intelligence enterprise without infringing upon existing military and departmental chains of command. Ten years of experience offers an opportunity to take stock and ask whether the government is smarter and the country is safer as a result of these changes.”
Terrorism Probe Yields 6 Arrests in 2 States, Authorities Say
Iran Foreign Minister Urges Talks With West to Solve Crisis in Yemen
Sale of U.S. Arms Fuels the Wars of Arab States (NYT)
“WASHINGTON — To wage war in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is using F-15 fighter jets bought from Boeing. Pilots from the United Arab Emirates are flying Lockheed Martin’s F-16 to bomb both Yemen and Syria. Soon, the Emirates are expected to complete a deal with General Atomics for a fleet of Predator drones to run spying missions in their neighborhood.”
See the full NYT article.
CCCC Project 