NSA Spy Program Targets Israel, Congress

By |2015-12-30T19:02:33+00:00December 30th, 2015|House & Senate, International|

So much for scaling back surveillance.  The Wall Street Journal just reported that the Obama administration has been monitoring communications by the US’s closest ally in the Middle East, Israel.  Making matters even worse, the surveillance has included private conversations with members of Congress.

The National Security Agency’s targeting of Israeli leaders and officials also swept up the contents of some of their private conversations with U.S. lawmakers and American-Jewish groups. That raised fears—an “Oh-s— moment,” one senior U.S. official said—that the executive branch would be accused of spying on Congress.

White House officials believed the intercepted information could be valuable to counter Mr. Netanyahu’s campaign. They also recognized that asking for it was politically risky. So, wary of a paper trail stemming from a request, the White House let the NSA decide what to share and what to withhold, officials said. “We didn’t say, ‘Do it,’ ” a senior U.S. official said. “We didn’t say, ‘Don’t do it.’ ”

Whether they said “do it” or not, this is a major embarrassment for the Obama administration.  Using national security resources to gain a political advantage is something that should be off limits, paper trail or no.

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DHS Official “Doesn’t Know” How Many People Have Been to Syria, Overstayed Visas (Video)

By |2016-11-11T00:14:12+00:00December 18th, 2015|International, Islam|

Lawmakers were left baffled during a hearing Wednesday when a senior DHS official was unable to answer basic questions about the Visa Waiver Program.  In an unbelievable exchange with Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH), Assistant Screening Coordination Secretary Kelli Ann Burriesci repeatedly claimed ignorance about data relating to the program.

One example from the exchange:

Rep. Jordan: “How many Syrian refugees have entered the United States in the last year?”

Burriesci: “Sir I didn’t bring any of the refugee numbers with me because I was prepared to talk about Visa Waiver,”

Fair enough, so Rep. Jordan switched gears to ask about the program, once again hitting a brick wall:

Rep. Jordan: “How many visa waiver overstays are there in the United States?”

Burriesci: “Sir I didn’t bring that number with me”

This went on for several minutes, until an exasperated Jordan had had enough:

“Ms. Burriesci, I’ve asked you the number of Americans that have traveled to Syria, you don’t know; the number of Americans that may have traveled and returned, you don’t know; the number of Syrian refugees who have entered the country, you don’t know; the number of visa waiver program overstays, you don’t know; the number of Visa waiver overstays who may have been to Syria before they came here, you don’t know; and the number of American citizens on the no-fly list, you don’t know.”

“…you can’t give us one single number to, I think, some pretty basic questions?”

It seemed she couldn’t, going on to claim that the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t keep those numbers, but that she would work with her “inter-agency partners” to provide them.  The incredulity over this answer seemed bipartisan, with National Security Subcommittee member Stephen Lynch also noting the lack of available information

“She said she didn’t have her numbers with her but that’s exactly the type of information we would be looking for,” said Lynch.

The full exchange from the hearing is below:

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China Building Airstrip on 3rd Artificial Island, Images Show

By |2016-11-11T00:14:20+00:00September 16th, 2015|International|

 By JANE PERLEZ SEPT. 15, 2015 From NY Times: 

BEIJING — New satellite images show that China has started construction of an airstrip on a third artificial island in the South China Sea that will strengthen Beijing’s military capacity in the contested waters, Western analysts say.

The photographs, released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, show preparation for airfields on Mischief Reef and Subi Reef, submerged reefs in the contested Spratly Islands that China has transformed into islands, according to the center.

The airstrip on Mischief Reef is about 20 miles from a small Philippine military garrison on an existing tiny island and will put the installation under great pressure, said James Hardy, Asia-Pacific editor of IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly.

That airstrip will most likely be used for turboprop patrol, but it could easily be equipped for “full military action” if needed, Mr. Hardy said. The most important function of the strip, he said, will be as yet another site for Chinese listening devices and early warning radar, much like the technology being installed on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands of the South China Sea, which are also contested. Evidence of that will probably appear soon on Mischief Reef, he said.

China completed a 10,000-foot runway several months ago on Fiery Cross Island, one of five artificial islands it has created in a large reclamation project in the South China Sea this year.

The South China Sea is one of the top areas of disagreement between China and the United States that will be discussed during a state visit by President Xi Jinping to Washington next week.

The Obama administration has called on China to stop land reclamation, construction and militarization of South China Sea outposts, a policy that Washington calls the “three noes.”

Washington has expressed concern that the military capacity on the reclaimed islands will interfere with freedom of navigation in the area, one of the world’s busiest waterways. With these military runways, the zone of competition between the United States and China across the South China Sea has expanded significantly, experts say.

But China has rebuffed Washington, repeatedly saying that it has “indisputable sovereignty” over about 80 percent of the South China Sea and the right to build what it wants on the Spratly and Paracel archipelagoes.

In June, China’s Foreign Ministry said Beijing would stop reclamation on the five artificial islands but would continue to build facilities on them. At the time of the statement, Beijing appeared to have finished much of the reclamation carried out by large flotillas of dredges.

After a speech to Chinese and Western journalists in Beijing on Tuesday,Yang Xiyu, a senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said “difficulties between the United States and China on the South China Sea will continue for a long time.”

There is little chance, he said, that the sharp differences will be resolved at the meeting between Mr. Xi and President Obama. The best that can be expected is a “consensus” to manage the differences, he said.

In April, when satellite images showed that China was building the 10,000-foot runway on Fiery Cross, 170 miles west of Mischief Reef, American military analysts called the installation a strategic game changer. The size of the runway meant a fighter jet could land on the island, they said.

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