Vladimir Ashkenazy
Beethoven's Piano Concerto # 5 (Emperor): Rondo
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Showing posts with label MR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MR. Show all posts
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Newsmax:
Key al Qaeda Operative Killed in Pakistan by U.S. Drone
Saturday, 04 Jun 2011 08:47 AM
ISLAMABAD, June 4 (Reuters) - Senior al Qaeda operative Ilyas Kashmiri, regarded as one of the most dangerous militants in the world, was killed by a U.S. drone aircraft missile strike in Pakistan, an intelligence official and local media said on Saturday.
The death of the Pakistani militant was another intelligence coup for the United States after U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a town close to Islamabad on May 2.
"We are sure that he was killed. Now we are trying to retrieve the bodies," said the Pakistani intelligence official. "We want to get photographs of the bodies.
It is not the first time reports of Kashmiri's death have surfaced. He was reported to have been killed in a September 2009 strike by a U.S. drone aircraft.
Pakistani media said Kashmiri had been killed this time, citing the group that he heads that is allied with al Qaeda, Harkat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI).
"We confirm that our Amir (leader) and commander in chief, Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, along with other companions, was martyred in an American drone strike on June 3, 2011, at 11:15 p.m.," Abu Hanzla Kashir, who identified himself as an HUJI spokesman, said in a statement faxed to a Pakistani television station.
"God willing ... America will very soon see our full revenge. Our only target is America."
The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.
HUJI was behind the March 2006 suicide bombing of the U.S. consulate in Karachi which killed four people and wounded 48, the U.S. State Department said.
Other intelligence officials said earlier that late on Friday night, a remotely piloted U.S. drone aircraft fired three missiles at a militant centre in the village of Shwkainary in South Waziristan, killing a total of eight militants, including five of Kashmiri's supporters.
The Pakistani Taliban, which has strong ties to al Qaeda, said earlier that reports of Kashmiri's death were false.
The U.S. Department of State has labelled Kashmiri a "specially designated global terrorist", adding him to a list of high-profile militants.
In March of last year, the U.S. attorney's office quoted in a statement a Chicago taxi driver charged with sending money to Kashmiri as saying the Pakistani militant told him he "wanted to train operatives to conduct attacks in the United States".
The Pakistani media has speculated that Kashmiri was the mastermind of a militant siege of a Pakistani naval base last month which humiliated the Pakistani military.
Key al Qaeda Operative Killed in Pakistan by U.S. Drone
Saturday, 04 Jun 2011 08:47 AM
ISLAMABAD, June 4 (Reuters) - Senior al Qaeda operative Ilyas Kashmiri, regarded as one of the most dangerous militants in the world, was killed by a U.S. drone aircraft missile strike in Pakistan, an intelligence official and local media said on Saturday.
The death of the Pakistani militant was another intelligence coup for the United States after U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a town close to Islamabad on May 2.
"We are sure that he was killed. Now we are trying to retrieve the bodies," said the Pakistani intelligence official. "We want to get photographs of the bodies.
It is not the first time reports of Kashmiri's death have surfaced. He was reported to have been killed in a September 2009 strike by a U.S. drone aircraft.
Pakistani media said Kashmiri had been killed this time, citing the group that he heads that is allied with al Qaeda, Harkat-ul Jihad Islami (HUJI).
"We confirm that our Amir (leader) and commander in chief, Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, along with other companions, was martyred in an American drone strike on June 3, 2011, at 11:15 p.m.," Abu Hanzla Kashir, who identified himself as an HUJI spokesman, said in a statement faxed to a Pakistani television station.
"God willing ... America will very soon see our full revenge. Our only target is America."
The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.
HUJI was behind the March 2006 suicide bombing of the U.S. consulate in Karachi which killed four people and wounded 48, the U.S. State Department said.
Other intelligence officials said earlier that late on Friday night, a remotely piloted U.S. drone aircraft fired three missiles at a militant centre in the village of Shwkainary in South Waziristan, killing a total of eight militants, including five of Kashmiri's supporters.
The Pakistani Taliban, which has strong ties to al Qaeda, said earlier that reports of Kashmiri's death were false.
The U.S. Department of State has labelled Kashmiri a "specially designated global terrorist", adding him to a list of high-profile militants.
In March of last year, the U.S. attorney's office quoted in a statement a Chicago taxi driver charged with sending money to Kashmiri as saying the Pakistani militant told him he "wanted to train operatives to conduct attacks in the United States".
The Pakistani media has speculated that Kashmiri was the mastermind of a militant siege of a Pakistani naval base last month which humiliated the Pakistani military.
Friday, June 3, 2011
The Maccabeats video
This is the Maccabeats video the White House wants removed. I didn't actually watch it all yet so I don't know if the four more years chant is in here somewhere.
The video in the Jawa story below is not the video in question. It is this one, which was actually filmed at a White House event in May, posted, subsequently removed but still up on Youtube.
See the full story at The Blaze.
Thanks to Will for the heads up on this one.
The video in the Jawa story below is not the video in question. It is this one, which was actually filmed at a White House event in May, posted, subsequently removed but still up on Youtube.
See the full story at The Blaze.
Thanks to Will for the heads up on this one.
Washington Times:
Bipartisan Congress rebuffs Obama on Libya mission
Crossing party lines to deliver a stunning rebuke to the commander in chief, the vast majority of the House voted Friday for resolutions telling President Obama he has broken the constitutional chain of authority by committing U.S. troops to the international military mission in Libya.
In two votes — on competing resolutions that amounted to legislative lectures of Mr. Obama — Congress escalated the brewing constitutional clash over whether he ignored the founding document’s grant of war powers by sending U.S. troops to aid in enforcing a no-fly zone and naval blockade of Libya.
The resolutions were non-binding, and only one of them passed, but taken together, roughly three-quarters of the House voted to put Mr. Obama on notice that he must explain himself or else face future consequences, possibly including having funds for the war cut off.
“He has a chance to get this right. If he doesn’t, Congress will exercise its constitutional authority and make it right,” said House Speaker John A. Boehner, the Ohio Republican who wrote the resolution that passed, 268-145, and sets a two-week deadline for the president to deliver the information the House is seeking.
Minutes after approving Mr. Boehner’s measure, the House defeated an even more strongly-worded resolution offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, that would have insisted the president begin a withdrawal of troops.
Most lawmakers said that was too rash at this point, and said they wanted to give Mr. Obama time to comply. Some also said immediate withdrawal would leave U.S. allies in the lurch.
The Kucinich resolution failed 148-265. In a telling signal, 87 Republicans voted for Mr. Kucinich’s resolution — more than the 61 Democrats that did.
Still, taken together, 324 members of Congress voted for one resolution or both resolutions, including 91 Democrats, or nearly half the caucus. The size of the votes signals overwhelming discontent with Mr. Obama’s handling of the constitutional issues surrounding the Libya fight.
Asked about the votes beforehand, the White House said it believes it is following the law by alerting Congress of its intentions regarding Libya, and called the resolutions “unnecessary and unhelpful.”
“We’ve continued to consult with Congress all along,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, pointing to briefings Mr. Obama and his top aides have given to members of Congress at various times before and during the deployment of troops.
But members of Congress said the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution require more than alerts about military action — they require congressional approval, which the White House has not sought.
The Constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress, but the power to manage the armed forces to the president. The War Powers Resolution, enacted in 1973, tries to bridge that gap by allowing the president to commit troops for up to 60 days, but requires him to seek congressional approval if he wants to extend the commitment beyond that period.
Mr. Obama’s only allies were top Democratic leaders, who said neither resolution was helpful as the president tries to aid U.S. allies’ efforts.
U.S. military action began March 19, as Mr. Obama committed U.S. forces to take the lead in setting up a no-fly zone to protect Libyan rebels fighting against the government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
The U.S. eventually moved to a support role, and is currently aiding NATO, which is maintaining the no-fly zone.
Bipartisan Congress rebuffs Obama on Libya mission
Crossing party lines to deliver a stunning rebuke to the commander in chief, the vast majority of the House voted Friday for resolutions telling President Obama he has broken the constitutional chain of authority by committing U.S. troops to the international military mission in Libya.
In two votes — on competing resolutions that amounted to legislative lectures of Mr. Obama — Congress escalated the brewing constitutional clash over whether he ignored the founding document’s grant of war powers by sending U.S. troops to aid in enforcing a no-fly zone and naval blockade of Libya.
The resolutions were non-binding, and only one of them passed, but taken together, roughly three-quarters of the House voted to put Mr. Obama on notice that he must explain himself or else face future consequences, possibly including having funds for the war cut off.
“He has a chance to get this right. If he doesn’t, Congress will exercise its constitutional authority and make it right,” said House Speaker John A. Boehner, the Ohio Republican who wrote the resolution that passed, 268-145, and sets a two-week deadline for the president to deliver the information the House is seeking.
Minutes after approving Mr. Boehner’s measure, the House defeated an even more strongly-worded resolution offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Ohio Democrat, that would have insisted the president begin a withdrawal of troops.
Most lawmakers said that was too rash at this point, and said they wanted to give Mr. Obama time to comply. Some also said immediate withdrawal would leave U.S. allies in the lurch.
The Kucinich resolution failed 148-265. In a telling signal, 87 Republicans voted for Mr. Kucinich’s resolution — more than the 61 Democrats that did.
Still, taken together, 324 members of Congress voted for one resolution or both resolutions, including 91 Democrats, or nearly half the caucus. The size of the votes signals overwhelming discontent with Mr. Obama’s handling of the constitutional issues surrounding the Libya fight.
Asked about the votes beforehand, the White House said it believes it is following the law by alerting Congress of its intentions regarding Libya, and called the resolutions “unnecessary and unhelpful.”
“We’ve continued to consult with Congress all along,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, pointing to briefings Mr. Obama and his top aides have given to members of Congress at various times before and during the deployment of troops.
But members of Congress said the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution require more than alerts about military action — they require congressional approval, which the White House has not sought.
The Constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress, but the power to manage the armed forces to the president. The War Powers Resolution, enacted in 1973, tries to bridge that gap by allowing the president to commit troops for up to 60 days, but requires him to seek congressional approval if he wants to extend the commitment beyond that period.
Mr. Obama’s only allies were top Democratic leaders, who said neither resolution was helpful as the president tries to aid U.S. allies’ efforts.
U.S. military action began March 19, as Mr. Obama committed U.S. forces to take the lead in setting up a no-fly zone to protect Libyan rebels fighting against the government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
The U.S. eventually moved to a support role, and is currently aiding NATO, which is maintaining the no-fly zone.
Jawa Report:
The One's Censorship: The Jewish Video Obama Doesn't Want On the Web
The One's Censorship: The Jewish Video Obama Doesn't Want On the Web
Obama White House Tells Jewish Chorus to Take Down Their Pro-Obama Video , which they did..
Will Jews who voted for The One finally get a clue?
Tell me, what is the Jewish saying for get a clue Jew?
This is the group:
Why take down the video and notify a website which had hosted it on their website to remove the video, which they did?
I would have said screw you, this is a free country.
What, is Obama afraid his anti-Semitic leftist friends may see it?
Censorship. thy name is The One.
sigh
Yahoo:
Employment growth slows sharply in May
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employers hired far fewer workers than expected in May and the jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent, raising concerns the economy might be stuck in a painful slow-growth mode.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 54,000 last month, the weakest reading since September, the Labor Department said on Friday. Private employment rose just 83,000, the least since last June, while government payrolls dropped 29,000.
Economists had expected payrolls to rise 150,000 and private hiring to increase 175,000. The government revised employment figures for March and April to show 39,000 fewer jobs created than previously estimated.
The job creation slowdown confirmed the economic weakness already flagged by other data from consumer spending to manufacturing, and it stoked fears the economy could be facing a more troubling stretch of weakness than had been thought.
"There are plenty of reasons to expect the third quarter will be better. But the question is now becoming how much better?," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.
The sharp slowdown in job creation is troubling news for President Barack Obama, whose chances of re-election next year could hinge on the health of the economy.
RECESSION BOUND?
Economists said the report did not suggest the economy was heading into recession, but they said job growth could prove frustratingly slow.
The data lent more fuel to talk about the need for the Fed to extend its asset purchasing program when it expires this month, but officials at the central bank have set a high bar for any further easing of monetary policy.
With the Obama administration and lawmakers discussing how best to trim the U.S. budget gap, the economy could be left to its own devices.
"The government changed our flat tire in 2008 and now we're driving around without a spare," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago.
The economy has regained only a fraction of the more than 8 million jobs lost during the recession. Economists say payrolls growth above 300,000 a month is needed to make significant progress in shrinking the pool of 13.9 million unemployed Americans.
The rise in the unemployment rate from 9.0 percent in April reflected discouraged workers who had been inspired by the pick-up in hiring in April re-entering the labor market.
BROAD-BASED WEAKNESS
The employment report showed weakness across the board, with the private services sector adding 80,000 jobs last month after increasing payrolls by 213,000 in April.
Retail employment, which recorded its largest increase in 10 years in April, fell 8,500 last month. Manufacturing payrolls growth contracted 5,000 last month, the first decline since October, while construction employment rose 2,000.
The report showed the average work week steady at 34.4 hours and few signs of wage inflation, with average hourly earnings rising 6 cents.
update: half the jobs created were from McDonald's.
Which begs the question: Do you want fries with your McCovery?
Which begs the question: Do you want fries with your McCovery?
The Jawa Report:
Yemen protesters burnt alive, buried in mass graves
Yemen protesters burnt alive, buried in mass graves
PROTEST CAMP STORMED, SET ABLAZE AT 3 AM
Over 250 at least were killed in Taiz, Yemen over the past four days. On May 29th, at 3 am, forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh attacked Freedom Square in Taiz.
Water cannons filled with gasoline sprayed tents where protesters were sleeping. Thousands of protesters were camping in the Square since February demanding Saleh's immediate resignation. The tents were set ablaze and fleeing citizens shot by roof top snipers as they ran. Many were unable to escape the fires including the disabled and children as indicated by the photos linked below. The massive protest site was cleared after hours of carnage, with bulldozers scraping up the remains of tents and persons by the morning.
The protesters attempted to retake the square over the next days only to be shot point blank causing over one hundred additional fatalities.
MASS GRAVES
Reports are emerging that Saleh's forces again kidnapped severely wounded protesters and took corpses. The practice of body snatching was first reported in Aden February 25th.
Protesters killed by security forces were buried in a mass grave in Aden on February 27 a ranking Yemeni official confirmed today.The grave site is on the eastern edge of the Salahu Deen military camp, near little Aden, and was first reported last week.
The official said 15 protesters were buried together in an unmarked single grave about eight meters long, speaking anonymously due to the high risk of government reprisal.
In May, Saleh's henchmen again captured critically wounded and the dead bodies dumping them in a mass grave chopped up in garbage barrels:
Sahwa Net, Sana'a- Medical sources at the Military Hospital in Sana'a have revealed that dozens of corpses of protesters who were killed by security forces were hidden by the Yemeni authorities in unknown places in an attempt to conceal evidence of crimes committed against peaceful demonstrators. The sources affirmed that the Central Security and the Republican Guard kidnapped dozens of the killed and wounded persons and escaped them. Security sources affirmed that the corpses of protesters were transferred from the Military Hospital's mortuary in framework of a security campaign to conceal evidence of murder crimes committed by security forces against peaceful protests...A Yemeni human rights organization, Hood, revealed that dozens of protesters' bodies were taken into a cemetery at Artel area of the capital, Sana'a.
Hood further said that it received statements from medical sources saying that dozens of protesters corpses were taken to graves after the mid night on a Hilux, affirming that some residents of Artel area informed it, just after 12 hours of receiving those statements, that they found out a mass grave in which 15 bodies were buried.
HOOD, a leading and well respected human rights organization, reported that body parts were found in trash barrels in May likely of protesters disappeared in April:
Hood confirmed that it received information and testimonies written and documented about the central security forces and gunmen in civilian clothes attacking the demonstrators with live bullets, sharp weapons and poison gas on Saturday night 04/09/2011 in Zubairy Street and Ring Road, which led to the downfall of a number of dead and wounded.Hood quoted witnesses saying that “Nearly 20 people were pulled to some personnel carriers and government vehicles transferred to an unknown destination and their injuries were at the head, neck, chest, abdomen and some of them had died.” Also, confirmed that it had received “certificates for a mass graves in the area of “ Bait Boss", body parts were found in trash barrels in that area, it is believed it belong to protesters who were arrested during the massacre of Kentucky Round in Sana’a. Attorney General has received a notification of this.”
The Saleh regime simultaneously engages in mass arrests as it steals corpses and kidnaps the wounded. Family members hope their missing relatives are "disappeared" in the dungeons of Yemeni prisons, as thousands are. Current reports indicate at least 500 were taken the night of May 30th, and it is unknown how many are dead in a mass grave.
The US is continuing to urge Saleh to accept a proposal to resign with a promise of immunity for his crimes. Yemen's opposition parties and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which sponsored the negotiations, have both withdrawn support for the deal. The US strongly supported Saleh since protests began as an important partner in counter-terror, and President Obama called Saleh a friend in a major speech on the Middle East in May. However Saleh's duplicity in dealing with al Qaeda is unparalleled, well documented and a clear threat to US national security.
Opposition parties and the protesters coalition have both pledged to continue cooperation with the United States in fighting al Qaeda after the fall of Saleh. Nonetheless, the policy and statements of the Obama administration remains limp and muted, an inexplicable response to the millions in Yemen seeking a civil, democratic state. It is the divisions containing US trained CT units, headed by Saleh's relatives, that are engaging in horrific crimes against Yemeni citizens, often with US supplied equipment including tear gas and vehicles.
PHOTOS
A large protest in Taiz February 21st rattled the Saleh regime. Thousands camped out in Freedom Square continuously until May 30 when the square was cleared by fire and bullets.
A protest march in Taiz May 6 affirmed solidarity with protesters in southern Yemen
For photos of the citizens burnt alive, click here (warning extremely graphic).
Newsmax:
Yemen’s President Saleh Injured in Shelling as Battles Intensify
Friday, 03 Jun 2011 09:12 AM
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was injured when his palace was shelled, Al Arabiya television said, and explosions rocked the capital as government forces fought tribal fighters in Sana’a.
Saleh’s injuries were minor, Al Arabiya said. Mortars hit the house of Hamid al-Ahmar, a lawmaker and brother of opposition tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar. Flames and thick plumes of smoke rose over the Hadaa area of southern Sana’a near the presidential palace.
Fighting in Sana’a between Saleh’s security forces and supporters of al-Ahmar, leader of the Hashid, Yemen’s most influential tribe, entered a fifth day after the breakdown of a truce mediated by tribal leaders. Government supporters attacked protesters in the southern city of Taiz.
Hundreds of thousands of opposition members performed the Friday prayers at Sana’a’s Sixty Meter Street, where protesters chanted slogans of solidarity with the residents of Taiz where violence has also intensified. “Freedom for Taiz” and “the people want the trial of mass killers,” they shouted.
Saleh’s government has said rising social unrest threatens to strengthen al-Qaeda, a concern also expressed by the U.S. The group has sought to use Yemen, the poorest Arab nation, as a base from which to destabilize neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of crude oil, and for attempted attacks on international targets including two U.S. synagogues last year.
The two sides have blamed each other for breaking a cease- fire that briefly halted three days of fighting last week.
The elite Republican Guards, led by Saleh’s son, police and armed men in plain clothes fired today on protesters in Taiz, Bushra al-Maktari, a protest organizer, said by telephone. More than 15,000 people marched in the city to condemn a government attack on anti-Saleh demonstrators that began May 29 and lasted until the early hours of May 30, she said. At least 21 people were killed in that crackdown.
There have been no pro-government rallies so far today in Sana’a or Taiz, despite calls for demonstrations to take place.
Scores of people have been killed since the conflict between Saleh’s loyalists and al-Ahmar’s men broke out last week. The violence followed Saleh’s refusal to sign a Western- backed accord brokered by Gulf countries requiring him to give up power within 30 days.
Saleh has asked Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to help organize a cease-fire, along with France, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other allied countries, Senegal’s Communication Ministry said in a statement today. The two leaders spoke by phone yesterday, it said.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Saleh. “His presence remains a source of great conflict,” she said at the State Department June 1. “We cannot expect this conflict to end unless President Saleh and his government move out of the way.”
President Barack Obama sent John Brennan, his top counterterrorism adviser, this week to meet with government officials in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both members of the Gulf Cooperation Council that sponsored the accord, to discuss options in Yemen.
“He’s obviously working with our allies in the region to see what can be done to persuade President Saleh to follow the agreement he made to sign the accord and to begin the transfer of power immediately,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in Washington.
Yemen’s President Saleh Injured in Shelling as Battles Intensify
Friday, 03 Jun 2011 09:12 AM
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was injured when his palace was shelled, Al Arabiya television said, and explosions rocked the capital as government forces fought tribal fighters in Sana’a.
Saleh’s injuries were minor, Al Arabiya said. Mortars hit the house of Hamid al-Ahmar, a lawmaker and brother of opposition tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar. Flames and thick plumes of smoke rose over the Hadaa area of southern Sana’a near the presidential palace.
Fighting in Sana’a between Saleh’s security forces and supporters of al-Ahmar, leader of the Hashid, Yemen’s most influential tribe, entered a fifth day after the breakdown of a truce mediated by tribal leaders. Government supporters attacked protesters in the southern city of Taiz.
Hundreds of thousands of opposition members performed the Friday prayers at Sana’a’s Sixty Meter Street, where protesters chanted slogans of solidarity with the residents of Taiz where violence has also intensified. “Freedom for Taiz” and “the people want the trial of mass killers,” they shouted.
Saleh’s government has said rising social unrest threatens to strengthen al-Qaeda, a concern also expressed by the U.S. The group has sought to use Yemen, the poorest Arab nation, as a base from which to destabilize neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of crude oil, and for attempted attacks on international targets including two U.S. synagogues last year.
The two sides have blamed each other for breaking a cease- fire that briefly halted three days of fighting last week.
The elite Republican Guards, led by Saleh’s son, police and armed men in plain clothes fired today on protesters in Taiz, Bushra al-Maktari, a protest organizer, said by telephone. More than 15,000 people marched in the city to condemn a government attack on anti-Saleh demonstrators that began May 29 and lasted until the early hours of May 30, she said. At least 21 people were killed in that crackdown.
There have been no pro-government rallies so far today in Sana’a or Taiz, despite calls for demonstrations to take place.
Scores of people have been killed since the conflict between Saleh’s loyalists and al-Ahmar’s men broke out last week. The violence followed Saleh’s refusal to sign a Western- backed accord brokered by Gulf countries requiring him to give up power within 30 days.
Saleh has asked Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to help organize a cease-fire, along with France, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other allied countries, Senegal’s Communication Ministry said in a statement today. The two leaders spoke by phone yesterday, it said.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Saleh. “His presence remains a source of great conflict,” she said at the State Department June 1. “We cannot expect this conflict to end unless President Saleh and his government move out of the way.”
President Barack Obama sent John Brennan, his top counterterrorism adviser, this week to meet with government officials in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both members of the Gulf Cooperation Council that sponsored the accord, to discuss options in Yemen.
“He’s obviously working with our allies in the region to see what can be done to persuade President Saleh to follow the agreement he made to sign the accord and to begin the transfer of power immediately,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in Washington.
Front Page Mag:
Al-Qaeda in Sinai
Posted by P. David Hornik
It started early this week when a “senior Egyptian security official” told the Egyptian-based Al-Hayyat TV channel that over 400 Al-Qaeda members had made their way into the Sinai Peninsula. They were said to be composed of Palestinians, Bedouins, and foreign Arabs, and Egyptian security forces were said to be pursuing them since they were “planning to carry out terror attacks in Egypt.”
The official told Al-Hayyat that they had already carried out “attacks against [Egyptian] security forces in the Sinai city of El Arish.”
The report seemed to gain credence on Monday when Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that “Egypt is having a hard time realizing its sovereignty in Sinai. International terror organizations are stirring in Sinai and their presence is increasing due to Sinai’s connection to Gaza.”
Although Netanyahu left it vague, that “due to” can work both ways: terrorists in Sinai, particularly if intent on attacking Israel, can make their way into Gaza, and terrorists in Gaza—especially now that Egypt has opened the Rafah crossing—can make their way into Sinai.
Although it may have gotten a significant boost this week, the problem of Al-Qaeda and other global jihadist forces in Sinai is not new. Last February 5, a gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan was blown up in northern Sinai, and it was blown up again on April 27. The attacks are attributed to local Bedouins, global jihadists, or a collaboration between the two.
Last August, five rockets were fired from Sinai at the Israeli resort town of Eilat; one, the only one to cause damage, instead hit the adjacent Jordanian town of Aqaba, killing one and wounding five. Global jihadists were believed to be behind it. Another rocket, also probably fired from Sinai, had hit Aqaba in April without causing casualties.
Severe bombing attacks have also struck Egyptian targets in Sinai: in 2006, one in Dahab that killed at least 23; in 2005, one in Sharm el-Sheikh that killed 88; and a double bombing at the Taba and Ras al-Shitan resorts in 2004 that took at least 34 lives.
The mounting terror threat from Sinai puts Israel in a difficult dilemma. Under the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, Israel withdrew from Sinai while Egypt agreed to leave it demilitarized, deploying only police and border guards there. But after the first gas-pipeline bombing last February 5, Israel—for the first time since the peace treaty’s signing—allowed Egypt to move military forces into the peninsula.
Though the two Egyptian battalions were supposed to put a lid on the growing anarchy, just days later, Israel turned down an Egyptian request to deploy additional forces, fearing “a complete breakdown of the peace treaty with Cairo.”
Upholding the peace treaty, then, means a growing presence for Al-Qaeda and other global terror in Sinai, without adequate Egyptian—or any other—forces to counter it. Derogating from the treaty means allowing Egypt—in the post-Mubarak era that has seen rising extremism there—back into the peninsula, which borders Gaza to the north and Israel itself to the south, and from which Egypt attacked Israel in 1948 and 1967.
Above all, the situation underlines the fragility of the peace-process paradigm, which has become axiomatic in international diplomacy and assumes that Israel can gain peace in return for territorial concessions.
As long as the Mubarak government—which, while violating almost all the other terms of the peace treaty, never militarily attacked Israel—ruled Egypt, it could be claimed that the paradigm was at least succeeding in the Egyptian case. Today, with Sinai becoming a terror haven that threatens both Egypt and Israel, and with Israel rightly judging that letting Egyptian forces enter it is even more dangerous, the days—1967 to 1979—when Israeli forces controlled Sinai can only be regarded with nostalgia.
Al-Qaeda in Sinai
Posted by P. David Hornik
It started early this week when a “senior Egyptian security official” told the Egyptian-based Al-Hayyat TV channel that over 400 Al-Qaeda members had made their way into the Sinai Peninsula. They were said to be composed of Palestinians, Bedouins, and foreign Arabs, and Egyptian security forces were said to be pursuing them since they were “planning to carry out terror attacks in Egypt.”
The official told Al-Hayyat that they had already carried out “attacks against [Egyptian] security forces in the Sinai city of El Arish.”
The report seemed to gain credence on Monday when Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that “Egypt is having a hard time realizing its sovereignty in Sinai. International terror organizations are stirring in Sinai and their presence is increasing due to Sinai’s connection to Gaza.”
Although Netanyahu left it vague, that “due to” can work both ways: terrorists in Sinai, particularly if intent on attacking Israel, can make their way into Gaza, and terrorists in Gaza—especially now that Egypt has opened the Rafah crossing—can make their way into Sinai.
Although it may have gotten a significant boost this week, the problem of Al-Qaeda and other global jihadist forces in Sinai is not new. Last February 5, a gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan was blown up in northern Sinai, and it was blown up again on April 27. The attacks are attributed to local Bedouins, global jihadists, or a collaboration between the two.
Last August, five rockets were fired from Sinai at the Israeli resort town of Eilat; one, the only one to cause damage, instead hit the adjacent Jordanian town of Aqaba, killing one and wounding five. Global jihadists were believed to be behind it. Another rocket, also probably fired from Sinai, had hit Aqaba in April without causing casualties.
Severe bombing attacks have also struck Egyptian targets in Sinai: in 2006, one in Dahab that killed at least 23; in 2005, one in Sharm el-Sheikh that killed 88; and a double bombing at the Taba and Ras al-Shitan resorts in 2004 that took at least 34 lives.
The mounting terror threat from Sinai puts Israel in a difficult dilemma. Under the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, Israel withdrew from Sinai while Egypt agreed to leave it demilitarized, deploying only police and border guards there. But after the first gas-pipeline bombing last February 5, Israel—for the first time since the peace treaty’s signing—allowed Egypt to move military forces into the peninsula.
Though the two Egyptian battalions were supposed to put a lid on the growing anarchy, just days later, Israel turned down an Egyptian request to deploy additional forces, fearing “a complete breakdown of the peace treaty with Cairo.”
Upholding the peace treaty, then, means a growing presence for Al-Qaeda and other global terror in Sinai, without adequate Egyptian—or any other—forces to counter it. Derogating from the treaty means allowing Egypt—in the post-Mubarak era that has seen rising extremism there—back into the peninsula, which borders Gaza to the north and Israel itself to the south, and from which Egypt attacked Israel in 1948 and 1967.
Above all, the situation underlines the fragility of the peace-process paradigm, which has become axiomatic in international diplomacy and assumes that Israel can gain peace in return for territorial concessions.
As long as the Mubarak government—which, while violating almost all the other terms of the peace treaty, never militarily attacked Israel—ruled Egypt, it could be claimed that the paradigm was at least succeeding in the Egyptian case. Today, with Sinai becoming a terror haven that threatens both Egypt and Israel, and with Israel rightly judging that letting Egyptian forces enter it is even more dangerous, the days—1967 to 1979—when Israeli forces controlled Sinai can only be regarded with nostalgia.
Telegraph:
MI6 attacks al-Qaeda in 'Operation Cupcake'
British intelligence has hacked into an al-Qaeda online magazine and replaced bomb-making instructions with a recipe for cupcakes.
By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
7:16PM BST 02 Jun 2011
The cyber-warfare operation was launched by MI6 and GCHQ in an attempt to disrupt efforts by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular to recruit “lone-wolf” terrorists with a new English-language magazine, the Daily Telegraph understands.
When followers tried to download the 67-page colour magazine, instead of instructions about how to “Make a bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom” by “The AQ Chef” they were greeted with garbled computer code.
The code, which had been inserted into the original magazine by the British intelligence hackers, was actually a web page of recipes for “The Best Cupcakes in America” published by the Ellen DeGeneres chat show.
Written by Dulcy Israel and produced by Main Street Cupcakes in Hudson, Ohio, it said “the little cupcake is big again” adding: “Self-contained and satisfying, it summons memories of childhood even as it's updated for today’s sweet-toothed hipsters.”
It included a recipe for the Mojito Cupcake – “made of white rum cake and draped in vanilla buttercream”- and the Rocky Road Cupcake – “warning: sugar rush ahead!”
By contrast, the original magazine featured a recipe showing how to make a lethal pipe bomb using sugar, match heads and a miniature lightbulb, attached to a timer.
The cyber attack also removed articles by Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and a piece called “What to expect in Jihad.”
British and US intelligence planned separate attacks after learning that the magazine was about to be issued in June last year.
They have both developed a variety of cyber-weapons such as computer viruses, to use against both enemy states and terrorists.
A Pentagon operation, backed by Gen Keith Alexander, the head of US Cyber Command, was blocked by the CIA which argued that it would expose sources and methods and disrupt an important source of intelligence, according to a report in America.
However the Daily Telegraph understands an operation was launched from Britain instead.
Al-Qaeda was able to reissue the magazine two weeks later and has gone on to produce four further editions but one source said British intelligence was continuing to target online outlets publishing the magazine because it is viewed as such a powerful propaganda tool.
The magazine is produced by the radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the leaders of AQAP who has lived in Britain and the US, and his associate Samir Khan from North Carolina.
Both men who are thought to be in Yemen, have associated with radicals connected to Rajib Karim, a British resident jailed for 30 years in March for plotting to smuggle a bomb onto a trans-Atlantic aircraft.
At the time Inspire was launched, US government officials said “the packaging of this magazine may be slick, but the contents are as vile as the authors.”
Bruce Reidel, a former CIA analyst said it was “clearly intended for the aspiring jihadist in the US or UK who may be the next Fort Hood murderer or Times Square bomber.”
In recent days AQAP fighters have capitalised on chaos in Yemen, as the country teeters on the brink of civil war.
Tribal forces marching towards the capital, Sana'a, clashed with troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh for a third day running yesterday.
MI6 attacks al-Qaeda in 'Operation Cupcake'
British intelligence has hacked into an al-Qaeda online magazine and replaced bomb-making instructions with a recipe for cupcakes.
By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
7:16PM BST 02 Jun 2011
The cyber-warfare operation was launched by MI6 and GCHQ in an attempt to disrupt efforts by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular to recruit “lone-wolf” terrorists with a new English-language magazine, the Daily Telegraph understands.
When followers tried to download the 67-page colour magazine, instead of instructions about how to “Make a bomb in the Kitchen of your Mom” by “The AQ Chef” they were greeted with garbled computer code.
The code, which had been inserted into the original magazine by the British intelligence hackers, was actually a web page of recipes for “The Best Cupcakes in America” published by the Ellen DeGeneres chat show.
Written by Dulcy Israel and produced by Main Street Cupcakes in Hudson, Ohio, it said “the little cupcake is big again” adding: “Self-contained and satisfying, it summons memories of childhood even as it's updated for today’s sweet-toothed hipsters.”
It included a recipe for the Mojito Cupcake – “made of white rum cake and draped in vanilla buttercream”- and the Rocky Road Cupcake – “warning: sugar rush ahead!”
By contrast, the original magazine featured a recipe showing how to make a lethal pipe bomb using sugar, match heads and a miniature lightbulb, attached to a timer.
The cyber attack also removed articles by Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and a piece called “What to expect in Jihad.”
British and US intelligence planned separate attacks after learning that the magazine was about to be issued in June last year.
They have both developed a variety of cyber-weapons such as computer viruses, to use against both enemy states and terrorists.
A Pentagon operation, backed by Gen Keith Alexander, the head of US Cyber Command, was blocked by the CIA which argued that it would expose sources and methods and disrupt an important source of intelligence, according to a report in America.
However the Daily Telegraph understands an operation was launched from Britain instead.
Al-Qaeda was able to reissue the magazine two weeks later and has gone on to produce four further editions but one source said British intelligence was continuing to target online outlets publishing the magazine because it is viewed as such a powerful propaganda tool.
The magazine is produced by the radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, one of the leaders of AQAP who has lived in Britain and the US, and his associate Samir Khan from North Carolina.
Both men who are thought to be in Yemen, have associated with radicals connected to Rajib Karim, a British resident jailed for 30 years in March for plotting to smuggle a bomb onto a trans-Atlantic aircraft.
At the time Inspire was launched, US government officials said “the packaging of this magazine may be slick, but the contents are as vile as the authors.”
Bruce Reidel, a former CIA analyst said it was “clearly intended for the aspiring jihadist in the US or UK who may be the next Fort Hood murderer or Times Square bomber.”
In recent days AQAP fighters have capitalised on chaos in Yemen, as the country teeters on the brink of civil war.
Tribal forces marching towards the capital, Sana'a, clashed with troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh for a third day running yesterday.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Investors Business Daily:
10-Year Real Wage Gains Worse Than During Depression
By JED GRAHAM
The past decade of wage growth has been one for the record books — but not one to celebrate.
The increase in total private-sector wages, adjusted for inflation, from the start of 2001 has fallen far short of any 10-year period since World War II, according to Commerce Department data. In fact, if the data are to be believed, economywide wage gains have even lagged those in the decade of the Great Depression (adjusted for deflation).
Two years into the recovery, and 10 years after the nation fell into a post-dot-com bubble recession, this legacy of near-stagnant wages has helped ground the economy despite unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus — and even an impressive bull market.
Over the past decade, real private-sector wage growth has scraped bottom at 4%, just below the 5% increase from 1929 to 1939, government data show.
To put that in perspective, since the Great Depression, 10-year gains in real private wages had always exceeded 25% with one exception: the period ended in 1982-83, when the jobless rate spiked above 10% and wage gains briefly decelerated to 16%.
There are several culprits, of which by far the biggest has been the net loss of 2.7 million private nonfarm jobs since March 2001. (Government payrolls rose by 1.2 million over that span.)
That excess supply of labor has given employers the upper hand in holding back wage gains.
Then there is a dramatic, decade-long job shift that has occurred. The often higher-paying goods-producing sector, including construction and manufacturing, has shed 26% of its workers. Meanwhile, typically lower-paying service industries have kept growing their payrolls: social assistance (41%), nursing homes (21%), leisure and hospitality (10%).
"To the extent you have more hotels and fewer manufacturing jobs," the changing composition of the work force has been a negative for wage growth, said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
Behind this job shift is the globalization of production, which has fed "the substitution of capital for labor" amid a push for productivity and competitiveness.
"Brain, not brawn, is required" for today's high-skilled factory jobs in the U.S., Silvia said.
A third trend is the increase in nonwage compensation — fueled by the growth of tax-free health care spending — which has eroded real wage gains.
A fourth factor, rising food and fuel prices, has taken a bite out of real wage growth in the past year.
The long dry spell for real wage gains tests the natural resilience of America's consumer economy.
10-Year Real Wage Gains Worse Than During Depression
By JED GRAHAM
The past decade of wage growth has been one for the record books — but not one to celebrate.
The increase in total private-sector wages, adjusted for inflation, from the start of 2001 has fallen far short of any 10-year period since World War II, according to Commerce Department data. In fact, if the data are to be believed, economywide wage gains have even lagged those in the decade of the Great Depression (adjusted for deflation).
Two years into the recovery, and 10 years after the nation fell into a post-dot-com bubble recession, this legacy of near-stagnant wages has helped ground the economy despite unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus — and even an impressive bull market.
Over the past decade, real private-sector wage growth has scraped bottom at 4%, just below the 5% increase from 1929 to 1939, government data show.
To put that in perspective, since the Great Depression, 10-year gains in real private wages had always exceeded 25% with one exception: the period ended in 1982-83, when the jobless rate spiked above 10% and wage gains briefly decelerated to 16%.
There are several culprits, of which by far the biggest has been the net loss of 2.7 million private nonfarm jobs since March 2001. (Government payrolls rose by 1.2 million over that span.)
That excess supply of labor has given employers the upper hand in holding back wage gains.
Then there is a dramatic, decade-long job shift that has occurred. The often higher-paying goods-producing sector, including construction and manufacturing, has shed 26% of its workers. Meanwhile, typically lower-paying service industries have kept growing their payrolls: social assistance (41%), nursing homes (21%), leisure and hospitality (10%).
"To the extent you have more hotels and fewer manufacturing jobs," the changing composition of the work force has been a negative for wage growth, said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
Behind this job shift is the globalization of production, which has fed "the substitution of capital for labor" amid a push for productivity and competitiveness.
"Brain, not brawn, is required" for today's high-skilled factory jobs in the U.S., Silvia said.
A third trend is the increase in nonwage compensation — fueled by the growth of tax-free health care spending — which has eroded real wage gains.
A fourth factor, rising food and fuel prices, has taken a bite out of real wage growth in the past year.
The long dry spell for real wage gains tests the natural resilience of America's consumer economy.
PJM:
BREAKING: Somali suicide bomber was from Minneapolis
Abdirahman Warsame at Terror Free Somalia informed us late last night that messages appearing on known al-Shabaab websites indicate that a suicide bomber who carried out on attack on AMISOM forces in Mogadishu on Monday was a Somali-American from the Minneapolis area. A twenty-two minute audio was posted on the Somali Memo website (article and audio have since disappeared) that included a segment of an English-speaking Somali speaker — apparently the suicide bomber — who encourages Muslims in the West to “die for their religion.”
Another article on Somali Memo identifies the speaker as Asadullahi Axmed “al-Imriiki” (“the American”), a 25-year old-from Minneapolis. The news is quickly being picked up by other Somali online forums.
The issue of radicalization and terror recruitment among Somali-American youths is an issue I’ve covered here at Pajamas Media since 2007 (long before it became fashionable for the establishment media). In November 2007, I wrote about a terror fundraiser and deputy of designated terrorist Sheikh Aweys, Zakaria Haji Abdi (who is now part of the Somali TFG government), who was scheduled to speak at several events in Minnesota and Virginia. Our pleas to Homeland Security officials to deny entry to the fundraiser fell on deaf ears and the event took place as planned.
At the time I noted that during the Minneapolis event Abdi instructed the attendees how to send money through hawala networks without raising suspicions of authorities. Law enforcement authorities now concede that the November 2007 meeting I reported on was the tipping point for radicalization in the Minneapolis Somali community.
The first group of Somali Americans to leave for jihad back in Somalia left shortly after the Minneapolis event. They were followed by a larger group of nearly two dozen young Somali men in November 2008. But in October 2008, just prior to the departure of the larger group, one Minneapolis man, Shirwa Ahmed, conducted a suicide bombing attack in northern Somalia — the first known case of an American suicide bomber. Several members of the November 2008 group have been confirmed killed fighting with al-Shabaab.
Then in September 2009, Seattle resident Omar Mohamud carried out another suicide attack targeting African Union troops. Two stolen UN vehicles were used in that attack, which killed twenty-one people. As the Associated Press noted, Abdirahman Warsame was the first to note Mohamud’s identity.
And just last September, I reported here at Pajamas Media that a top al-Shabaab commander killed in fighting Somali TFG troops in Mogadishu was Columbus, Ohio resident Dahir Gurey. Again, it was Abdirahman Warsame who first reported Gurey’s U.S. origins. Now we have reliable, but so far unconfirmed, reports of another Somali-American suicide bomber from Minneapolis.
The problem of radicalization and jihadization of young American Muslim men, particularly in the Somali community, is now evident to everybody. The much-maligned radicalization hearings held by the House Homeland Security Committee in March included the uncle of one of the young men from Minneapolis who had been killed in Somalia. Let’s also not forget that last November, Portland college student Mohamed Osman Mohamud was caught in a FBI sting attempting to blow up a VBIED at the Portland Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. The problem is clearly not diminishing but increasing. Yet as I recently reported here, the U.S. government continues to conduct “outreach” to the very individuals responsible for radicalizing these youths and recruiting them for jihad. How long before one of these American suicide bombers will return home and kill Americans?
BREAKING: Somali suicide bomber was from Minneapolis
Abdirahman Warsame at Terror Free Somalia informed us late last night that messages appearing on known al-Shabaab websites indicate that a suicide bomber who carried out on attack on AMISOM forces in Mogadishu on Monday was a Somali-American from the Minneapolis area. A twenty-two minute audio was posted on the Somali Memo website (article and audio have since disappeared) that included a segment of an English-speaking Somali speaker — apparently the suicide bomber — who encourages Muslims in the West to “die for their religion.”
Another article on Somali Memo identifies the speaker as Asadullahi Axmed “al-Imriiki” (“the American”), a 25-year old-from Minneapolis. The news is quickly being picked up by other Somali online forums.
The issue of radicalization and terror recruitment among Somali-American youths is an issue I’ve covered here at Pajamas Media since 2007 (long before it became fashionable for the establishment media). In November 2007, I wrote about a terror fundraiser and deputy of designated terrorist Sheikh Aweys, Zakaria Haji Abdi (who is now part of the Somali TFG government), who was scheduled to speak at several events in Minnesota and Virginia. Our pleas to Homeland Security officials to deny entry to the fundraiser fell on deaf ears and the event took place as planned.
At the time I noted that during the Minneapolis event Abdi instructed the attendees how to send money through hawala networks without raising suspicions of authorities. Law enforcement authorities now concede that the November 2007 meeting I reported on was the tipping point for radicalization in the Minneapolis Somali community.
The first group of Somali Americans to leave for jihad back in Somalia left shortly after the Minneapolis event. They were followed by a larger group of nearly two dozen young Somali men in November 2008. But in October 2008, just prior to the departure of the larger group, one Minneapolis man, Shirwa Ahmed, conducted a suicide bombing attack in northern Somalia — the first known case of an American suicide bomber. Several members of the November 2008 group have been confirmed killed fighting with al-Shabaab.
Then in September 2009, Seattle resident Omar Mohamud carried out another suicide attack targeting African Union troops. Two stolen UN vehicles were used in that attack, which killed twenty-one people. As the Associated Press noted, Abdirahman Warsame was the first to note Mohamud’s identity.
And just last September, I reported here at Pajamas Media that a top al-Shabaab commander killed in fighting Somali TFG troops in Mogadishu was Columbus, Ohio resident Dahir Gurey. Again, it was Abdirahman Warsame who first reported Gurey’s U.S. origins. Now we have reliable, but so far unconfirmed, reports of another Somali-American suicide bomber from Minneapolis.
The problem of radicalization and jihadization of young American Muslim men, particularly in the Somali community, is now evident to everybody. The much-maligned radicalization hearings held by the House Homeland Security Committee in March included the uncle of one of the young men from Minneapolis who had been killed in Somalia. Let’s also not forget that last November, Portland college student Mohamed Osman Mohamud was caught in a FBI sting attempting to blow up a VBIED at the Portland Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. The problem is clearly not diminishing but increasing. Yet as I recently reported here, the U.S. government continues to conduct “outreach” to the very individuals responsible for radicalizing these youths and recruiting them for jihad. How long before one of these American suicide bombers will return home and kill Americans?
HEY! Maybe Weiner was hacked by. . .
Newsmax:
Gmail Hackers Had Access to Accounts for Months
Thursday, 02 Jun 2011
SHANGHAI - Hackers who broke into Google's Gmail system had access to some accounts for many months and could have been planning a more serious attack, said the cyber-security expert who first publicly revealed the incident.
Google said suspected Chinese hackers tried to steal the passwords of hundreds of Gmail account holders, including those of senior U.S. government officials, Chinese activists and journalists.
"They were not sophisticated or new, but they were invasive," said Mila Parkour, who reported the cyberattack on her malware blog in February.
"Emailing phishing messages using details from read personal messages is invasive. Plus, they maintained full email access to mailboxes for a long time," the Washington-based Parkour told Reuters. She uses a pseudonym to protect her identify.
"I covered one; they (Google) took it and uncovered many more of the same kind," she said, noting the method of attack was invasive and targeted.
Parkour was initially involved in investigating one such phishing incident, referring to the practice where computer users are tricked into giving up sensitive information, and then started to gather data on other similar incidents, she said.
Google declined to comment on the details of Parkour's report, but a source with knowledge of the matter said there were similarities between the attack she analysed and the rest of the campaign. The source declined to be identified owing to the sensitivity of the issue.
The Internet company, which was also the victim of a sophisticated hacking episode last year, gave no details about the most recent attack other than to say it had uncovered a campaign to collect user passwords, the goal of which was to monitor users' emails.
The company said its Gmail infrastructure had not been compromised.
METHOD
Parkour's analysis in February showed that the hackers emailed victims from a fake email address, which purported to be that of a close associate in order to gain their trust. The email contained a link or an attachment.
When the victims clicked on the link or document, they were prompted to enter their Gmail credentials on a fake Gmail login page created to collect usernames and passwords, after which the hackers had full access to their accounts.
In the case that Parkour studied, the victim was unknowingly in contact with the hackers between May 2010 and February 2011 according to email screenshots she posted. He received emails once or twice a month that allowed them to maintain updated access to his inbox.
"The victims were carefully selected and had access to sensitive information and had certain expertise in their area," Parkour said, adding that the victim in the case she studied thought he was replying to someone he knew.
The man had emails sent to him that purported to be from branches of the U.S. government, Parkour said.
One of the emails reads: "My understanding is that the State put in placeholder econ language and am happy to have us fill in but in their rush to get a cleared version from the WH, they sent the attached to Mike."
Parkour said the Gmail attacks could be a staging ground for a more serious attack using malicious software, or malware. Many of the Gmail accounts were personal email accounts of personnel with access to sensitive information, some of whom could have forwarded their work emails to their personal Gmail accounts.
"Gathered information could help in the next attack, which could be a malware attack , after which the attackers could gain access to corporate and government networks when the victims log in from a compromised PC," she said.
Parkour said evidence of that was found in an antivirus script used by the hackers to reveal what type of software the victim had installed on his computer.
"The only reason you want to know what (version of Microsoft) Office you have and what antivirus you have is to be able to infect it in the future," said Parkour.
Gmail Hackers Had Access to Accounts for Months
Thursday, 02 Jun 2011
SHANGHAI - Hackers who broke into Google's Gmail system had access to some accounts for many months and could have been planning a more serious attack, said the cyber-security expert who first publicly revealed the incident.
Google said suspected Chinese hackers tried to steal the passwords of hundreds of Gmail account holders, including those of senior U.S. government officials, Chinese activists and journalists.
"They were not sophisticated or new, but they were invasive," said Mila Parkour, who reported the cyberattack on her malware blog in February.
"Emailing phishing messages using details from read personal messages is invasive. Plus, they maintained full email access to mailboxes for a long time," the Washington-based Parkour told Reuters. She uses a pseudonym to protect her identify.
"I covered one; they (Google) took it and uncovered many more of the same kind," she said, noting the method of attack was invasive and targeted.
Parkour was initially involved in investigating one such phishing incident, referring to the practice where computer users are tricked into giving up sensitive information, and then started to gather data on other similar incidents, she said.
Google declined to comment on the details of Parkour's report, but a source with knowledge of the matter said there were similarities between the attack she analysed and the rest of the campaign. The source declined to be identified owing to the sensitivity of the issue.
The Internet company, which was also the victim of a sophisticated hacking episode last year, gave no details about the most recent attack other than to say it had uncovered a campaign to collect user passwords, the goal of which was to monitor users' emails.
The company said its Gmail infrastructure had not been compromised.
METHOD
Parkour's analysis in February showed that the hackers emailed victims from a fake email address, which purported to be that of a close associate in order to gain their trust. The email contained a link or an attachment.
When the victims clicked on the link or document, they were prompted to enter their Gmail credentials on a fake Gmail login page created to collect usernames and passwords, after which the hackers had full access to their accounts.
In the case that Parkour studied, the victim was unknowingly in contact with the hackers between May 2010 and February 2011 according to email screenshots she posted. He received emails once or twice a month that allowed them to maintain updated access to his inbox.
"The victims were carefully selected and had access to sensitive information and had certain expertise in their area," Parkour said, adding that the victim in the case she studied thought he was replying to someone he knew.
The man had emails sent to him that purported to be from branches of the U.S. government, Parkour said.
One of the emails reads: "My understanding is that the State put in placeholder econ language and am happy to have us fill in but in their rush to get a cleared version from the WH, they sent the attached to Mike."
Parkour said the Gmail attacks could be a staging ground for a more serious attack using malicious software, or malware. Many of the Gmail accounts were personal email accounts of personnel with access to sensitive information, some of whom could have forwarded their work emails to their personal Gmail accounts.
"Gathered information could help in the next attack, which could be a malware attack , after which the attackers could gain access to corporate and government networks when the victims log in from a compromised PC," she said.
Parkour said evidence of that was found in an antivirus script used by the hackers to reveal what type of software the victim had installed on his computer.
"The only reason you want to know what (version of Microsoft) Office you have and what antivirus you have is to be able to infect it in the future," said Parkour.
Fox:
EXCLUSIVE: Northrop Grumman May Have Been Hit by Cyberattack, Source Says
By Jeremy A. Kaplan
Published June 01, 2011
Top military contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. may have been hit by a cyber assault, the latest in a string of alarming attacks against military suppliers, a source within the company told FoxNews.com.
Lockheed Martin said its network had been compromised last week, and defense contractor L-3 Communications was targeted recently, as well. Both intrusions involved the use of remote-access security tokens, experts say.
On May 26, Northrop Grumman shut down remote access to its network without warning -- catching even senior managers by surprise and leading to speculation that a similar breach had occurred.
"We went through a domain name and password reset across the entire organization," the source told FoxNews.com. "This caught even my executive management off guard and caused chaos."
"I've been here a good amount of time and they've never done anything this way -- we always have advanced notice," the person said, speculating that the surprise action was a response to a similar network assault.
A spokeswoman for the company would not rule out a cyber attack.
"We do not comment on whether or not Northrop Grumman is or has been a target for cyber intrusions," Margaret Mitchell-Jones told FoxNews.com. "As a leader in cybersecurity, Northrop Grumman continuously monitors and proactively strengthens the security of our networks."
From Lockheed to L-3 to Northrop Grumman, the pattern of attacks is clear.
"What we're seeing are targeted attacks against the defense industry," said Anup Ghosh, a former scientist with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and chief scientist with security company Invincea.
"Think about the data and information that those companies have. They have our nation's military technology secrets," he told FoxNews.com.
Charles Dodd, an information warfare consultant with Nisrad Cyber Research Institute, raised a scary possibility: Unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator can be controlled by computers. If hackers access those computers, can they operate those deadly drones?
"If adversaries get that technology, we may not be the one that controls those weapons," he told Fox News.
The network attacks spiral from a security breach in March, when hackers stole information related to RSA's SecurID access keys.
"The RSA attack was very sophisticated, probably executed by people who had plans for what to do with the keys," Ghosh told FoxNews.com."Perhaps the RSA keys were used to get onto the Lockheed Martin network."
The keys were definitely used to attack L-3, according to a leaked memo obtained by Wired. “L-3 Communications has been actively targeted with penetration attacks leveraging the compromised information,” an executive at the company wrote.
Northrop Grumman is also a SecurID customer, according to Bloomberg News.
An RSA spokeswoman said the company was still investigating the Lockheed incident: "The investigation remains ongoing and it would be premature to speculate."
A breach is just the first stage in an operation, Ghosh pointed out, meaning proprietary information hasn't necessarily been stolen.
But that isn't the goal anymore, he said.
It used to be, 'let me come through the front door both barrels blazing and grab the money from the vault.' But it's a hell of a lot more lucrative for the adversary to actually go to work inside the bank," he said.
EXCLUSIVE: Northrop Grumman May Have Been Hit by Cyberattack, Source Says
By Jeremy A. Kaplan
Published June 01, 2011
Top military contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. may have been hit by a cyber assault, the latest in a string of alarming attacks against military suppliers, a source within the company told FoxNews.com.
Lockheed Martin said its network had been compromised last week, and defense contractor L-3 Communications was targeted recently, as well. Both intrusions involved the use of remote-access security tokens, experts say.
On May 26, Northrop Grumman shut down remote access to its network without warning -- catching even senior managers by surprise and leading to speculation that a similar breach had occurred.
"We went through a domain name and password reset across the entire organization," the source told FoxNews.com. "This caught even my executive management off guard and caused chaos."
"I've been here a good amount of time and they've never done anything this way -- we always have advanced notice," the person said, speculating that the surprise action was a response to a similar network assault.
A spokeswoman for the company would not rule out a cyber attack.
"We do not comment on whether or not Northrop Grumman is or has been a target for cyber intrusions," Margaret Mitchell-Jones told FoxNews.com. "As a leader in cybersecurity, Northrop Grumman continuously monitors and proactively strengthens the security of our networks."
From Lockheed to L-3 to Northrop Grumman, the pattern of attacks is clear.
"What we're seeing are targeted attacks against the defense industry," said Anup Ghosh, a former scientist with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and chief scientist with security company Invincea.
"Think about the data and information that those companies have. They have our nation's military technology secrets," he told FoxNews.com.
Charles Dodd, an information warfare consultant with Nisrad Cyber Research Institute, raised a scary possibility: Unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator can be controlled by computers. If hackers access those computers, can they operate those deadly drones?
"If adversaries get that technology, we may not be the one that controls those weapons," he told Fox News.
The network attacks spiral from a security breach in March, when hackers stole information related to RSA's SecurID access keys.
"The RSA attack was very sophisticated, probably executed by people who had plans for what to do with the keys," Ghosh told FoxNews.com."Perhaps the RSA keys were used to get onto the Lockheed Martin network."
The keys were definitely used to attack L-3, according to a leaked memo obtained by Wired. “L-3 Communications has been actively targeted with penetration attacks leveraging the compromised information,” an executive at the company wrote.
Northrop Grumman is also a SecurID customer, according to Bloomberg News.
An RSA spokeswoman said the company was still investigating the Lockheed incident: "The investigation remains ongoing and it would be premature to speculate."
A breach is just the first stage in an operation, Ghosh pointed out, meaning proprietary information hasn't necessarily been stolen.
But that isn't the goal anymore, he said.
It used to be, 'let me come through the front door both barrels blazing and grab the money from the vault.' But it's a hell of a lot more lucrative for the adversary to actually go to work inside the bank," he said.
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