via youtube.com
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New NSA docs contradict 9/11 claims - Salon.com
Over 120 CIA documents concerning 9/11, Osama bin Laden and counterterrorism were published today for the first time, having been newly declassified and released to the National Security Archive. The documents were released after the NSA pored through the footnotes of the 9/11 Commission and sent Freedom of Information Act requests.
The material contains much new information about the hunt before and after 9/11 for bin Laden, the development of the drone campaign in AfPak, and al-Qaida’s relationship with America’s ally, Pakistan. Perhaps most damning are the documents showing that the CIA had bin Laden in its cross hairs a full year before 9/11 — but didn’t get the funding from the Bush administration White House to take him out or even continue monitoring him. The CIA materials directly contradict the many claims of Bush officials that it was aggressively pursuing al-Qaida prior to 9/11, and that nobody could have predicted the attacks. “I don’t think the Bush administration would want to see these released, because they paint a picture of the CIA knowing something would happen before 9/11, but they didn’t get the institutional support they needed,” says Barbara Elias-Sanborn, the NSA fellow who edited the materials.
via salon.com
The Central Intelligence Agency 9/11 File: Hundreds of Secret Agency Documents on Osama Bin Laden Declassified
Washington, D.C., June 19, 2012 – The National Security Archive today is posting over 100 recently released CIA documents relating to September 11, Osama bin Laden, and U.S. counterterrorism operations. The newly-declassified records, which the Archive obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, are referred to in footnotes to the 9/11 Commission Report and present an unprecedented public resource for information about September 11.
The collection includes rarely released CIA emails, raw intelligence cables, analytical summaries, high-level briefing materials, and comprehensive counterterrorism reports that are usually withheld from the public because of their sensitivity. Today's posting covers a variety of topics of major public interest, including background to al-Qaeda's planning for the attacks; the origins of the Predator program now in heavy use over Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran; al-Qaeda's relationship with Pakistan; CIA attempts to warn about the impending threat; and the impact of budget constraints on the U.S. government's hunt for bin Laden.
Today's posting is the result of a series of FOIA requests by National Security Archive staff based on a painstaking review of references in the 9/11 Commission Report.
via gwu.edu
911-facts.info
The attacks of 9/11 are still in question. Many remain skeptical about what happened that day and who is responsible. Bin Laden and al Qaeda? Or someone else? The official version, presented by the mainstream media, is based on explanations of US authorities and the "9/11 Commission Report", finished in 2004. On the contrary there still exist several alternative theories, a number of them reasonable, others merely absurd. Besides any theories there are proven facts. Seven of them shall be presented here, with their respective sources, researchable for everyone. Many details are new. Most of the sources cited here were published in 2011 or 2012. The intention is to promote an open and fair discussion of these facts.
via 911-facts.info
Anthrax alert system at risk as cost estimate hits $5.7 billion - The Washington Post
The total price may reach $5.7 billion, according to a 2011 report by LMI, a McLean-based consulting firm hired by the Department of Homeland Security.
The $2.1 billion and $5.7 billion “cannot be validly compared,’’ Noah Bartolucci, a BioWatch spokesman, said in an e-mail.
Daniel Bettis, operation manager, holds a vile with an individual dose of an Anthrax vaccine at VaxGen in South San Francisco, Calif. The vaccine produced by this company was placed in a national stockpile.
The $5.7 billion figure covers a longer time period — 17 years, vs. 10 years — and program planners “assigned no confidence level’’ to the $2.1 billion estimate, he said.
BioWatch currently uses canisters that must be installed manually and taken to a lab for analysis. It can take 48 hours to get the results. That delay could mean lost lives in an emergency, Michael Walter, program manager for BioWatch, said in a phone interview.
Washington's 5 Worst Arguments for Keeping Secrets From You | Danger Room | Wired.com
The government’s vast secrecy bureaucracy does two things with great frequency. The first, of course, is keeping secrets. The second is devising elaborate reasons why you can’t know what those secrets are.
It’s hardly a secret that the government overclassifies basic information about what it does. What often gets overlooked is that the reasons it cites are often absurd. Sometimes they’re craven cover-ups learned years after the fact. Sometimes they’re ironic — or cynical — invocations that disclosure would aggravate the very problem it’s supposed to solve. Sometimes they’re bald contradictions of established policy or routine procedure.
Either way, the government has left a long, twisted trail of pretzel logic when it comes to all of the reasons you can’t know what it’s doing. Here are some of the lowlights.
via wired.com
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Obama’s cyber attacks on Iran were carefully considered, but the nuclear arms race offers important lessons. - Slate Magazine
Sen. John McCain rarely ceases to boggle the mind.He did it again today, highlighting a provision that he inserted in the defense authorization bill requiring U.S. Cyber Command “to provide a strategy for the development and deployment of offensive cyber capabilities.” “I am very concerned,” he stated, “that our strategy is too reliant on defensive measures in cyber space, and believe we need to develop the capability to go on the offense as well … I believe that cyber warfare will be the key battlefield of the 21st century, and I am concerned about our ability to fight and win in this new domain.” Two strange things stick out in this statement—which, by the way, was not an off-the-cuff remark but a formal appendage to a report on the defense authorization bill by the Senate Armed Services Committee, where McCain is the top-ranking Republican... http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2012/06/obama_s_c...
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Court Halts Law Allowing Indefinite Detention of Americans | Threat Level
A federal judge is blocking legislation authorizing the government to indefinitely detain without trial an “individual who was part of or substantially supported” groups “engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.” Tuesday’s decision by a New York federal judge halts a key terror-fighting feature of the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act and is a blow to the Obama administration. The government urged U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest not to adopt a nationwide ban on the measure, saying the move would be “extraordinary” and “unwarranted” (.pdf). But the judge, ruling in a case brought by journalists and political activists, said the law was too vague and did not provide clear guidance on whom the government could indefinitely detain... http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/06/indefinite-detention-law/
OVAL - OVAL Interpreter
The OVAL Interpreter is a freely available reference implementation that demonstrates the evaluation of OVAL Definitions. Based on a set of Definitions the interpreter collects system information, evaluates it, and generates a detailed OVAL Results file. Developed to demonstrate the usability of OVAL Definitions and to ensure correct syntax and adherence to the OVAL Schemas by definition writers, it is not a fully functional scanning tool and has a simplistic user interface but running the Interpreter will provide a list of OVAL Definition IDs and their results on the system (see the OVAL Test Content)... http://oval.mitre.org/language/interpreter.html
People Who Lived Near World Trade Center Report More Lung Disease - US News and World Report
FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- People in lower Manhattan whose homes were damaged in the 9/11 terrorist attacks are more likely to have symptoms of respiratory diseases than those whose homes were not damaged, a new study indicates. Thousands of lower Manhattan residents experienced some type of damage to their homes -- such as broken windows and ruined furnishings -- after the collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers. Previous studies found an increased level of asthma among residents who had a heavy layer of dust in their homes after the attacks. The new findings examine how damage to homes is associated with respiratory diseases and symptoms.... http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/05/25/people-who-live...
Exclusive: CIA Documents on 9/11 via @intelwire
The CIA has released nearly 800 pages of newly declassified documents on Al Qaeda and the September 11 attacks. The documents were released in response to an INTELWIRE Freedom of Information Act request for material referenced by the 9/11 Commission. Numerous documents were withheld, and those that were released have been heavily redacted. Despite this, it is highly unusual to receive any material from the CIA in response to a FOIA request, and they provide a fascinating look at the state of the agency's understanding of Al Qaeda over the years. While much of the material has been previously described, by the 9/11 Commission and other sources, seeing the actual documents still has an impact. For instance, the following extracts:.. http://news.intelwire.com/2012/05/exclusive-cia-documents-on-911.html
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