Today’s excursion into the world of the dark arts and saber-rattling begins with a offer he could refuse via The Verge:
US willing to hold talks with Edward Snowden, but only if he pleads guilty first
The US Justice Department says it will hold talks with Edward Snowden’s lawyers, but only under one condition: the NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower must return home and plead guilty to the charges against him.
Snowden is currently living under asylum in Russia to avoid charges of espionage after he famously leaked thousands of documents outlining the alarming surveillance practices of the US government. Some lawmakers and civil liberties groups have called for the Obama administration to grant Snowden clemency for his actions, which put a spotlight on controversial data collection and mass snooping tactics of the NSA.
President Obama himself recently said he doesn’t have a straight yes or no answer as it relates to clemency for Snowden. “This is an active case, where charges have been brought,” he said during a wide-ranging interview with The New Yorker.
Ars Technica has teh stubborns:
White House refuses to accept that NSA phone dragnet is illegal
Attorney General: “15 judges… have said that the program itself is legal.”
In a new interview with MSNBC, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that he had not read the new surveillance report from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB)—but nonetheless disagreed with its findings. That report, which was released on Thursday by the Congressionally approved board, argued that the NSA’s telephone metadata program was illegal.
“At least 15 judges on about 35 occasions have said that the program itself is legal,” Holder said. “I think that those other judges, those 15 judges, got it right.”
Holder and the White House have both expressed great skepticism at the PCLOB’s recommendations.
Group fights gov’t claim that “essentially all telephone records are relevant.”
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that while the Obama Administration took the PCLOB discussions and recommendations under advisement, it didn’t agree with the report’s conclusions.
The Hill slams from the right:
RNC condemns NSA surveillance
The Republican National Committee has formally renounced the “dragnet” surveillance program at the National Security Agency (NSA).
During its winter meeting in Washington, the committee on Friday overwhelmingly approved a measure calling for lawmakers to end the program and create a special committee to investigate domestic surveillance efforts.
The resolution, which declared that “unwarranted government surveillance is an intrusion on basic human rights,” among other condemnations, passed the committee on a voice vote with near-unanimous support. Only a small minority of the 168 RNC members dissented.
And the Washington Post goes black op:
Covert action in Colombia
U.S. intelligence, GPS bomb kits help Latin American nation cripple rebel forces
The 50-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), once considered the best-funded insurgency in the world, is at its smallest and most vulnerable state in decades, due in part to a CIA covert action program that has helped Colombian forces kill at least two dozen rebel leaders, according to interviews with more than 30 former and current U.S. and Colombian officials.
The secret assistance, which also includes substantial eavesdropping help from the National Security Agency, is funded through a multibillion-dollar black budget. It is not a part of the public $9 billion package of mostly U.S. military aid called Plan Colombia, which began in 2000.
The previously undisclosed CIA program was authorized by President George W. Bush in the early 2000s and has continued under President Obama, according to U.S. military, intelligence and diplomatic officials. Most of those interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity because the program is classified and ongoing.
Trans-Atlantic blowback from Deutsche Welle:
EU justice ministers seek data security reform
The EU wants to improve its dated data protection policy. But in two years of debate, there’s been little progress and lots of blame. Proponents say EU citizens deserve the same privacy rights as Americans.
In the age of the Internet, 20 years is an eternity. But the existing EU Data Protection Directive, from 1995, is nearly that old. With the rise of online trading, Facebook and Google, the directive urgently needs an update – it is clear to the European Union that something needs to change. And the recent spying revelations of the US National Security Agency have underscored the urgency.
Nevertheless, EU member states and the European Parliament have been debating the finer points of reforming the outdated directive for two years now – without result. But at the recent informal meeting of EU justice ministers in Athens, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, representatives of the European Parliament, the current Greek and the upcoming Italian European presidencies have finally been able to make some headway. The new directive is expected to be unveiled by the end of the year.
Or maybe not, via EUobserver:
EU data bill delayed until after May elections
The EU’s revamped data protection law will not be adopted before the European Parliament elections with several member states seeking to weaken it.
The delays are caused, in part, by a handful of member states that want to weaken the regulation, which aims at harmonising data protection rules across the bloc.
Among the core group is the UK, along with Denmark, Hungary, and Slovenia. All four are pushing to turn the regulation into a directive. Unlike a regulation, a directive gives member states room to manoeuvre and interpret the EU law to their advantage.
Germany is also among the delaying camp of member states but for different reasons. The Germans support the regulation but do not want it applied to the public sector.
Worth a try, via MintPress News:
Civil Rights Groups Turn To Unorthodox Attempts To Stop The NSA At It’s Headquarters
The “anti-commandeering doctrine,” a 170-year-old legal principle, says the federal government cannot commandeer state agencies or resources to “administer or enforce a federal regulatory program.”
Legislation that has recently been introduced in California, Washington, Indiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee would, among other things, prohibit the states from “materially supporting” a federal agency “in collecting electronic data or metadata” of any person without a warrant. That material support includes providing water or power.
“We’re telling local officials not to cooperate with federal agencies who are searching and seizing electronic and other metadata without a warrant,” said Democratic state Sen. Ted Lieu, who co-authored California’s Fourth Amendment Protection Act.
The Tenth Amendment Center joined other civil rights organizations in November to launch a campaign for state action. Communications director Michael Maharrey expects a bill will be introduced in Utah in the “next several weeks.”
The Washington Post hovers overhead:
Blimplike surveillance craft set to deploy over Maryland heighten privacy concerns
They will look like two giant white blimps floating high above I-95 in Maryland, perhaps en route to a football game somewhere along the bustling Eastern Seaboard. But their mission will have nothing to do with sports and everything to do with war.
The aerostats — that is the term for lighter-than-air craft that are tethered to the ground — are to be set aloft on Army-owned land about 45 miles northeast of Washington, near Aberdeen Proving Ground, for a three-year test slated to start in October. From a vantage of 10,000 feet, they will cast a vast radar net from Raleigh, N.C., to Boston and out to Lake Erie, with the goal of detecting cruise missiles or enemy aircraft so they could be intercepted before reaching the capital.
The third degree [or less] from TheLocal.no:
Tromsø mayor grilled by spy agency on China link
The mayor of Norwegian town Tromsø, in the strategic Arctic region, said on Friday he had been “invited” to meet Norway’s secret services following repeated encounters with the Chinese ambassador.
“The reason (for the meeting) may have been that they knew that I had close relations with the embassy of China,” mayor Jens Johan Hjort told AFP.
The mayor said he met the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) a day after being invited to a dinner and karaoke at the official residence in Oslo of Chinese ambassador Zhao Jun last December.
Hjort explained that he has received more than 80 ambassadors in Tromsø over the last two years, but that Zhao has been there more times than any other.
And that gives us the perfect bridge to the latest on the Asian zone and saber-rattling crises, plus blasts from the black ops past, executive action, corporate hacks, political ploys, and much more, , ,all after the jump:
Shadowing, from South China Morning Post:
Japan row to loom over Sino-US talks, Beijing advisers say
Beijing will seek Washington’s help controlling Abe by making strained tensions with Tokyo top agenda item at upcoming summit, advisers say
Beijing will place its frayed ties with Tokyo front and centre at its next summit with US officials in an attempt to get Washington to rein in Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, leading Chinese policy advisers said.
Chinese strategists hope to exploit the United States’ frustration over Abe’s decision to visit the controversial Yasukuni war shrine last month, a move which drew a rare public rebuke of Tokyo from Washington.
Upping the heat with Kyodo News:
Abe eyes collective self-defense, warns China as Diet convenes
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday that Japan will review its self-imposed ban on exercising the right of collective self-defense to seek greater security roles abroad, while warning China in his policy speech on the first day of a 150-day regular Diet session.
With early passage of state budget bills related to the sales tax hike in April and the 2020 Summer Olympics first on the agenda, Abe put the economy ahead of the more controversial reworking of Japan’s security policy in his overall picture.
But, while stressing that economic growth to beat more than a decade of deflation remains at the center of his policies, Abe raised the issue of collective self-defense for the first time in his Diet speech in an apparent sign of his resolve to achieve his long-held goal.
Flying the storm warnings with JapanToday:
U.S. Pacific forces chief concerned over Japan-China tension
The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said Thursday the tensions between China and Japan are likely to grow unless they talk to each other.
The two Asian powers are at loggerheads over remote islands that are administered by Japan but also claimed by China. Beijing has also been angered by a recent visit by Japan’s prime minister to a controversial war shrine.
Adm. Samuel Locklear told a news conference that “the risk calculation can grow” when two large powers have a disagreement but aren’t talking to each other and when there’s no clear resolution in sight.
More from China Daily:
Sino-US naval hotline urged to tackle conflict
US Pacific Commander Samuel Locklear has called on Beijing and Washington to improve communications through a naval hotline to defuse potential conflict.
Observers said on Friday the move is an attempt to deepen military relations between the United States and China. However, to achieve this the US should abandon its frequent maritime and air surveillance and reconnaissance activities against China, which have only led to distrust, the observers said.
Locklear said at a Pentagon news briefing that he wants a hotline to officers from the People’s Liberation Army in case there is a crisis in the region.
Nikkei Asian Review gives a nudge:
US prods Japan to make nice with South Korea
America’s highest-ranking career diplomat urged Japan to work toward better relations with South Korea, calling cooperation among the three countries vital to regional security.
The U.S. is allied with both of the two neighbors and fears that antagonism between them could interfere with its own Asian strategy.
Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met with Japanese cabinet members in Tokyo on Friday, wrapping up a trip to Asia that first took him to China and South Korea.
SINA English turns a back:
China dismisses Abe’s call for talks
China on Thursday dismissed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s call for talks with Chinese leaders, arguing that it is insincere.
“We have repeatedly stated our position on this. The Japanese leader should not dream of having empty talks while refusing to acknowledge his mistakes and continuing to make negative remarks on China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press briefing.
He said China’s leaders are very busy, and prefer to dedicate time to things that are more meaningful and useful.
Meanwhile, a summons from Japan via Channel NewsAsia Singapore:
Abe calls for summit for “inseparable” Japan and China
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday that Japan and China are “inseparable” and urged Beijing to come to the table for “vital” summit talks as he sought to move on from comparisons he drew with World War I.
Abe told lawmakers he would not budge on the sovereignty of the Tokyo-administered islands that Beijing claims, but insisted the disagreement should not prevent a meeting between two closely-intertwined countries.
“Unfortunately, we have not been able to realise summit meetings with China. But my door for dialogue is always open,” he told the opening of a parliamentary session.
“Instead of refusing to hold dialogue unless issues become resolved, we should hold talks because we have issues. Japan and China are inseparable. I will continue to make efforts to improve relations, while calling (on China) to return to the principles of a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests.”
Zonal warnings — or note — from NHK WORLD:
Suga: No reports of warnings against SDF aircraft
Japan’s top government spokesman says Self-Defense Force aircraft have received no warnings from Chinese military planes in the East China Sea.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the comment on Friday in reference to a report by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency the previous day.
In the report, a Chinese air force spokesperson said Chinese military aircraft have monitored, identified, and issued warnings to foreign military aircraft entering China’s air defense identification zone.
China set up the zone over the East China Sea 2 months ago.
The Japan Daily Press throws the book at ‘em:
Japan sends ambassador, lobbyists to Virginia over ‘Sea of Japan’ issue in US textbooks
While it may be a big deal in Japan and South Korea, Americans are befuddled that an obscure bill filed in Virginia is causing a furor, to the point that the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. himself is sitting down with their governor. The legislation requires that any new textbooks in Virginia schools has to indicate that the Sea of Japan is also known as the East Sea.
It may be laughable to those who don’t understand the history between the two Asian countries, but it is a major issue for South Korea, as the label of Sea of Japan is a painful reminder to them of the Japanese occupation. Virginia is home to a large Korean population and it was on their behalf that three legislators submitted the bill that requires all public school textbooks to carry both names for the body of water. But Japan is going all out to state their case, with the ambassador to the United States, Kenichiro Sasae, meeting with Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and other legislative leaders for a “courtesy call”, as Japan is one of the state’s largest trading partners. But sources say the real purpose of the meeting is to discuss the bill, which is obviously opposed by Japan.
Spinning severely from Tokyo Times:
Japan loves Anne Frank, but for unexpected reasons
Anne Frank, the little girl who became probably the world’s most famous victim of the World War 2, has made Japan to fall in love with her for decades. However, researchers say the reason for Japan identifying so much with Anne Frank has to do with a problem of denial.
Frank’s story has been presented in many ways in Japan, including comic books, cartoons, museum exhibitions and educational initiatives, while at least four popular manga comic books about her and three animated films were released in Japan so far.
Although many people in Europe see Anne Frank as a symbol of the Holocaust and a victim of racism, Japanese people tend to identify with her for totally different reasons, Alain Lewkowicz, a French Jewish journalist who investigated the Anne Frank phenomenon in Japan, said.
It reflects Japan’s tendency to identify itself with the victims of the World War II, ignoring at the same time the responsibility for atrocities committed by its army who fought together with Nazi Germany.
South China Morning Post names names of a new feature of China’s national security machine:
New security commission to be led by top three in Communist Party
Xi, Li and Zhang to oversee the monitoring of foreign policy, domestic and defence concerns
The Communist Party’s National Security Commission will be led by the top three members of the supreme Politburo Standing Committee, underscoring the authority of the new group that will monitor domestic and foreign security issues.
President Xi Jinping will head the commission, with Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang as deputy chiefs, Xinhua reported, citing a Politburo decision yesterday.
The commission would be in charge of “making overall plans and co-ordinating major issues and major work concerning national security”, the Politburo statement said. The new agency would not be considered a government body and would report to the Politburo and its Standing Committee.
More zones, from Jiji Press:
Japan, Taiwan to Set Up Tuna Fishing Zones under Different Rules
Japan and Taiwan agreed Friday to establish fishery zones where rules of the eather side will be applied during the bluefin tuna fishing season between April and July.
The zones will be set up within the so-called special cooperation zone off the island of Kume in Okinawa Prefecture and in waters north of the Yaeyama Islands, also in the southern prefecture.
Under the agreement, made at the third round of Japan-Taiwan fishery talks in Taipei, the zone off Kume Island will be split evenly into two, with the northern half under Japanese rules requiring each fishing boat to operate at least 4 nautical miles from others and the southern half under Taiwanese rules calling for a one-nautical-mile distance between boats.
Another quarter heard from, via Kyodo News:
N. Korea reiterates call on S. Korea to end drills with U.S. at U.N.
The top North Korean envoy to the United Nations on Friday reiterated a warning for the South to cancel an annual military exercise with the United States or face “unimaginable destruction” in the region.
“The South Korean authorities should take a crucial political decision of canceling Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises,” Sin Son Ho, told reporters at a rare press conference.
The ambassador was referring to the names of the military exercises, which usually take place between late February and April. The military maneuvers, carried out for decades, ramp up tensions each year between the two countries.
He further proposed the drills be moved to a “secluded area” and far from the region.
New Europe politicks:
EU-China 4th Strategic Dialogue in Brussels this Monday
The 4th China – EU High Level Strategic Dialogue is taking place Monday, 27 January in Brussels, co- chaired by the Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.
The political dialogue between EU and China extend to many areas, including foreign policy, regional affairs for the Asia-Pacific, Africa, Central Asia and Middle East areas, arms control and non-proliferation, human rights and climate change.
Initialy, the strategic dialogue was established in 2005 at deputy foreign minister level. In 2010, it was upgraded to a high level strategic dialogue co-chaired by China’s State Councilor and the EU’s High Representative. Three high level dialogues have already taken place and this will be the 4th.
More of the same from Xinhua:
China, India open “Year of Friendship”
China and India on Friday launched their “Year of Friendship in 2014,” which they hope will increase understanding and cooperation between the two big countries.
Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao attended the opening ceremony in Beijing, along with dozens of diplomats, cultural figures, businesspeople and officials.
Li said China-India ties are facing new opportunities and mutual friendship and cooperation will benefit the two peoples as well as contributing to world peace, stability and prosperity.
And from RT, blowback from black ops past:
Poles to investigate report of $15mn cash payment for secret CIA prison
Polish prosecutors dealing with the allegations that CIA operated a secret prison for terror suspects in Poland pledge a probe into a report that the spy agency paid $15 million in cash to open the black site.
Human rights activists and lawyers accuse Warsaw of striking a secret deal with Washington, under which the CIA allegedly took over an intelligence training academy and used it to secretly detain prisoners as part of the War on Terror. The suspected site is one of dozens allegedly hosted by countries, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Romania.
Polish authorities have been investigating the allegations since 2008.
Another blast from the past via TheLocal.de:
Prisoner turned Stasi spy can fight for pension
A former Stasi prisoner turned Communist spy has won the right to appeal against a decision to take his pension and compensation money away from him.
The 60-year-old spent five years in prison in Communist East Germany for attempting to flee to the West. In 1982, West German authorities paid for his release and he was later awarded compensation, as well as a pension.
But in 2009, when authorities discovered the man had worked as an informer for the Stasi while in prison, they demanded that he return the €18,000 he had received in compensation, as well as €13,000 in accumulated interest. The former prisoner maintained that he had been forced into becoming a spy.
Friday’s ruling by the Constitutional Court in Potsdam, Brandenburg, overturns a decision by a lower court to deny the man the right to a personal hearing to argue his case.
And another from Deutsche Welle:
Croatia extradites ex-spy boss Perkovic to Germany
Croatia has extradited its former chief of intelligence to Germany, where he faces a charge of masterminding the murder of a dissident student in the 1980s. Zagreb had initially refused to hand over Josip Perkovic.
Germany placed Perkovic on its wanted list in 2005, accusing him of involvement in the 1983 murder of Yugoslav defector Stjepan Djurekovic. The Yugoslav secret service, of which Perkovic was a member at the time, is alleged to have been behind the killing in the Bavarian town of Wolfratshausen.
Perkovic, whose defense counsel has lodged a series of appeals against the extradition, has denied any part in the murder and has said that he has no chance of a fair trial in Germany.
Security Week strikes at the store Johnny Carson called Needless Markup:
Nieman Marcus Says Hackers Stole Details of 1.1 Million Customer Credit Cards
High-end department store Neiman Marcus said on Thursday that between July 16 and October 30, 2013, hackers using sneaky point-of-sale malware were able to obtain details of roughly 1,100,000 customer payment cards.
“While the forensic and criminal investigations are ongoing, we know that malicious software (malware) was clandestinely installed on our system,” Karen Katz President and CEO of Neiman Marcus Group, wrote in letter to customers. “It appears that the malware actively attempted to collect or “scrape” payment card data from July 16, 2013 to October 30, 2013. During those months, approximately 1,100,000 customer payment cards could have been potentially visible to the malware.”
So far, Visa, MasterCard and Discover told the retailer that approximately 2,400 unique customer payment cards used at Neiman Marcus and Last Call stores were used fraudulently.
An embarrassing hack from Network World:
CNN’s Twitter and Facebook accounts hacked
A group styled as the Syrian Electronic Army claimed credit
A number of CNN’s social media accounts and blogs were hacked Thursday by a group styling itself as the Syrian Electronic Army.
The cable news network said its main Facebook account, Twitter feeds and some blogs were targeted and content posted on some of them. The posts, including unauthorized tweets, were deleted in minutes and the accounts have since been secured, it said.
The SEA, a group that supports the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, said in a Twitter message that it had decided to retaliate against CNN’s “viciously lying reporting aimed at prolonging the suffering” in Syria.
Even more embarrassing hacker victimology from Nextgov:
Hackers Lift F-35 Plans, Infiltrate FBI Press Office
The technical information on the joint strike fighter was intercepted before reaching its intended recipient overseas. And the culprit, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested this month before he could flee.
Spammers have discovered how to steal brand-name short domains – like usat.ly (USA Today) and cbsloc.al (CBS Local) — to create a false sense of security.
FBI press office apparently infiltrated
Hactivist group TeamBerserk recently claimed to have hacked the website of the bureau’s public affairs division and deposited several unclassified documents online.
Security Week tallies costs to secondary victims:
Target Breach Has Cost Credit Unions Nearly $30 Million: Association
According to a preliminary report from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), credit unions across the nation have so far incurred nearly $30 million in costs as a result of the massive data breach that hit Target Corp. between late November and mid-December.
The California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, which represents more than 400 credit unions in California and Nevada, said that the CUNA survey asked credit unions impacted by the Target data breach to outline the costs and burdens they have seen as a result.
According to the survey, more than 530,000 debit and credit card accounts at California credit unions alone were affected by the breach, representing an estimated $2.7 million in card reissuance and other costs.
And from CNN, penalizing failure to observe icon worshiping rules:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio: 38 Arizona inmates who defaced flag to eat only bread, water
A diet of bread and water is the punishment for dozens of Arizona inmates who allegedly defaced American flags placed in their jail cells.
The 38 male inmates are part of the Maricopa County jail system, which is under the control of controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio. For their alleged unpatriotic acts, the sheriff said Thursday, they’ll survive on bread and water for seven days.
“These inmates have destroyed the American flag that was placed in their cells,” Arpaio said. “Tearing them, writing on them, stepping on them, throwing them in the toilet, trash or wherever they feel. It’s a disgrace … this is government property that they are destroying, and we will take action against those who act this way.”
Nextgov declines:
Analysis: Five Years Later, U.S. Drone Use on the Decline
At least 2,400 people have been killed by U.S. drone strikes since President Obama took office five years ago this week.
More than a tenth of the deaths — at least 273 — belong not to suspected terrorists, but civilians, according to data tracked by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. More than 390 drone strikes, in total, have been used against Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.
The administration’s use of drone strikes has become a familiar, nearly constant point of contention with some allies in the Middle East, particularly Pakistan. A key supply route between Afghanistan and Pakistan continues to be blocked off as Pakistanis protest the U.S.’s use of drones. The country’s prime minister told Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last month that its “counter-productive” to U.S.-Pakistani counterterrorism measures.
And for our final item, one certain to add a measure of insecurity to your nightmares, via Dvice, welcome to SkyNet:
Army to replace 25 percent of soldiers with robots by 2030
In what might come as a shock to many enlisted individuals out there, The U.S. Army has recently declared that it is cutting troop levels. Over the next sixteen years, each and every brigade in the Army will see its soldier count drop from 4,000 to 3,000, with robots making up the loss in firepower. That’s according to General Robert Cone, who said robot soldier levels would reach their new peak between 2030 and 2040 during an Army Aviation symposium last week.
The scope of Gen. Cone’s announcement is even more sweeping than you might suppose. Soldiers currently work in nine-man squads — the smallest effective unit size generally deployed. Vehicles and infrastructure are constructed with these basic troop units in mind, so altering this group mechanic to either include robot members or entire squads of mechanical soldiers would be a massive undertaking from a infrastructure point of view.
