Putin’s Most Terrifying Army

Posted on October 30, 2015October 30, 2015 by Denise Simon

This hacking wing of the Kremlin is not lost on our Congressional members, they clearly are aware of the names and events.

Organized crime is now a major element of Russia statecraft
BusinessInsider: In the past couple years, Russian hackers have launched attacks on a French television network, a German steelmaker, the Polish stock market, the White House, the US House of Representatives, the US State Department, and The New York Times.

And according to press reports citing Western intelligence officials, the perpetrators weren’t rogue cyber-pranksters. They were working for the Kremlin.

Cybercrime, it appears, has become a tool of Russian statecraft. And not just cybercrime.

Vladimir Putin’s regime has become increasingly adept at deploying a whole range of practices that are more common among crime syndicates than permanent members of the UN Security Council.

In some cases, as with the hacking, this involves the Kremlin subcontracting organized crime groups to do things the Russian state cannot do itself with plausible deniability. And in others, it involves the state itself engaging in kidnapping, extortion, blackmail, bribery, and fraud to advance its agenda.

Spanish prosecutor Jose Grinda has noted that the activities of Russian criminal networks are virtually indistinguishable from those of the government.

“It’s not so much a mafia state as a nationalized mafia,” Russian organized crime expert Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University and co-host of the Power Vertical Podcast, said in a recent lecture at the Hudson Institute.

Hackers, Gangsters, And Goblins
According to a report by the FBI and US intelligence agencies, Russia is home to the most skilled community of cybercriminals on the globe, and the Kremlin has close ties to them.

“They have let loose the hounds,” Tom Kellermann, chief security officer at Trend Micro, a Tokyo-based security firm, told Bloomberg News.

Citing unidentified officials, Bloomberg reported that Russian hackers had stepped up surveillance of essential infrastructure, including power grids and energy-supply networks, in the United States, Europe, and Canada.

Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder of the security firm CrowdStrike, noted recently that the Russian security services have been actively recruiting an army of hackers.

“When someone is identified as being technically proficient in the Russian underground,” a pending criminal case against them “suddenly disappears and those people are never heard from again,” Alperovitch said in an interview with The Hill, adding that the hacker in question is then working for the Russian security services.

“We know that’s going on,” Alperovitch added.

And as a result, criminal hackers “that used to hunt banks eight hours a day are now operating two hours a day turning their guns on NATO and government targets,” Kellermann of Trend Micro told The Hill, adding that these groups are “willingly operating as cyber-militias.”

The hacking is just one example of how the Kremlin effectively uses organized crime as a geopolitical weapon.

Moscow relied heavily on local organized crime structures in its support for separatist movements in Transdniester, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Donbas.

In the conflict in eastern Ukraine, organized crime groups served as agents for the Kremlin, fomenting pro-Russia unrest and funneling arms to rebel groups.

In annexed Crimea, the Kremlin installed a reputed gangster known as “The Goblin” as the peninsula’s chief executive.

And of course there is the case of Eston Kohver, the Estonian law enforcement officer who was investigating a smuggling ring run jointly by Russian organized crime groups and the Russian Federal Security Service.

Kohver was kidnapped in Estonia September 2014, brought across the Russian border at gunpoint, and convicted of espionage. He was released in a prisoner exchange last month.

The Geopolitics Of Extortion
But Putin’s mafia statecraft doesn’t just involve using and colluding with organized crime groups.

It often acts like an organized crime group itself.
In some cases this involves using graft as a means of control. This is a tactic Moscow has deployed throughout the former Soviet space, involving elites in corrupt schemes — everything from shady energy deals or money-laundering operations — to secure a “captured constituency.”

This is a tactic Russia attempted to use in Georgia following the 2003 Rose Revolution and in Ukraine after the 2004 Orange Revolution, where “corruption and shadow networks were mobilized to undermine the new leadership’s reform agenda,” according to James Greene in a 2012 report for Chatham House.

This was particularly successful in Ukraine, where opaque gas deals were used “to suborn Ukraine’s post-Orange Revolution new leadership,” Greene wrote.

And Putin is clearly hoping to repeat this success in eastern Ukraine today — especially after elections are held in the rebel areas of Donbas.

“His bet in the eastern Ukraine local election, if it ever takes place, won’t be on the rebel field commanders but on local oligarchs who ran the region before the 2014 ‘revolution of dignity.’ Through them, he will hope to exert both economic and political influence on Kiev.” political commentator Leonid Bershidsky wrote in Bloomberg View.

In addition to graft, Moscow has also effectively utilized blackmail — making the international community a series of offers it can’t refuse.

It’s a neat trick. First you create instability, as in Ukraine, or exasperate existing instability, as in Syria.Then offer your services to establish order.

You essentially create demand — and then meet it. You get to act like a rogue and be treated like a statesman.

It’s how protection rackets operate. And it has become one of the pillars of Putin’s foreign policy.
“It’s the geopolitics of extortion, but it’s probably working,” Galeotti told Voice of America in a recent interview.

“He’s identifying a whole series of potential trouble spots around the world, places that matter to the West, and is essentially indicating that he can either be a good partner, if they’re willing to make a deal with him, or he can stir up more trouble.”

Cold War Part 2, Gathering Conditions

Posted on October 29, 2015October 29, 2015 by Denise Simon

At the center of the conditions we have Iran, Russia, China and for extra measure, more aggressive terror factions and cells.

We had Afghanistan won until Barack Obama declared a termination to hostilities and combat roles. Now, conditions include:

Islamic State militants who say they are based in Afghanistan have in recent days promoted their alleged successes in the country. And on Wednesday they issued a call for Muslims to “take up arms” against Jews and Christians and “fight them in whatever way we can.”

The message in the Pashto language was the third time in less than a week that IS has highlighted its activities in Afghanistan on its website. In recent days, U.S. and Afghan officials have warned of an increased IS presence in Afghanistan and of its threat to Central Asia.

FNC: Russia has helped Iran deliver weapons into Syria twice a day over the past 10 days, western intelligence sources tell Fox News. Those sources say Russian cargo planes transported the weapons. The planes were spotted earlier this month on the tarmac at the Russian air base in Latakia, Syria’s primary port city. The flights are not registered, and are in breach of two United Nations Security Council resolutions which impose an arms embargo on Iran.

Fox News is told the increased Russian transport of Iranian weapons is being coordinated by Qassem Soulimeini, the head of the Iranian Al-Quds force, as well as President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. An Iranian civilian airline, Mahan Air, is flying military personnel into Syria several times each day from Tehran to Latakia.

Tehran’s support has been crucial to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s survival. Besides significant financial aid to Assad, Iran has acknowledged that its Revolutionary Guard officers are on the ground in Syria in an advisory role. There have been multiple Iranian officers and soldiers killed in fighting in Syria, though Tehran denies the presence of actual combat troops in the country.

In part: The United States has upgraded the security at its two largest overseas nuclear weapons bases, Incirlik Air Base in Turkey and Aviano Air Base in Italy. Incirlik is undergoing a particularly extensive upgrade, a move connected to its vulnerable location close to the Syrian border.

Recent satellite images from Incirlik and Aviano show double-fence security perimeters—a sealed-off area where intruders can be shot—being built around the nuclear weapons storage areas. At Incirlik the garage holding the trucks that service the warheads is also being improved, along with the trucks themselves. Incirlik’s newly upgraded area contains 21 vaults, each holding two to three warheads, and will be equipped with lighting, cameras, and intrusion-detection devices. In addition to soldiers already guarding the enclosure, manned vehicles will also patrol space between the two fences around the clock.

Combined, the Incirlik measures amount to a major security upgrade. “They didn’t use to have the special double-fence security perimeter with sensors and the patrol road around the nuclear weapons vaults,” explained Hans Kristensen, a nuclear expert at the Federation of American Scientists, who first reported the Incirlik and Aviano activity on his blog. “When the vaults were constructed in the nineties, they were considered so secure that the special security perimeter that had previously been used for nuclear weapons storage areas was no longer considered necessary.” He added that it’s unclear whether the upgrade is a direct result of volatility in the region or related to changed Pentagon security requirements.

More Cold War Part 2 Indicators:

Just as Russia has increased its military activism in the Middle East, the Kremlin is turning down the temperature in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, as the September 1 cease-fire is largely holding and larger caliber weaponry is being pulled back. The October 2 Paris meeting of the leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia—the so-called Normandy Format—yielded a modest but positive result in postponing unsanctioned elections in the separatist areas. Yet the ultimate goal of returning Ukraine’s sovereignty over its eastern border still seems distant. Russia’s shadow therefore continues to loom over NATO’s eastern flank.

Against this geopolitical backdrop, 28 NATO defense ministers agreed on a plan to expand the NATO Response Force (NRF) to 40,000 troops, more than double its current size. This implements one of the principal elements of the program launched by NATO leaders at the September 2014 Wales Summit to upgrade NATO’s rapid-response capacity and to begin adapting the alliance to the challenges from Russia in the east. Among the other key elements in NATO’s adaptation are the creation of a high-readiness “spearhead” task force—Secretary General Stoltenberg announced October 8 that lead nations for the spearhead force have been identified through 2022 (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom), demonstrating resolve by NATO members to put resources behind its top-priority initiative. Thus far, the United States has deferred a decision to become a lead nation for the spearhead force, but the Obama administration’s European Reassurance Initiative invested $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2015 in strengthening European defense, enabling U.S. force rotations, security assistance, and pre-positioning of equipment in Europe. Sustaining U.S. investments beyond FY15 will be essential to ensuring European—and transatlantic—security.

Need more? al Qaeda in the Maghreb, deploying more special forces to Iraq against ISIS, additional success and growth of ISIS in Afghanistan, terror plan or Asia discovered, the Taliban is aiding and harboring al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

There is more, but you understand that since America under Barack Obama has retreated, the enemies are exploiting the weakness and lack of strategy by the West, where the United States used to lead.

MI5 and the FBI: Terrorists on Twitter-Social Media

Posted on October 29, 2015October 29, 2015 by Denise Simon

Twitter is the least cooperative technology company calling terrorists on the internet ‘freedom fighters. This was revealed in testimony this week.

Twitter has come under criticism from some analysts who say the social media company has failed to swiftly remove accounts that recruit potential terrorists and incite violence, raising concerns that the United States has not done enough to combat the Islamic State’s rapid expansion of its propaganda operations online.

Mark Wallace, CEO of the Counter Extremism Project, said on Wednesday that the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group has effectively used social media sites such as Twitter to propagandize and radicalize individuals, including Americans. His nonprofit project recently chronicled 66 U.S. citizens who are accused of joining or attempting to join the Islamic State, plotting attacks in the United States, providing financial support to extremist groups, or disseminating radical propaganda.

“These individuals have very different backgrounds and experiences, but the one characteristic they seem to share is active participation on social media,” he said in testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The terror group known as Islamic State or Daesh has deployed and exploited unprescendented use of social media, where the effectiveness is beyond definition. Intelligence agencies in the West are grappling with solutions pushing the protections of free speech and use of the internet.

In part from Newsweek: The head of Britain’s internal counter-intelligence service MI5, has warned that ISIS and other extremist groups “continue to aspire to mass casualty attacks against the U.K.” and that an increasing proportion of their communication online and via encrypted channels is out of reach of Britain’s security services.

“All of this means the threat we are facing today is on a scale and at a tempo that I have not seen before in my career,” Andrew Parker said in his keynote speech made at a lord mayor’s event in London on Wednesday night.
Parker also warned of the “three-dimensional threat” that ISIS pose—at home, overseas and online. “We are seeing plots against the U.K. directed by terrorists in Syria; enabled through contacts with terrorists in Syria; and inspired online by Isil’s [ISIS] sophisticated exploitation of technology.”

Parker said MI5 must evolve its activities in order to combat modern threats, and emphasized that the agency’s ability to intercept communications has “been a key component in MI5’s toolbox throughout our history.”

The MI5 boss said he imagined the forthcoming defence review would garner more public interest than previous debates on similar matters. “But I hope that the public debate will be a mature one, ” he added. “Informed by the three independent reviews, and not characterized by ill-informed accusations of ‘mass surveillance’, or other such lazy two-worded tags.”

When it comes to the very similar requests by FBI Director, James Comey, his pleas are in earnest yet, tech companies and the U.S. Constitution actually prevent some actions due to the 1st Amendment. It is a slippery slope for both sides.

FBI Director James Comey called for a national conversation about how far tech companies should be allowed to go in applying encryption to their devices, saying law enforcement faces growing and overlapping challenges in accessing data needed to prosecute crimes.

During a speech at the Brookings Institution Thursday, Comey said the new forms of encryption being developed for mobile devices, as well as the rapid growth of the devices themselves, make it tough for the FBI to keep up with ways criminals can “go dark.”

“With going dark, those of us in law enforcement and public safety have a major fear of missing out,” Comey said. “Missing out on predators who exploit the most vulnerable among us; missing out on violent criminals who target our communities; missing out on a terrorist cell using social media to recruit, plan and execute an attack. We have seen case after case — from homicides and car crashes to drug trafficking, domestic abuse and child exploitation — where critical evidence came from smartphones, hard drives and online communication.”

To advance the discussion, Congress is holding hearings with counter-terrorism experts and they too make a compelling argument siding with Comey.

Camp Liberty under heavy attack

Posted on October 29, 2015October 30, 2015 by Denise Simon

Update that includes statement from Secretary of State John Kerry:

Washington (AFP) – US top diplomat John Kerry condemned an attack on a base that houses exiled Iranian opposition members on the outskirts of Baghdad, calling Thursday for the international community to help relocate its residents.

At least 15 missiles targeted Camp Liberty Thursday, a former US military base near Baghdad’s international airport, which houses members of the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, an opposition group that has been exiled since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

A spokesman for the Mujahedin said the attack was the worst to have targeted the camp so far, and claimed that several people were killed but could not say how many.

“The United States strongly condemns today’s brutal, senseless terrorist attack on Camp Hurriya that killed and injured camp residents,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement, using an alternate name for the camp.

“No matter the circumstances, on this point we remain absolute: the United States remains committed to assisting the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the relocation of all Camp Hurriya residents to a permanent and safe location outside of Iraq,” he said.

“We call on more countries to assist in responding to this urgent humanitarian situation by welcoming camp residents for relocation and by contributing to the fund established by the United Nations to support their resettlement,” he added.

Meanwhile, a Paris based organization, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said in a statement that 23 people had died in the attack and that dozens more were injured, including 22 who were seriously hurt.

A representative from the group, Afchine Alavi, said all told, some 80 rockets landed at the camp. The Mujahedin sided with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq during the war with Iran in the 1980s but the 2003 US-led invasion brought leaders with ties to Tehran to power. The Mujahedin were moved to Camp Liberty after the 2011 US withdrawal.

“We have been in touch with senior Iraqi officials to ensure that the government of Iraq renders all possible medical and emergency assistance to the victims,” Kerry said, adding that the United States was in contact with the government for more details on the attack.

“Our condolences go out to the families of the victims, and we hope for the swift recovery of those injured,” he said.

Camp Liberty, Iraq has been housing Iranian dissidents for several years and Iran leadership has been quite aggressive in terminating this U.S. base.

NCRI Statements | Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty

Details: Thursday, 29 October 2015 19:05

NCRIWomen’sCommittee‏@NCRI_Women_Comm 1h1 hour ago

the death toll in #campLiberty attack is not clear yet, over 10 names have been reported

Camp Liberty under heavy attack – No. 3

Urgent: Attack and very heavy missile barrage of Camp Liberty in Iraq

According to the latest information received from Camp Liberty, over 80 missiles of all types have been hit the camp that houses Iranian opposition members.
Craters as deep as 2 meters and 3.5 meter wide have been created in some impact areas.
The intensity of the explosions are to the extent that many housing units and their protective T-walls have been destroyed or fallen down.

URGENT: At least 20 PMOI members martyred in attack on Camp Liberty.

Camp Liberty under heavy attack – No. 2

Urgent: Attack and very heavy missile barrage of Camp Liberty in Iraq

According to initial reports, there has been a lot of damage and fire, but due to the darkness of night there is no confirmation of the number of those killed or injured.

A large number of trailers have caught fire and the PMOI members are using any means possible to them to extinguish the flames.
The names of a number of PMOI martyrs that have thus far been confirmed are as follows:
Mehdi Tavakol, Behzad Mirshahi, Hassan Adavi, Rajab Mohammadi, Reza Vadian, Sharif Veysi, Hossein Sarvazad, Ahmad Maschian, Jasem Qaseer, Nayereh Rabiee.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
October 29, 2015

———–

Camp Liberty under heavy attack – No. 1

Urgent: Attack and very heavy missile barrage of Camp Liberty in Iraq

Since 7:40 pm local time, Camp Liberty has come under the most severe attack and very heavy missile barrage.

Right now all electricity and communications are cut off.
Further reports will be made available as they are received.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
October 29, 2015

The Real Truths about UNRWA, Anyone Care?

Posted on October 29, 2015October 29, 2015 by Denise Simon

This is the best that the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power could do to respond to Hamas using children as human shields:

Samantha PowerVerified account ‏@AmbassadorPower 17 Jul 2014

Yest. UN found Hamas weapons hidden in its facility. @UNRWA provides aid/shelter to Palestinians—abhorrent that Hamas wld endanger its work.

UNRWA found Hamas rockets in UN facilities in Gaza but decided that fact was not really a war crime or a violation. Per the UNRWA official statement, just an additional condemnation is sufficient.

A handful of Senators compel John Kerry to sanction UNRWA over the weapons which Kerry has refused to do.

The UNRWA Vision Projectcame about because of an astonishingly brave kid in Gaza, Mohammad aged 8 whose life was changed forever when a single shell hit his house and blinded him. We need to make this project a reality for hundreds of children in Gaza. Please donate today to end their suffering and help bringing them a brighter future.

His father: H/T EoZ:Nidal was a legitimate target under the laws of war by any definition,. He used his family, including Mohammed, as human shields.

No one was killed in the Israeli airstrike targeting Nidal, although Mohammed’s siblings were injured.

A week later, Nidal met with two other senior Hamas terrorists in a mosque at 3:30 AM, way before dawn prayers. Israeli forces did not miss that time and all three were killed. Hamas detained an AP reporter looking at the rubble of the mosque because they didn’t want him to see evidence that the mosque was in fact a terrorist headquarters.

Mohammed Badran is blind because his father was a disgusting Hamas terrorist who valued his own life above that of his family.

Gunness knows that Mohammed’s father was a Hamas terrorist. He won’t ever admit it out loud.

Because this is all about money, and Chris Gunness is more than happy to cynically use this victim of Hamas policy to raise money.

US Taxpayer-Funded Official Speaks Before Hamas-Tied Terror Group

UNRWA spokesman delivered speech in front of group designated as terrorist organization

FreeBeacon: A senior official with a U.S.-funded United Nations organization has come under scrutiny for delivering a speech this week before an anti-Israel organization that has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Treasury Department for providing funds to the terror group Hamas.

Chris Gunness, spokesman for the U.S. taxpayer-funded UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), which operates Palestinian refugee camps known for promoting terrorism against Israel, delivered a speech earlier this week before Interpal, a UK-based charity organization, which is listed as a specially designated global terrorist organization for funneling money to Hamas.

Gunness’ appearance fueled accusations by many in the pro-Israel community that UNRWA is a biased organization that abuses the more than $200 million it receives annually from the United States.

UNRWA employees, including teachers at its Palestinian schools and others, have been caught making anti-Semitic statements, promoting hatred of the Jewish state, and accused of participating in terrorist training.

Gunness’s appearance before the Hamas-tied organization comes amid an effort on Capitol Hill to suspend UNRWA’s funding and hold it accountable for its ties to terror groups and incitement against Israel.

While UNRWA did not promote the event, pictures of Gunness speaking before Interpal appeared on Twitter earlier this week.

Gunness talked “about little Mohammad, who was blinded when an Israeli shell hit his home in July 2014,” according to a tweet by Interpal.

Another user noted that the “UNRWA man tells the story of a child who froze to death [because] of slow pace of reconstruction in Gaza.”

When asked about the event, Gunness directed UNRWA’s Washington, D.C., spokesman to submit a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.

“UNRWA Spokesman Chris Gunness spoke at an event in the UK Parliament sponsored and attended by British Members of Parliament about a project supported by a legally registered UK charity to help approximately 300 blind and visually impaired Palestinian children in Gaza in need of special assistance,” UNRWA spokesman Chris McGrath told the Free Beacon.

While Interpal remains legal in the UK, it was designated by the United States as a terrorist organization in 2003.

“Interpal, headquartered in the UK, has been a principal charity utilized to hide the flow of money to HAMAS,” according to the Treasury Department’s findings. “Reporting indicates it is the conduit through which money flows to HAMAS from other charities, e.g., the Al Aqsa Foundation, and that it oversees the activities of other charities.”

“Reporting also indicates that Interpal is the fundraising coordinator of HAMAS, a coordination point for other HAMAS-affiliated charities,” according to Treasury. “This role is of the type that includes supervising activities of charities, developing new charities in targeted areas, instructing how funds should be transferred from one charity to another, and even determining public relations policy.”

“In the US, Interpal is listed as an organization involved in funding terror, and their ties with Hamas are well known and documented in detail,” said Gerald M. Steinberg, president of the watchdog group NGO Monitor. “So INTERPAL’s hosting of UNRWA’s spokesman, Chris Gunness, is another reason for a full investigation of the UN organization and its employees.”

“This agenda highlights the urgency of ending all funding for UNRWA, particularly the hundreds of millions provided every year by American, European, Canadian and Australian taxpayers,” Steinberg said.

Gunness’s appearance before the organization prompted questions during Tuesday’s State Department briefing. Spokesman John Kirby declined to address the questions and would not say whether the Obama administration was concerned with this behavior.

Asked Wednesday to further address Gunness’ actions, State Department spokesperson Julia Mason told the Free Beacon that administration officials have repeatedly emphasized to UNRWA that it must strive to remain “free from bias.”

“We have seen the reports on this event, though we did not attend,” Mason said. “We understand that the UNRWA spokesperson attended an event at the British Parliament to benefit wounded Palestinian children, hosted by several of its members.”

“We have long made known our commitment to UNRWA’s absolutely essential work in helping Palestinian refugees—including many refugee children,” she added. “And we have made clear our position that UNRWA must be able to work independently and free from bias.”

The State Department “regularly” discusses with UNRWA “the importance of maintaining the organization’s neutrality,” Mason said. “That includes raising concerns regarding any engagements with U.S.-designated terrorist organizations.”

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.) filed legislation this week that would cut off U.S. funding to UNRWA as a result of concerns that the organization is promoting terrorism.

The bill would withhold U.S. contributions to UNRWA until officials can certify that no employees of the organization have ties to terrorism or anti-Semitic incitement.

UNRWA also would be forced to submit to an independent audit meant to determine if it is diverting funds to terrorist entities.

“In response to the increased terror and violence in Israel, we must hold those who are responsible for inciting this violence accountable and that includes UNRWA,” Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement.

“The U.S. can’t continue to send $400 million to UNRWA while ignoring the systemic and endemic anti-Israel, anti-Semitic bias and the blatant incitement to violence we see from its employees,” the lawmaker said. “UNRWA employees and facilities are consistently tied to foreign terrorist organizations and a full accounting of the agency’s affiliations should be required before another dime is spent on this divisive organization.”

UN officials were recently forced to suspend several UNRWA employees after it was revealed by the NGO Monitor organization that they had sought to promote anti-Semitic violence. Several teachers at UNRWA-run schools promoted terrorist attacks against Israelis, according to NGO Monitor’s findings.

URGENT: Camp Liberty under heavy attack

US Taxpayer-Funded Official Speaks Before Hamas-Tied Terror Group