Perspective: The Real Violation of Hillary with SAP on Her Server

Posted on January 21, 2016January 21, 2016 by Denise Simon

Humm, was Hillary ever in a SCIF?

(Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility)

The smoking gun?

TheHill: Special Access Programs (SAP) is a game changer. It is now undeniably clear that the results of the FBI investigation will be the end of one of two things: Hillary’s bid for the White House or the legitimacy of the FBI—at least when it comes to prosecuting cases on the mishandling of classified material.

In 2006, a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) from my company was deployed to Afghanistan. Theirs was a particular mission that differed from the combat missions the typical ODAs were conducting at that time. Everyone on that team maintained a Top Secret Sensitive and Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance and was “read-on” to their special program. A few months into their deployment, their Intelligence Sergeant lost a thumb-drive that possessed classified information. A week later the thumb drive was found for sale at a local bazaar.

In response to the events, Col. Ken Allard (ret.) stated, “You’ve got a situation in which the U.S. is going to be forced to change an awful lot of its operational techniques.”

Beyond the compromise of classified information, a lot did change. New protocols for the handling of classified material were established, and the transportation of classified material on thumb drives was strictly forbidden. The knee jerk reaction even went as far as to disable USB ports on our work computers—in case we forgot.

Since then I’ve deployed to several locations where, at times, we operated in small teams with only non-secure cellphones with which to communicate. We often found ourselves with a lot of information that needed to be sent up in reports, but due to the nature of our mission we were forced to sit on it for a few days until we were able to type it up and send it through a secure medium. I’d be lying if I said we didn’t concoct elaborate plans with “foolproof” ways to communicate the information over non-secure channels, but in the end, no one was willing to take the risk of our “fail-safes” failing.

As more information from Hillary Clinton’s server has been made available, it is clear that the contents of the server contained Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT). Understanding that much of the information has been retroactively classified, there are a few facts that are tough to grasp—at least from the perspective of an intelligence practitioner.

First, when imagery that is classified SECRET//NOFORN (no foreign national) is viewed, regardless of the absence of classification markings, it is distinctly evident. Second, any documents that contain or reference HUMINT is always classified SECRET, and if specific names of sources or handlers are mentioned, they are at a minimum SECRET//NOFORN. Third, SIGINT is always classified at the TS level. It’s not uncommon for some SI to be downgraded and shared over SECRET mediums, however, it is highly unlikely that a Secretary of State would receive downgraded intelligence. Finally, SAP intelligence has been discovered on Clinton’s private server, and many are now calling this the smoking gun. SAP is a specialized management system of additional security controls designed to protect SAR or Special Access Required. SAR has to do with extremely perishable operational methods and capabilities, and only selected individuals who are “read on” or “indoctrinated” are permitted access to these programs. The mishandling of SAP can cause catastrophic damage to current collection methods, techniques and personnel.

In other words, if you have worked with classified material for more than a day, it seems highly implausible that someone could receive any of the aforementioned over an un-secure medium without alarm bells sounding. However, reading about a Special Access Program on an unclassified device would make anyone even remotely familiar with intelligence mess their pantsuit.

With more damming information being released almost weekly now, it’s interesting that during last Sunday’s Democratic debate, Clinton resoundingly stated: “No one is too big for jail.”Although the context was referencing bank CEOs and Hedge fund managers, the obvious correlation left many scratching their heads and wondering—did Hillary Clinton just say, “I dare you” to the FBI?”

DeChristopher is a 9-year veteran of the United States Army Special Forces. He holds an M.A. in Strategic Security Studies from National Defense University’s College of International Security Affairs with a concentration in Irregular Warfare. He currently works as an Independent Intelligence Consultant.

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The State Department Inspector General who investigated the Hillary server, had security clearance but to complete the assignment to investigate deeper the issues and data on the server, he had to go through and additional process to get the highest security clearance. It must also be mentioned that some top intelligence community professionals are now part of the investigation and they are in fact stationed to do nothing but investigate the actual communications and determine what was, should have been classified even though ‘some’ communications had designations removed.

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FNC: Some of Hillary Clinton’s emails on her private server contained information so secret that senior lawmakers who oversee the State Department cannot read them without fulfilling additional security requirements, Fox News has learned.

The emails in question, as Fox News first reported earlier this week, contained intelligence classified at a level beyond “top secret.” Because of this designation, not all the lawmakers on key committees reviewing the case have high enough clearances.

A source with knowledge of the intelligence review told Fox News that senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, despite having high-level clearances, are among those not authorized to read the intelligence from so-called “special access programs” without taking additional security steps — like signing new non-disclosure agreements.

These programs are highly restricted to protect intelligence community sources and methods.

As Fox News previously reported, a Jan. 14 letter from Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III to senior lawmakers said an intelligence review identified “several dozen” additional classified emails — including specific intelligence from “special access programs” (SAP).

That indicates a level of classification beyond even “top secret,” the label previously given to two emails found on her server, and brings even more scrutiny to the Democratic presidential candidate’s handling of the government’s closely held secrets.

Fox News is told that the reviewers who handled the SAP intelligence identified in Clinton’s emails had to sign additional non-disclosure agreements even though they already have the highest level of clearance — known as TS/SCI or Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented information. This detail was first reported by NBC News.

This alone seems to undercut the former secretary of state’s and other officials’ claims that the material is “innocuous.”

In an interview with NPR, Clinton claimed the latest IG finding doesn’t change anything and suggested it was politically motivated.

“This seems to me to be, you know, another effort to inject this into the campaign, it’s another leak,” she said. “I’m just going to leave it up to the professionals at the Justice Department because nothing that this says changes the fact that I never sent or received material marked classified.”

Despite Clinton’s claims, it is the content that is classified; the markings on the documents do not affect that.

A former Justice Department official said there is another problem — warnings from State Department IT employees and others that she should be using a government account.

“If you have a situation where someone was knowingly violating the law and that they knew that what they were doing was prohibited by federal law because other people were saying, you’re violating the law, knock it off, and they disregarded that advice and they went ahead, that’s a very difficult case to defend,” Thomas Dupree said.

New Sanctions Confirm Iran/China/North Korea Missile Partners

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Denise Simon

The State Department knew it, the White House knew it, the National Security Council knew it, the CIA knew it and yet, Barack Obama approved the Iran deal even while China, North Korea and Iran collaborated on missile construction, materials, tests and scientists.

Going back to 2007, even Condoleeza Rice earnestly challenged China on the matter.

The Keys to Iran’s Missiles are in China and North Korea

The latest revelations about Iran’s ballistic missile program make it clear that sanctions on Tehran are pointless unless they’re imposed on China and the DPRK, too.

On Monday, Tehran condemned sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department over the weekend. “The U.S. sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile program,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari, “have no legal or moral legitimacy.”

Gordon Chang, DailyBeast:

Earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani issued a threat: “Any action will be met by a reaction.”

In fact, action and reaction—sequencing, in diplomatic speak—was always part of the picture.

The Obama administration undoubtedly knew of Iranian violations before signing the landmark nuclear arrangement with Tehran in July.

Treasury’s measures follow by more than three months Iran’s Oct. 10 launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile in violation of Security Council Resolution 1929.

On Sunday, a prisoner “swap” was announced by Tehran, then confirmed by Washington, in which four Iranian-Americans including Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian were let out of Iran’s prisons. Hours later, Treasury imposed its measures on 11 designated entities and individuals “involved in procurement on behalf of Iran’s ballistic missile program.”

The sanctions, delayed from the end of December to facilitate the prisoner swap, prohibit Americans and others from engaging in business dealings with the named entities and individuals, and orders U.S. banks to freeze their assets.

The U.S. prohibitions target two Iranian procurement networks, one based in China and the United Arab Emirates and the other involving Pyongyang’s notorious Korea Mining Development Trading Corp, better known as KOMID.

The dealings between Iran and North Korea, as The Daily Beast has noted, have been extensive and spanned three decades.

Several Iranian officials vowed on Friday to expand Tehran’s missile capabilities, a direct challenge to the United States which has threatened to impose new sanctions even as the vast bulk of its measures against Iran are due to be lifted under a nuclear deal. “As long as the United States supports Israel we will expand our missile capabilities,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami,second-in-command of the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. “We don’t have enough space to store our missiles. All our depots and underground facilities are full,” he added.

Several Iranian officials vowed on Friday to expand Tehran’s missile capabilities, a direct challenge to the United States which has threatened to impose new sanctions even as the vast bulk of its measures against Iran are due to be lifted under a nuclear deal. “As long as the United States supports Israel we will expand our missile capabilities,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami,second-in-command of the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. “We don’t have enough space to store our missiles. All our depots and underground facilities are full,” he added.

Several Iranian officials vowed on Friday to expand Tehran’s missile capabilities, a direct challenge to the United States which has threatened to impose new sanctions even as the vast bulk of its measures against Iran are due to be lifted under a nuclear deal. “As long as the United States supports Israel we will expand our missile capabilities,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami,second-in-command of the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. “We don’t have enough space to store our missiles. All our depots and underground facilities are full,” he added.

Some analysts believe that during this time there have been significant contributions of Iranian technology, but Bruce Bechtol, author of North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era, disagrees. “The North Koreans are providing the expertise, the components, and the on-site development,” he told The Daily Beast over the weekend. “The Iranians are providing the money.”

Treasury’s explanatory comments tend to confirm the view that the transfer of technology has been one-way, noting that technicians from Iran’s Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group “traveled to North Korea to work on an 80-ton rocket booster being developed by the North Korean government.”

As Bechtol predicts, “The Iranians, of course, will insist that this is an ‘Iranian developed system,’” but it is not. The booster, he notes, looks like it is for the Taepodong series, the North’s longest-range launchers, or more ominously, a new family of missiles. The Taepodong missile, repainted, is the Unha-3 rocket.

This launcher “could allow Iran to achieve accurate global targeting of U.S. and Western military facilities in addition to large cities.”

Rick Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center told The Daily Beast that this launcher “could allow Iran to achieve accurate global targeting of U.S. and Western military facilities in addition to large cities.” Bechtol thinks it won’t be long before the “rocket booster”—actually the first stage of an intercontinental missile—will be produced both in North Korea and Iran.

That missile, in short, will pose a grave threat to the American homeland.

Treasury’s sanctions might slow North Korea-Iran missile cooperation, but as former Pentagon analyst Robert Collins, who is based in South Korea, suggests, Pyongyang has already figured out ways around obstacles like this. “The North Koreans have become experts at planning alternative routes for moving monies, moving equipment, and moving contacts,” he told The Daily Beast after the Treasury imposed the measures. They employ “a ‘dumping Peter to use Paul’ system designed to circumvent anticipated sanctions.” Pyongyang has become “very adept at counter-sanction planning.”

Henry Sokolski of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center believes Sunday’s measures will not be the last, as he noted in an email to The Daily Beast.

What is surprising is that Treasury essentially admitted that it was aware of proscribed Iranian activities before both the signing, on July 14, of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iranian nuclear deal, and its Oct. 18 “Adoption Day.” The 80-ton booster, after all, is designed for a missile useful only for carrying a nuclear warhead.

“The newest sanctions from the Treasury Department prove—without a doubt—that the State Department and the Treasury Department knew, as the agreement with Iran was in negotiation, that the North Koreans and Iranians were cooperating on new, advanced ballistic missile technology,” Bechtol writes.

In fact, work on the 80-ton booster has been publicly known for more than two years.

Treasury’s statement declares that “Iranian missile technicians” had gone to North Korea “within the past several years” in connection with the big booster.

The sanctions, therefore, look like an afterthought, and Washington appears unserious. If the U.S. really wants to end the missile threat, it will have to impose much more severe measures not just on Iran and North Korea but also on parties helping them.

Who is helping the two rogue states? WikiLeaks released an American cable showing that Chinese officials, despite pleas from then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, refused to stop shipments of North Korean missile parts passing through the Beijing Capital International Airport on their way to Iran.

That was 2007. Fisher, in his message to The Daily Beast on Monday, points out that Chinese entities are still involved in this deadly trade.

And so, it appears, is the Chinese central government. In all probability, the Iranian technicians in the last two years reached Pyongyang using the same route Tehran’s nuclear staff have routinely taken on their way to North Korea, through the airport in Beijing.

GATES: Don’t expect the nuclear agreement to lead to a more moderate Iran

Former US defense secretary Robert Gates isn’t optimistic that the landmark July 2015 nuclear deal with Iran will lead the country to halt any of its disruptive policies in the Middle East or its support for terrorist groups.
In an interview with Business Insider, Gates, who spent nearly 27 years in the CIA and was the only cabinet secretary to have served under Barack Obama and George W. Bush, said that he didn’t believe the nuclear deal would have a moderating impact on Iranian behavior or lead Tehran to become a more responsible international actor.
“The notion that betting that this regime is going to temper its behavior in the region because of this nuclear deal I think is mistaken,” Gates told Business Insider. “I think that will not happen.”

In the six months since the nuclear deal was reached, Iran has tested two nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, fired live missiles within 1,500 yards of a US aircraft carrier, and continued its support for the Assad regime in Syria and for Shiite militia groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Full story here.

Saudi Document Enumerates 58 Iranian Violations of International Law

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Denise Simon

Via IMRA: The Saudi Foreign Ministry yesterday presented a document that it says includes Iranian violations of international laws and a record of acts committed by Tehran such as spreading sedition, unrest and turmoil in the region in order to undermine its security and stability since the beginning of the revolution in 1979.

The document mentioned the “Iranian regime’s record of supporting terrorism and extremism in the region and the world” which amounted to 58 Iranian violations of international laws and norms.

An official source at the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that the Kingdom has exercised a policy of constraint during this period despite it and other countries in the region suffering from Iran’s hostile policies.

The source explained that these Iranian policies are based on what is stated in the introduction of the Iranian constitution and the instructions of Khomeini upon which Iranian foreign policy is based; the principle of exporting the revolution in flagrant violation of the sovereignty of countries and interference in their internal affairs in the name of “supporting vulnerable and helpless people”.

The source added that Iran’s foreign policy depended on the recruitment of militias in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen, and that it also depended on Iran’s support of terrorism through the provision of safe havens in its country, planting terrorist cells in a number of Arab countries and even being involved in terrorist bombings and the assassinations of opponents abroad. The source also enumerated “the continuing Iranian violations on diplomatic missions and attempts to assassinate foreign diplomats”.

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Closing the Deal: Images from Iran Negotiations and Implementation Day

By: Glen Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to London, U.K., and Vienna, Austria, from January 14–16, 2016, as he worked to resolve final sticking points on the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a July 2015 multilateral agreement ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program remains exclusively peaceful.

At the same time, he was deeply involved in parallel negotiations to secure the release of Americans unjustly held in Iran.

After meeting in London with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair about issues in the Middle East, the Secretary flew to Vienna on the morning of January 16 for a final round of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and others involved in the conversations.

*Toting a shopping bag and a copy of his draft remarks, Secretary Kerry walked to his plane at London Stansted Airport*. (State Department Photo)

*En route to Vienna, Secretary Kerry called Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter about the pending transfer by the Swiss Air Force of U.S. nationals who were being unjustly held in Iran.* (State Department Photo)

The first thing Secretary Kerry saw at Vienna International Airport as he emerged from his Air Force jet was an Iran Air jetliner parked across the tarmac. (State Department Photo)

Secretary Kerry drove directly to the Palais Coburg Hotel in Vienna, where the Iranian delegation was staying, and where the two sides held marathon negotiations in July that led to the JCPOA. The Secretary met first with Ambassador Stephen Mull, U.S. Lead Coordinator for Iran Nuclear Implementation, and other advisers from the State and Energy departments and the White House. (State Department Photo)

A half-hour later, Secretary Kerry and his team sat down with Foreign Minister Zarif in the Coburg’s Blue Salon, where the two sides did most of their negotiating last July. (State Department Photo)

Secretary Kerry and Ambassador Mull then called International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano, to discuss the agency’s work in drafting a report examining whether Iran had met the requirements in the JCPOA to qualify for sanctions relief from the international community. (State Department Photo)

Over a late lunch of salad and spaghetti, Secretary Kerry joined State Department Chief of Staff Jon Finer as he participated in a call briefing reporters about the day’s developments. (State Department Photo)

Secretary Kerry also chatted with State Department Senior Adviser Marie Harf, who handled communications duties for the Iran talks, during a lull in the meetings. (State Department Photo)

Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif occupied nearby rooms at the Palais Coburg, which meant that on different occasions, each man showed up at the other’s room, seeking an impromptu meeting. This occurred in Zarif’s quarters. (State Department Photo)

As Secretary Kerry returned a phone call, Chief of Staff Finer spoke with State Department Speechwriter Stephanie Epner, who worked through multiple drafts of the Secretary’s final comments as negotiations evolved. (State Department Photo)

As deliberations on final preparations for Implementation Day continued into the evening, Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif walked down one floor for an unscheduled visit with European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini. They surprised an EU staffer by knocking on the door and asking to speak to her boss.
(State Department Photo)

Later in the evening, Secretary Kerry and Chief of Staff Finer split a pizza between calls. (State Department Photo)

At 8:51 p.m., the talks moved into their decisive phase: Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif spoke in a quiet lobby, before returning to the Secretary’s room for a final huddle with other ministers. (State Department Photo)

At 8:54 p.m., High Representative Mogherini (in person, third from left) and French Foreign Minister Fabius (by phone) joined the meeting in Secretary Kerry’s room to work through final details. (State Department Photo)

Secretary Kerry spoke first, before placing the call on speakerphone so the other two ministers could speak with Foreign Minister Fabius. (State Department Photo)

High Representative Mogherini, representing the European Union, offered a wording suggestion as the ministers read through the final joint statement. At 9:22 p.m., the group reached agreement, setting in motion the final implementation of the JCPOA. (State Department Photo)

In return for Iran implementing a series of steps to constrain its nuclear program as outlined in the JCPOA, the United States agreed to lift nuclear-related sanctions. Secretary Kerry had to sign a series of waivers and certificates to provide for this sanction relief. (State Department Photo)

After finalizing the agreement and making good on the promise of sanctions relief, Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Zarif headed to the Vienna International Center, a U.N. complex where the international media awaited, for press statements about the day’s activities. But before they began speaking, the Secretary asked the foreign minister to personally intervene to resolve a miscommunication about whether the wife and mother of detained American Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter, would be allowed to leave Tehran with their husband and son.
(State Department Photo)

Secretary Kerry paid a courtesy call on IAEA Director General Amano and his staff while visiting the Vienna International Center, thanking them for the Agency’s work in issuing their JCPOA compliance report, and encouraging them to uphold the strict inspection regime spelled out in the July 2015 agreement. (State Department Photo)

Secretary Kerry walked to the podium to deliver his statement to the international media. (State Department Photo)

Secretary Kerry delivering his statement. (State Department Photo)

Reporters listen as Secretary Kerry delivers his statement. (State Department Photo)

After rushing back the airport to avoid exceeding the allowable workday for his Air Force flight crew, Secretary Kerry placed one more call from his cabin to Foreign Minister Zarif to help resolve the situation related to Rezaian and his family members. (State Department Photo)

Following a nearly 10-hour flight, Secretary Kerry invited his traveling press corps back to his cabin after their plane landed at 3 a.m. at Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs, Maryland. He spent nearly a half-hour reflecting on and answering questions about the prior day’s developments. (State Department Photo)

All photos were taken by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Strategic Communications Glen Johnson, Secretary Kerry’s traveling photographer, and are courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.

Snapshot: U.S. Terror Report

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Denise Simon

Last year saw the deadliest Islamist jihad attacks in America since 9/11 and in Europe since 2004, according to the January Terror Threat Snapshot released by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas).

“The heinous ISIS-linked attack on a policeman in Philadelphia [earlier this month] is a grim reminder of the Islamist terror threat we face today,” McCaul said in releasing this month’s terror snapshot. “ISIS and al Qaeda terrorists are expanding their networks and carving out sanctuaries abroad, while their supporters and operatives have been plotting terror attacks in the West.”

McCaul said Obama’s “strategy to defeat ISIS and other Islamist extremists … is out of touch with reality …”

According to the Snapshot, “Islamist terrorists have been attempting to infiltrate the United States as authorities have uncovered jihadists who were resettled in America through the refugee resettlement program. Two refugees from Iraq resettled in the US were recently arrested on terror-related charges linked to ISIS.”

Additionally, the Snapshot stated, “The United States faces an unprecedented terror threat level at home due to the continued failure to destroy ISIS. Law enforcement authorities have arrested nearly 80 individuals in ISIS-related cases in the United States since 2014 – 62 in 2015 alone. There have been 21 ISIS-linked plots to launch attacks in the homeland. Over 80 percent of the post-9/11 homegrown Islamist extremist cases in the United States have occurred or been disrupted since 2009.”

Islamist terrorists returning to the West from Syria are also “a surging threat,” the snapshot added, noting legislation recently signed into law “will enhance the security of the Visa Waiver Program in order to prevent terrorists from entering the United States.”

The Full SnapShot Report from the Homeland Security Congressional Committee is here.

Recent Developments

• January 7: ISIS supporter Edward Archer ambushed and fired 13 shots at a Philadelphia police officer using s stolen police firearm before being arrested. Archer pledged allegiance to ISIS.

• January 7: Sacramento, California-based Islamist extremist Aws Mohammed Younis al Jayab was arrested after lying to authorities about traveling to Syria and fighting alongside terrorist organizations between November 2013 and January 2014. Al Jayab, an Iraqi refugee of Palestinian descent who was resettled in the U.S. from Syria in October 2012, communicated his intention to join terror organizations in Syria over social media. He said he had joined the ranks of Ansar al Islam, a foreign terrorist organization and had communications with an ISIS supporter.

• January 6: Houston, Texas-based ISIS supporter Omar Faraj Saeed al Hardan was arrested for attempting to support ISIS. Hardan, an Iraqi refugee of Palestinian descent who was resettled in the U.S. from Iraq in November 2009, lied to authorities regarding his automatic machine gun training and had associated with ISIS since 2014 and with al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Jabhat al Nusra in 2013 and 2014.

• December 30: Rochester, New York-based ISIS supporter Emanuel Lutchman planned to attack a restaurant on New Year’s Eve before being arrested. Lutchman said he received direction from an ISIS operative overseas and also expressed his desire to travel to join ISIS. He recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and claiming responsibility for the planned attack.

• December 17: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based ISIS supporter Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz was arrested for advocating for violence against Americans through social media and facilitating the travel of ISIS recruits overseas. Aziz was storing high-capacity weapon magazines and ammunition in his residence. He used at least 57 Twitter accounts in support of ISIS’s messaging and reposted a list of the names and personal information of 100 American service members with the intent of inciting attacks against them.

• December 11: Edgewood, Maryland-based ISIS supporter Mohamed Elshinawy was arrested after communicating electronically with ISIS operatives based overseas and accepting funds he believed were from ISIS for the purpose of launching an attack inside the United States. Elshinawy pledged allegiance to ISIS leader al Baghdadi in February 2015 and received $8,700 he believed was sent from ISIS operatives through Western Union and PayPal.

• December 11: Minneapolis, Minnesota-based ISIS supporter Khaalid Adam Abdulkadir was arrested when he threatened law enforcement authorities after the FBI publically announced the arrest of ISIS recruit Abdirizak Warsame near Minnesota. Abdulkadir had previously communicated with at least two other ISIS-linked recruiters and former Minnesota-area residents.

• December 9: Eagan, Minnesota-based ISIS supporter Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame was arrested after plotting to join ISIS overseas and facilitating the travel of other individuals in a broader ISIS recruitment network operating from Minnesota. The network began watching Islamist extremist propaganda in 2014 after which it began plotting to send members to join ISIS overseas.

• December 2: Two ISIS-linked terrorists, U.S.-born Syed Rizwan Farook and Pakistani national Tashfeen Malik, attacked a holiday party for local government workers at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people. Farook’s friend, Enrique Marquez Jr., was later arrested for purchasing the rifles used in the attack and for conspiring with Farook to plot an attack in 2011-2012. The attackers posted a pledge of allegiance to ISIS’s leader on Facebook.

ISIS TERROR ATTACK PLOTS AGAINST THE WEST

ISIS dramatically expanded its war with a concerted campaign to target the West in 2015.

By the numbers

• There have been 72 ISIS-linked plots to attack Western targets, including 20 inside in the United States, since 2014.3 The number of ISIS-linked attack plots grew by nearly three times from 2014 (20) to 2015 (50).4

Recent Developments

• January 7: ISIS supporter Edward Archer ambushed and fired 13 shots at a Philadelphia police officer using s stolen police firearm before being arrested. Archer pledged allegiance to ISIS.

• January 7: An attacker wielding a meat cleaver was shot after attempting to storm a Paris police station. The man was carrying a reproduction of ISIS’s flag and a claim of responsibility for the planned attack.

Russian Testimony on Executions

Posted on January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 by Denise Simon

Former Commander Of Pro-Russian Separatists Says He Executed People Based On Stalin-Era Laws

RFE: For most of his 42-minute appearance on a radio talk show, former Russia-backed separatist commander Igor Girkin sounded like nothing more than a fanatic discussing a dream now widely dismissed as fantasy.

He spoke of hopes for the creation of a “Novorossia” — a New Russia stretching across much of Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Odesa, and one day joining a Russian empire including all of Belarus and Ukraine.

It wasn’t until the last minute that the interview with Girkin went from surreal to chilling.

Referring to his time commanding separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk in 2014, a host asks him how he stopped the rampant looting.

“With executions,” Girkin said matter-of-factly.

According to Girkin, separatist “authorities” installed a military court and introduced 1941 military laws implemented by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

“Under this legislation we tried people and executed the convicted,” Girkin said.

“While I was in Slovyansk four people were executed. Two among the military for looting, one local for looting, and one for killing a serviceman,” he said on the Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda, which is affiliated with a leading pro-Kremlin Russian tabloid.

One of the people killed was an “ideological” supporter of the Ukrainian nationalist group Right Sector, he said.

Key Separatist Commander

Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, was a key commander in the Russia-backed separatist forces in the early stages of the war against Ukrainian government troops that has killed more than 9,000 civilians and combatants since April 2014.

Ukraine’s government has called Girkin a Russian agent and accused him of war crimes. He resigned as a rebel commander in August 2014 amid reports that he had been wounded in battle.

Later that year, he told an interviewer that he was a colonel in the Russian FSB, or Federal Security Service — a statement that was edited out of the interview published by state-run Rossia Segodnya.

In October 2015, the Brussels-based International Partnership for Human Rights provided the International Criminal Court with more than 300 testimonies about alleged military crimes and crimes against humanity that it said had been committed by Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in Eastern Ukraine.

It said that “while crimes committed by both sides of the conflict have been documented, the collected evidence primarily concerns crimes committed by separatists because of security issues related to accessing separatists-controlled territories of Ukraine.”

In the radio appearance, Girkin said he was not concerned about the possibility of international prosecution.

“I am not at all bothered by international law, because it’s a tool in the hands of winners,” he said. “If we are defeated, well then, the norms of these laws will be applied to me.”

Fighting has lessened since a February 2015 deal on a cease-fire and steps toward peace, but the Russia-backed separatists still hold large parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk provinces.

Girkin, a former military reenactor, appeared to have the support of both the hosts and those calling in.

“God forbid,” one host said, referring to the possibility of Girkin being sent to an international court for prosecution on war crimes charges.

As for his feelings about Stalin, Girkin said he dislikes the dictator as he was in his younger days, but believes that he was a great statesman at the end of his life.

“You can discuss for a long time how much blood and where Stalin spilled it, but at least you can confidently say that he did it not for himself but for the sake of an idea,” he said.

Meanwhile, what happened to these people and why?

Russian generals who died mysteriously: hanged, shot themselves, jumped out of windows, died in car accidents.. …