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Republican senators urge Biden to designate Taliban as terror group

By
IFP Media Wire
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In a letter dated Wednesday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), several senators said the “current version of the Taliban government presents a significant threat to the United States”.

“Since reestablishing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban resumed the same murderous and oppressive habits that characterized their leadership tenure prior to the arrival of U.S. forces in 2001,”  the senators, which include Ernst and Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), added in their letter.

The senators pointed to the treatment of civilians, including women, in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s regime. Last week, several news outlets reported that the Taliban had beaten women who had taken part in a demonstration following the announcement that the Taliban’s cabinet was all-male.

Women who spoke with the BBC stated that during the protest they had been struck by batons and whipped. Witnesses told CNN that some journalists had also been reportedly beaten while covering the protest.

The Taliban have previously claimed that they will support the rights of women under Islamic framework and not go after old enemies, however, much of the international community remains increasingly skeptical.

The senators also pointed to the recent appointment of Sirajuddin Haqqani, an FBI-wanted militant who was named as the acting interior minister. Haqqani is also the leader of the Haqqani network, which in 2012 became designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.

“Given their history of supporting terror attacks on the United States, their brutal style of governance, their continued display of atrocities against Americans and our allies, and now, their enhanced military capability, the current version of the Taliban government presents a significant threat to the United States. Further, the Taliban display the will and the means to attack Americans and American interests,” the senators noted.

The senators argued that the Taliban had met the necessary criteria to designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization, stating that they urged him “to consider designating the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization and treating them as such to the maximum extent of the law”.

The call follows resolutions introduced by both Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) on Tuesday, that would also call on the State Department to deem the Afghan Taliban a foreign terrorist organization in addition to declaring the group’s takeover in Afghanistan a “coup d’etat”.

“This resolution is one of the most important things Congress can do regarding the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban,” Graham said in a statement, adding, “Designating the Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization will make it harder for countries to provide them aid and recognition. We would be sending a strong signal that America does not do business with terrorist groups and their sympathizers. The Taliban are radical jihadists in every sense of the word and use terror as their tactic.”

The Taliban were designated Specially Designated Global Terrorists in July 2002 by former President George W. Bush. However, the U.S. current list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations does not include them.  

The calls for a designation come as the international community cautiously decides how or if to recognize the Taliban’s cabinet as a legitimate government. Biden and Blinken have noted they will judge the Taliban based on their actions and not just their words.

Iran calls for end to looting of Syria’s oil, wealth

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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During a session of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, Ershadi called for immediate removal of sanctions against Syria and warned that water must not be weaponized against Syrians.

She said the Syrian people have been suffering from one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises for over 10 years and that the situation is now worse than ever.

“The International community bears a serious political and ethical responsibility about this grave situation,” the Iranian envoy noted.

She urged immediate and full implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2585 which calls upon all member states to respond with practical steps to address the urgent needs of the Syrian people.

Ershadi also stressed that the ultimate solution to the situation in the war-torn country is through withdrawal of all uninvited foreign forces, defeating terrorists and securing Syria’s territorial integrity, unity and its political independence.

She said Iran will continue to help the Syrian people and government to overcome their challenges.

The Syrian army backed by Iranian advisers and the Russian air force managed to win the war against foreign-backed militants which began in 2011. It is in control of most parts of Syria but some areas are still under the control and U.S. and Turkish forces. Reports show American military convoys have been smuggling stolen oil from Syria’s oil wells. 

During the war in Syria, the United States and its allies imposed sanctions against Damascus and are still enforcing them.

France says Daesh chief in Sahara killed

By
IFP Media Wire
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The head of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), who was wanted for deadly attacks on US soldiers and foreign aid workers, has been killed in an operation by French troops.

Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi was “neutralised by French forces”, Macron tweeted early Thursday.

“This is another major success in our fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel,” Macron stated, without giving the location or details of the operation.

He was behind the killing of French aid workers in 2020 and was also wanted by the United States over a deadly 2017 attack on American troops in Niger.

Islamic State in the Greater Sahara is blamed for most of the attacks in the Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso region.

The flashpoint “tri-border” area is frequently targeted by ISGS and the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

ISGS has carried out deadly attacks targeting civilians and soldiers in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information on the whereabouts of Sahrawi, who was wanted over an October 4, 2017 attack in Niger that killed four US Special Forces and four Niger troops.

August 9, 2020, in Niger, the head of ISGS personally ordered the killing of six French aid workers and their Niger guides and drivers.

Sahrawi was formerly a member of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and also co-led Mujao, a Malian group responsible for kidnapping Spanish aid workers in Algeria and a group of Algerian diplomats in Mali in 2012.

The French military has killed several high-ranking members of ISGS under its strategy of targeting militant leaders since the start of its military intervention in Mali in 2013.

In June this year, Macron announced a major scaleback in France’s anti-militant Barkhane force in the Sahel after more than eight years of military presence in the vast region to refocus on counter-terrorism operations and supporting local forces.

“The nation is thinking this evening of all its heroes who died for France in the Sahel in the Serval and Barkhane operations, of the bereaved families, of all its wounded,” he noted.

“Their sacrifice is not in vain. With our African, European and American partners, we will continue this fight,” Macron added in another tweet.

The north of Mali fell under militant control in 2012 until they were pushed out of the cities by France’s military intervention in 2013.

But Mali, an impoverished and landlocked nation home to at least 20 ethnic groups, continues to battle terror attacks and intercommunal violence, which often spills over to neighbouring countries.

Source: AFP

Iran Rejects IAEA Female Inspector’s Claim of ‘Sexual Harassment’

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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“These false claims are aimed at kicking up a fuss and creating a frame-up in the run-up to a meeting of the [IAEA’s] Board of Governors,” said Kazem Gharibabadi.

“Unfortunately, there were several cases of terrorist operations and acts of sabotage at [Iran’s] nuclear sites; accordingly, our policy on the protection of our nuclear facilities changed a few months ago,” he said.

“These policies also apply to the methods of inspecting IEAE’s inspectors,” he said. 

“We announced this policy to the IAEA, and this policy continues to be improved,” he said.

“At the same time, the IAEA was told to advise its inspectors to show maximum cooperation with our security guards given the current sensitivity and the fact that there is precedent for acts of sabotage,” the top official said.

“Naturally, when inspectors or the IAEA’ Secretariat itself compare the new measures with the previous ones, they think that these moves are aimed at harassing them, but that’s not the case and none of our colleagues (security guards at Iran’s nuclear sites) have such an intention, and all they do is simply geared to protection,” he noted.

“The stepping up of security measures applies to IAEA inspectors, too,” said Gahribabadi.

“Maybe they wouldn’t be frisked and their stuff wouldn’t be searched before, but we asked the agency to understand this and not to have a different interpretation,” he said.

UK PM reshuffles cabinet, foreign secretary moved

By
IFP Media Wire
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Raab’s demotion to justice minister followed a long meeting with the prime minister on Wednesday afternoon. He has however also been appointed deputy prime minister and lord chancellor.

As chief diplomat, Raab faced strong criticism last month for delaying his return from a holiday in Greece as the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

His departure was confirmed by Downing Street, the prime minister’s office, on Twitter. It has since confirmed that Raab’s replacement will be Liz Truss, formerly trade secretary.

There have also been rumours that Home Secretary (interior minister) Priti Patel could be losing her job, but this has since been reported to be less likely.

Downing Street has confirmed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) Rishi Sunak will be staying in his post.

Earlier three ministers appeared to confirm their own departures.

The first to imply he was leaving was Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, who made an announcement himself on Twitter. He was quickly followed by Justice minister Robert Buckland, while a Housing Minister Robert Jenrick also tweeted about his exit.

Johnson’s government has been under pressure on several fronts and has seen its popularity fall, according to opinion polls. It recently announced a tax rise to fund social care for the elderly; rising coronavirus cases are posing a threat to hospitals, and the country is gripped by supply shortages linked to the pandemic and Brexit.

It was not immediately clear whether Williamson would be moving to another ministerial post after leaving education, but he made no mention of a new job so it looks likely he will be returning to the backbenches.

Williamson stated he was proud of reforms carried out to education for over 16-year-olds. However, he has been heavily criticised for exam disruption, school closures and his department’s handling of the pandemic.

In his previous role as defence secretary, he attracted ridicule for famously declaring that “Russia should go away and shut up”, following the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.

It was confirmed earlier that Johnson would shake up his Cabinet on Wednesday, attempting to move on from a series of political missteps and U-turns.

His office announced the prime minister would appoint “a strong and united team to build back better from the pandemic”.

Johnson carried out a sweeping government shuffle after his December 2019 election victory, sidelining lawmakers considered insufficiently loyal or lukewarm in their support for Britain’s departure from the European Union.

That left him with a strongly pro-Brexit top team, but critics say it shut many ambitious and competent lawmakers out of government. 

Source: Euro News

US defense contractors generated $7.35 trillion since 9/11

By
IFP Media Wire
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Like many human tragedies, 9/11 was great news for defense contractors. Over the course of the past 20 years, they’ve brought in a stunning $7.35 trillion in revenue, according to a Defense News database. The overwhelming majority of that money came from the Pentagon.

Gone are the days when most of the defense budget was spent directly on soldiers. Since 9/11, war has become “modernized” — which means it’s fought with extremely expensive weapons bought from highly profitable private-sector companies.

When the New York stock market finally reopened on 9/17, still surrounded by ash from the smoking Twin Towers, the S&P 500 fell by a sharp 5% from its closing level on 9/10 — and then kept on falling over the subsequent days.

America’s biggest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin, didn’t follow suit. Instead, its stock rose by 15% on 9/17, to $43.95 per share. Today, it trades at $349.

In 2000, Lockheed Martin’s defense revenue was $18 billion, or about 71% of its total revenues. By 2020, its defense revenue had soared to $63 billion, or 96% of the company’s total income.

The growth in private-sector outlays is unlikely to end any time soon. 

“What you are seeing is primarily funding for R&D and procurement of weapons,” says Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“The size of the military is actually about the same as it was prior to 9/11,” Harrison tells Axios — and, he adds, “we still have many of the same modernization needs”. Which means even more money flowing to defense contractors.

Source: Axios

Cuban experts dismiss US claims of ‘Havana Syndrome’

By
IFP Media Wire
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When US Vice President Kamala Harris’ flight from Singapore to Hanoi was delayed last month due to the sickness of two American officials in the Vietnamese capital, the phrase ‘Havana Syndrome’ once again entered the headlines. Named after it was first noticed in Havana in 2016, the term refers to a set of mysterious symptoms that affected American diplomats and intelligence operatives in Cuba, and later in China, Germany, Austria, and the US itself.

American politicians, researchers and pundits have all speculated that the symptoms – which purportedly include headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, hearing and vision impairment, nosebleeds, vertigo and memory loss – were caused by some kind of sonic or microwave weapon, but Cuban scientists shot down those claims.

Speaking at a press conference in Havana, a panel of scientists convened by the communist country’s government declared that claims of secret sonic weaponry were not “scientifically acceptable”, and there was “no scientific evidence of attacks”.

“The international press continues to intensely disseminate non-science-based explanations that confuse the public and harm US officials who believe them,” Dr. Mitchell Valdés-Sosa, director general of the Cuban Neuroscience Center, said. Such claims, he added, present an obstacle to the thawing of relations between Cuba and the US.

While a panel convened by a single-party state would be unlikely to implicate that same state in alleged attacks on foreign diplomats, the US has not offered any conclusive proof of foul play either.

“Convinced” that diplomats were being attacked, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson scaled back the US’ diplomatic presence in Havana in 2018, as the CIA and National Security Council investigated the bout of illnesses. The US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) concluded in December 2020 that “directed, pulsed radio frequency energy” was the “most plausible” explanation behind the cases, but the report, commissioned by the State Department, did not rule out other possibilities.

One of those possibilities is that the high-pitched noises some sufferers reported hearing prior to the onset of their symptoms was actually of natural origin. A researcher at Berkeley University discovered in 2019 that the sound was a near-perfect match to the continuous chirping of the Indies cricket.

The State Department rejected the research and continues to believe that diplomats in Cuba were attacked. Other researchers, meanwhile, have noted that the symptoms of ‘Havana Syndrome’ are genuine, but their origins unexplainable.

Source: RT

Cameras set up under JCPOA removed from Iran sites

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Eslami was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee on Wednesday.

He said apart from the commitments that Iran should honor under the safeguards agreements and the transparency that it should observe, the country has installed a number of other cameras at its nuclear sites in accordance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“But the other (JCPOA) parties failed to fulfill their obligations, and so it was not necessary to keep those cameras anymore,” he added.

Eslami said according to the IAEA regulations and the safeguards agreements, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s cameras are installed at the Iranian nuclear sites.
Nuclear activities are monitored by the UN nuclear agency all over the world.

He added that a number of other cameras were damaged in a terrorist attack, which resulted in two very negative reports by the IAEA against Tehran. Therefore, Eslami said, he held a meeting with the IAEA director general on Sunday in Tehran to dispel ambiguities.

He expressed confidence that the results of the meeting have left the IAEA with no uncertainty about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and would also allow Iran to cease carrying out the JCPOA commitments that must be suspended as required by legislation passed by the Iranian Parliament.

The Iranian official said all of the country’s nuclear achievements are homegrown and no one can stop the Islamic Republic’s progress.

S. Korea says tested submarine-launched ballistic missile

By
IFP Media Wire
-

A missile was fired underwater from the newly-commissioned submarine Ahn Chang-ho, and flew the planned distance before hitting its target, the presidential Blue House said.

The S. Korea’s president supervised the test, as the country is now the seventh nation in the world with the advanced technology.

South Korea has been advancing its military capabilities as it seeks to counter the threat posed by the nuclear-armed North.

It is also seeking to secure the transfer of operational control over its forces in wartime from the US, under the terms of their alliance.

All other countries with proven submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capabilities have nuclear weapons of their own.

Possessing an SLBM was “very meaningful in terms of securing deterrence against omnidirectional threats”, the Blue House announced.

“It is expected to play a major role in self-reliant national defence and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula going forward,” it added.

The Ahn Chang-ho, named after a revered independence activist, is an indigenously-developed, diesel-powered 3,000-ton submarine that went into service last month.

Earlier this year, the Joe Biden administration removed a 42-year-old restriction imposed by Washington preventing the South from developing missiles with a longer range than 800 kilometres.

For its part, Pyongyang has long sought to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) technology, and showed off four such devices at a military parade overseen by leader Kim Jong Un in January, with state media KCNA calling them “the world’s most powerful weapon”.

But while North Korea has released pictures of underwater launches, most recently in 2019, analysts believe that was from a fixed platform or submersible barge, rather than a submarine.

In January, Kim told a congress of his ruling Workers’ Party that the North had completed plans for a nuclear-powered submarine.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Ex-US intelligence operatives admit hacking for UAE

By
IFP Media Wire
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Three former U.S. intelligence and military officials have admitted providing sophisticated computer hacking technology to the United Arab Emirates and agreed to pay nearly US$1.7 million to resolve criminal charges in an agreement that the Justice Department described Tuesday as the first of its kind.

The defendants – Marc Baier, Ryan Adams and Daniel Gericke – are accused of working as senior managers at a UAE-based company that conducted hacking operations on behalf of the government.

Prosecutors say the men provided hacking and intelligence-gathering systems that were used to break into computers in the United States and elsewhere in the world.

The Justice Department alleges that the men committed computer fraud and violated export control laws by providing defense services without the required license.

The case also appears to be part of a growing trend highlighted earlier this year by the CIA of foreign governments hiring former U.S. intelligence operatives to bolster their own spycraft – a practice officials have said risks exposing U.S. secrets.

“This is a loud statement” that the Justice Department takes such cases seriously, said Bobby Chesney, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law who specializes in national security issues.

The charges were filed under a deferred prosecution agreement that, in addition to requiring a US$1.68 million payment, will also force the men to cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation, to sever any ties with any UAE intelligence or law enforcement agencies and to forego any security clearances.

If they comply with those and other terms for three years, the Justice Department will abandon the prosecution.

As part of the agreement, the three men did not dispute any of the facts alleged by prosecutors.

The Justice Department described it as the “first-of-its-kind resolution of an investigation into two distinct types of criminal activity”, including providing unlicensed technology for the purposes of hacking.

“Hackers-for-hire and those who otherwise support such activities in violation of U.S. law should fully expect to be prosecuted for their criminal conduct,” Mark Lesko, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s national security division, announced in a statement.

According to court documents, the trio left a U.S.-based company that was operating in the UAE to join an Emerati company that would give them “significant increases” in their salaries.

The companies aren’t named in charging documents, but Lori Stroud, a former National Security Agency employee, stated she worked with the three men in the UAE at U.S.-based CyberPoint and then for UAE-based DarkMatter.

Stroud added she quit because she saw DarkMatter hacking U.S. citizens, noting she assisted the FBI in its investigation and was glad to see the case come to a resolution.

“This is progress,” Stroud continued.

The Emirati government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Questions sent by email to officials at Abu Dhabi-based DarkMatter could not be delivered.

Since details of DarkMatter’s hacking campaign became public, the company’s profile has dropped over the last few years, with some staff moving onto a new Abu Dhabi-based firm called G42.

That firm has been linked to a mobile app suspected of being a spying tool as well as Chinese coronavirus tests that American officials warned against using over concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and Chinese government involvement.

DarkMatter’s founder and CEO, Faisal al-Bannai, told The Associated Press in 2018 that the company takes part in no hacking, although he acknowledged the firm’s close business ties to the Emirati government, as well as its hiring of former CIA and NSA analysts.

Prosecutors announced that between January 2016 and November 2019, the defendants increased operations being providing to the UAE government.

They bought exploits to break into computers and mobile devices from companies around the world, including those based in the U.S., according to the Justice Department.

That includes one so-called “zero-click” exploit – which can break into mobile devices without any user interaction – that Baier bought from an unnamed U.S. company in 2016.

Lawyers for Adams and Gericke did not immediately return messages seeking comment, and a lawyer for Baier declined to comment.

The Justice Department described each of them as former U.S. intelligence or military personnel. Baier previously worked at the NSA, according to a former colleague who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding the matter.

The CIA warned in a letter earlier this year about “an uptick in the number of former officers who have disclosed sensitive information about CIA activities, personnel, and tradecraft”.

The letter sent to former CIA officials was signed by Sheetal Patel, the agency’s assistant director for counterintelligence. It described as a “detrimental trend” a practice of foreign governments hiring former intelligence officers “to build up their spying capabilities”.

Some listed examples included using access to CIA information or contacts for business opportunities as well as “working for state-sponsored intelligence related companies in non-fraternization countries”.

“We ask that you protect yourself and the CIA by safeguarding the classified tradecraft that underpins your enterprise,” Patel wrote.

Source: The AP

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