22/01/06 - Et un nouveau Big Brother de plus aux Etats Unis

The Other Big Brother
The Pentagon has its own domestic spying program. Even its leaders say the outfit may have gone too far
Newsweek 30/01/06

"...To U.S. Army analysts at the top-secret Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA), the peanut-butter protest was regarded as a potential threat to national security. Created three years ago by the Defense Department, CIFA's role is "force protection"—tracking threats and terrorist plots against military installations and personnel inside the United States. In May 2003, Paul Wolfowitz, then deputy Defense secretary, authorized a fact-gathering operation code-named TALON—short for Threat and Local Observation Notice—that would collect "raw information" about "suspicious incidents." The data would be fed to CIFA to help the Pentagon's "terrorism threat warning process," according to an internal Pentagon memo.

A Defense document shows that Army analysts wrote a report on the Halliburton protest and stored it in CIFA's database. It's not clear why the Pentagon considered the protest worthy of attention—although organizer Parkin had previously been arrested while demonstrating at ExxonMobil headquarters (the charges were dropped). But there are now questions about whether CIFA exceeded its authority and conducted unauthorized spying on innocent people and organizations. A Pentagon memo obtained by NEWSWEEK shows that the deputy Defense secretary now acknowledges that some TALON reports may have contained information on U.S. citizens and groups that never should have been retained. The number of reports with names of U.S. persons could be in the thousands, says a senior Pentagon official who asked not be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

CIFA's activities are the latest in a series of disclosures about secret government programs that spy on Americans in the name of national security..."


22/01/06 - Attaque au Pakistan, démenti du Premier Ministre pakistanais sur les morts d'Al Qaeda

Pakistan PM: CIA attack reports 'bizarre'
No evidence that top al Qaeda leaders were at target, he says
CNN 23/01/06

"Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday ridiculed as "bizarre" a U.S. report that senior al Qaeda leaders were killed in a CIA attack on a home along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

"There is no evidence, as of half an hour ago, that there were any other people there," Aziz said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

"The area does see movement of people from across the border. But we have not found one body or one shred of evidence that these people were there."

U.S. counterterrorism officials have said they believe the January 13 attack killed four to eight al Qaeda-affiliated "foreigners" attending a dinner meeting. Knowledgeable sources have said that their bodies were removed from the scene by comrades and buried elsewhere..."


No sign of al Qaeda dead from United States strike -Pakistan
NewsKerala 20/01/06

"No evidence has yet turned up of al Qaeda figures among the dead when a US missile killed at least 18 people in a remote part of Pakistan, the South Asian nation's prime minister said today.

''As of an hour ago, when I last checked with our relevant security agencies who are combing the area, they have not found any tangible evidence that a particular group or any individual was there,'' Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said..."


Lire également, Read also :

Pakistan Says U.S. Should Communicate Before Airstrikes
WaPo 22/01/06


22/01/06 - Intox ! Un groupe iranien d'opposition voit Téhéran faire un test d'arme nucléaire en Mars

Tehran plans nuclear weapon test by March
UPI 19/01/06

"Tehran is planning a nuclear weapons test before the Iranian New Year on March 20, 2006 says a group opposed to the regime in Tehran.

The Foundation for Democracy citing sources in the U.S and Iran offered no further information.

The FDI quotes sources in Iran that the high command of the Revolutionary Guards Air Force have issued new orders to Shahab-3 missile units, ordering them to move mobile missile launchers every 24 hours in view of a potential pre-emptive strike by the U.S. or Israel. The order was issued Tuesday, Jan. 16.

The group says the launchers move only at night, and have been instructed to change their positions "in a radius of 30 to 35 kilometers." Prior to the new orders the Shahab-3 units changed position on a weekly basis. Advance Shahab-3 units have been positioned in Kermanshah and Hamadan province, within striking distance of Israel. Reserve mobile launchers have been moved to Esfahan and Fars province."


Lire également, Read also :

Iran extends nuclear plant in secret
Telegraph 22/01/06

"Iran has secretly extended the uranium enrichment plant at the centre of the international controversy over its resumption of banned nuclear research earlier this month, satellite imagery has revealed.

Seven buildings have been erected around the concealed centrifuges which Western governments fear will be used to manufacture weapons-grade uranium at the Natanz site, 200 miles south of Teheran..."


22/01/06 - Colin Powell voit un début de retrait US d'Irak fin 2006

Powell: US will pull troops out this year
The Observer 22/01/06

"Former Bush aide who urged caution over Iraq signals start of withdrawal by end of 2006.

Colin Powell, who warned President Bush on the eve of the Iraq war that US forces would have to stay for the long haul after toppling Saddam, yesterday predicted that troop withdrawals would begin by the end of this year..."


21/01/06 - Dick Cheney ne croit plus qu'Iran et Al Qaeda aient des relations étroites

Cheney does not believe in close ties between Iran, Al-Qaeda
AFP 21/01/06

"..."I think you've got to remember that the Al-Qaeda organization is primarily made up of radical Sunni Islamists, of course, and the Iranian regime is Shia-dominated -- Shia. So there's not a natural fit there," Cheney said in a telephone interview with the Hugh Hewitt Show, released by the White House.

"That doesn't mean that there haven't been relationships over the years, but I don't believe it's close. I haven't seen any evidence of that," Cheney added..."


21/01/06 - Confusion sur les retraits des réserves monétaires iraniennes d'Europe

Confusion over Iran 'assets move'
BBC 21/01/06

"There is confusion over whether Iran is moving foreign exchange reserves from Europe to avoid possible sanctions, after conflicting remarks by officials.

The deputy head of Iran's central bank has said that Iran has no plans at the moment to shift its money.

But Iranian news agencies reported on Friday that the bank head had said the state had started to withdraw assets, amid a row over its nuclear programme..."


Iran Denies Shifting Assets From Europe
DW 21/01/2006

"Iran on Saturday denied it has shifted funds out of Europe due to fears of economic sanctions over its nuclear program after a swirl of contradictory reports on whether such transfers had taken place..."


Iran says not planning to move its money to Asia
Reuters 21/01/06

"Iran, which has said it is shifting its money out European accounts as the threat of U.N. sanctions mounts, will not move its currency assets to Asia, a deputy central bank governor said on Saturday..."


Iran Pulling Foreign Reserves From Europe
AP 20/01/06

"A defiant Iran announced Friday it has begun pulling its foreign currency accounts out of European banks to protect its assets from possible U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program.

As analysts estimated the amount of those funds at up to $50 billion, Iran also called for a reduction in OPEC oil production — raising the possibility that the country would deploy its oil prowess in its standoff with the West..."


Iran starts transferring foreign assets
Aljazeera 20/01/06

"The governor of Iran's central bank has confirmed that the country has started to transfer assets held in foreign accounts.

Ebrahim Sheibani told the ISNA students' news agency on Friday: "We transfer foreign reserves to wherever we see as expedient. On this issue, we have started transferring. We are doing that."..."


Iran Moves Foreign Assets amid Sanction Threat
FT 20/01/06

"Iran is moving foreign exchange out of European banks in advance of a possible referral to the United Nations Security Council and imposition of economic sanctions over its nuclear programme..."


20/01/06 - Ossama Bin Laden, une voix d'outre tombe ?

US wrong to sniff blood in bin Laden tape-analysts
Reuters 20/01/06

"White House officials listening to Osama bin Laden's latest tape heard a weakened man on the run, but other U.S. officials and analysts heard a dangerous leader rallying his troops, mocking the United States and possibly setting up another attack.

The audiotape -- the first one from the al Qaeda leader since December 2004 -- said the militant network was preparing attacks in the United States but was open to a truce with Americans, linked to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

As soon as the tape aired on Thursday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said it proved al Qaeda leaders were fugitives under the gun and Vice President Dick Cheney said bin Laden appeared to be in deep hiding with difficulties getting messages out.

But some counterterrorism officials and analysts say this assessment from the White House is off the mark and fails to examine the benefits a savvy operator like bin Laden may derive from showing he is alive and focused on a U.S. attack.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said al Qaeda was propaganda savvy and knew how to manipulate the airwaves, in contrast to the United States, which has had trouble getting its message across.

"In the cacophony of the media and the Internet, the al Qaeda voice is clear and identifiable," the official said. "They have us on that and this is another example of it."

Gen. Russ Howard, a recently retired army terrorism expert who headed the counterterrorism program at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, said bin Laden was showing the world he was still in action.

"It's a message to rally his own forces and people loyal to him," he said. "He gets a 'two-fer': he's rallying his own people and psychologically he's raising the threat here."..."


Duke Professor Skeptical of bin Laden Tape
ABC 19/01/06

"A Duke professor says he is doubtful about Thursday's audiotape from Osama bin Laden.

Bruce Lawrence has just published ?Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden,? a book translating bin Laden?s writing. He is skeptical of Thursday?s message.

?It was like a voice from the grave,? Lawrence said.

He thinks bin Laden is dead and has doubts about the tape. Lawrence recently analyzed more than 20 complete speeches and interviews of the al Qaida leader for his book. He says the new message is missing several key elements.

?There?s nothing in this from the Koran. He?s, by his own standards, a faithful Muslim,? Lawrence said. ?He quotes scripture in defense of his actions. There?s no quotation from the Koran in the excerpts we got, no reference to specific events, no reference to past atrocities.?

While the CIA confirms the voice on the tape is bin Laden?s, Lawrence questions when it was recorded. He says the timing of its release could be to divert attention from last week?s U.S. air strike in Pakistan. The strike targeted bin Laden?s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, and killed four leading al Qaeda figures along with civilians.

Lawrence believes faulty Pakistani intelligence led to the strike and the civilian deaths, and the tape was leaked by Pakistani authorities to divert attention from their mistake.

?It led to a failed military operation where America got blamed, but they people who are really to blame are the ones who provided the intelligence,? Lawrence said. ?I think this is an effort to say were not going look at this terrible incident that happened.?..."


CIA confirms speaker on tape is bin Laden
NBC 19/01/06

"The CIA confirmed Thursday that the voice on an audiotape aired Thursday claiming al-Qaida is making preparations to attack the United States again but offering a truce “with fair conditions” is that of the terrorist group’s leader, Osama bin Laden..."


Voir, See :

Full Text of Bin Laden Tape
AP 19/01/06


20/01/06 - Technologies astrophysiques pour détection de bombes "sales"

Space technology leads to dirty bomb detector
UPI 20/01/06

"The Department of Homeland Security has a Caltech astrophysicist working on a new type of radiation detector based on devices used to survey faraway galaxies.

The university reported that Ryan McLean recently received the first phase of a $2.2 million contract to develop a radiation-detection module that is compact, with a range of 100 meters, and can tell the difference between a "dirty" bomb and background radiation from natural or harmless manmade sources.

The goal of the two-phase project is to have a working device under construction by the middle of the year.

"The idea is that if you have lots of small detectors, you might have a better chance of detecting harmful nuclear material than if you're stationed only at central locations, like bridges and ports," Ryan said in a news release earlier this week..."