Former CIA and NSA employee source of intelligence leaks

[Razgovory]

What the hell is she reading?  That can't be a comfortable position for reading.

[Tonitrus]

What the hell is she reading? That can't be a comfortable position for reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near

[Viking]

Edward Snowden can stay in "free russia" for all I care now...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/07/al-qaeda-conference-call-intercepted-by-u-s-officials-sparked-alerts.html

Exclusive: Al Qaeda Conference Call Intercepted by U.S. Officials Sparked Alerts
by Eli Lake, Josh Rogin Aug 7, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
It wasn't just any terrorist message that triggered U.S. terror alerts and embassy closures—but a conference call of more than 20 far-flung al Qaeda operatives, Eli Lake and Josh Rogin report.

The intercept provided the U.S. intelligence community with a rare glimpse into how al Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, manages a global organization that includes affiliates in Africa, the Middle East, and southwest and southeast Asia.

Several news outlets reported Monday on an intercepted communication last week between Zawahiri and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda's affiliate based in Yemen. But The Daily Beast has learned that the discussion between the two al Qaeda leaders happened in a conference call that included the leaders or representatives of the top leadership of al Qaeda and its affiliates calling in from different locations, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. All told, said one U.S. intelligence official, more than 20 al Qaeda operatives were on the call.

To be sure, the CIA had been tracking the threat posed by Wuhayshi for months. An earlier communication between Zawahiri and Wuhayshi delivered through a courier was picked up last month, according to three U.S. intelligence officials. But the conference call provided a new sense of urgency for the U.S. government, the sources said.

Al Qaeda members included representatives or leaders from Nigeria's Boko Haram, the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda in Iraq, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and more obscure al Qaeda affiliates such as the Uzbekistan branch. Also on the call were representatives of aspiring al Qaeda affiliates such as al Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula, according to a U.S. intelligence official. The presence of aspiring al Qaeda affiliates operating in the Sinai was one reason the State Department closed the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, according to one U.S. intelligence official. "These guys already proved they could hit Eilat. It's not out of the range of possibilities that they could hit us in Tel Aviv," the official said.

Al Qaeda leaders had assumed the conference calls, which give Zawahiri the ability to manage his organization from a remote location, were secure. But leaks about the original intercepts have likely exposed the operation that allowed the U.S. intelligence community to listen in on the al Qaeda board meetings.

"This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom," one U.S. intelligence officer told The Daily Beast, referring to the coalition of villains featured in the Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends. The official said Zawahiri announced to the broader organization during the meeting that Wuhayshi had been promoted to "Ma'sul al-Amm," an Arabic term that roughly translates as "general manager." The promotion effectively gave the leader of al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen operational control of al Qaeda's many affiliates throughout the Muslim world, the official said, a key factor that led the State Department to close embassies, missions, and consulates throughout the region. "All you need to do is look at that list of places we shut down to get a sense of who was on the phone call," the official said.

Also during the meeting, the various al Qaeda leaders discussed in vague terms plans for a pending attack and mentioned that a team or teams were already in place for such an attack. For some leading members of Congress, the revelation that al Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan is actively managing and directing the operations of several affiliates directly refutes the Obama administration's repeated assertion that the leadership of the core of the group has been decimated by American drone strikes and special operations forces while the affiliate groups have been strengthened.

"This may punch a sizable hole in the theory that al Qaeda is on the run," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told The Daily Beast on Tuesday.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Obama often said that his administration's actions put al Qaeda "on its heels," although he later amended that claim to specify that he was referring to al Qaeda's core leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The administration continued to make that argument Monday.

"We've been clear that we have made a great deal of success against al Qaeda core in Afghanistan and Pakistan, that we have taken a number of steps to really decimate that group's leadership, including, of course, most importantly, Osama bin Laden," said State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf on Monday. "But at the same time, we've all made clear, from the president on down, that we remain very concerned about the affiliates, al Qaeda affiliates throughout the world. And in that—first on that list is always AQAP."

McCain said not only are the affiliates gaining strength but also that the core al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan is showing resilience, as evidenced by this latest news.

"The core seems to be able to able to reconstitute itself. The core also seems to be able to coordinate and manage the affiliates," he said. "There was a gross underestimation by this administration of al Qaeda's overall ability to replenish itself."

Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

Eli Lake is the senior national-security correspondent for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He previously covered national security and intelligence for The Washington Times. Lake has also been a contributing editor at The New Republic since 2008 and covered diplomacy, intelligence, and the military for the late New York Sun. He has lived in Cairo and traveled to war zones in Sudan, Iraq, and Gaza. He is one of the few journalists to report from all three members of President Bush's axis of evil: Iraq, Iran, and North Korea.
Josh Rogin is senior correspondent for national security and politics for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He previously worked at Foreign Policy magazine, Congressional Quarterly, Federal Computer Week magazine, and Japan's leading daily newspaper, The Asahi Shimbun. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at [email protected].

Note 1: FU Snowden, Fuck you for distracting us about metadata when the NSA is listening in on conference calls
Note 2: Kudos to the NSA for listening to this specific conference call, your quota of permitted fuckups just went up a few notches
Note 3: Apparently the NSA prefer DC to Marvel

[Legbiter]

Huffy US flakes on a date with Russia, Putin bemused.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/23608052

The Kremlin says it is "disappointed" the US cancelled bilateral talks in September, after Russia granted asylum to intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.

[CountDeMoney]

Big deal, like anything would be accomplished anyway.

[derspiess]

We're gonna need a bigger reset button.

[Viking]

We're gonna need a bigger reset button.

psst, Obama, push the reset button, not the other one!

[CountDeMoney]

Russia is just the geopolitical equivalent of a professional internet troll. 
We've got more important problems, like 1.35 billion tiger penis and shark fin soup-slurping spying little yerrow rat bastards.

[garbon]

Russia is just the geopolitical equivalent of a professional internet troll.

Yeah, Russia been acting up and we're treating them accordingly.

[Ed Anger]

Pootie Poot sent Dubya a get well message. How sweet.

[Legbiter]

Russia is just the geopolitical equivalent of a professional internet troll.

Yeah, Russia been acting up and we're treating them accordingly.

Flouncing off like a chick ain't exactly putting Putin in his place.

[garbon]

Russia is just the geopolitical equivalent of a professional internet troll.

Yeah, Russia been acting up and we're treating them accordingly.

Flouncing off like a chick ain't exactly putting Putin in his place.

I think it more like: "You're going to act like a child? No use talking with you then. Come back when you're an adult."

[grumbler]

Flouncing off like a chick ain't exactly putting Putin in his place.

Has that worked for you with anyone?

[11B4V]

What the hell is she reading?  That can't be a comfortable position for reading.

Who cares what she's reading.

[Siege]

Edward Snowden can stay in "free russia" for all I care now...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/07/al-qaeda-conference-call-intercepted-by-u-s-officials-sparked-alerts.html

Note 1: FU Snowden, Fuck you for distracting us about metadata when the NSA is listening in on conference calls
Note 2: Kudos to the NSA for listening to this specific conference call, your quota of permitted fuckups just went up a few notches
Note 3: Apparently the NSA prefer DC to Marvel

So, you are not worry that Obama made the capability of intercepting the bad guys conference calls public, instead of keeping it a secret to continue to exploit the source?

Can you imagine how much we could have exploited all the intel captured at OBL's hide if he had kept silence about the attack?

And why would the President mention SEAL 6 by name?

Whatever, man.