Several issues I should but don't have time to write about :
NSA spying:
- How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets – NYT mag
- Q. & A.: Edward Snowden Speaks to Peter Maass – NYT mag
- The NSA Is Commandeering the Internet – Bruce Schneier/Atlantic
- The 1.6 percent of the Internet that NSA “touches” is bigger than it seems – Ars
- Zimmermann’s Law: PGP inventor and Silent Circle co-founder Phil Zimmermann on the surveillance society – Gigdom – (Important, as that piece points out, not to forget that computing capacity roughly doubles every 18 month. In a short while the NSA will be able to do much more nefarious stuff than it does today.)
- This Independent Technical Review Group Brought to You By the Booz Allen Hamilton Director of National Intelligence™ – emptywheel – (Obama coverup)
Syria:
There is a lot of hype over some Takfiri attacks on some small towns in Latakia. While these came as a surprise the Syrian army is already containing them. The Takfiris have received many new weapons over the last months. The truckloads of Anti Tank Guided Missiles they now have makes the use of tanks by the Syrian army more difficult but can be overcome with good artillery coverage. The Syrian army seems to have hunkered down a bit for now to let the Takfiris attack their defenses. That is smart to do. The casualties of the attackers are always higher than those of the defenders and at some point the stream of foreign Takfiris into Syria will slow down and stop. I still wonder though why Syria is not taking more (covered) action in Turkey. Erdogan must be put under pressure to close the border.
- Al-Qaeda expands in Syria via Islamic State – Liz Sly, WaPo – (still ignores that the Al-Qaeda has been there from the start)
- 400 US surface-to-air missiles were 'STOLEN' from Libya during the Benghazi attack, claims whistleblower – Daily Mail – (not sure its true but there was an attack on a weapon depot guarded by Ansar al Sharia on order of the Libyan government the day after the embassy attack and that may have aimed for these MANPADs)
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Benghazi Gunrunning to Syria: The Tale of Two British-Libyan Agents – La Rouche – (but good) - Syrian rebels accused of sectarian murders – Telegraph
- Syrian Rebels Destroy Orthodox Church in Al-Thawrah
- Breaking the Stalemate: The Military Dynamics of the Syrian Civil War and Options for Limited U.S. Intervention – More Zionist propaganda from Brookings
- Division among Syria's Islamist groups is growing deeper
- Syria rebels pass 'Kurd hostages to jihadists'
- Syria: Barzani pledges to defend Syrian Kurds against Al-Qaeda – Al Awsat
- Iraqi PM instructs an operation along Syria border
Yemen:
My impression is that the whole Al-Qaida "conference call" story, the closure of embassies in the Middle East and Africa and the current drone killing orgy in Yemen are an artificial diversions from the NSA spying. They failed as diversion but created lots of new enemies.
- Embassies Open, but Yemen Stays on Terror Watch – NYT – Quote: “Before, we couldn’t necessarily go after a driver for the organization; it’d have to be an operations director,” said the official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate intelligence issues. “Now that driver becomes fair game because he’s providing direct support to the plot.”
- Barrage of drone strikes in Yemen show flaws of US counter-terrorism strategy
Miscellaneous:
- History and guilt – Can America face up to the terrible reality of slavery in the way that Germany has faced up to the Holocaust? – Susan Neiman/aeon (answer: no)
- Taken – Under civil forfeiture, Americans who haven’t been charged with wrongdoing can be stripped of their cash, cars, and even homes. Is that all we’re losing? – New Yorker – (long must read)
- Israel Builds New Settlement To Host Palestinian Peace Talks – Onion