Saturday, November 05, 2011
U.S. drones infected by mysterious virus
When Roman poet Juvenal said Quis custodiet ipsos custodies, or “Who watches the watchers?” nearly two millennia ago, he was definitely not referring to the United States' drone programme.
Yet this week that question, of who might be secretly monitoring one of the most-protected advanced weapon systems of the U.S., was a burning question that the defence-scientific community grappled with.
On Friday Wired.com magazine reported that a computer virus had infected the cockpits of the U.S.' Predator and Reaper drones, logging pilots' every keystroke as they remotely flew missions over Afghanistan and other warzones.
The revelations suggested that though the virus was first detected nearly two weeks ago, pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada had continued to fly overseas missions with their Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
The Obama administration has used drones, both armed UAVs in Pakistan's border region and in Yemen and unarmed surveillance UAVs in Libya, with a high degree of success. The Predator in particular, armed with laser-guided Hellfire missiles, was said to have been behind the recent strike killing Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen.
Though there were no further explanations provided, officials sources said no incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source were evident. Yet the virus appeared to be endowed with so much computing firepower that it has managed to resist all efforts to date to eject it from the U.S. military's hard drives, according to network security specialists.
“We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,” said a source familiar with the network infection to Wired, one of three individuals who spoke to media about the virus. “We think it's benign. But we just don't know,” he said.
Anup Ghosh, a former scientist with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Chief Scientist with security company Invincea was quoted as saying, “They're just computers, after all... [The drones] are controlled by standard PCs... None of this should be surprising.”
In terms of ridding the system of the virus Mr. Ghosh said, “The system should be replaced or ‘re-imaged' with a virus-free, bit-for-bit copy of the data on the drive,” adding however that if the systems stayed connected to a larger network “they will be infected again.”
Labels: Afghan war, DARPA, drone programme, Pentagon, U.S. weapon systems
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
U.S. FORCES KILL OSAMA BIN LADEN
"Justice has been done," said U.S. President Barack Obama in a historic address. Mr. Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a targetted attack on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Osama bin Laden, leader of terror outfit al- Qaeda and alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, was killed in Pakistan in a Special Forces operation by the United States, U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Sunday night.
In a statement issued shortly after 11.30 p.m., Mr. Obama confirmed that Osama, high on the list of U.S. authorities' most wanted men, had been killed after a “fire-fight” in Abbottabad, a military cantonment town not far from Islamabad. The President said U.S. forces subsequently “took custody of his body.”
Resistance
Media reports quoted administration officials saying Osama had offered resistance to the assault team, presumed to comprise U.S. Navy Seals, and was shot in the head. The end came when U.S. forces in helicopters attacked a large walled compound where Osama and some of his family members were said to be hiding.
Buried at sea
While U.S. officials said DNA evidence confirmed that Osama was killed, no official evidence of his identity was released yet. Senior administration officials, briefing the media, had said the body would be handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition, and reports confirmed that he was “buried at sea.”
Even as news of his death broke, large crowds gathered outside the White House, at Ground Zero — the site of the 9/11 attacks — and in Times Square, New York City. Comprising mostly college-aged youngsters, the masses waved the American flag, sang the U.S. national anthem and chanted “USA, USA”.
Touching upon the historic import of Osama's death after nearly a decade of the U.S.-led war on terror, Mr. Obama said in his address to the nation: “For over two decades, Bin Laden has been al-Qaeda's leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies.”
Mr. Obama said the death of Osama marked the “most significant achievement to date” in the U.S.' effort to defeat the al-Qaeda; however, he cautioned: “Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There is no doubt that the al-Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must — and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.”
“Justice done”
Echoing the popular mood of the jubilant masses on the streets, Mr. Obama said justice had been done. The former Presidents, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton – also associated with pursuing Osama for terror attacks on U.S. soil – also joined with Mr. Obama in hailing Osama killing as justice delivered.
‘Mass murderer of Muslims'
Even as spontaneous celebrations erupted across the country, Mr. Obama sought to emphasise that his country would never be at war with Islam, and also that Pakistan's counter-terrorism cooperation had been important in the operation. “Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims.” Indeed, the al-Qaeda had slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, Mr. Obama said.
There was some ambiguity regarding Pakistan's role in the operation. While Pakistani officials were quoted in the media as saying that they did have prior knowledge of the assault in Abbottabad, U.S. officials appeared to deny this, with one senior administration official saying: “We had shared this information with no other country, and... a very, very small group of individuals within the U.S. government was aware of this.”
However, Mr. Obama said he had called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday night, and Pakistani officials “agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations.”
Covert operation
Regarding the covert operation, senior administration officials at the White House revealed numerous details regarding the intelligence gathering efforts that had set the stage for the assault.
Speaking to the media in a late-night conference call, they said that beginning in September 2010 the Central Intelligence Agency was said to have discussed with Mr. Obama “a set of assessments that led it to believe that in fact it was possible that Osama may be located at a compound in Pakistan.”
Following these discussions, officials said, it was determined in mid-February that there was a sound intelligence basis for pursuing the lead in an aggressive way and “developing courses of action to pursue Osama bin Laden at this location.”
With the President giving the final order to pursue the operation on the morning of April 29, the raid was sanctioned for Sunday, May 1, and the target, a large home with 18-foot walls and no telephone or internet connections, was identified based on intelligence reports compiled over four years.
40-minute affair
Spending less than 40 minutes in the compound, the U.S. forces “did not encounter any local authorities while performing the raid,” officials said, and apart from Osama, three adult males were said to have been killed, in all likelihood two couriers and Osama's adult son. Osama did offer resistance to the assault, officials said, confirming that one woman was also killed “when she was used as a shield by a male combatant.”
Following the assault, a helicopter was lost due to mechanical failure and “it had to be destroyed by the crew and the assault force.” Officials said crew members boarded the remaining aircraft to exit the compound.
Labels: 9/11 mastermind, Afghan war, CIA, jihadi groups, Obama administration ISI, Osama bin Laden killing, Pentagon, War on terror
Friday, July 30, 2010
FBI to help probe Wikileaks source
From The Hindu
In what could mark the start of an accelerating backlash from the administration, the release of sensitive military documents by the WikiLeaks whistleblower website was attacked by senior Department of Defence officials.
The criticism by top DoD staff, such as Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, was also accompanied by an announcement that the military had asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help Pentagon authorities investigate the sources of the leak of the classified documents.
Describing the release as a “breach of national security”, Mr. Gates said the use of the FBI would ensure the investigation could go wherever it needed to go.
Regarding the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, Admiral Mullen said, “Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family.”
Mr. Gates however expressed the opposite view on the importance of the documents, “These documents represent a mountain of raw data and individual impressions, most several years old, devoid of context or analysis... They do not represent official positions or policy.” He further emphasised that in his view, the documents’ revelations did not fundamentally call into question the efficacy of the allied strategy in Afghanistan and its prospects for success.
However, Secretary Gates noted that the 90,000-plus documents released by WikiLeaks still had battlefield consequences for United States, Afghan troops and civilians, and also may damage U.S. relationships in Central Asia and the Middle East.
In particular, Mr. Gates expressed concern that they might damage the U.S.’ relationships with Afghanistan and Pakistan. “Both nations remember that the U.S. walked away from the region in 1989, and U.S. military and civilian leaders have been trying hard since 2001 to repair those relationships and close the trust deficit,” he said.
Admiral Mullen corroborated this sentiment, noting, “In addition to making sure we understand the tactical risks from these leaks, I think it is incumbent upon us not to let the good relationships we have established and the trust we have worked so hard to build throughout the region also become a casualty.”
Labels: Afghan war, NATO, Robert Gates, Taliban, Wikileaks
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
White House condemns release of Afghan war documents
From The Hindu
A hacker-founded whistleblower website, WikiLeaks, has released close to 75,000 documents, from the battlefront in Afghanistan, which purportedly show the complicity of Pakistani spy agencies and the Taliban in waging a war against Western military forces. The site said it would soon be releasing another 15,000 documents.
In a development that could well rock the United States-Pakistan relationship or have far-reaching consequences for the U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan, the WikiLeaks release was said to show that Pakistan had permitted agents of intelligence services to hold secret planning sessions with the Taliban, aimed at agreeing a military strategy against American and other forces in the country. Unconfirmed reports also said that evidence of war crimes and a higher-than-expected civilian casualty rate could be found in the reports.
The White House reacted strongly within hours of the release. National Security Advisor General James Jones said in a statement that the U.S. "strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organisations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security".
He especially criticised WikiLeaks for making "no effort to contact us about these documents", complaining that the U.S. government had learned of the release from news organisations. General Jones was also quick to reassure that such "irresponsible" leaks would not impact the U.S.' ongoing commitment to deepen its partnerships with Afghanistan and Pakistan, to defeat common enemies and to support the aspirations of the Afghan and Pakistani people.
Speaking to The Hindu, Bruce Riedel, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former officer at the Central Intelligence Agency, said, "The documents underscore what we have known for years — Pakistan has an intimate relationship with the Taliban. The former head of Afghan intelligence has been saying this for the last month. The Obama administration has understood this from its first days in office." He added that the White House did understand there was no viable alternative to a policy of engagement with Pakistan to try to "coerce and entice Islamabad to cut those ties".
Shift in Af-Pak region
General Jones appeared to corroborate this view, noting that there had been a shift in the Af-Pak region under President Obama which entailed a "substantial increase in resources for Afghanistan, and increased focus on al-Qaeda and Taliban safe-havens in Pakistan, precisely because of the grave situation that had developed over several years". He further said that while there were still "serious challenges" ahead, the U.S. was focused on breaking the Taliban’s momentum and building Afghan capacity so that the Afghan government could begin to assume responsibility for its future.
Lisa Curtis, Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation think tank and formerly with the State Department’s South Asia Bureau, told The Hindu that some of the challenges the documents pointed to, such as high Afghan civilian casualties, had been rectified in the new counterinsurgency strategy first introduced in August 2009 by General Stanley McChrystal.
She said, "The WikiLeaks expose should not be used to argue that the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is doomed to failure... [It was] refined over the last year and... the new counterinsurgency strategy is sound and should be given time to succeed."
Ms. Curtis added, however, that the leaked documents revealed "a level of U.S. frustration with Pakistan's dual policy of fighting some extremists while harbouring others", a view that was not always apparent in official statements praising Pakistan as a steadfast ally in the war on terrorism.
She further noted that given the continuing challenges posed by Pakistan's ambiguous policy toward terrorism in the region, the Obama administration ought to consider carefully whether its current Pakistan policy should be recalibrated in ways that convince the Pakistanis to shift their strategy toward the Taliban more fundamentally.
In a similar vein, addressing those in Pakistan who might have worried about the impact of the leak, General Jones added that especially given the country’s willingness to work with the U.S. since 2009, "counter-terrorism cooperation has led to significant blows against al-Qaeda’s leadership... [and] the Pakistani military has gone on the offensive in Swat and South Waziristan, at great cost to the Pakistani military and people".
However, in what might have been a tacit acknowledgement of the veracity of some of the reports leaked, General Jones cautioned: "Yet the Pakistani government – and Pakistan’s military and intelligence services – must continue their strategic shift against insurgent groups."
Linking actions to annual aid
Implicitly linking such actions to the $1.5 billion annual aid that the U.S. is currently providing Pakistan, the General also said, "The balance must shift decisively against al-Qaeda and its extremist allies. U.S. support for Pakistan will continue to be focused on building Pakistani capacity to root out violent extremist groups, while supporting the aspirations of the Pakistani people."
According to the New York Times, which was said to be in possession of the documents a week ago, much of the information released by WikiLeaks could not be verified and likely comes from sources aligned with Afghan intelligence, which considers Pakistan an enemy, and paid informants.
The newspaper added that however, "many of the reports rely on sources that the military rated as reliable" and current and former American officials interviewed, said the portrait of the Pakistani spy agency’s collaboration with the Afghan insurgency was broadly consistent with other classified intelligence.
The report came close on the heels of a decision by the U.S. Treasury to impose sanctions against three key leaders and financiers for the Haqqani Network and the Taliban, for supporting acts of terrorism linked to the militant groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the United States Department of the Treasury announced this week.
In targeting the three individuals, the Treasury noted last week that the Haqqani Network was a Taliban-affiliated group of militants operating out of North Waziristan Agency, and that "Pakistan has been spearheading insurgent activity in Afghanistan".
Labels: Afghan war, NATO, Taliban, Wikileaks
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