FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Terrorist sympathizers and the CIA. The CIA is working hard to identify employees with ties to the likes of Hamas, Hezbollah, and al-Qaeda, explains contributor Chandler Harris: “After inspecting trillions of employee keystrokes while at work, the NSA scheduled at least 4,000 probes of potentially suspicious or abnormal staff activity, the Post reported. The behavior that triggered these probes include staff members downloading multiple documents or accessing classified databases not usually used during work, according to people familiar with the software that monitors employee activity.”
2. DoD and NASA spending out of this world. Over the next five years, DoD and NASA hope for some $4 billion for intelligence systems and deep-space exploration. Contributor Marc Selinger reports, “DOD’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program buys launch vehicles for military and intelligence satellites. NASA is responsible for the transport of crew and cargo to the International Space Station and is developing the Space Launch System . . . . Procurement will consume $28.4 billion, or almost two-thirds of the projected spending. Research, development, test and evaluation will take up another $11.3 billion, including about $7 billion for the Space Launch System. The last category, ‘other,’ which includes operations, maintenance, personnel and construction of facilities, will account for the remaining $4.2 billion.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. A deal on Syria . . . you have a week to declare. Aljazeera.Com reports, “Syria has been given one week to declare its stock of chemical weapons, and the country must immediately allow in international inspectors, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday after talks in Geneva with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Speaking at a press conference in Geneva on Saturday, after the third day of intense negotiations, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that arms inspectors should be on the ground in Syria by November with the goal of eliminating the country’s chemical weapons by mid-2014.”
2. Peace-talks in Syria may be an outcome of Russian-U.S. diplomatic efforts. While the Administration’s first concern remains Syria’s employment of chemical weapons, an end to the civil war in Syria could be in embryonic stages. Reuters reports, “The talks between teams led by Kerry and Lavrov, which began on Thursday, are at a ‘pivotal point’ and were continuing into Saturday, the U.S. official told reporters in Geneva. Kerry told a joint news conference, ‘We are committed to trying to work together, beginning with this initiative on the chemical weapons, in hopes that those efforts could pay off and bring peace and stability to a war-torn part of the world.’ He hoped a date might be set for peace talks, but added, ‘Much … will depend on the capacity to have success here in the next hours, days, on the subject of the chemical weapons.’” The AP reports, “Strategy in Disarray”: “After 2 1/2 years of civil war in Syria, President Barack Obama’s larger policy is in disarray even as his administration, with help from Russia, averted a military showdown for the time being.”
3. Taliban attack U.S. Consulate in Herat, near Iranian border. Despite our incremental draw-down, the Taliban continues to take the fight to the coalition. UPI.Com reports, “At least three people were killed Friday in explosion near the U.S. consulate in Afghanistan’s Herat province, security officials said. The attacks in the western Afghan city near the border with Iran began about 6 a.m. local time Friday, and included a gunfight between militants and security forces. . . . Taliban violence has escalated sharply in recent weeks as U.S-led NATO forces have begun preparations to end combat operations in Afghanistan, which are expected to be completed by the end of next year. Afghanistan’s security forces have already been given responsibility for the nation’s security.” Khaama.Com reports, “A suicide bomb attack rocked southern Kandahar province of Afghanistan on Saturday morning. According to reports, the incident took place near the Kandahar airfield and the main target of the suicide bomber was a convoy of the NATO troops.” Also, from Khaama.Com, Pakistan Taliban release offers no hope of progress in talks. Finally, DepSecDef Ash Carter arrives in Afghanistan to review the drawdown: “The Afghanistan retrograde is on schedule to meet the December 2014 deadline, a senior defense official said . . . .”
4. Protests and bloodshed in Egypt continues. Remember Egypt? Aljazeera.Com brings us up to date: “One person has died and 12 others including four policemen were injured when gunshots were fired as clashes erupted during protests in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. Eighteen anti-coup protesters were also arrested in Alexandria and a further 11 in Mahalla city as supporters and opponents of Egypt’s ousted President Mohamed Morsi clashed on Friday. . . . For weeks, demonstrators have been marching in cities around the country. In Cairo, a local resident of Nasr City told Al Jazeera that people want the rallies to end, as they are disrupting lives of the locals and limiting their movements.”
5. Roll Tide Roll! An Alabama-boy-turned-terrorist taken down by his own. Aljazeera.Com reports, “An American from Alabama who ascended the ranks of Somalia’s al-Shabaab armed group high enough to attract a $5 million US government bounty has been killed in an ambush ordered by the group’s leader, witnesses said. Residents in al Baate village in southern Somalia said Omar Hammami, commonly known as Abu Mansoor al-Amriki or ‘the American’, and a British national known as Usama al-Britani, were shot dead in a dawn raid on their hideout. Hammami’s killing exposed widening rifts in al-Shabaab’s top ranks as the group affiliated to al-Qaeda grapples with an African Union-led military offensive that has captured key cities from it, depriving the group of revenues.” [So, who is getting the $5 million bounty?] In related news, Texas A&M to face the Crimson Tide.
CONTRACT WATCH
1. To cut: contractors ““illegally performing inherently governmental functions.” House representatives urge SecDef to reconsider across-the-board cuts: GovExec.Com contributor Eric Katz reports, “A bipartisan pair of lawmakers has asked the Defense Department to rethink its plan to cut staff by 20 percent at top headquarters offices, asking for the Pentagon to exhaust all other options before taking negative personnel actions. . . .The appropriators called for an organizational review that ‘considers recommendations to eliminate certain functions and certain contracts entirely, rather than across-the-board cuts to all functions.’”
2. Aegis contractors blowing the whistle on Kabul Embassy security and Patrick Kennedy, undersecretary of State for management. Also from GovExec.Com, Charles S. Clark reports, “Employees of a private security contractor helping protect the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan have come forward with assertions that their team was dangerously understaffed, casting doubt on a more upbeat portrayal of the protections in place given this summer by a top State Department official. . . . [Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight] said documents obtained by [the nonprofit Project On Government Oversight], along with interviews with the security contractor Aegis, “appear to show that Aegis was unable to meet the necessary staffing levels required by its contract with the department.” Those included shortages of protective guards, medics and emergency response team members on both the day and night shifts.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court urging more transparency. CSMonitor.Com reports, “A judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has ordered the Obama administration to review for possible public release legal opinions issued by the secret court dealing with the constitutionality of the widespread collection of phone records by the National Security Agency. Friday’s ruling by one of the FISC judges, F. Dennis Saylor IV, a US district judge in Boston, is important, because it could mark a new willingness by the court to permit a level of public scrutiny of its decisions.” Wired.Com reports, “Secret Spy Court Demands Surveillance Transparency From Feds.”
2. They’re here: condoms for your cell phone. Your cell phones are susceptible to viruses when you plug it into community charging stations. Developers are working to protect them: VentureBeat.Com contributor Meghan Kelly reports, “Int3.cc, a community of developers who are “trying to research and learn more about embedded device development and security,” created a little condom-like sleeve that goes over a USB charger. It cuts off access to the data-transferring pins and only allows your device to connect to the power supply.”
3. Coming to your computer near you, Da Vinci puts PRISM to shame. Wired.Com contributor Adrianne Jeffries reports, “Today, Hacking Team’s flagship product, Da Vinci, enables law enforcement at federal, state, or local levels to collect heaps more data than the National Security Agency’s controversial PRISM program is reportedly capable of gathering. With Da Vinci, the police can monitor a suspect’s cell phone conversations, emails, and Skype calls, and even spy on the target through his or her webcam and microphone. It’s as if the investigator were standing behind a suspect using their computer.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. For God’s sake, don’t trust me: I’m with the government. Confidence in Biggie G hits all-time low. Politico.Com contributor James Arkin reports, “Just 49 percent of Americans said they had a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the federal government to handle international problems, according to a Gallup poll released Friday. The previous low was 51 percent in 2007. . . . The public’s trust is even lower when it comes to domestic issues. Just 42 percent of Americans answered with a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the government to handle issues at home, one point below the previous low from 2011.”
2. Can we please talk about something new? Time contributors Zeke J. Miller and Alex Rogers explain how D.C. sidles away from a mistake: “The debate over military intervention in Syria departed DC Thursday for the quiet halls of the United Nations and picturesque Geneva, where Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Ambassador Samantha Power are taking the lead on negotiating the transfer of Syrian chemical weapons to the international community. And no sooner were the diplomats wheels up out of Andrews than Washington breathed a collective sigh of relief, shelving the politically unpopular talk of war and returning to the familiar, reassuring routine of partisan bickering and legislative fights.”
3. Russia punches more fun at the U.S. Albeit not in D.C. per se, Sergey Lavrov’s upper-cut follows Putin’s roundhouse: American politicians talk too damn much. WashingtonExaminer.Com reports that after Kerry’s long-winded introductory comments, “negotiations with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov got off to a rocky start Thursday, with the Russian mocking Kerry right at the outset. . . . ‘Sometimes diplomacy demands silence.’”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Seeking Justice for Syrians.” Reuters contributor Diane Orentlicher argues, “Though prosecutions wouldn’t deal an immediate blow to Syria’s chemical weapons capacity, they can help restore a global taboo that has been dangerously breached, while also honoring the suffering of thousands of Syrian victims. Notably, the International Criminal Court last year acquired explicit jurisdiction over the war crime of using poisonous gas in the kind of conflict underway in Syria. Bringing this charge against Syrian perpetrators would bolster other efforts to fortify the taboo against use of weapons of mass destruction.”
2. “Obama’s Diplomatic Coup.” National Journal contributor Michael Hirsh argues, “But now Obama has won a reprieve—thanks to the Russians, of all people, America’s chief antagonists—from what looked like an all-but-certain congressional defeat. In the coming days, the president thus has a chance to avoid what could have been the worst humiliation of his presidency. Indeed, he could even achieve two major victories at once. If Syria, under Russia’s disarmament plan, goes beyond its already startling admission that it possesses chemical weapons (coming only days after Assad’s denials, this is already a victory) and gives its stockpiles up to international inspectors for elimination, it will prove a huge American diplomatic triumph in a region where there haven’t been any U.S. breakthroughs for a very long time.”
3. “The Case Against Isolation.” TheDailyBeast.Com contributor Michael Tomasky argues, “It’s been quite a piece of theater, watching Republicans, most of whom would normally be shouting from the rooftops for bombs over Damascus, insist that we must stay out of Syria. . . . But now let us direct our gaze toward the non-hypocrites. At least, it is often said of the isolationists, they are operating according to principle. Fine. But it’s a morally bankrupt principle, and an idiotic one, and one that will only hasten the advent of the kind of darker and more dangerous world that most conservatives are constantly trying to terrify the rest of us about. It’s hard to call anything worse than neoconservatism, but if there is one foreign-policy impulse that just might be worse, it’s leave-us-alone isolationism.”
THE FUNNIES
2. Putin Twerks.
3. It was a dark and stormy night . . . .
