May 19, 2013

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Syrian rebel leader: U.S. will act if conflict widens

May 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

50316f5c9c7bc2c78b8caf57d70ad61f Syrian rebel leader: U.S. will act if conflict widens

Story Highlights

Syrian activists say as many as 94,000 people have died in the two-year conflict
SNC plagued by resignations, tepid international backing, the involvement of in
Analyst: SNC leader just a figurehead for the true powers running the agenda

(PhatzNewsRoom / USA Today) — The leader of the Syrian opposition says the conflict engulfing the country will draw in neighboring states before international players such as the U.S. move in to help bring about its end.

In his first sit-down interview since being named of the for Syrian Revolutionary and (SNC) last month, George said only when the wider region is pulled into the war will the U.S. government change its stance on arming rebels and establishing a “no fly” zone. And, he says, it’s looking increasingly likely that the conflict will widen.

“Now there is one country with 23 million people involved,” he said. “In time, if the situation continues, there will be five countries and 80 million people involved in this conflict. When this happens, and when Israel is involved, then America will act.”

Syrian activists say as many as 94,000 people have died in the two-year conflict, which has turned increasingly violent and sectarian in recent months.

Hilal Khashan, a professor of political studies at the American University of Beirut, blames the lack of a response from for allowing the conflict to deteriorate.

“It was the nonchalant approach of the West to the Syrian conflict that, among other factors, has contributed to the radicalization of the conflict and the spread of gruesome practices,” he said. “After all, the regime got away with its own .”

Despite attempts by figures in the CIA and to get the U.S. more actively involved in supporting rebel groups, the White House remains wary of becoming embroiled in another .

The conflict has already destabilized fragile political activities in neighboring Lebanon, and last week 51 people were killed in two car bombs in Turkey that officials blamed on supporters of Syrian al Assad.

Sunni-Shia divisions in the region have been exacerbated by the role played by the Shia-Lebanese group Hezbollah, which experts say is currently fighting on the side of the Syrian regime in the western part of the country.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two Sunni monarchies, have been instrumental in providing cash and weapons to the mostly Sunni rebel groups fighting the Syrian government. With Assad backed by Iran and Hezbollah, and rebels by Gulf states, Sabra says he believes a long, sectarian war involving all sides may be imminent.

The SNC itself has been plagued by resignations, tepid international backing and, recently, the involvement of rebels in atrocities against government soldiers.

This week, footage emerged of a rebel fighter in Homs province cutting out and eating the body parts of a dead government soldier. In the audio accompanying the video clip and obtained by Time magazine, the rebel spoke with a vicious sectarian hatred directed at Assad and Syria’s Alawite community.

Sabra admitted he hadn’t seen the video but said the SNC has given direction to rebel groups to help combat extremist activities and will provide instruction to mid-level fighters on the laws of war.

Sabra was named interim chief of the SNC following the resignation of Sheikh Moaz al-Khateeb in March. Al-Khateeb cited outside forces seeking to control the activities of the opposition — a veiled reference to Saudi Arabia and Qatar — as a main reason for stepping down. Sabra said he doesn’t see al-Khateeb — a charismatic figure popular among many Syrians — returning to the SNC.

“Sheikh al-Khateeb didn’t come from politics — he thinks with his heart and has little time for politics.”

Sabra, who fled Syria in December 2011 after spending time in prison for his activities during the revolt, is skeptical of a peace initiative drawn up by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this month.

Sabra said opposition figures won’t attend a U.N. meeting in Geneva in June, where the initiative is expected to be set in place, without first seeing an agenda and the names of those invited.

Damascus — also invited to send representatives even as a U.N. resolution passed Wednesday condemning its use of heavy weapons in the conflict — has similarly asked for more details about the conference before committing.

On Thursday, Syrian opposition leaders will gather in Istanbul to elect a new president of the council, and Sabra is one of several front-runners.

David Butter, analyst and former fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said

“(Sabra’s) advantage internally for opposition figures is that he’s much more reliable — al-Khateeb went off message,” Butter said. “But whoever’s going to lead the opposition is always going to be just a frontman.”

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Suspected U.S. drone in Yemen kills 4 militants / In Turkey, anger as Syrian conflict spills over

May 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

3e2d63d9818e43c88785eed1760bf872 Suspected U.S. drone in Yemen kills 4 militants / In Turkey, anger as Syrian conflict spills over

Story Highlights

A Yemeni official said the attack took place in the Abyan province
attacks in Yemen have spiked since the new U.S.-backed president took power last year
Al-Qaeda in Yemen is considered one of the most active and dangerous branches

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni security officials say a suspected U.S. drone strike killed four al-Qaeda militants in the country’.

The officials say the attack took place around dawn Saturday in an area called Deyfa in Abyan province. Officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to brief the media.

battled al-Qaeda in Abyan province last year, routing out militants from major cities that al-Qaeda had overrun during the country’s 2011 political turmoil. The militants fled to surrounding mountainous areas.

According to several research groups and the Associated Press’s own reporting, there has been a in such drone strikes in Yemen since the country’s new U.S.-backed president assumed power early last year.

Washington says al-Qaeda in Yemen is among the group’s most dangerous and active branches worldwide.

7f23f57575a98c752c182b46d681af6d Suspected U.S. drone in Yemen kills 4 militants / In Turkey, anger as Syrian conflict spills over
Riot policemen face protesters Saturday in Reyhanli, Turkey, during funerals for victims of a that went off May 11.(Photo: AFP/)

In Turkey, anger as Syrian conflict spills over

Story Highlights

Turkish government believes Mihrac Ural is behind the Reyhanli attacks
hope to capitalize on diminishing support for Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s policy on Syria
Reyhanli serves as a corridor for humanitarian aid going into Syria and refugees coming out

(PhatzNewsRoom / ) — REYHANLI, Turkey — It almost looked like a normal day for the mayor of Reyhanli as Hüseyin Can Sanverdi wore a three-piece suit while sitting in his stately city hall office where the phone rang off the hook.

But it was anything but normal: All windows in the room had been blown out by a car bomb three days earlier, the first of two attacks that claimed some 50 lives and injured hundreds more in the deadliest attack on Turkish soil in more than 20 years.

Reyhanli sits at the border with Syria, where an increasingly brutal civil war has spilled over in an action that, many Turks say, demands international response.

“The international community and the U.S. definitely have to help Turkey with the situation,” said Sanverdi, raising his voice to be heard over the bulldozers that worked frenetically scraping rubble from the blast into piles for disposal. The building would be fully functional again in a week, he said, but Turkey could no longer handle the problem on the other side of the border alone.

President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met at the White House on Thursday, emerging later to say they remain opposed to the regime of Syrian President and want his removal. But neither offered any initiatives to make that happen.

Turkey has endured several attacks by Syria and many are concerned the attacks will only increase.

“They attacked us because Reyhanli cooperates so much with the Syrian people and sends so much aid,” Sanverdi says. “For two years there have never been any problems here.”

The Turkish government believes that Mihrac Ural — a fugitive Turkish Alawite who found asylum in Syria in 1980 — is behind the Reyhanli attacks.

Officials have also implicated Ural in a massacre in the coastal town of Baniyas, Syria, two weeks ago. “Those who committed the Baniyas massacre are also responsible for these attacks,” Turkish Ahmet Davutoglu said on May 12, referring to the twin car bombings here.

At the site of the more powerful second bombing, a busy street corner at a roundabout known for its artificial tree, tensions remain high less than a week after the explosion. A minor traffic snafu turns into a man getting beaten violently, but police intervene quickly.

Some Turks have become violent, but many others simply want to stop playing such a large role in Syria’s war. Political opposition groups hope to capitalize on diminishing public support for Erdogan’s policy on Syria.

Semih Iseri, a 21-year-old international relations student, came to Reyhanli from Ankara to see for himself what is happening in his country. As he paces around on shattered glass and bloodstains near the top floor of a building that overlooks the bomb site, he blames the Free Syrian Army (FSA) for the attack, and Erdogan’s government for supporting the , whom he calls “terrorists.”

“There is an Arab Spring, or whatever you want to call it, but that’s Assad’s business. It’s Syria’s business. It’s not our business, but we are intervening because Erdogan wants to make another Ottoman Empire. The West says we should declare war on Syria, but we don’t want war. We are not a strong country.” says Iseri, a member of the ADD (Kemalist Thought Party), an opposition group.

Gesturing toward the taped-off wreckage — where beds in bedrooms are visible after entire sides of the buildings were torn off by the blast — Iseri says, “That’s the Ottoman Empire.”

Reyhanli sits at the Syrian border, serving as a corridor for humanitarian aid going into Syria and refugees coming out. Atmeh, just over the border on the Syrian side, is also known for its high number of foreign fighters and mujahideen, Muslims who come from elsewhere in the world to pursue jihad in Syria.

The town has one main strip and three roundabouts. Its pre-Arab-Spring population of 60,000 has nearly doubled as some 40,000 Syrians have escaped the increasingly brutal civil war at home.

As the circle of players in Syria’s civil war continues to grow, the questions surrounding the Reyhanli attacks — who did it, what their goals were, why they chose Reyhanli, and why so many Turks and so few Syrians perished — are significant for determining the future of the Syrian conflict and the role of Turkey in it.

While Reyhanli’s Turks — as well as the Syrians who have found refuge here — are nearly 100% Sunni, Reyhanli is in Hatay province, which has many Alawites as well. Not far away is Syria’s Latakia city, the homeland of the Alawites, the Shia offshoot sect to which the ruling Assad family belongs.

As Syria’s civil war has grown more and more sectarian, with largely Sunni rebels pitted against an Alawite regime, ordinary citizens have succumbed to anger and hatred based on sect as well.

Antakya, the seat of Turkey’s Hatay province, which used to be part of Syria, is about 30% Alawi.

Reyhanli’s economy has taken off as a result of its proximity to the Syrian border.

Houses that used to be rented out for $100 a month now go for $700, said Yasir Alsyed, an attorney who used to defend political prisoners before military courts in Syria.

Alsyed left Aleppo nearly a year and a half ago and has lived for eight months in Reyhanli, where he directs a rehabilitation center for disabled Syrians. In Antakya, most merchants are Alawi, he explained, and as all the aid organizations began basing themselves in Reyhanli, the trade for Sunnis went up, and the trade for Alawis in Antakya went down.

Then, Alsyed said, as the civil war in Syria took an increasingly sectarian tone, “now Sunnis always look for Sunni shops; they won’t buy from Alawis in Antakya. It wasn’t like this before.”

“Three days ago, the situation here became terrible. I haven’t left home since then,” said Hassan Abu Hamzi, a 25-year-old aid worker and former FSAfighter, as he sat in the apartment he has lived in for the last six months with his brother, sister and mother.

Syrians have walled themselves up inside their homes since the bombings spurred Turks in Reyhanli to attack Syrians in the streets and target cars with Syrian license plates. “It’s not everybody,” Abu Hamzi said, “just some violent people.”

Concerning the future of Syria, Abu Hamzi said, “there’s no choice. It’s either us [the Sunnis] or the Alawis.”

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General: Threat from homemade bombs here to stay

May 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

fc80361876630195bb9cb675faa6fbda General: Threat from homemade bombs here to stay
An Army team transfers the remains of Spc. Thomas P. Murach May 7 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. Murach, 22, of Meridian, Idaho, died of injuries sustained when an IED struck his vehicle in Afghanistan’s .(Photo: Steve Ruark, AP)

Story Highlights

General who led the Pentagon’s anti-IED command is retiring
bombing showed how easy the devices are to make
Pakistan doing better at helping cut fertilizer shipments to Afghanistan

(PhatzRadio / ) — WASHINGTON — The threat from — the top killer of U.S. and Iraq — will persist for decades and likely become a more prevalent menace domestically, according to the top Pentagon officer charged with fighting improvised explosive devices.

Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, who retired Friday, talked about IEDs and the threat they pose to U.S. citizens, their toll in Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere in a recent interview.

“This is here to stay,” said Barbero, who leads the (JIEDDO). “It’s too cheap, too readily available, a whole generation of . Boston is not an anomaly.”

The homemade bombs detonated at the Boston Marathon killed three people and wounded more than 200 others, many of whom had limbs severed by the shrapnel of bombs cobbled together with and nails.

The United States ranks in the top five among countries reporting IED attacks, Barbero said. Most of the domestic attacks involve pipe bombs on timers, he said. The attempted attack on New York’s Times Square in 2010 involved a Nissan Pathfinder filled with propane, gasoline and fertilizer. Passersby alerted police, and the bomb failed to explode. Faisal Shahzad is serving a life sentence for the attempted attack.

“We were lucky,” Barbero said. “A couple hundred pounds in the middle of Times Square? Very bad, very bad. But he screwed up the fusing, and we had good police work.”

The best way to fight the IED threat is to dismantle bomb-making networks by tracing them to IEDs through forensic evidence such as fingerprints and DNA, Barbero said. He worries that lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan will be lost if JIEDDO is allowed to wither.

“It removes the adversaries’ greatest advantage: ,” he said. “I’m concerned that’s not sufficiently funded. Basic forensics, labs. That’s a game changer at the tactical level.”

JIEDDO analysts helped analyze the Boston bombs, Barbero said. The organization also probes social networks — the command-and-control vehicle for bomb-making networks.

Peter Singer, director of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at the Brookings Institution, said Barbero’s concern about the long-term threat of IEDs is on target. “Unfortunately, the past data and likely future trends show that IEDs are here to stay, both on battlefields abroad and in terror cases at home,” he said.

Capabilities that JIEDDO has will continue to be in demand. Officials will have to decide if JIEDDO remains in place or its expertise is parceled out to other parts of government, Singer said.

Elsewhere, IEDs continue to kill and maim:

• Afghanistan. A homemade bomb killed five U.S. soldiers May 4 in a Stryker combat vehicle. The bomb was big, “a couple hundred pounds,” and well placed, Barbero said. “Smart enemy,” he said. “They know capabilities we have.”

• Syria. Al-Qaeda in Iraq has shared IED tactics with fighters in Syria, Barbero said. Other terrorist groups are spreading bomb-making materials and techniques with militants in North Africa. “As I look at every global hot spot, it is the weapon of choice,” Barbero said. “In Syria we should not be surprised.”

• Pakistan. Efforts to stem the flow of fertilizer — the main ingredient in homemade explosives used in Afghanistan — have started to pay off, Barbero said. Last April, 86% of IEDs in Afghanistan used homemade explosives, almost all of which could be traced to plants in Pakistan. That has dropped to 80% this year, according to JIEDDO. He credited better relations with the Pakistani military.

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Netanyahu takes aim at weapons ‘leakage’ in Syria

May 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

e1ca40923771c4811edd3e8b746fdfbe Netanyahu takes aim at weapons leakage in Syria

() – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect on Sunday of further Israeli strikes inside Syria, pledging to act to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah and other .

Although Israel has not publicly taken sides in the civil war between Syrian al-Assad and trying to topple him, Western and say it has launched in Syria to destroy weapons it believed were destined for Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

In public remarks at the weekly meeting of his cabinet, Netanyahu made no direct mention of those attacks, but made clear Israel was prepared to take action in the future and said it was “preparing for every scenario” in the Syrian conflict.

Israel had set a policy “to prevent, as much as possible, the leakage of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and terror elements”, he said.

“We will act to ensure the security interest of Israel’s citizens in the future as well,” Netanyahu added, describing his government’s actions as “responsible, determined and level-headed”.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied reports it attacked Iranian-supplied missiles stored near Damascus this month that it believed were awaiting delivery to Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006 and is allied with Assad.

SUPERSONIC MISSILE

A Russian shipment of Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria was condemned by the United States on Friday, and Israel is also alarmed by the prospect of Moscow supplying S-300 advanced air defense missile systems to Damascus.

Netanyahu held talks in Russia on Tuesday with President Vladimir Putin on the Syrian crisis but gave no public indication whether Israel’s concerns over the Russian weaponry had been eased.

, a senior Israeli official, said on Saturday the S-300 and the Yakhont, weapons that could complicate any plans for foreign in Syria, would likely end up with Hezbollah and threaten both Israel and U.S. forces in the Gulf.

“Yakhont is a cruise missile that can hit targets at sea and strategic targets. (It is) a supersonic missile, (with) a range of 300 km, very sophisticated,” Gilad said on Israel’s Channel Two television on Saturday.

“The Russians sent it to Syria, beside the strategic defense system called the S-300. There are a number of versions, and they are sending them one of the good versions,” he said.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Friday Russia’s delivery of anti-ship missiles to Assad was “ill-timed and very unfortunate” and risked prolonging a war that has already killed more than 80,000 Syrians.

A spokesman for Putin, while not responding directly to assertions Russia had sent the anti-ship missiles, said Moscow would honor contracts to supply Syria, a long-time weapons customer.Israel said on Saturday that advanced weapons supplied by Russia to war-torn Syria could end up in the wrong hands and be used against the Jewish state.

A Russian shipment of Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria was condemned by the United States on Friday and Israel is also alarmed by the prospect of Russia supplying S-300 advanced air defense missile systems to Damascus.

While Israel has declined to take sides in the civil war between -Assad and rebels trying to topple him, Western and Israeli sources say it has launched air strikes inside Syria in a bid to destroy weapons it believes are destined for the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Army Radio: “(Weapons) could reach others in Syria or Lebanon and be used against Israel.”

“These are not just any weapons, they are tie-breakers, and that’s why there is a responsibility with all world powers, certainly Russia, not to supply such arms,” Livni said, adding that Israel had the right to defend itself.

Israel has neither denied nor confirmed reports that it attacked Iranian-supplied missiles stored near Damascus this month that it believed were awaiting delivery to Hezbollah, an Assad ally which fought a war with Israel in 2006.

Senior Israeli defense official Amos Gilad said the S-300 and the Yakhont would likely end up with Hezbollah and threaten both Israel and U.S. forces in the Gulf.

“If Hezbollah and Iran are supporting Syria and propping the (Assad) regime up, then why shouldn’t it transfer those weapons to Hezbollah? You don’t even have to be an intelligence expert, it makes sense that they will,” Gilad told Channel Two television’s Meet the Press.

In comments to Israel Radio on Friday, Gilad said: “If you ask the Russians if these weapons will be passed on to Hezbollah, they will say: ‘No, that is against Russian law.’ But it’s not certain that Russian law is something they will respect. So if Hezbollah can put its hands on them, it will.”

The two-year-old civil war in Syria between Assad’s forces and rebel fighters has killed at least 80,000 people and driven 1.5 million abroad.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

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Benghazi e-mails show ‘no conspiracy,’ expert says

May 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

986229f96e88496f5d884de8171e1ea5 Benghazi e mails show no conspiracy, expert says

Story Highlights

Republicans say editing process misled Americans
Former ambassador Thomas Pickering has been called to testify
Four people died in the attack in Libya

(PhatzNewsRoom / ) — E-mails released by the White House that describe how the CIA’s assessment of the Benghazi attack was edited to exclude any mention of terrorism appear to be part of a routine process by Washington bureaucrats, says a former who used to take part in such processes.

“There’s no conspiracy here that I can see,” said Reuel Marc Gerecht, now an analyst at the . “It’s just how the U.S. government works.”

But Republicans say the editing process wound up misleading Americans when the final version of the CIA assessment made no mention that the attack was a pre-planned assault by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists.

The ’s assessment was alluded to by the Obama administration in claims now proved false that the attack was not terrorism but sprang from a over an anti-Islam video on the Internet.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a member of the , says the editing represented “grappling” between the State Department and the CIA, which wanted it known that it warned the Obama administration of terror threats in the region. State said in the e-mails that her “leadership” didn’t want to appear to have ignored the warnings.

“That resulted in more inaccuracies,” Chaffetz said. “It’s right before the election, nobody wants to take the blame, and the casualty is the truth. Truth was not the primary or we wouldn’t have gotten this fiction.”

In the latest news, House oversight committee chairman Rep. , R-Calif., issued a Friday for former ambassador Thomas Pickering to testify about his role in the State investigation of its actions before, during and after the Sept. 11 attack.

Pickering co-chaired the Accountability Review Board, which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appointed to look into allegations that State failed to protect its staffers and refused added security in the weeks leading up to the attack.

In a letter to Pickering, Issa called the board’s investigation process “opaque” and says he had to subpoena Pickering because he refused to submit documents requested by the committee or appear before committee staffers for a transcribed interview.

House Republicans want to know how the White House and State Department came up with a false narrative about an attack by al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Benghazi that killed Chris Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three others. The narrative wound up in talking points given to Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who insisted the attack was a protest gone awry.

The CIA’s first unclassified assessment of the Benghazi attack said “we believe… the attacks in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo,” which occurred on Sept. 11. That wording, which proved to be false, was kept in the final CIA memo on the attacks. But references to the attack being the work of al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, which U.S. counterterrorism officials say is what happened, were removed.

The editing process shows administration officials, such as Nuland, questioning the basis of that and other assertions in the CIA assessment. They show White House officials, such as Ben Rhodes and Tommy Vietor, then-spokesman for the national security adviser, insisting that State’s concerns be addressed.

At least 16 named officials and 13 unnamed officials or offices in the departments of Justice, State, CIA, the National Directorate of Intelligence and the White House participated in the process.

“They’re deleting references to Ansar al Sharia,” a Libyan al-Qaeda affiliate whose members the CIA said it knew were involved in the attack “because that’s what government bureaucrats do,” Gerecht said. “They’re trying to be precise, to be overly meticulous. Unless you know for sure you don’t say it.”

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Report: North Korea launches short-range missiles

May 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

9700434d1061e4d4ee1c5b790e9376cd Report: North Korea launches short range missiles

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Report: The missiles were fired away from South Korean waters
North Korea fired three short-, Ministry is quoted as saying
They were fired into the sea off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast, reports
Tensions in the region have eased since a peak last month

() — North Korea launched three short-range into the sea off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast Saturday, South Korea’s semi-official news agency Yonhap cited the as saying.

The ministry said it had detected two launches in the morning, followed by another in the afternoon, Yonhap reported.

The missiles were fired in a northeasterly direction, away from South Korean waters, the ministry said.

South Korea has beefed up monitoring on North Korea and is maintaining a high-level of readiness to deal with any risky developments, the ministry added, according to Yonhap.

According to the Arms Control Association, a U.S.-based organization, short-range guided missiles are generally classified as those traveling less than 1,000 kilometers (about 620 miles.)

Tensions in the region have eased in recent days since a fraught period last month that included near daily North Korean threats of war.

U.S. and feared at that time that Kim Jong Un’s regime was planning to carry out a test of longer-, believed to be Musudans. The South Korean government says they have a maximum range of 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles).

Andrew Salmon, a journalist and author based in the , Seoul, said North Korea’s reported launch of short-range missiles Saturday should not cause the same degree of concern as the launch of a satellite or medium-range Musudan rocket.

“It’s a short-range tactical weapon. If any other country launched this kind of weapon, it’s a , nobody would be too worried. It’s really simply because it’s North Korea doing this that it raises concerns,” he said.

The situation is much less tense in the region than it was last month, Salmon said.

“The North Koreans have significantly de-escalated their bellicosity and their rhetoric since the end of April,” he said. “The South Korean government, I suspect, will not be strongly condemnatory of this test because right now they are very, very keen to get the North Koreans to the negotiating table.”

The recent tensions flared after the North’s long-range rocket launch in December and underground nuclear test in February, both of which were widely condemned.

Pyongyang’s fiery rhetoric intensified in March as the U.N. Security Council voted to tighten sanctions on the regime following the nuclear test.

Annual U.S.-South Korean military drills in South Korea also fueled the North’s anger, especially when the United States carried out displays of strength that included nuclear-capable B2 stealth bombers.

North Korea is demanding recognition as a nuclear power, something the United States refuses to countenance.

Last month’s crisis resulted in the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

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Former Chechen rebel: ‘I have nothing to do with’ Boston bombings

May 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

f8bd5e7a1d9e71019099a166838065e8 Former Chechen rebel: I have nothing to do with Boston bombings

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Musa Khadjimuradov, 36, says he has been questioned twice by the
He says investigators are asking about one of the suspects
“I am sure the FBI knows by now that I have nothing to do with the terrible act,” he says
Khadjimuradov says he knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev only in passing

Manchester, New Hampshire () — The trail of bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has led investigators to the New Hampshire home of a former Chechen rebel living in exile, a told on Friday.

FBI agents interviewed Musa Khadjimuradov and searched his Manchester home this week, said the official, who spoke on condition of .

While the official did not detail what investigators uncovered during the search or the contents of the interview, Khadjimuradov indicated in an e-mailed statement to CNN that he was questioned about his contact with dead suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Authorities have cast a wide net in the investigation into the Boston bombings, examining everything from the suspects’ movements to people they knew, to determine whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev or his younger , Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, received help in carrying out the attack.

“I am sure the FBI knows by now that I have nothing to do with the terrible act in Boston,” Khadjimuradov said in the statement.

“I would like to state that I barely knew the Tsarnaev family, and only met them for the first time after we moved to the U.S. During the very few encounters, which were initiated by Tsarnaev, we have never discussed political or religious issues, so I could never guess what ideas were in their minds.”

Khadjimuradov, 36, said this week was the he has been questioned by about his with the elder Tsarnaev, who visited his home about three weeks before the April 15 bombings that left three dead and hundreds wounded.

In an interview this week with Voice of America, Khadjimuradov said he believes federal investigators questioned him because they wanted to know whether Tsarnaev had used a shooting range in the area.

“Because they say he has shooting practice here in New Hampshire. That’s like two or three times. So he bought fireworks here, from New Hampshire, you know? And he buy some ammunition for guns here in New Hampshire. And before the attack, like three or four weeks, he came to my house,” he said.

“So now I believe they’re thinking like he was coming here to New Hampshire and that I try to help him or something.”

He told Voice of America that he met Tamerlan Tsarnaev at a Chechen Society gathering in Boston in 2006, he had seen him only three times in three years, and the discussions were never about religion or politics.

“Nothing. Never. He never talking about the religious, politics or anything like that to me,” he said.

Authorities have said the surviving Tsarnaev brother told investigators that no one else was involved.

In addition to questions about how the bombings were carried out, investigators have been trying to determine how the Tsarnaev brothers were allegedly radicalized.

Authorities have said they believe the brothers acted alone, but are investigating whether they could have learned from or been aided by terror groups, including groups overseas.

The Tsarnaev brothers, ethnic Chechens, lived in Kyrgyzstan and Dagestan in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region, where Islamic insurgency has taken hold in a fight for independence.

Of particular interest has been Tamerlan’s 2012 trip to the semi-autonomous Russian republic of Dagestan, home to numerous Islamic that have warred against Moscow’s rule.

Russian authorities asked U.S. officials to investigate Tamerlan before the trip, saying they believed he was becoming increasingly involved with radical Islam. The FBI investigated, but found no evidence of extremist activity, FBI Director Robert Mueller told a Senate committee.

In his statement, Khadjimuradov said he understood why authorities wanted to talk to him and that he fully cooperated.

“These guys need to do everything they can to solve this case, so they can prevent anything like this horror from happening again,” it said.

Khadjimuradov, who relocated to the United States in 2004 as a refugee, has said he served as one of the bodyguards for Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen separatist leader wanted by Russia. Zakayev, who now lives in London, did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

Khadjimuradov told Voice of America and The New York Times he was paralyzed after being shot in the back by Russian security forces in 2001.

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Obama: U.S. preserves diplomatic, military options on Syria

May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Obama: U.S. preserves diplomatic, military options on Syria

() – President said on Thursday he reserved the right to resort to both diplomatic and to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but insisted that U.S. action alone would not be enough to resolve the Syrian crisis.

Taking a cautious line at a joint with Tayyip Erdogan, Obama voiced hope that the United States and Russia would succeed in arranging an international peace conference on Syria, despite signs of growing obstacles.

Erdogan had been expected to push Obama, at least in private, for more assertive action on Syria during a visit to Washington this week, days after tore through a town in the deadliest spillover of violence yet.

Obama – who has been reluctant to arm Syrian rebels or become enmeshed militarily in the conflict – made no mention of deeper engagement in Syria during an appearance at the White House, where the leaders sought to project a united front.

“What we have to do is apply steady international pressure,” Obama said.

Both leaders stressed the need to bring the and opposition to the negotiating table after more than two years of fighting that has killed more than 80,000 people and risks destabilizing the volatile Middle East.

But Russia’s insistence on Thursday that Iran, a U.S. foe and Assad supporter, take part in any international talks on Syria could further complicate efforts to organize the meeting.

Russian Sergei Lavrov said Tehran must have a role in the conference, but that Western states wanted to limit the participants and possibly predetermine the outcome of the talks.

Conflicting comments from Russia and the West over Iran’s role in the possible meeting have added to disagreements which already threaten to derail the conference proposed by Moscow and Washington last week.

Erdogan, whose country would be a key player in any conference, suggested that the involvement of Russia and China – both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – would add impetus, but he made no mention of Iran being invited to attend.

Turkey, a U.S. NATO ally, has been one of Assad’s fiercest critics, throwing its weight behind the uprising, allowing the rebels to organize on its soil and sheltering 400,000 refugees.

Earlier on Thursday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul criticized the world’s response on Syria as limited to “rhetoric,” saying his country had received little help with the refugee influx. Gul’s role is largely a ceremonial one.

Turkey has been among the strongest opponents of Assad but its enthusiasm for action against Syria has waned recently, partly in frustration at the fractured and growing .

Fighters of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in Syria executed 11 men they accused of taking part in massacres by Assad’s forces in a video published on Thursday.

A man whose face was covered in a black balaclava shot each man in the back of the head as they kneeled, blindfolded and lined up in a row in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor.

CHEMICAL WEAPONS

With intelligence assessments that Assad has likely used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition, Obama stuck to his position that more specific information is needed to confirm this before deciding how to respond.

Obama, who had said chemical weapons use would cross a “red line,” made clear, however, that Washington was keeping all options on the table, though he did not provide specifics.

“There are a whole range of options that the United States is already engaged in,” he told reporters. “And I preserve the options of taking additional steps, both diplomatic and military, because those chemical weapons inside of Syria also threaten our security over the long term as well as our allies and friends and neighbors.”

But pushing back against the notion that the United States might act alone, Obama said he would present any further chemical weapons evidence to the international community.

“This is also an international problem,” Obama said. “It’s not going to be something that the United States does by itself, and I don’t think anybody in the region including the prime minister would think that U.S. unilateral actions in and of themselves would bring about a better outcome inside of Syria.”

With American public opinion running strongly against new military engagement overseas, the White House wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Iraq war when false intelligence was used to justify the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Erdogan said Turkey, which has been testing blood samples from Syrian casualties, had shared its chemical weapons evidence with the United States, Britain and others and would also take it to the U.N. Security Council at the “proper time.”

Underscoring the lack of a Western consensus on how to push Assad from power, Obama declined to set a time frame for the Syrian leader’s departure, saying only “the sooner the better.”

Erdogan said Turkey was in full consensus with the United States on the need to end the bloodshed in Syria and for a political transition to a government without Assad, but declined to be drawn out on whether Washington should do more.

Erdogan faces growing domestic concern about Turkey’s role in Syria and its cost. He said Ankara would maintain its “open-door policy” toward Syrian refugees. He estimated that Ankara had already spent $1.5 billion on the problem.

Touching on another issue of strong U.S. interest, Erdogan said he would go ahead with a planned visit to the Gaza Strip, probably in June, and would also go to the West Bank, despite pressure from Washington to delay the trip.

The Obama administration is concerned Erdogan’s visit to the Palestinian enclave might endanger U.S. efforts to revive Turkey’s ties with Israel and to advance Middle East peace talks. Erdogan he hoped his visit would promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Eric Walsh)

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U.S. options to ‘capture or kill’ Benghazi suspects

May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

130516162356 benghazi man rifle file gi horizontal gallery U.S. options to capture or kill Benghazi suspects

(PhatzNewsRoom / Security) — The U.S. military has updated plans to “capture or kill” alleged perpetrators of the deadly on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, CNN has learned.

The development comes amid growing pressure on the White House to show progress in the effort to catch those who killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans last .

Officials emphasize that military planning has been underway since the immediate aftermath of the .

One part of the plan calls for potentially putting U.S. on the ground inside Libya, if ordered by President .

Two U.S. officials confirmed the details to CNN, but declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the information.

The plan was updated and discussed at the highest levels of the military as recently as last week.

The military has a list of several targets including some inside Benghazi and others in outlying areas. There are specific individuals named who are believed associated with the Benghazi attack as well other militants the United States wants to get. There are also militant camps or stronghold areas on the list that could be attacked.

The plan has series of “capture or kill” options that Obama would have to approve. It’s not known how much of this he may have been briefed about.

One said the military is well aware that if it is ordered into action now by the White House, it could be viewed as a political move in light of the ongoing controversy over Benghazi. But he noted that initial planning began shortly after the attack last year.

have stayed in the since the attack in varying numbers to collect intelligence and be ready to attacks if ordered.

CNN has been asked to not say where those forces are located.

Officials are emphasizing that its possible no will be carried out if the United States and Libyan law enforcement make any arrests.

The information was confirmed to CNN as a result of several days of reporting. It was not offered to CNN by the officials as part of any coordinated effort to reach out to the media.

Both officials declined to specify locations or names of potential targets.

But there are briefings circulating around the administration about a potential attack plan. A separate senior U.S. official said there has been no orders from the White House to carry out any option.

The initial “capture or kill” options assembled late last year were not approved by the White House for military action.

One military official said the administration was concerned that any American military intervention could weaken the fragile Libyan government so much that it might collapse.

That argument has also been made in the more recent discussions, but several officials say intelligence about the targets has improved.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress that the law enforcement investigation has made progress.

“We will be prepared shortly, I think, to reveal all that we have done,” Holder told the House Judiciary Committee.

Last week, the FBI released photos of three men it is seeking information about who could “possibly be implicated” in the attack. A federal law enforcement official said the men were at the scene but it is unclear whether they were involved.

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U.S. could use cyberattack on Syrian air defenses

May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment

72d29f467e72f23354792ef132793a32 U.S. could use cyberattack on Syrian air defenses
The White House launched an initiative to provide non-lethal aid to rebels battling the regime of Syrian Assad, pictured here.(Photo: SANA via AP)

Story Highlights

Electronic jammers and malware can knock out air defenses
A 2007 on a Syrian nuclear plant provided a template for future attacks
The potential for a deterrent to cyber attacks

(PhatzRadio / USA Today) — WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has cyberattack capabilities that allow the U.S. military to help blind defenses without firing a shot, according to military analysts.

“One of the reasons the Air Force has paid so much attention to cyberwarfare is … for beating enemy air defenses,” said James Lewis, an analyst at the .

U.S. abilities to defeat Syria’s air defenses are central to a debate over whether to intervene in the 2-year-old civil war. Electronic methods to disable enemy air defense systems include the injection of malware, a form of computer software, into the air defense network through a or by traditional electronic warfare aircraft capable of jamming radar.

The radars act like wireless transmitters and jammers can send false or destructive information into the radar, which then gets into the network, said Shlomo Narkolayev, an analyst who previously worked on cyber issues for the Israeli military’s Unit 8200, which handles cyberwarfare.

“It’s not hard to do this,” Narkolayev said.

Syria and other nations are constantly adjusting the electronics for their air systems, and Air Force documents show the U.S. military does the same with its cyberweapons. They are constantly updated to counter changes made by enemy militaries.

A 2007 on a suspected Syrian in 2007 provided a template for a future attack. The Israelis used a cyberattack to disable Syrian air defenses before aircraft entered Syrian airspace.

The Israeli attack was a quick strike that only required temporarily blinding air defenses. Establishing a no- would be a lengthier campaign that would require taking down Syrian air defenses for weeks or months.

Cyberattacks can cause permanent damage, Lewis said. U.S. forces have been reluctant to use cyberattacks for fear of creating collateral damage from malware that could damage other networks and because of concerns that enemy nations will copy the destructive malware once it is released. “We’ve been very cautious with the use of cyberweapons,” Lewis said.

The Pentagon is in the process of reviewing new rules of engagement for cyberwarfare.

Syrians could take the system offline to avoid an infection spreading, but then the system would be less effective, Lewis said.

The Pentagon has said any air campaign would be a challenge because of the size and sophistication of Syrian air defenses, which are far more extensive than in Libya, where the United States and NATO created a no-fly zone in 2011.

“It’s a much denser and more sophisticated system,” Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said recently.

U.S. and allied aircraft successfully launched an air campaign in Libya that helped defeat the regime of Moammar Ghadafi. It has frequently been help up as a model of what to do in Syria.

The White House launched an initiative to provide non-lethal aid to rebels battling the regime of , but has not decided on any further military options.

The question of how to respond has taken on renewed urgency after the Obama administration said the Assad regime has probably used chemical weapons.

Critics of the White House’s Syrian policy, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a leading Republican voice on foreign policy issues, advocate a more robust response, including establishing a no-fly zone.

While cyberwarfare provides some advantages it is not without risk and cannot replace more conventional tactics, said Jeffrey Carr, founder of Taia Global, a cybersecurity consultancy. “Cyber is not a magic bullet,” he said.

Analysts say if cyberattacks were used it would likely be alongside more traditional methods, such as jamming radar and missiles that lock on to radar sites. That requires pilots who risk their lives flying in dangerous airspace.

Air defense systems generally tie radar and missile sites together over a computer network. The system may be generally closed, but may connect with the Internet at junctures that are vulnerable to outside attack, analysts say. “Once you penetrate the systems you can do anything,” Narkolayev said.

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