General: ‘My Career Was Done’ When I Criticized Flawed Warplane

Wired
David Axe

Don Harvel, near his home in Georgia.

Don Harvel thought he was cruising to a well-deserved retirement after 35 years flying cargo planes for the U.S. Air Force. Then in the spring of 2010 he was tapped to investigate the fatal crash of a high-tech Air Force tiltrotor aircraft – and everything changed.

What Harvel discovered about the controversial hybrid aircraft drew him into a battle of wills with his superiors at Air Force Special Operations Command. Harvel, then a brigadier general, uncovered evidence of mechanical problems — and resulting safety woes — in the V-22 Osprey, which takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane. These are issues the Pentagon has been eager to downplay. So when Harvel refused to alter his findings to match the Defense Department’s expectations, he knew that was the final chapter of his decades-long military service. Harvel’s long-planned retirement was held up for more than two years, effectively silencing him during a troubling chapter in the Osprey’s often-troubled history.

“I turned [my report] in and I knew that my career was done,” Harvel says.

Despite three decades of development costing billions of dollars, the V-22 is still not nearly as safe as its proponents insist. In the past year alone, the military has assigned full blame for two Osprey crashes – one of them fatal – on pilot error. Those calls were questionable, at best. The Pentagon and the V-22′s manufacturers likewise dismissed concern over two emergency landings by stricken Ospreys. All the while, Harvel had to keep quiet.

No longer. In an exclusive interview, Harvel says the military is “trying to turn all eyes away” from the Osprey’s ongoing safety woes. “Especially in Congress.”

After all, Congress controls funding for the $36-billion V-22 program, and has the power to finance (or not) the U.S. Marines and Air Force as they work to more than triple their Osprey fleets. The military is beginning to rely on the temperamental but high-performance tiltrotors for a wider range of important missions; there’s even talk of Ospreys hauling the White House entourage on presidential trips. The Pentagon has also laid out a controversial plan to base 24 Ospreys in Japan. The Defense Department insisted that the speedy, long-range tiltrotor is “critical” to its Pacific war plans, but Japanese officials have justifiably questioned the V-22′s safety.

Harvel’s retirement paperwork finally cleared a few weeks ago. Now, the former Texas Air National Guard C-130 pilot is free to publicly share his opinion about the Osprey: that it’s “just not quite there yet.” The two crashes and another incident this year are proof of that.

“We need to invest money to fix this thing or change the way we’re operating it,” Harvel says. But the Pentagon has other priorities, he adds. “One of the things that is most noticeable to me is the military trying to get the [Air Force] CV- and [Marine] MV-22 to the forefront to get as much positive publicity as possible.”

An Air Force V-22 at a base in New Mexico. 

Lead Investigator

On April 9, 2010, an Osprey assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command was preparing to drop off a squad of U.S. Army Rangers in southern Afghanistan when something went wrong. The tiltrotor was traveling at least 88 miles per hour — several times the recommended landing speed — when it smashed into the ground a quarter mile from the landing zone. Four people died.

A sudden tailwind could have been a factor, but there’s another possible explanation: that the Osprey’s engines had malfunctioned in mid-air. Video shot by an A-10 attack plane overhead showed puffs of exhaust coming from the V-22′s nacelles, a sign that the crew was trying to restart non-working engines.

After a brief recovery operation, an A-10 bombed the wreckage to keep it out of militants’ hands. The air strike destroyed the tiltrotor’s black box. That, plus memory loss by Brian Luce, the only survivor from the two-man cockpit, ensured that the crash investigation board would face a difficult task.

At the time, Harvel was a full-time airline pilot and part-time assistant to the chief of Air Force Special Operations Command. Since getting his pilot’s wings in 1976, he had racked up an impressive 4,000 flight hours in OH-58 helicopters, T-37 and T-38 training jets and C-130s.

“I got a call from the vice commander [Lt. Gen. Kurt Cichowski] saying we’re considering you for board president and asking if I would be willing take time off,” Harvel says. “I had been to all the safety schools and said I would love to do that. I was familiar with the V-22 aircraft, having flown in the simulator a few times. They knew me at AFSOC and were comfortable with me — that was a real big deal to them.”

Harvel recruited a team of technical experts and requested permission to travel to Afghanistan; he was determined to see the wreckage for himself and talk to survivors while their memories were still fresh.

But Cichowski shot down the request. “He said ‘you don’t need to go to Afghanistan,’” Harvel recalls. “That was my first clue this wasn’t going to be a standard investigation.” But Harvel kept arguing for permission to travel and ultimately got the green light. In whirlwind six-day trip, Harvel and his team interviewed 100 witnesses to the crash and its aftermath.

Weighing all the evidence, Harvel’s board concluded that, among 10 possible contributing factors, engine failure was the most likely cause of the crash. But after reviewing a draft of the report, Cichowski allegedly ordered Harvel to remove the reference to the engines. “I don’t know why he … would not keep an open mind,” Harvel says. “I do know this would have brought the [V-22] weapon system under more scrutiny.”

The Air Force insists Cichowski did not put pressure on Harvel. “Undue influence, real or perceived, by the convening authority or its staff is specifically prohibited by regulation,” says Capt. Kristen Duncan, an AFSOC spokesperson. “The AIB operated autonomously throughout the investigation, and the command has full confidence in the integrity, veracity and due diligence of the Accident Investigation Board.”

In any event, Harvel refused to alter the report. ”I had planned to retire, anyhow,” Harvel recalls, “so I expedited it. And said I was standing by to brief the families [of crash victims] and he [Cichowski] said, ‘you’re not going to do that.’” (Other Air Force officials talked to the families instead, Duncan says.)

Judicial Watch Obtains Stack of ‘Overlooked’ CIA Records Detailing Meetings with bin Laden Filmmakers

Judicial Watch

Comes complete with music video!

Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Defense (DOD) regarding meetings and communications between government agencies and Kathryn Bigelow, the Academy Award-winning director of The Hurt Locker, and screenwriter Mark Boal in preparation for their film Zero Dark Thirty, which details the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.  According to the records, the Obama administration granted Boal and Bigelow unusual access to agency information in preparation for their film, which was reportedly scheduled for an October 2012 release, just before the presidential election, but the trailers are running now until the rescheduled release in December.

The records – which should have been produced months ago pursuant to a court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on January 21, 2012 – include records from a “stack” of “overlooked” documents discovered by the CIA in July 2012. The following are highlights from the records, which include internal DOD, White House and CIA email correspondence with the filmmakers:

• According to a June 15, 2011, email from Benjamin Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, to then Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Doug Wilson, then-CIA Director of Public Affairs George Little, and Deputy White House Press Secretary Jaime Smith, the Obama White House was intent on “trying to have visibility into the UBL (Usama bin Laden) projects.”

“…we are trying to have visibility into the UBL projects and this is likely the most high profile one. Would like to have whatever group is going around in here at the WH [White House] to get a sense of what they’re doing / what cooperation they’re seeking. Jamie will be POC [point of contact].”

• According to e-mail exchange on June 7, 2011, CIA spokesperson Marie E. Harf openly discussed providing preferential treatment to the Boal/Bigelow project over others related to the bin Laden killing: “I know we don’t pick favorites but it makes sense to get behind a winning horse…Mark and Kathryn’s movie is going to be the first and the biggest. It’s got the most money behind it, and two Oscar winners on board…”

• In a July 20, 2011, e-mail, Mark Boal writes to thank then-CIA Director of Public Affairs George Little for “pulling for him” with the agency, noting that it made, “all the difference.” Little responds: “…I can’t tell you how excited we all are (at DOD and CIA) about the project…PS – I want you to know how good I’ve been not mentioning the premiere tickets. :)”

• On July 13, 2011, Mark Boal’s assistant, Jonathan Leven, sent CIA spokesperson Marie Harf a copy of the floor plan of the bin Laden compound and asked him to verify its accuracy:  “Per your conversation with Mark, can you verify whether this floor plan is accurate?” The next day Harf responds: “Ok, I checked with our folks, and that floor plan matches with what we have. It looks legit to us.”

• On July 14, 2011, Mark Boal asks CIA spokesperson Marie Harf to provide detailed information regarding the third floor of the compound that were not present on the open-source floor plan: “Would you mind looking into getting us some of the third floor specs…as the open source plan is missing those: height of wall, etc..? We will be building a full scale replica of the house. Including the inhabitants of the animal pen!” Harf responds minutes later: “Ha! Of course I don’t mind! I’ll work on that tomorrow…

• In an internal CIA memo regarding Kathryn Bigelow’s visit to agency headquarters dated July 14, 2011, CIA spokesperson Marie Harf describes Boal’s contact with the agency as a “deep dive.” (The memo was originally classified Secret.): “Kathryn is not interested in doing the deep dives that Mark did; she simply wants to meet the people Mark has been talking to.”

• On August 5, 2011, CIA Spokesperson Marie Harf exchanges several e-mails with New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti about the Boal/Bigelow project and, specifically, about a column by Maureen Dowd to be published August 7, 2011, making critical reference to the access the filmmakers were given. Mazzetti gave Harf an advance copy of the article, with the caveat, “this didn’t come from me… and please delete after you read.  See, nothing to worry about!”

• In a June 15, 2011, e-mail, to Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Benjamin Rhodes, Doug Wilson notes that the cooperation that Boal and Bigelow had been getting from the CIA was with the “full knowledge and full approval/support” of Director Panetta. “Boal has been working with us and with the CIA (via George Little) for initial context briefings – at DoD this has been provided by Mike Vickers, and at CIA by relevant officials with the full knowledge and full approval/support of Director Panetta.”

• In a July 17, 2011, e-mail, CIA spokesperson Marie Harf advises then CIA Director of Public Affairs Greg Little that Boal and Bigelow would be “meeting individually with both [name redacted] and the translator who was on the raid…”

Judicial Watch launched its investigation of Bigelow’s meetings with the Obama administration following press reports suggesting that the Obama administration may have leaked classified information to the director as source material for Bigelow’s film.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that the information leak was designed to help the Obama 2012 presidential reelection campaign: “The White House is also counting on the Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal big-screen version of the killing of Bin Laden to counter Obama’s growing reputation as ineffectual. The Sony film [sic] by the Oscar-winning pair who made ‘The Hurt Locker’ will no doubt reflect the president’s cool, gutsy decision against shaky odds. Just as Obamaland was hoping, the movie is scheduled to open on Oct. 12, 2012 — perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher.”

In addition to Judicial Watch’s pursuit of the bin Laden film records, the organization continues to fight in court for the release of post-mortem images of bin Laden and the alleged burial at sea. The Obama administration continues to withhold these records citing national security concerns.

“These new documents provide more backing to the serious charge that the Obama administration played fast and loose with national security information to help Hollywood filmmakers,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “No wonder we’ve had to fight one year of stonewalling from the administration.  These new documents show there is no doubt that Obama White House was intensely interested in this film that was set to portray President Obama as ‘gutsy.’”

Read about the search for bin Laden documents and more in Tom Fitton’s New York Times best-seller The Corruption Chronicles, on sale now.

Slouching Towards Nuremberg?

America's Descent Into Darkness

CounterPunch
Morris Berman

Strange things are happening in the United States these days, and every day seems to bring additional scary news.  The similarity to the erosion of civil liberties in Germany during the 1930s is a bit too close for comfort. Many will regard this statement as hyperbole, and, to some extent, it is. But let’s take a close look at what is going on before we dismiss the comparison out of hand.

In terms of the historical record for Germany, legal discrimination against Jews certainly existed before the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, and grew steadily over time. There was always a feeling in the Jewish community—most of whom regarded themselves as Germans, after all—that “OK, that’s the worst of it.” Hence, the decision to stay. Then came the next set of restrictions, and again the response: “This is as far as it will go.” It was like the classic experiment of turning up the heat on frogs placed in warm water. Gradually, they get boiled to death, because the increase of heat is incremental.  It was only toward the end of the thirties that the choice began to look like: jump or die. Finally, it became simply, die.

In 1933, the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service banned “non-Aryans” from the civil service.

In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of German citizenship and prohibited marriage between Jews and “Aryans.”  They also prohibited sexual intercourse between Jews and “Aryans,” and the employment of “Aryan” females under forty-five years of age as domestic workers in Jewish households. In addition, Jews could not work as lawyers, doctors, or journalists; could not use state hospitals; and could not be educated by the state past the age of fourteen. They could not enter public parks, libraries, or beaches, and could not receive winnings from the national lottery.

In 1938, Jews with first names that were not characteristically Jewish had to adopt the middle name Sara (if female) or David (if male). Passports of German Jews were stamped with a “J”.

In 1939, Jews living in German-occupied Poland had to wear the yellow star. This was extended to all Jews living within Nazi-controlled areas in 1941.

By way of comparison, one thing that makes me particularly nervous is what has been called the “conspiracy of silence.” Almost nobody spoke up in Germany as this process was unfolding, and the American public has been similarly silent about the events documented below. Indeed, I would venture to say that 98% of the American public (maybe more) is unaware of events such as these, or of the passage of repressive legislation, and that they wouldn’t care even if they did know about it. (“Hey, I ain’t no Ay-rab!”) The classic quote that has come down to us is from Martin Niemoeller, a German pastor and theologian who wound up in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps (he was liberated by the Allies in 1945). It goes something like this:

“First they came for the communists, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me, but by that time there was no one left to speak out.”

It is no accident that Chris Hedges entitled a recent article “First They Come for the Muslims” (see below, Item IV).  God forbid something like that might happen in the U.S., but the signs of a gradual slide towards Nuremberg, and concomitant citizen apathy, are very much present in the current political milieu. Let’s have a look at what has been going on in the decade since 9/11. I’m going to discuss the following topics:

I. The creation of a political climate in which the police are out of control, arbitrarily free to intimidate anyone for virtually anything

II. The persecution of whistleblowers, protesters, and dissenters

III. The dramatic expansion of the surveillance of American citizens on the part of the National Security Agency (NSA)

IV. The corruption of the judicial system by means of show trials of Muslim activists

V. The construction of political detention centers, also known as Communication Management Units (CMU’s)

VI. The shredding of the Bill of Rights by means of the National Defense Authorization Act

VII. Future scenarios: The “disappearing” of intellectual critics of the U.S. government?

I. The creation of a political climate in which the police are out of control, arbitrarily free to intimidate anyone for virtually anything

The evidence for this is perforce anecdotal, but events such as the ones discussed below are getting to be so common that we have to keep in mind that when you have accumulated enough anecdotes, the result is called “data.”

-In June 2011 the sheriff of Nelson County, North Dakota, called in a Predator B drone from the local Air Force base to capture three men who had stolen some cows. Once the unmanned aircraft located the suspects, police rushed in to make the first known arrests of U.S. citizens with the help of a Predator spy drone. It turns out that predator drones are frequently used for domestic investigations all over the U.S.—by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and by state and local law enforcement officials.

-In July 2011 police in a small town in Georgia shut down a lemonade stand being run by three girls, ages 10-14, who were trying to save up for a trip to a local water park. The police said that they didn’t know what was in the lemonade; and in addition, that the girls needed a business license, a peddler’s permit, and a food permit in order to run the stand. The permits, by the way, cost $50 a day.

-In January 2012 the library system of Charlton, Massachusetts, called the police to collect some overdue books charged to Hailey Benoit—a five-year-old girl.

-Also in January 2012, a young couple was arrested in Baltimore for asking a police woman directions to highway I-95. They spent the night in jail.

-In April 2012 the Supreme Court ruled that jail authorities may strip search people arrested for minor offenses before they are jailed while awaiting a hearing. Individuals have been strip searched for offenses such as biking with an inaudible bell, walking a dog without a leash, and driving with a noisy muffler. The sexual humiliation involved in these searches, writes Naomi Wolf, is clearly a way of keeping the masses in line, politically docile. How long, she asks, before saying anything controversial online or on the phone (see Item III, below) will result in the “guilty” party facing arrest and sexual humiliation?  I think we need to pause a moment before we summarily dismiss this as paranoia.

II. The persecution of whistleblowers, protesters, and dissenters 

This has been going on throughout the past decade, first under President Bush, and then more aggressively under President Obama.  According to the New Yorker, “the Obama Administration has pursued leak prosecutions with a surprising relentlessness.” To which the New York Times added: “In 17 months in office, President Obama has already outdone every previous president in pursuing leak prosecutions.” In the famous case of Bradley Manning, who revealed government documents to Wikileaks, Mr. Obama publicly declared him guilty before he went to trial or was convicted of a crime. The overall result is that the government has basically criminalized public servants who speak out to expose waste or corruption or unethical behavior. Whistleblowing and dissent have, in themselves, become criminal activities.

Fighter Jets In Skies Over Chicago On Friday Morning Before NATO Summit

CHICAGO (CBS) – U.S. fighter jets will be actively flying over Chicago on Friday as part of a security drill in the days before the NATO Summit.

The U.S. North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command Region fighters–including Air Force KC-135 tankers, Air Force F-16s, and a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters–will be visible on Friday morning, beginning around 9 a.m..

Residents in the Chicago area can expect flights to continue for approximately two hours.

“Providing the air defense for special security events like this year’s NATO Summit is a part of our day-to-day mission,” said Lt. Gen. Sid Clarke, Continental U.S. NORAD Region commander said in a statement. “Our interagency partnerships are a key component to the air defense shield for events like this.”

During the NATO Summit, Air Force fighter jets will be on alert to enforce the Federal Aviation Administration’s Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) zone during the summit. Military jets have been authorized to shoot down any aircraft that violates secure airspace over Chicago.

Also on Thursday, the Pentagon commented about a You Tube video posted earlier this week that purportedly showed a surveillance drone flying over an athletic field in Elgin–about 40 miles from McCormick Place, where NATO leaders will meet on Sunday and Monday.

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet reported the issue came up at a Pentagon press briefing.
Defense Department spokesman George Little said he couldn’t comment on the specific incident but added that “the U.S. military is providing a support role .. to support security for the summit. That’s in accordance with American law.”

It is unclear whether the video is authentic. Military sources contacted by CBS 2 said they did not recognize the markings on the unidentified object.

The National Security Committee Knew They Were Going to Get FALSE Confessions from Torture

Empty Wheel

Jason Leopold [update: and Jeff Kaye] have an important article on a key document used to develop the torture program, but I think its title should be stronger. As his article shows, Condi Rice and several high level Bush officials were briefed at a key meeting in May 2002 and in several follow-up National Security Council meetings on a number of torture techniques the CIA would eventually (and had, to some extent–I’ll have more to say about this in a follow-up) integrated into its torture program.The JPRA document used in the meeting makes it clear the the point of these techniques is to train students to resist “political exploitation” (see page 6; elsewhere the document talks about media exploitation).

As Leopold and Jeff Kaye have previously reported, “exploitation” has a specific meaning, including not just interrogation, but also recruitment as double agents and for propaganda purposes.

“The Jessen notes clearly state the totality of what was being reverse-engineered – not just ‘enhanced interrogation techniques,’ but an entire program of exploitation of prisoners using torture as a central pillar,” he said. “What I think is important to note, as an ex-SERE Resistance to Interrogation instructor, is the focus of Jessen’s instruction. It is exploitation, not specifically interrogation. And this is not a picayune issue, because if one were to ‘reverse-engineer’ a course on resistance to exploitation then what one would get is a plan to exploit prisoners, not interrogate them. The CIA/DoD torture program appears to have the same goals as the terrorist organizations or enemy governments for which SV-91 and other SERE courses were created to defend against: the full exploitation of the prisoner in his intelligence, propaganda, or other needs held by the detaining power, such as the recruitment of informers and double agents. Those aspects of the US detainee program have not generally been discussed as part of the torture story in the American press.”

As the examples of Ibn Sheikh al-Libi and Jabir al-Fayfi make clear, we used coercive methods for both of these purposes, in addition to whatever intelligence goals we had.

Pentagon says it has no records of bin Laden's death; CIA hasn't answered open records request

StarTribune
Richard Lardner

WASHINGTON - The hunt for Osama bin Laden took nearly a decade. It could take even longer to uncover U.S. government emails, planning reports, photographs and more that would shed light on how an elite team of Navy SEALs killed the world's most wanted terrorist.

Ten months after that electrifying covert mission, an administration that has pledged to be the most transparent in American history is refusing to release documents about it under the Freedom of Information Act. The records could provide insights into how bin Laden died, how the U.S. verified his identity and how it decided to bury him at sea, as well as photographs taken during and after the May 2011 raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Government officials have openly discussed details of the mission in speeches, interviews and television appearances, but the administration won't disclose records that would confirm their narrative of that fateful night. The Obama administration has not said even where in Washington's bureaucracy all the documents might be stored.

Requests for bin Laden materials were among the most significant of any filed last year under the open records law, which compels the government to turn over copies of federal records for free or at little cost. Anyone who seeks information under the law is generally supposed to get it unless disclosure would hurt national security, violate personal privacy or expose business secrets or confidential decision-making. The law has been the focus of extra attention since Sunday, the start of Sunshine Week, when news organizations promote open government and freedom of information.

Citing the law, The Associated Press asked for files about the raid in more than 20 separate requests, mostly submitted the day after bin Laden's death. The Pentagon told the AP this month it could not locate any photographs or video taken during the raid or showing bin Laden's body. It also said it could not find any images of bin Laden's body on the Navy aircraft carrier where the al-Qaida leader's body was taken.

Darpa director leaving the Pentagon for Google

Russia Today

One of the most top-secret Pentagon departments — the same that spawned America’s drones, military robots, electromagnetic guns and other sci-fi weaponry — is about to lose its top officer to Google.

Regina Dugan oversaw the development of some of the US military’s most marvelous high tech accomplishments as director of Darpa, but the head of the DoD’s research lab is parting ways with the Pentagon to take on a role with Google. Not even three years after she took on the role as the first female director of the America’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, Regina Dugan is now walking away to join the ranks of America’s other innovative powerhouse. Dugan will be relinquishing her top roll at the Defense Department’s Darpa program and trading in the Potomac River for Silicon Valley, and says it is a natural decision to move somewhere where the possibilities seem endless. Apparently within the cogs of the war machine, there is only so much left to explore.

Confirming the move to a “senior executive position” with Google, Darpa spokesman Eric Mazzacone tells Wired that Dugan couldn’t refuse an offer with such an “innovative company” as the search engine giant. Until the latest news broke, however, Darpa had been touted as a creative — yet controversial — research lab for space-age technology only once imaginable. Darpa has developed technologies used across the globe that can take away lives and, as seen with cutting-edge robotic limbs, practically create them.

With the Defense Department scaling back on many operations and Google seemingly only growing, Dugan’s departure only makes sense given the timing. Both US President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have thrown their weight behind a shift in the Pentagon’s budget in an effort to save billions over the next few years. Google, on the other hand, has only increased its outreach, operating countless new endeavors and taking on new mediums.

That’s not to say, of course, that Dugan avoided trouble while with Darpa. She has been the subject of an investigation after awarding pricey contracts to a defense research company she partially owns, a deal which prompted the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General to open a probe. Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan, a spokesperson for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, says that the change in command and ongoing investigation into Dugan’s RedX Defense company are unrelated, but aside that there is little known about her career change. On their part, a Google rep tells PC Mag, "Regina is a technical pioneer who brought the future of technology to the military during her time at DARPA," adding, "She will be a real asset to Google, and we are thrilled she is joining the team."

In a statement from the Pentagon, Frank Kendall for Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, adds, “Regina Dugan’s leadership at Darpa has been extraordinary and she will be missed throughout the Department.

“We are all very grateful for the many contributions she has made in advancing the technologies that our war fighters depend on.” 

Dugan, however, had blasted Darpa for not doing enough only a year earlier. “There is a time and a place for daydreaming. But it is not at Darpa,” she told a congressional panel in March 2011. “Darpa is not the place of dreamlike musings or fantasies, not a place for self-indulging in wishes and hopes. Darpa is a place of doing.”

The transition also raises further questions about what relationship the federal government has with Google. As RT reported yesterday, an advocacy group will be taking the US National Security Agency to court later this month in hopes of finding details on what ties, if any, the NSA has with Google. The NSA has refused to disclose any details in the past that discuss a relationship, despite a series of Freedom of Information Act requests.

Top Social Media Websites Caught Censoring Controversial Content

Washington's Blog
Global Research

Censorship By Top Social Media Websites

Facebook pays low-wage foreign workers to delete certain content based upon a censorship list. For example, Facebook deletes accounts created by Palestinian resistance groups.

Digg was caught censoring stories which were controversial or too critical of the government. See this and this.

Now, even social media site Reddit – which helped launch the anti-Sopa Internet blackout and publicize GoDaddy’s slimy Sopa support – is doing the same thing.

As just one example, posts from this website are being censored by Reddit. Specifically, a friend of this site who has submitted stories to Reddit has received the following messages of rejection from a Reddit moderator named davidreiss666:

    from davidreiss666 via /r/worldnews/

        WashingtonBlog is not something we consider a good source for r/Worldnews.

    from davidreiss666 via /r/worldnews/

    Please submit that story from an alternate domain. Thank you.

And another moderator named Maxion:

    from Maxion via /r/worldnews/

    I am sorry but this submission is not appropriate for this subreddit.

There are certainly also more open-minded moderators at Reddit. But a couple of censors can squash discussion on entire topics.

Why are they censoring?

Well, censorship is rampant in America ... and social media has grown so big that it has become a target as well.

In addition, as I pointed out last year [for ease of reading, we'll skip indentation]:

Wired reported on Friday:

    The Pentagon is looking to build a tool to sniff out social media propaganda campaigns and spit some counter-spin right back at it.

    On Thursday, Defense Department extreme technology arm Darpa unveiled its Social Media in Strategic Communication (SMISC) program. It’s an attempt to get better at both detecting and conducting propaganda campaigns on social media. SMISC has two goals. First, the program needs to help the military better understand what’s going on in social media in real time — particularly in areas where troops are deployed. Second, Darpa wants SMISC to help the military play the social media propaganda game itself.

    This is more than just checking the trending topics on Twitter. The Defense Department wants to deeply grok social media dynamics. So SMISC algorithms will be aimed at discovering and tracking the “formation, development and spread of ideas and concepts (memes)” on social media, according to Darpa’s announcement.

Audit: U.S. Defense Department can't account for billions for Iraq

CNN

The U.S. Defense Department cannot account for about $2 billion it was given to cover Iraq-related expenses and is not providing Iraq with a complete list of U.S.-funded reconstruction projects, according to two new government audits.

The reports come from the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
The Iraqi government in 2004 gave the Department of Defense access to about $3 billion to pay bills for certain contracts, and the department can only show what happened to about a third of that, the inspector general says in an audit published Friday.

Although the Department of Defense (DoD) had "internal processes and controls" to track payments, the "bulk of the records are missing," the report says, adding that the department is searching for them.

Other documents are missing as well, including monthly reports documenting expenses, the audit says.

"From July 2004 through December 2007, DoD should have provided 42 monthly reports. However, it can locate only the first four reports."

A letter accompanying the report is signed by Stuart Bowen, the inspector general. The audit was overseen by Glenn Furbish, assistant inspector general for audits.
In a response letter also contained in the report, Defense Under Secretary Mark Easton acknowledges "a records management issue."

The audit says it believes records management is to blame, and "has been an ongoing problem for DoD in Iraq. By all accounts, DoD established good internal processes and controls to account for and report on" the funds it was given after the Coalition Provisional Authority dissolved.

Where the records did exist, they matched other records and contained "good financial documentation supporting individual payments." Also, there is "sufficient evidence" that required monthly reports were sent to the government of Iraq, even though they can't be found, the audit said.

The audit deals with a time when Iraq's government was undergoing a transition. The Coalition Provisional Authority ran the country for 14 months from 2003 to 2004. During that time, the authority awarded numerous contracts. When it dissolved in 2004, the Iraqi government gave the U.S. Defense Department access to the $3 billion to pay bills for contracts the provisional authority had awarded.

Lack of Security Will Be the Rationale for New Internet

News

THE computer networks that control power plants and financial systems will never be secure enough, so government and corporate leaders should consider developing a new, highly secure alternative internet, a top FBI official said today.

Executive Assistant Director of the FBI Shawn Henry said critical systems are under increasing threat from terror groups looking to buy or lease the computer skills and malware needed to launch a cyber attack.

Mr Henry said jihadist militants looking to harm the U.S. can tap organized crime groups who are willing to sell their services and abilities to attack computer systems.

He would not say which terror group or whether any insurgent networks have actually been able to acquire the high-tech capabilities.

But he said one way to protect critical utility and financial systems would be to set up a separate, highly secure internet.

Mr Henry said cyber threats will always continue to evolve and outpace efforts to defend networks against them, at a conference of the International Systems Security Association.

"We can't tech our way out of the cyber threat," Mr Henry said. "The challenge with the internet is you don't know who's launching the attack."

A key step, he said, would be to develop networks where anonymity is not an option and only known and trusted employees have access.

The vulnerabilities of critical systems such as power plants, the electric grid or Wall Street were a prime topic during the conference, reflecting growing concerns by U.S. officials.

DOD paid $35 million for families to leave Japan following nuclear crisis

Stars and Stripes
Travis J. Tritten

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The Department of Defense paid nearly $35 million for U.S. military families who chose to flee Japan amid the Fukushima nuclear crisis earlier this year, according to figures obtained by Stars and Stripes.

As radiation leaked from the damaged power plant in March, about 9,720 dependents at bases in central and northern Japan took the military up on its offer of a voluntary evacuation, flying to the United States and a handful of other countries where their lodging and daily expenses were later reimbursed by the government.

The evacuation order lasted one month, but some families chose to stay in the U.S. longer to allow children to finish the school year where they had taken shelter.

The families’ daily living expenses alone cost the DOD more than $20 million and were mostly rung up in military cities such as San Diego and small towns throughout the country where evacuees sought refuge, the four services reported.

Airfare out of Japan, including military-chartered flights, added another $14 million to the total bill, according to U.S. Forces Japan and the DOD press office.

During the crisis, military commanders on the ground had repeatedly told families living on bases in Japan there was no significant radiation threat, but there was still a flood of frightened residents boarding flights out of the country after the DOD issued the voluntary evacuation order March 17.
USFJ spokesman Maj. Neal Fisher said the military will not second guess the evacuation.

“We made a decision based on what we had at the time,” Fisher said Tuesday. “We are always going to err on the side of safety, especially when it comes to servicemembers and their families.”

The voluntary evacuations included only military dependents and allowed servicemembers on duty at the time — some working within the disaster zone and in areas that might have exposed them to radiation from Fukushima — to have some peace of mind, he said.

 

“In order for those servicemembers to do their jobs … they needed to know with 100 percent certainty that their families were safe,” Fisher said. “Would we have done anything differently? No, we wouldn’t have.”

The Navy paid the most for families to flee Japan — $14.4 million was reimbursed to those who filed travel vouchers following the evacuation, according to the Navy Office of Information. The service has two bases within about 150 miles of the Fukushima plant, which include the headquarters of the U.S. 7th Fleet and the homeport of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier.

Air Force families who fled Yokota and Misawa air bases were reimbursed $4.8 million for travel, according to the Air Force Press Desk.

The Army has only a small population in central Japan and spent slightly more than $1 million on families seeking shelter abroad, Army Headquarters public affairs said. Meanwhile, the Marine Corps and the DOD school system in the Pacific said they paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on dependent evacuations.

Petty Officer 1st Class Richard Barber, holding
6-month-old son Ronin, and Barber's wife,
Rachel, listen as Senior Airman Shannon
Valenzuela explains in March how they
will be contacted when it's time for Barber's
family to leave Misawa Air Base, Japan, under a
voluntary departure program.

Defense spending has come under intense scrutiny this year as the U.S. struggles with a lagging economy and deep debt. Military leaders have said the services must accept cuts and rein in the way money is spent. But fear quickly outpaced concerns over budgets in March when the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was critically damaged by a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunamis.

Radioactive fallout from the damaged plant spread in a plume over northeastern Japan and was eventually picked up by sensors in the continental U.S.

The USFJ commander, Lt. Gen. Burton Field, later told Stars and Stripes the military was unsure how much radiation was being released and how far it might spread until after the voluntary evacuation order was called. Meanwhile, uncertainty and fear over the radiation threat swept across Yokosuka Naval Base, Misawa Air Base and other installations in the region. Despite some public claims that evacuees were essentially cashing in on DOD-paid vacations, many dependent mothers and fathers packed suitcases and loaded up children to flee.

FBI Investigation Reveals DoD Contractors Stole Iraq Artifacts

Top Secret Writers
Dennis Dufrene

The FBI has returned invaluable artifacts to Iraq, and publicly revealed that the relics were stolen by Department of Defense contractors.

Terracotta plaques and other artifacts were seized during a 2006 investigation.

The relics are thousands of years old and have tremendous cultural significance in Iraq. The success of the law enforcement operation that returned the relics was celebrated during a ceremony in Washington, DC.

“These artifacts are truly invaluable,” said Ron Hosko, special agent in charge of the Criminal Division in the Washington Field Office. “The FBI is pleased to be able to return them to their rightful owner.”

The artifacts were seized by agents during a public corruption investigation headed by the Contract Corruption Task Force, which was formed to stop fraud and abuses among Defense Department contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to the FBI, contractors passing through the Babylon region stole the artifacts in 2004. Agents determined the relics were used as bribes, gifts and were sold to other contractors, who smuggled the artifacts into the United States.

Two contractors have ben convicted and sentenced to time in prison.

Hosko praised investigators during the ceremony and said that the bureau is committed to preventing fraud among contractors, who many view as working outside US, Iraqi and Geneva Convention laws.
Hosko added that working abroad does not entitle anyone to break laws or remove artifacts.

Iraqi Ambassador to the United States, Shakir Mahmood, said he was thankful for the efforts of the task force and the return of the important artifacts. The Ambassador issued the following statement about the returned artifacts:

“As Iraq works to reconstruct our country and our heritage, we are grateful for the cooperation from the American authorities.”

The terracotta pieces were made of clay, pressed into a mold and fired in an oven. Experts say that ancient Iraqis believed the plaques protected them from evil and sickness.

SIGAR AUDIT SHOWS U.S. AGENCIES UNABLE TO READILY REPORT ON NEARLY $18 BILLION IN RECONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS IN AFGHANISTAN

SIGAR News Room

An audit released today by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), Arnold Fields, shows that despite the extensive use of contractors for reconstruction work in Afghanistan, the Departments of Defense (DOD) and State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are unable to readily report on how much money they spend on contracting for reconstruction activities in Afghanistan. The report shows that nearly $18 billion was obligated from FY '-07 through FY '-09 by DOD, State, and USAID to nearly 7,000 contractors. This audit is unprecedented in its scope by identifying where Afghanistan reconstruction money is being spent and which contractors are spending it.

"This audit is crucial because if we don't even know who we're giving money to, it is nearly impossible to conduct system wide oversight," said Special IG Fields.

Congress mandated the SIGAR office with the unique ability to look across U.S. government agencies at reconstruction money spent in Afghanistan. Because the U.S. has been investing in Afghanistan reconstruction since 2002, SIGAR auditors tried to analyze the scale and scope of contracting prior to FY '07, but much of the data available from the agencies prior to 2007 was too poor to be analyzed.

SIGAR identified about 7,000 contractors and other entities, including for-profit and non-profit organizations and multilateral organizations involved in reconstruction activities in Afghanistan. Among the largest was $691 million to an Afghan construction firm to build military facilities and $1.8 billion to a U.S.-based firm to provide police training for Afghanistan's National Police forces. Nearly $800 million was provided to multilateral organizations, like the United Nations or the World Bank, or transferred to other federal agencies.

"With this report we can more effectively prioritize future contract audits and more quickly identify contracts at risk of fraud, waste and abuse," said Special IG Fields. "It certainly helps to reduce the stove pipes and lend more transparency to U.S. departments and agencies so that they may learn more about what their own organizations are doing and what other departments and agencies are contracting for in support of reconstruction," said IG Fields.

The audit shows that navigating the confusing labyrinth of government contracting is difficult, at best. Within the Defense Department alone, there are four contracting organizations managing DOD funded reconstruction contracts. The audit found that not only do those four DOD contracting organizations not coordinate and share information with one another, there is minimal sharing of information across government agencies.

SIGAR has previously recommended that DOD, State, and USAID consider the creation of a centralized management information system that is integrated across all agencies and command. However, according to the audit, there is still no central U.S. government database to track reconstruction projects from the various U.S. agencies and departments, let alone, the international community.

SIGAR is the first organization to provide this "snapshot" of the reconstruction contracting environment in Afghanistan. Other offices of Inspectors General at the various U.S. departments are not able to provide this view of the entire contracting landscape, as they are not charged with looking across U.S. government agencies.

"Prior to this audit report there was no comprehensive study on contractors and the money the U.S. is spending through contractors on Afghan reconstruction," said IG Fields. "The concluding observations in this audit are crucial to helping U.S. departments and agencies and SIGAR continue to conduct aggressive, system wide oversight," he said.