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Google to enlist NSA to help it ward off cyberattacks
Domestic
Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:25
Internet search engine Google is teaming up with the National Security Agency in the name of cybersecurity. Under an agreement still being finalized, the NSA would help Google analyze a major corporate espionage attack Google says originated in China that targeted its computer networks. Sources with knowledge of the arrangement, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alliance is being designed to allow the two organizations to share critical information without violating Google's policies or laws that protect the privacy of Americans' online communications. The sources said the deal does not mean the NSA will be viewing users' searches or e-mail accounts or that Google will be sharing proprietary data. The partnership strikes at the core of one of the most sensitive issues for the government and private industry in the world of cybersecurity: how to balance privacy and national security interests. On Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair called the Google attacks a "wake-up call."
Congressional hearing reveals US intelligence agencies shielded Flight 253 bomber
Domestic
Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:19
A January 27 hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security, reported on DetroitNews.com, established that US intelligence agencies stopped the State Department from revoking the US visa of thwarted Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Revocation of Abdulmutallab’s visa would have prevented him from boarding the airplane. The revelation that US intelligence agencies made a deliberate decision to allow Abdulmutallab to board the flight without airport screening has been buried in the media. Barack Obama and US intelligence, FBI and Homeland Security officials have insisted Abdulmutallab was inadvertently allowed to board the plane because of a failure to “connect the dots.” The World Socialist Web Site says the official story strains credulity, given that there were multiple advance warnings that the Nigerian was linked to terrorists in Yemen who were planning attacks on the US. The website says it’s clear the White House is overseeing a massive cover-up.
Afghanistan: US and British to launch biggest offensive since 2001
International
Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:10
15,000 US and British forces are preparing to launch the biggest offensive in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. US commanders said Wednesday US, British and Afghan forces will flood into a Taliban enclave in southern Helmand province in a massive show of force intended as a decisive start to Barack Obama's "surge" of 30,000 extra troops. The troops are preparing to take the town of Marjah, described as a nexus of fighters, bomb makers and opium traffickers. It is believed to have given sanctuary to many fighters who fled British and US operations in central Helmand last July. US officers believe up to 1,000 fighters, including 150 foreign volunteers, are in the district. Col George Amland, deputy commander of US marines in Helmand, predicted Taliban ranks would "dwindle very quickly into a very manageable number" as the assault began. Marjah is surrounded by irrigation canals built in the 1950s and 60s with US aid.
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