On this memorial day we remember those who have fallen in service to our country. For some who fight today however, severe injury in the field - a death sentence in previous wars - is not the end. More service members are surviving more serious injuries, and the Pentagon is working with the prosthetics industry to help make reintegration into civilian life as easy as possible for this new generation of war amputees.

In fact it may not be long before combat wounded veterans are able to remain in uniform long after receiving treatment and training with advanced prosthetics as I suggested in an earlier post from Saturday, May 22, 2004:

Is it so unusual to think that the ultimate results of this "generational war" will be the development of stronger, faster, deadlier soldiers through the use of bionics and exo-skeletal mechs? Quite frankly, it's no more unusual - nor any more asinine - than any of the pitiful excuses offered by the Bush Administration for this war. So why the hell not?

The Pentagon denies this of course.

True, the U.S. government is paying Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab $30.4 million to develop a thought-controlled mechanical arm for soldiers who lose their own.

But the new device won't give wearers super powers to carry back into combat. APL's job is to replace missing limbs with natural-looking arms and hands that soldiers can "feel" and operate with their brains, just like the real thing.

That may be the official word from the top down, but our service members themselves will likely be the first ones to volunteer to continue serving. Many will demand the right to serve, no matter the cost.

Labels: Disabled Veterans, Prosthetics

Less than a week after the FBI executed an unprecedented - yet fully warranted - raid on the office of a member of the House Ways and Means committee, the Senate "handed President Bush a pair of victories this morning, easily confirming his nominee for director of the Central Intelligence Agency and giving more narrow approval to a judicial nomination that had been stalled for three years." ~ NYT

That's not to say the incidents were related in any way. It's just not a sane proposition. Nor would it be within the realm of healthy thought to suggest that the alleged shooting incident inside the Rayburn garage that shut down the U.S. Capitol this morning had anything to do with anything. Sure Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, was conducting a House Intelligence Committee hearing at the time. But hey, I'm sure it's just another one of those wacky coincidences.

Tin foil hat time yet? Hell, make mine 2-ply.

This administration has proven time and again that it has no respect for the Constitution in any way shape or form. It has no fear of a corrupt, easily manipulated Congress, and it can crush the media with single blow. The Leviathan lives.

Labels: cia, Dirty Tricks, Peter Hoekstra

A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from my bank. Like most letters from banks it was not a good letter. It said:

We have been notified that a large merchant may have inadvertently made your confidential card number and card information available to others due to a security breach.

Naturally they did not identify this merchant so I have no way of avoiding them in the future. Nor did they tell me how many "others" this information was suspected of being shared with.

This came on the tails of a major banking information theft, so I was hardly surprised to have fallen victim myself. In that incident over 200,000 accounts were compromised.

But this did surprise me:

The Veterans Affairs Department announced today that a computer containing personal, identifying data for as many as 26 million American veterans has been stolen from a VA employee's home. ~ Government Computer News

Twenty-six million?

And this administration wants us to trust that they can secure records of our phone calls and Internet browsing? They can not. The only way to secure this data is to not collect it in the first place. To believe otherwise is not only foolish, it is dangerous.

General Michael Hayden does not understand this concept. The only thing he understands is the SIGINT credo: "In God we trust. Everyone else, we monitor." Knowledge is power in his world, and might makes right.

Labels: General Michael Hayden, Information Security, tia

WASHINGTON, May 18 Gen. Michael V. Hayden sought on Thursday to distance himself from the Pentagon and its role in prewar intelligence on Iraq, in an appearance that put him on track to win swift confirmation as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency. ~ NYT

There's nothing to stand in the way of this confirmation now.

Given that the NSA has been collecting data on phone calls and web traffic for at least a couple of years now it's probably safe to say that no single member of Congress would dare speak out against this nomination. Not in an election year.

Journalists have been gelded as well. If monitoring them wasn't enough to shut them up, Alberto Gonzales is now considering prosecution.

If our government abuses its power, we have no way of knowing. Well, almost no way. After all, information wants to be free.

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, cia, General Michael Hayden, media, nsa, tia

Capabilities of the equipment housed in the NSA's "secret room" in AT&T's San Francisco switching office have been the center of public debate since the disclosure last week of the existence of an NSA program capable of universal network surveillance.

Mainstream news coverage of this program has been concerned with the legality of monitoring phone statistics. However, the media has largely ignored the fact that in addition to phone calls, the NSA is also tracking the virtual movement of innocent Americans across the network.

Steve Bannerman, marketing vice president of Narus, the company that provides the hardware for the NSA's San Francisco operation had this to say:

"Anything that comes through (an IP network), we can record...We can reconstruct all of their e-mails along with attachments, see what web pages they clicked on, we can reconstruct their VOIP calls."

This is going to get worse before it gets better.

Labels: fisa, Information Security, nsa, tia, warrantless wiretaps

After a few days of coverage most Americans are now aware the NSA is collecting data about their phone calls. All of them. Two polls were conducted to gauge public response to this revelation and found that most Americans, about 53%, do not believe the program invades people's privacy. Of those, 41% "feel it is a necessary tool to combat terrorism."

White House staff and supporters of the Administration crowed at this and an earlier poll which showed that 63% of Americans - who have no understanding of the Fourth Amendment - support the program. The rationale I've encountered on various boards and community sites for this view is: "I've got nothing to hide. I'm not a terrorist, so I don't care."

The media has told Americans the NSA is collecting statistics only. Phone numbers, number of calls to specific numbers, duration of calls and the like. And no doubt this is what was considered during the taking of these polls. But there's another dataset collected by the NSA via the telecom industry that has yet to be reported: IP addresses.

Does Joe-Six-Pack still not mind that the NSA is collecting a record of every website he goes to, how often, and for how long? Does Joe know how long this record will be archived? Does he care who has access to it, or are the employees of one government agency just as trustworthy as the next? Is Joe confident that this record will remain secret for as long as it's held? Does it matter if it gets released or compromised one day? Should this record be considered if Joe's company gets a government contract, or if he applies for a federal job? How about a passport? Does Joe still not care about the NSA surveillance program because he's not a terrorist?

Happy web surfing!

Labels: Information Security, nsa, tia, warrantless wiretaps

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers security clearance.

On top of this, further details were was disclosed today regarding the NSA warrantless surveillance program. The agency has apparently compiled the largest database in the world to monitor the statistics of nearly every telephone in the U.S. Also known as the "we-don't-need-no-stinkin'-Fourth-Amendment" program, this activity is in effect a preemptive fishing expedition to discover probable cause. There is no way this is legal of course as at least one telecommunications company, Qwest, well knew.

In related news, 72 members of Congress filed an amicus brief in support of the ACLU's lawsuit against the program.

All we need now is for Congress to grow enough backbone to start the sweetest two word mantra of them all: "under oath."

Say it with me now. Under oath. Doesn't that feel good? Try it again. Under oath. General Hayden. Under oath. Alberto Gonzales. Under oath. John Ashcroft. Under oath. Ah...it's going to be a wonderful Summer. Under oath.

Labels: aclu, Alberto Gonzales, Congress, General Michael Hayden, John Ashcroft, nsa, tia, warrantless wiretaps

While media attention has been focused on the ongoing Washington soap opera starring CIA personalities Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, Mary McCarthy, and Porter Goss, defense contractor Brent Wilkes, and disgraced U.S. Representative Duke Cunningham, little analysis has been devoted to an important piece of legislation recently passed in the U.S. House: H.R. 5020, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007.

What could be more boring and unsexy than that? No wonder this one came and went without a peep from the pantheon of talking heads who are "lookin' out for" us little guys. Sponsored by our friend Rep. Peter Hoekstra [R-MI], the bill passed in the House on May 28th, 327 to 96, with 9 abstentions. This legislation authorizes appropriations for our nation's various intelligence activities for the coming year. Oh, and it grants powers of arrest to agents of the CIA and NSA.

Ah nostalgia. Not since the days of the Soviet KGB could a government agency monitor citizens without judicial oversight, hold them without habeas corpus, and deny it all because of 'national security.'

Specifically, section 423, “Additional Functions and Authorities for the Protective Personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency,” proposes that:

(a) The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency may issue regulations to allow personnel designated to carry out executive protection functions...to, while engaged in such protective functions, make arrests without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the presence of such personnel, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States, if such personnel have probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing that felony offense.

Thankfully the authors put in this provision:

(b) The powers granted under subsection (a) may be exercised only in accordance with guidelines approved by the Attorney General.

Phew! Good thing they won't be able to anything the Attorney General wouldn't approve of...erm...yeah.

But hey, at least we've got leakers and whistle blowers inside the agencies to disclose abuses of these new powers, right? Why worry? Oh wait...section 413 of this bill is titled "Study On Revoking Pensions Of Persons Who Commit Unauthorized Disclosures Of Classified Information."

So when considering whether active duty Air Force General Michael Hayden is the right person to head the CIA just remember this: This isn't your father's CIA. Rep. Hoekstra, the honorable gentleman from Michigan, sponsored this bill and knows the powers it grants. If he says General Hayden is the "wrong person" at the "wrong time" for this position, I'm inclined to agree.

Labels: Alberto Gonzales, Brent Wilkes, Duke Cunningham, Extraordinary Rendition, General Michael Hayden, Kyle Dusty Foggo, Mary McCarthy, Peter Hoekstra, Porter Goss

On hearing of the nomination of Air Force General Michael Hayden (qt video via) as the director of the CIA, Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the general would be "the wrong person, the wrong place at the wrong time"”.

Republicans voiced concern about the Pentagon's growing control of US intelligence operations yesterday. General Hayden would be "the wrong person, the wrong place at the wrong time", Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said.

...The Times Online

That is how it was reported by everyone on Sunday night, but lo and behold Monday:

"The CIA is the nation's premier, all-source civilian intelligence agency and that is what it should remain. There is no question that General Hayden is an outstanding military officer and a strong leader with a proven history in the Intelligence Community leading to his current position in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence." _ Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee

...The Washington Post

As a matter of fact, try to news.google Hoekstra and the phrase "wrong person". The phrase pops several articles, but click through and see that the words have been scrubbed from the text. Run a find on the word "wrong" to see for yourself.

CBS page 1

CBS page 2

Neat trick...I wonder how they did it.

This is not a unique phenomena. As of this writing the San Jose Mercury News is the only major US media outlet to retain the original text of Hoekstra's quote. You can also still find the quote correctly reported by our friends abroad.

All journalists - including online journalists - have a duty to search for and report the truth.

Oppose this nomination.

Labels: cia, General Michael Hayden, media, Peter Hoekstra