International security

Bob Corker Says Trump’s Recklessness Threatens ‘World War III’ 

Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, charged in an interview on Sunday that President Trump was treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III.”
In an extraordinary rebuke of a president of his own party, Mr. Corker said he was alarmed about a president who acts “like he’s doing ‘The Apprentice’ or something.”
“He concerns me,” Mr. Corker added. “He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.”
Mr. Corker’s comments capped a remarkable day of sulfurous insults between the president and the Tennessee senator — a powerful, if lame-duck, lawmaker, whose support will be critical to the president on tax reform and the fate of the Iran nuclear deal.

War on terror

Russian Aerospace Force destroy in Syria 120 terrorists from Tajikistan, Iraq, N. Caucasus

Within past 24 hours, the Russian Aerospace Force destroyed in Syria 120 terrorists coming from Tajikistan, Iraq and North Caucasus, and a team of 60 foreign mercenaries, spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"In the strikes on Abu Kamal, the military destroyed a base and about 40 terrorists coming from Tajikistan and Iraq, as well as seven off-road vehicles with high-caliber weapons," he said. "Near the Meyadin compound, they destroyed a command post of terrorists and up to 80 militants, including nine militants coming from the North Caucasus. There also, they destroyed 18 off-road vehicles with high-caliber weapons and three arms depots."

"South of Deir ez-Zor, in the Euphrates Valley, in a strike they destroyed a team of foreign mercenaries of more than 60 people, who came from the CIS, Tunisia, and Egypt," he said. "They also destroyed twelve off-road vehicles with installed high-caliber weapons."

Weapons

War & Weapons Analysis: US vs China

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission is working on a one-time unclassified report on China’s development of advanced weapons. 

The report is intended as an unclassified, open-source assessment of specific Chinese weapons systems and areas of ongoing technological inquiry. Some detailed priority areas include:

1. Maneuverable re-entry vehicles, including hypersonic glide and supersonic combustion ramjet engine-powered vehicles; 
2. Directed energy weapons, to include high power radiofrequency weapons, high energy lasers, and particle beam weapons, with effects ranging from satellite jamming to target damage;
3. Electromagnetic railguns;
4. Direct-ascent, co-orbital, and other anti-satellite weapons in addition to counterspace electronic warfare capabilities; and 5. Unmanned and artificial intelligence-equipped weapons.

The  report also places a premium on the need for reports which detail the implications of China's advanced weaponry for the United States. This includes an examination of potential U.S. countermeasures and areas of needed developmental emphasis, along with assessments of relative competitive advantages in key areas of weapons development. 

Finacial safety

US Intelligence Unit Accused Of Illegally Spying On Americans’ Financial Records

The intelligence division at the Treasury Department has repeatedly and systematically violated domestic surveillance laws by snooping on the private financial records of US citizens and companies, according to government sources.

Over the past year, at least a dozen employees in another branch of the Treasury Department, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, have warned officials and Congress that US citizens’ and residents’ banking and financial data has been illegally searched and stored. And the breach, some sources said, extended to other intelligence agencies, such as the National Security Agency, whose officers used the Treasury’s intelligence division as an illegal back door to gain access to American citizens’ financial records. The NSA said that any allegations that it “is operating outside of its authorities and knowingly violating U.S. persons’ privacy and civil liberties is categorically false.”

Cybersecurity

GCHQ is coming out of the shadows to protect Britain's economy from cyber-criminals

GCHQ’s role has always been to collect and use intelligence to disrupt, divert and frustrate our adversaries. We’ve been doing this since 1919 and we’re very good at it. But we cannot afford to stand still. The Government’s investment in a bigger GCHQ gives us a chance to recruit the brightest and best from across our society – as the threat becomes more diverse, so must the workforce that tackles it.

We’re using much of that funding to make GCHQ a cyber organisation as well as an intelligence and counter-terrorism one. We have a longstanding mission to keep sensitive information and systems secure. This has a distinguished history, notably in protecting our own secrets in wartime. But it too often felt like the poor relation. Our new mandate, to help make the UK the best place to live and do business online, has transformed that perception. This profound development is led within GCHQ by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), one year old last week.

Electronic surveillance

This surveillance law needs reauthorizing — and tightening, too

CONGRESS MUST consider it a priority to pass legislation in the next few months reauthorizing the U.S. intelligence agencies to eavesdrop without a court warrant on communications of foreigners who are located overseas, including at times their exchanges with Americans. The legislation, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is of bedrock importance to the National Security Agency. Still, while giving the law a new lease, Congress ought to insist on additional protections for Americans in the use of the Section 702 database.

Under existing law, the Federal Bureau of Investigation can query Section 702 information for emails and phone-call transcripts of Americans suspected of a crime, without obtaining a warrant. This is a loophole allowing the FBI to go after information that, if sought from other sources, would require a warrant. 

Criminal investigation

FBI details retrieval plan for Las Vegas festivalgoers’ items

FBI Las Vegas officials on Sunday announced an item retrieval plan based out of the Family Assistance Center, one week after the deadly mass shooting outside of Mandalay Bay.

In the week following the shooting, the Route 91 Harvest festival site has been divided into six sections to better manage the scene, FBI spokeswoman Sandra Breault said. Crime scene investigators are working section by section to sift through belongings, which include cellphones, wallets and purses. As investigators clear belongings in each section, those belongings will be made available to concert attendees at the assistance center, 3150 Paradise Road, inside the Las Vegas Convention Center’s south hall.

Public security

Homeland Security report cited lone offenders as threat to large events in the South, weeks before Las Vegas massacre

Less than two weeks before the Las Vegas mass shooting, law enforcement officials warned that "unaffiliated lone offenders" were one of the biggest threats to large gatherings in the southern U.S., according to a confidential report obtained by CNBC.

Las Vegas was not cited as an area of focus by this report, which instead noted concerns around the South-Central region in states such as Texas and Oklahoma.

Upcoming large public events in the southern U.S. listed in the report included marathons, festivals, fairs, Thanksgiving Day parades, the March Madness Final Four, and the South by Southwest festival.

National security

Senator: Rising debt is greatest national security threat. Here's how to fix it.

The single greatest threat to our national security is our national debt. Last month, the debt topped $20 trillion. This should have sounded alarms throughout Washington. However, it went largely unnoticed and today it’s still business as usual.

Washington is on track to rack up another $11 trillion in debt over the next decade, and there’s another $100 trillion in future unfunded liabilities (consisting of spending of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on the debt and pensions for federal employees) coming at us like a freight train. That’s close to $1 million for every household in America.

We also live in a world that’s more dangerous than anytime in our lifetimes, yet because of our government’s own intransigence, our global standing and military are in a weakened state.

Spy story

100 Years Since Her Execution, Was Mata Hari a Sexy Spy or a Sexy Scapegoat?

Her name lives on a century after they stood her in front of a firing squad on Oct. 15, 1917, and watched her die: Mata Hari, treacherous spy, devious liar, a wicked woman to the core. Or was she something else entirely? Was she isolated and vulnerable, spinning an identity and a living from illusion and sexuality, little more than a victim of male bias and scapegoat for military failure?

Nothing about Mata Hari was simple and clear, not then, not now. Rising from the ambiguity are a thousand legends and interpretations, each projecting onto her a tale of their own, in books and films, now even on Twitter and Facebook. Margaretha Zelle MacLeod, a middle-class Dutch divorcée from Leeuwarden, died, but Mata Hari, femme fatale and exotic dancer, has become eternal. She might consider that her greatest success.

Public security

Law enforcement react to Las Vegas massacre with evolving active-shooter tactics

The mass shooting in Las Vegas is the latest in a string of seemingly indiscriminate attacks that have jolted the country in recent years. Local law enforcement agencies throughout San Diego County said that each new incident brings unique lessons.

“I know for a fact that including San Diego Police Department and agencies around the county, they are already looking at how to we look at high-ground areas and how do we make sure we’re aware of the surrounding areas as opposed to just maybe focusing on the internal,” said Escondido Police Chief Craig Carter.

Since the event, law enforcement officials have also started reaching out to hoteliers to beef up lines of communication and ensure contingency plans are in place, Carter said.

“This is where cooperation with our hotel industry is key because if five patrol officers with the right equipment respond to the front lobby, and the manager knows exactly why we’re there, that’s a crucial piece,” he said.

Law enfoecement

Next Generation of Smart Weapons

According to Axon’s website, the TASER X26P is their smallest and most compact Smart Weapon, and its ergonomically designed handle is made with ease of performance in mind. The new XPPM helps protect the cartridge blast doors from damage during field use, and the new forward-facing design makes for more efficient reload. With its compact size and familiar shape, the TASER X26P can be conveniently carried. Similar to previous generations of TASER weapons, the TASER X26P is a single-shot device that does not require replacing inventories of cartridges.

The TASER X2 was developed with agencies’ most requested features in mind, and includes features such as a backup shot and a warning arc to increase voluntary surrenders and protect life in the field.

“Our mission is to make a TASER CEW (Conducted Electrical Weapon) available to every officer, so they have the best options available to avoid injury or death. When we built the TASER Smart Weapon, our engineers had three thoughts in mind: safety, accountability, and performance,” says Rick Smith, Axon CEO and co-founder.

Criminal investigation

Investigators reportedly believe Las Vegas gunman had undiagnosed mental illness

It is unusual to have so few hints of a motive five days after a mass shooting. In previous mass killings or terrorist attacks, killers left notes, social media postings and information on a computer — or even phoned police.

"The lack of a social media footprint is likely intentional," Erroll Southers, director of homegrown violent extremism studies at the University of Southern California, told the Associated Press "We're so used to, in the first 24 to 48 hours, being able to review social media posts. If they don't leave us a note behind or a manifesto behind, and we're not seeing that, that's what's making this longer."

What officers have found is that Paddock planned his attack meticulously.

He requested an upper-floor room overlooking the festival, stockpiled 23 guns, a dozen of them modified to fire continuously like an automatic weapon, and set up cameras inside and outside his room to watch for approaching officers.

Nuclear security

As long as nuclear-armed states exist, NATO must also have nukes – Norway FM

Norway does not support the UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, Foreign Minister Børge Brende said Saturday as he spoke on the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in Oslo earlier.

“Prime Minister [Erna Solberg] and I have congratulated ICAN, but we cannot support a UN ban on nuclear weapons when none of the nuclear weapons countries are involved,” Brende told local TV 2 channel, as cited by Norwegian media. 

ICAN was officially launched in 2007 with the aim of promoting the ideals outlined in the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The treaty was signed by over 50 countries in September 2017. The US, UK, France, China, Israel, and Russia were among the nuclear-armed states that did not sign.

“If Norway, as a NATO member, voted for a ban, it would mean that Norway had to say that NATO had to abolish its nuclear strategy while looking at other countries having nuclear weapons. As long as other countries have nuclear weapons, NATO must have it,” Brende said.

International cooperation


Law enforcement, cybersecurity dialogue strengthens China-U.S. cooperation

The one-day meeting was co-chaired on Wednesday by visiting Chinese State Councilor Guo Shengkun, and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Acting Secretary for Homeland Security Elaine Duke.

At the meeting, the two sides agreed to commit to mutual respect, equity, frankness and pragmatism, make a full use of the dialogue mechanism and further strengthen bilateral communication and cooperation in law enforcement and cybersecurity.

Guo, also China's public security minister, called on the two sides to focus on cooperation and manage their differences so as to make bilateral cooperation in law enforcement and cybersecurity a new highlight in China-U.S. ties, and work relentlessly to promote global security governance and build a universal and secure community of shared destiny for mankind.

The meeting has proved to be very fruitful as demonstrated in an intergovernmental joint statement.

In the statement released on Friday outlining the fruitful outcomes of the meeting, the two sides expressed their intention to enhance cooperation on narcotics control and enforcement and gave a nod to continue their implementation of the consensus reached by the Chinese and U.S. presidents in 2015 on China-U.S. cybersecurity cooperation.

Mass surveillance

State surveillance: disturbing revelations

The finding by former chief justice John Murray that the State is operating a system of data-retention that amounts to mass surveillance of the entire population is extremely disturbing. His report published this week is a damning indictment of the Department of Justice for allowing a range of surveillance practices to develop that are in clear breach of European law. It is entirely unacceptable that this situation has arisen, and successive governments must be held accountable for allowing it to develop unchecked.

In his 190-page review of the data protection system, which was presented to the Government in April but only published on Tuesday, Murray is unequivocal in his finding that the current statutory framework breaches European law. The Communications (Retention of Data) Act, which was passed as recently as 2011, involves the retention and storage of historic data including fixed-line and mobile telephone, internet communication and text messages, and is being done without the consent of those affected.

Extremism

FBI terrorism unit says 'black identity extremists' pose violent threat

The US government has declared “black identity extremists” a violent threat, according to a leaked report from the FBI’s counter-terrorism division.

The assessment, obtained by Foreign Policy, has raised fears about federal authorities racially profiling activists and aggressively prosecuting civil rights protesters.

The report, dated August 2017 and compiled by the Domestic Terrorism Analysis Unit, said: “The FBI assesses it is very likely Black Identity Extremist (BIE) perceptions of police brutality against African Americans spurred an increase in premeditated, retaliatory lethal violence against law enforcement and will very likely serve as justification for such violence.” Incidents of “alleged police abuse” have “continued to feed the resurgence in ideologically motivated, violent criminal activity within the BIE movement”.

Intel oversight

National Security Agencies Are Evading Congressional Oversight

Last week, federal officials from several spy agencies engaged in a full court press in Washington, spinning facts before media outlets, flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists, and bringing lawmakers to the National Security Agency's (NSA) Ft. Meade headquarters to feed them selective information about their unconstitutional mass surveillance activities. Predictably omitted from these conversations are the many Americans from across the political spectrum who have raised concerns, ranging from constitutional and commercial to security-related, that have rightfully dogged federal mass surveillance efforts since their revelations—not in official proceedings, but rather by whistleblowers—in 2005 and 2013.

Rather than embrace bipartisan calls for long overdue and constitutionally necessary limits, executive officials have instead chosen to shoot the proverbial messengers, vilifyingwhistleblowers and building new programs to prevent others from ever coming forward. Last week’s meetings included claims that particular examples of mass surveillance proved useful, ignoring its repeated failures. 

Nuclear security

North Korea could kill TWO MILLION people with a nuclear strike on Seoul and Tokyo, and injure another 7.7 million, experts warn

North Korea could kill two million people with a nuclear strike on Seoul and Tokyo and injure a further 7.7million, experts have warned. 

The hypothetical scenario has been analysed by scholars who made their conclusions amid rising tension between the hermit kingdom and the US.  

Should Kim Jong-un decide to unleash his nuclear arsenal, the has been predicted as catastrophic. 

...Author Michael J Zagurek Jr said based on his calculations, nuclear attacks on the capital cities of South Korea and Japan could kill as many as 2.1 million people and injure 7.7 million others, according to Yonhap.

This was based on the assumption North Korea would launch its entire arsenal of 25 nuclear weapons. 

Seoul has a population of 24.1million and Tokyo 37.9million and the final fatality figures were worked out by taking into consideration the probability of detonation. 

Also taken into account was South Korea deploying the anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) system.

Criminal investigation

The Las Vegas Shooting. Official Explanations and Unanswered Questions

The victims killed and wounded total 573. That number is the size of a military battalion. It is very difficult to turn an entire battalion into casualties with small arms fire even in a fierce combat situation. I don’t know if it has ever happened. Can one person with no military training shooting down from 32 stories, which requires special sighting knowledge, at a distance of 390 yards—the length of 4 football fields—hit 573 people in a few minutes of firing? Jon Rappoport doesn’t believe it. Neither does the progressive Steve Lendman. See this and this. There are reports of multiple shooters. There are reports of gun flashes from the 4th floor. The windows on the hotel do not open and would require the glass to be broken.

International cooperation

Germany rejects creating European intelligence agency

German intelligence officials on Thursday rejected the idea of creating a European intelligence service, which has been floated by leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We don’t need a European intelligence agency or any other additional European intelligence institution,” said Bruno Kahl, president of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND.

“Intelligence is better organized on the national level,” Kahl told a Bundestag intelligence committee.

In a speech last month, Macron called for creating a European intelligence academy“to strengthen links between our countries.” The European home affairs commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, last month suggested a united European intelligence system to help prevent terrorist attacks.

PredictionThe Las Vegas Attack Will Inspire Copycats

The Las Vegas Attack Will Inspire Copycats

Given the high death toll in Las Vegas, copycat attacks are bound to follow. One of the factors that drives terrorism, after all, is the success of past attacks.

Early anarchist ideologues saw terrorism as a form of propaganda. In 1885, Johann Most famously declared, "we preach not only action in and for itself, but also action as propaganda." Indeed, in many ways, it seems as if successful attacks are able to influence future attacks more than simple propaganda does. For instance, even though al Qaeda began calling for grassroots jihadists to conduct vehicular assaults in the second edition of its Inspire magazine, published in 2010, and despite the ease of conducting such attacks, only six were recorded outside Israel between 2010 and 2016. However, since the deadly and well-publicized Bastille Day attack in Nice, France, in 2016, at least 10 vehicular assaults have been committed by jihadists in North America and Europe (as well as two others not connected with jihadists). Success, and the heavy media coverage that accompanies it, clearly breeds imitation.

Radiation safety

Spike in radioactivity measured in Germany, other European countries

There has been an increase in radioactivity measured in the air across parts of Central and Western Europe over the past week, Germany's Office for Radiation Protection said.

Since September 29, a slight increase in the isotope Ruthenium-106 has been measured in the air in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France.

The low levels do not pose a threat to human health, the Office for Radiation Protection said. It also stressed that the source could not be an accident at a nuclear power plant.

Officials do not know the cause of the elevated radiation levels, but they believe it may have originated from Eastern Europe.

Among other things, Ruthenium-106 is used for chemotherapy to treat eye tumors.  It is also occasionally used in so-called radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which provide power to satellites. It's one of the more stable, least dangerous, ruthenium isotopes.

Terror threat

Four Russian Nationals Abroad Suspected of False Phone Bomb Threats in Russia

False bomb threats in Russia that have prompted mass evacuations across the country were made by four nationals who were operating from abroad, Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), told reporters on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Bortnikov said that four people in charge of the false bomb threats are Russians who are currently abroad, and they have "accomplices who are on the territory of the country."

According to the FSB chief, damages incurred by false bomb threats so far amount to over 300 million rubles (some $5.2 million).

Electronic surveillance

GCHQ spooks in the dock over UK government bulk data hacking

British intelligence services, which authorized the bulk hacking of phones and computers, are at the center of a court battle taking place on Thursday.

A challenge to the wide use of non-specific warrants by Britain’s version of the NSA – the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – is being brought by campaign group Privacy International (PI).

The group has vowed to fight the secretive agency, which works with MI5 and MI6, over “bulk surveillance.”

It is also challenging the primacy of the existing system – an intelligence tribunal that operates partly in secret – over civil courts.

Originally, a claim by PI was brought to the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) as a result of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden exposing the extent of surveillance carried out by US and UK authorities.

PI argues the government is “choosing to take advantage of security holes” which weaken security for later hacks.

IPT hearings can be held behind closed doors over national security fears as it hears complaints about government surveillance.

National security

National Security Presidential Memorandum

The United States Government's ability to effectively analyze, evaluate, integrate, correlate, and share classified national security information and other information concerning threat actors and their networks, and then use that information to support a broad array of national security missions and activities, is an essential component of our national security strategy. Equally important is the United States Government's ability to conduct these activities in a manner that: (a) appropriately protects the security and integrity of that information and its origins; (b) properly considers, approves, and monitors the information's application and use, consistent with applicable law and Presidential guidance; (c) ensures relevant operational deconfliction and security; and (d) maintains and uses the information in a manner that appropriately protects individuals' privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties, including by providing appropriate redress. Our continuing efforts to achieve these goals requires both systematic collaboration across national security components and integrated practices that fully utilize our collective data holdings to support vital national security missions.

Military

‘Significantly Weaker America’ Fails to Project Military Might - DC Think Tank

A new report released by the right-leaning Heritage Foundation finds that the perception of the strength of the US military has deteriorated drastically, despite facing a dangerous world.

"For decades, the perception of American strength and resolve has served as a deterrent to adventurous bad actors and tyrannical dictators," the "2018 Index of US Military Strength," published October 5, stated.

The report rates the US armed forces posture "marginal," a score of three out of five, while adding that it is heading toward becoming "weak," a score of two out of five. The 2017 Index produced identical ratings.

Electronic warfare

Outmatched, Army begins long road to electronic warfare rollout

It’s no secret the Army is behind the eight ball when it comes to electronic warfare solutions. Top commanders have acknowledged the service is outmatched in the tactical space against near-peer adversaries.

Enter: the Army Rapid Capabilities Office, which is trying to fill gaps in the electronic warfare space, among others, in one to five years. The RCO delivered a limited quantity solution set to Europe ― its main focus at the moment ― last spring to help get at U.S. Army Europe’s defined operational-needs statement.

The solutions ― VROD, which surveys the field from an electromagnetic perspective; and VMAX, which provides a limited electronic attack capability ― are very good, according to Chief Warrant Officer 2 Angel Colon, the electronic warfare technician for 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

Robots

Northrop Grumman unveils new multifunction, multimission robot

Northrop Grumman has unveiled a new mid-sized unmanned ground vehicle for first responders, military services and bomb squads.

The Nomad multifunction robot — targeted at explosive ordnance disposal, among other missions — meets Interoperability Profile standards set by the Department of Defense to ensure interoperability between different models of ground robot.

The Nomad, made by Northrop Grumman subsidiary Remotec, weighs 164 pounds and measures 35.5 inches long, 23 inches wide and 26 inches high (or 42 inches high when the mast is fully vertical).

“Nomad’s manipulator arm has a lift capacity of 15 pounds when fully extended and impressive dexterity through extensive shoulder pitch, shoulder rotation, elbow pitch and wrist roll abilities,” said a Northrop Grumman news release.

Weapons

What Is a Bump Stock and How WasIt Used in the Las Vegas Shooting?

Twelve of the rifles the gunman in the Las Vegas mass shooting had in his 32nd-floor hotel room were each modified with a “bump stock,” an attachment that enables a semiautomatic rifle to fire faster.

The device replaces a rifle’s standard stock, which is the part held against the shoulder. It frees the weapon to slide back and forth rapidly, harnessing the energy from the kickback shooters feel when the weapon fires. The stock “bumps” back and forth between the shooter’s shoulder and trigger finger, causing the rifle to rapidly fire again and again. The shooter holds his or her trigger finger in place, while maintaining forward pressure on the barrel and backward pressure on the pistol grip while firing.

Intel reports

CIA spook says Kim Jong Un isn’t crazy

President Trump called him a “madman” — but a top CIA spook said Wednesday that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was a “very rational actor” who didn’t want a war with the US despite his bellicose rhetoric.

“The last person who wants conflict on the [Korean Peninsula] is Kim Jong Un,” said Yong Suk Lee, deputy assistant director of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center — a special agency outfit that deals with the increased nuclear and ballistic missile threat from Pyongyang.

Lee’s comments came at the CIA Ethos & Profession of Intelligence conference in Washington, an annual event, the Washington Times reported.

Kim, 35, “wants what all authoritarian rulers want … to rule for a very long time and die peacefully in his own bed,” Lee said.

“We have a tendency in this country and everywhere else to kind of underestimate the conservatism that runs in these authoritarian regimes, and it’s probably the greatest circuit breaker in any kind of conflict,” he said.

All “bluster and rhetoric aside,” Kim has “no interest in going toe to toe” with the US military and its allies.

Privacy security

Bipartisan group of lawmakers seeks to impose new curb on U.S. government spy power

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is seeking to impose a significant new restraint on law enforcement’s access to data gathered by the National Security Agency under a powerful authority that enables collection of foreign intelligence on U.S. soil.

The measure, contained in a bill unveiled Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee, is likely to set up a clash with the Trump administration in the coming weeks, with the legal power set to expire at year’s end. The administration wants the bill to be renewed without change — and permanently.

At the same time, civil liberties groups are arguing for stronger limits.

The law in question is often referred to as Section 702, a portion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act amended in 2008. Its renewal is the intelligence community’s highest legislative priority this year.

Weapons

Army to Field New Sidearm to 3 Units by Year’s End

U.S. Army weapons officials plan to issue the service’s new XM17 Modular Handgun System to three units by the end of the year.

The 101^st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky is scheduled to begin receiving 2,000 9mm XM17s in November, according to an Army press release.

The 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas, as well as one of the Army’s new security force assistance brigades are also scheduled to receive the MHS by the end of 2017, Brig. Gen. Brian Cummings, commander of Program Executive Officer Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, said in the press release.

The Army awarded Sig Sauer a contract worth up to $580 million Jan. 19. Sig Sauer beat out Glock Inc., FN America and Beretta USA, maker of the current M9 9mm service pistol, in the competition for the Modular Handgun System, or MHS, program.

Intel work

More CIA agents being deployed around the world, director says

CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Wednesday outlined his vision for more aggressive intelligence work around the world, saying he’s sending more spies to the field and moving decision-making down the chain of command to better protect national security.

Pompeo said he’s trying to cut red tape and create a culture at the agency that says: “If you are in a process and you’re not adding value, get out of the way.”

“This risk of the absence of agility and speed is a price our agency can’t afford to pay,” he said in a speech at an intelligence conference at George Washington University. “It’s one that America cannot afford either.”