One of the nation's top spies has warned Australia's international intelligence sharing relations risk being harmed by leaks of classified information.

• Director-General of National Security Nick Warner says Australia relies on foreign intelligence
• He warns Australia risks being cut out if partners are concerned their information could leak
• Parliament's intelligence and security committee is examining protections for journalists and whistleblowers

In a rare foray into the spotlight, Director-General of National Intelligence Nick Warner has told Parliament's powerful intelligence and security committee the Government and its agencies bear "a heavy burden" balancing transparency and protecting national security.

The Federal Government directed the committee to investigate whether there were sufficient legal protections in place for journalists and whistleblowers, or if too much ground had been ceded in favour of national security.

It followed media outrage after the Australian Federal Police's raids on the Canberra home of News Corp political journalist Annika Smethurstand the ABC's Sydney headquarters over separate stories based on leaked classified information.

"Australia's national security depends on a network of international intelligence partnerships that extends well beyond our traditional allies — the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand — to partners, including in North and South Asia, South-East Asia, Europe and the Middle East," Mr Warner said in his submission.

"For example, ASIO works with foreign partners to support the disruption of terrorism-related threats."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-07/spy-chief-warns-international-rel...

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ABC chair Ita Buttrose has a "grave concern" about this week's Australian Federal Police (AFP) raid at the national broadcaster, which she says was "clearly designed to intimidate".

• Ms Buttrose said she had a "frank conversation" with the Federal Communications Minister about the raid
• She said: "As ABC chair, I will fight any attempts to muzzle the national broadcaster."
• Wednesday's raid at the ABC's Sydney headquarters lasted more than eight hours

AFP officers executed a search warrant at the ABC's Ultimo headquarters on Wednesday, over a series of 2017 stories known as the Afghan Files.

In a statement, Ms Buttrose said she had a "frank conversation" with Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher on Thursday, and that the raid was "clearly designed to intimidate".

The AFP also raided the Canberra home of a News Corp journalist on Tuesday — however that incident was not related to the ABC search warrant.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-07/ita-buttrose-says-afp-raid-on-abc...

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The former spy Witness K will plead guilty to breaching secrecy laws by revealing Australia’s spying on Timor-Leste but his lawyer, Bernard Collaery, will fight charges in the ACT supreme court.

In the ACT magistrates court on Tuesday, Collaery waived his rights to a committal hearing and prosecutors consented to send his case to the supreme court. Collaery was granted bail and was summoned to appear on 22 August.

Haydn Carmichael revealed that his client, Witness K, will plead guilty to a summary offence, one breach of section 39 of the Intelligence Services Act for communicating secret information obtained in the course of his duties as an Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent.

Outside the court, Collaery issued a statement that Witness K’s complaint had revealed a “cheating culture motivated by commercial interests” which was both “contrary to Australia’s national security interests” and unlawful.

Collaery said he stood by his legal advice to Witness K, labelling the accusation that he had unlawfully conspired with Witness K “contemptible”.

The two men were charged with disclosing information about the bugging of Timor-Leste government buildings in 2004, an operation that gave Australia the upper hand in talks to carve up resources in the Timor Sea.

Collaery said he was charged with “speaking to five journalists after my chambers were raided and my brief seized”, labelling the case “a likely turning point on … true freedom of expression against abuses of power”.

Collaery said the prosecution was “a very determined push to hide dirty political linen … under the guise of national security imperatives”.

He said an open court process would reveal the disclosures were “totally unrelated to national security concerns”.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/06/witness-k-to-plea...

https://www.corbettreport.com/conspiracy-theorists-are-domestic-terrorists-propagandawatch/

The latest video from James Corbett is in response to this memo from the FBI, which claims that “fringe conspiracy theories” will occasionally stir people to commit violent acts.

Disregarding the arguments about who is or isn’t responsible for acts of violence (or even whether or not they actually happened), the memo is of course totally ridiculous.

More than ridiculous: You don’t ban or censor things because criminals or lunatics liked them. Mark Chapman liked Catcher in the Rye, Charles Manson listened to The Beatles. 

The argument of post-war suburban mothers, that Rock music encourages sin and Devil worship is, deservedly, ridiculed as hysteria these days. And yet the FBI, and other agencies of the deep state, are using that same argument to shut down free speech on the web.

There will always be insane people. There will always be those who, for whatever crazy reason, seek to do others harm. We can’t legislate on that. Ted Bundy wore ties. Jeffrey Dahmer was gay. Hitler drank water.

Even taken totally at face value, completely on its own terms, even if – for some peculiar reason – you believe everything the FBI tells you: the argument for is deeply flawed. At best. 

Of course, that’s not really what the document is about.

What this document is really about, what this is all for, is buried in one short sentence somewhere in the preamble [our emphasis]:

Indicators that may lead to a revised judgment include…significant efforts by major social media companies and websites to remove, regulate or counter potentially harmful conspiratorial content.”

Yeah. That just about says it all really.

Read more:

https://off-guardian.org/2019/08/06/watch-conspiracy-theorists-are-domes...

Trump is therefore an "inspiring" fringe conspiracy theorist... for having said that migrants are "rapist and criminals"...

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We understand that the building of solidarity, especially against racism, and with all of those victimized by capitalism, is a prerequisite for creating the strength necessary for our class to build the revolutionary movement in this country.

Oh, yes — this publication is dedicated to making revolution.

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Twenty-fourth report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2368 (2017) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities

S/2019/570



Summary

With the fall of Baghuz, Syrian Arab Republic, in March 2019, the geographical so-called “caliphate” of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)a has ceased to exist and the group has continued its evolution into a mainly covert network. Its leadership is primarily in Iraq, while its centre of gravity remains in Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic and areas of the immediate neighbourhood. The leadership aims to adapt, survive and consolidate in the core area and to establish sleeper cells at the local level in preparation for eventual resurgence, while using propaganda to maintain the group’s reputation as the leading global terrorist brand – the “virtual caliphate”. When it has the time and space to reinvest in an external operations capability, ISIL will direct and facilitate international attacks in addition to the ISIL-inspired attacks that continue to occur in many locations around the world.

Al-Qaida (QDe.004) remains resilient, although the health and longevity of its leader, Aiman Muhammed Rabi al-Zawahiri (QDi.006), and how the succession will work are in doubt. Groups aligned with Al-Qaida are stronger than their ISIL counterparts in Idlib, Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, Somalia and much of West Africa. The largest concentrations of active foreign terrorist fighters are in Idlib and Afghanistan, the majority of whom are aligned with Al-Qaida. ISIL, however, remains much stronger than Al-Qaida in terms of finances, media profile and current combat experience and terrorist expertise and remains the more immediate threat to global security.

The most striking international developments during the period under review include the growing ambition and reach of terrorist groups in the Sahel and West Africa, where fighters aligned with Al-Qaida and ISIL collaborate to undermine fragile national jurisdictions. The number of regional States threatened with contagion from insurgencies in the Sahel and Nigeria has increased. The ability of local authorities to cope with terrorist challenges in Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia remains limited. Meanwhile, the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka show the continuing appeal of ISIL propaganda and the risk that indigenous cells may incubate in unexpected locations and generate a significant terrorist capability. These and other ISIL attacks on places of worship, alongside the attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, of March 2019, offer a troubling narrative of escalating interfaith conflict.

The related issues of foreign terrorist fighters, returnees, relocators and detainees in the conflict zone have become more urgent since the fall of Baghuz. Member States also report pressing domestic security concerns, including with regard to radicalization in prisons and releases of terrorist prisoners, while only a few have the expertise and capacity to manage this range of counter-terrorist challenges successfully.

Read more:

https://undocs.org/en/S/2019/570

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Note: ISIL and Al Qaeda and other affiliated Sunni Wahhabi terrorist networks owe their existence by and large to the support from Saudi Arabia and the USA, to counter the influences of Iran and Russia. It's perverse.

The attack by the Houthis (allied of Iran) on the Saudi oil refineries could be a game changer. We shall see. Putin is demanding restraint and quotes the Q'ran...

The Trump administration needs to scapegoat Iran for the latest military assault on Saudi Arabia because to acknowledge that the Houthi rebels mounted such an audacious assault on the oil kingdom’s heartland would be an admission of American inadequacy.

Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars in recent years purchasing US Patriot missile defense systems and supposedly cutting-edge radar technology from the Pentagon. If the Yemeni rebels can fly combat drones up to 1,000 kilometers into Saudi territory and knock out the linchpin production sites in the kingdom’s oil industry, then that should be a matter of huge embarrassment for US “protectors.”

American defense of Saudi Arabia is germane to their historical relationship. Saudi oil exports nominated in dollars for trade – the biggest on the planet – are vital for maintaining the petrodollar global market, which is in turn crucial for American economic power. In return, the US is obligated to be a protector of the Saudi monarchy, which comes with the lucrative added benefit of selling the kingdom weapons worth billions of dollars every year.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Saudi Arabia has the world’s third biggest military budget, behind the US and China. With an annual spend of around $68 billion, it is the world’s number one in terms of percentage of gross domestic product (8.8 per cent). Most of the Saudi arms are sourced from the US, with Patriot missile systems in particular being a recent big-ticket item.

Yet for all that financial largesse and the finest American military technology, the oil kingdom just witnessed a potentially crippling wave of air assaults on its vital oil industry. Saudi oil production at its mammoth refinery complex at Abqaiq, 205 miles (330 kms) east of the capital Riyadh, was down 50 per cent after it was engulfed by flames following air strikes. One of the Saudi’s biggest oilfields, at Khurais, also in the Eastern Province, was also partially closed.

There are credible reports that the damage is much more serious than the Saudi officials are conceding. These key industrial sites may take weeks to repair.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got it half right when he claimed, “Iran launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply”.

Yes, it is unprecedented. But Pompeo and other US officials have most likely got it wrong about blaming Iran.

Some Trump administration officials told US media that “cruise missiles” were responsible for the giant fireballs seen over the Saudi oil facilities. One was quoted anonymously as saying: “There’s no doubt that Iran is responsible for this… there’s no escaping it. There is no other candidate.”

In a hurried effort to substantiate accusations against Iran, satellite images were released which show what appears to be the aftermath of the air strike on the Abqaiq refinery complex. US officials claim the location of the explosions indicate the weapons originated not from Yemen to the south, but from either Iran or Iraq. 

Even the normally dutiful New York Times expressed doubt about that claim, commenting in its report: “The satellite photographs released on Sunday did not appear as clear cut as officials suggested, with some appearing to show damage on the western side of facilities, not from the direction of Iran or Iraq.”

The accusations made by Pompeo and others are assertions in place of substantiated claims.

It is noteworthy that President Donald Trump refrained from openly blaming Iran by name, merely hinting at the possibility. If Pompeo is so adamant in fingering Iran, why didn’t Trump? Also, the president made a telling remark when he said he was “waiting for verification” from Saudi Arabia “as to who they believe was the cause of the attack.” Again, if US officials are explicitly accusing Iran then why is Trump saying he wants “verification” from the Saudis?

For its part, Iran has flatly dismissed the allegations that it had any involvement, saying that statements by Pompeo were “blind” and tantamount to setting up a conflict.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi also rejected claims that his country’s territory might have been used by pro-Iranian Shia militants to launch the air strikes.

The Houthi rebels in Yemen have issued unambiguous statements claiming responsibility for the air raids on the Saudi oil installations. They were specific that the weapons were drones, not missiles, adding with details that 10 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were deployed

Notably too, most US media reported initially that the attacks were by drones flown from Yemen. Associated Press reported a level of sophistication in the attacks whereby drones were used first to disable the US Patriot radar systems before other UAVs proceeded to execute the air strikes. 

It therefore seems that US officials are attempting to switch the story by blaming Iran. It is reckless scapegoating because the logical consequence could elicit a military attack against Iran, in which event Tehran has warned it is ready for war.

The rationale for blaming Iran is that the Yemeni rebels (which Iran supports politically) are just not capable of using drones with such dramatic success against the Saudi oil industry. The culprit must be Iran, so the rationale goes. This is a follow-on from alleged sabotage by Iran against oil tankers in the Persian Gulf earlier this summer.

However, a timeline shows that the Houthis are more than capable of launching ever-more powerful ballistic missiles and deeper penetrating drones into Saudi territory. The rebels have been using drones from the beginning of the war which the US-backed Saudi-UAE coalition launched on the southern Arabian country in March 2015.

Over the past four years, the Houthi aerial firepower has gradually improved. Earlier, the Saudis, with American defense systems, were able to intercept drones and missiles from Yemen. But over the last year, the rebels have increased their success rate for hitting targets in the Saudi interior, including the capital Riyadh.

In May this year, Houthi drones hit Saudi Arabia’s crucial east-west pipeline. Then in August, drones and ballistic missiles were reported to have struck the Shaybah oil field near the border with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as the Dammam exporting complex in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. 

The Yemenis claim they are taking the war to Saudi Arabia and the UAE after years of relentless air strikes on their homeland which have resulted in nearly 90,000 dead. A recent UN report censured the US, Britain and France for possible complicity in war crimes through their military support for the Saudi coalition.

There must be trepidation among the monarchs in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that the rebels from war-torn and starving Yemen are now coming after them with drones that could demolish their oil economies. What’s more, the much-vaunted American protector is not able to deliver on its strategic bargain, despite billions of dollars of Pentagon weaponry. That’s why Washington has to find an excuse by casting Iran as the villain.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/468935-saudi-oil-field-drone-attack/

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