Archiv: US Special Operations Command (Socom)


30.12.2022 - 18:34 [ Syrian Arab News Agency - Sana.sy ]

10 workers martyred in a terrorist attack in al-Taym oil field in deir Ezzor

Deir Ezzor,SANA- 10 workers were killed and 2 others injured in a terrorist attack that targeted 3 buses carrying workers in the al-Taym oil field in Deir Ezzor, SANA reporter reported .

Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Bassam Tohme, said in a telephone conversation with the Syrian channel that the Syrian people are suffering from an oil crisis, and the American occupation, through its mercenaries and terrorist groups, wants to cut off the available oil part that secures the minimum needs of the Syrian people, and therefore they carried out this blatant attack on cars Shifts of workers of al-Tayyem field at al-Furat Company.

30.12.2022 - 18:15 [ WashingtonExaminer.com ]

CENTCOM conducts three helicopter raids in Syria and detains six ISIS operatives

(December 20, 2022)

U.S. forces conducted three helicopter raids in eastern Syria that resulted in the detention of six Islamic State operatives, according to a Tuesday statement from U.S. Central Command.

The three raids occurred “over the last 48 hours,” and one of the ISIS fighters detained was identified as al Zubaydi, whom CENTCOM described as “an Islamic State Syria Province Senior Official involved in the planning and facilitation of ISIS attacks in Syria.”

30.12.2022 - 18:04 [ WashingtonExaminer.com ]

US and Syrian allies capture five ISIS operatives in six raids this week

(December 16, 2022)

The two allied forces resumed operations on Dec. 8, and since then, they „have conducted six partnered operations, resulting in the detention of five ISIS operatives involved in planning attacks on detention facilities holding ISIS fighters and on the Al Hol camp,“ Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesman for CENTCOM, said in a statement referring to the Syrian refugee camp.

(…)

The Syrian Democratic Forces thwarted a suicide bombing attempt at the camp in late September, though four ISIS fighters were killed in the incident. Weeks earlier, the SDF arrested “dozens of ISIS operatives” while conducting security operations at the refugee camp, and a CENTCOM spokesperson said at the time that the arrests led to the “dissolution of a major ISIS facilitation network both within the camp and throughout Syria.”

24.11.2022 - 10:51 [ Meta - fb.com ]

Meta’s Adversarial Threat Report, Third Quarter 2022

This quarterly threat report includes our findings about three networks we took down in the United States, China and Russia. The latter two we originally reported on September 27, 2022.

The US network — linked to individuals associated with the US military — operated across many internet services and focused on Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Somalia, Syria, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

24.11.2022 - 10:41 [ theHill.com ]

Meta links phony accounts to people ‘associated with the US military’

It marks a rare instance of the Silicon Valley-based company tying an influence campaign to the U.S. rather than a foreign nation.

Meta said that the people behind the operation “attempted to conceal their identities,” but the company’s investigation “found links to individuals associated with the US military.”

20.08.2022 - 21:03 [ Reuters ]

At least 12 killed as Somalia hotel siege enters second day

(today)

At least 12 people were killed when al Qaeda-linked militants attacked a hotel in Somalia‘s capital Mogadishu, seizing hostages who authorities were still battling to free 24 hours later, an intelligence officer said on Saturday.

20.08.2022 - 21:00 [ Fox News ]

Biden approves sending US Special Operations troops to Somalia

(May 18, 2022)

A senior U.S. defense official has confirmed to Fox News on Monday that President Joe Biden has authorized the deployment of hundreds of Special Operations troops inside Somalia.

The decision comes alongside approval of a Pentagon request for standing authority to target about a dozen suspected leaders of the al-Shabab terrorist group that operates inside the east African country’s borders, the official said.

03.02.2022 - 17:34 [ theHill.com ]

US raid in Syria resulted in multiple deaths, including civilians, residents say

„U.S. Special Operations forces under the control of U.S. Central Command conducted a counterterrorism mission this evening in northwest Syria. The mission was successful. There were no U.S. casualties. More information will be provided as it becomes available,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement.

21.07.2021 - 19:35 [ theCanary.co/uk/ ]

Coronavirus data contractors engaged in dirty tricks and disinformation campaigns

(10.05.2020)

Palantir was co-founded in 2004 by Paypal owner and billionaire Peter Thiel. What the blog doesn’t reveal is that Palantir’s client list has included amomgst others, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the Centre for Disease Control, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, Special Operations Command, West Point and the IRS.

Furthermore, in 2016, it was revealed Palantir had a $34.6m contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and helped the Customs and Border Protection Agency create the Analytical Framework for Intelligence (AFI) system to track immigrants.

Nor does the blog mention that Palantir worked for UK intelligence and was awarded contracts to handle vast data sets on UK citizens for British spy agency GCHQ.

16.06.2021 - 09:33 [ i24news.tv ]

IDF chief Kohavi to make postponed Washington trip; discuss Gaza, Iran

Kohavi was initially set to meet with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, head of the US Central Command Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., and head of the US Special Operations Command Gen. Richard D. Clark, according to The Jerusalem Post.

10.01.2021 - 14:23 [ theCanary.co ]

Coronavirus data contractors engaged in dirty tricks and disinformation campaigns

(10.05.2020)

Palantir was co-founded in 2004 by Paypal owner and billionaire Peter Thiel. What the blog doesn’t reveal is that Palantir’s client list has included amomgst others, the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the Centre for Disease Control, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, Special Operations Command, West Point and the IRS.

Furthermore, in 2016, it was revealed Palantir had a $34.6m contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and helped the Customs and Border Protection Agency create the Analytical Framework for Intelligence (AFI) system to track immigrants.

Nor does the blog mention that Palantir worked for UK intelligence and was awarded contracts to handle vast data sets on UK citizens for British spy agency GCHQ.

19.12.2020 - 11:07 [ theIntercept.com ]

The CIA’s Afghan Death Squads

While CIA officers run the operations, most of the ground support during strike force unit missions, including the control of air power, is provided by fighters loaned out by Joint Special Operations Command. Variations on this arrangement have been used by the CIA since the Church Committee clamped down on agency excesses at home and abroad in 1975. Originally dubbed “Omega” in Afghanistan, the program temporarily strips special forces of their regular military designation — a process known as “sheep-dipping”— and places them under CIA command. This enables the CIA to circumvent the restrictions placed on fighters who ordinarily operate under regular wartime Title 10 authority, placing them instead under the agency’s Title 50 authority for covert actions.

30.11.2020 - 22:47 [ Anthony Chimente, @durham_uni / Twitter ]

No, you need to read the NYT article stating Trump wanted to use military force against Iran but the pentagon military/ some@civilian leadership balked. Now he can use SOCOM/JSOC to strike Iran without the consent of Pentagon military leadership.

(18.11.2020)

30.11.2020 - 22:45 [ Lara Seligman, Covering the Pentagon for @POLITICO / Twitter ]

Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, himself a former Green Beret, announces that he has directed the Special Operations civilian leadership to report directly to the SecDef. This puts Special Operations command „on par with the military services for the first time.“

(18.11.2020)

01.07.2020 - 09:07 [ ZDF ]

KSK: Was wird da aufgelöst?

Ein 55-seitiger Bericht, der ZDFheute vorliegt, sieht 60 Empfehlungen vor. Darunter:

– Internationale Kooperationen werden bis auf weiteres eingestellt und „soweit möglich, von anderen Einheiten übernommen“.

– Die Ausbildung von KSK-Soldaten soll künftig ins Heer eingegliedert werden. Damit soll wohl verhindert werden, dass angehende Elite-Soldaten zu sehr abgeschottet werden.

– Schlüsselpositionen für Offiziere und Feldwebel sollen zeitlich begrenzt werden.

02.06.2020 - 22:39 [ Tony Thomas, 11th Commander of US SOCOM / Twitter ]

The “battle space” of America??? Not what America needs to hear…ever, unless we are invaded by an adversary or experience a constitutional failure…ie a Civil War…

07.03.2020 - 20:46 [ Radio Utopie ]

Blackwater: Globaler Konzern-Geheimdienst „Total Intel“ ausser Kontrolle

(3. November 2007)

Die Gewalten der Gewaltenteilung innerhalb einer Demokratie (ob jetzt konstitutionelle Monarchien wie Grossbritannien, Dänemark, Niederlande, Dänemark, Schweden, Norwegen, Spanien, usw oder Republiken wie z.B. Deutschland, Frankreich, Italien, Schweiz, Österreich) funktionieren nicht von alleine.
Man muss sie dazu zwingen. Man muss sie dazu ZWINGEN. Man muss die Justiz, die Parlamente und die Regierungen in den Dreck ziehen, man muss auf ihnen rumtrampeln, man muss sie fertig machen bis sie nicht mehr zappeln und dann muss man sie verhören. Und dann blossstellen. Und dann abwählen und ersetzen.
Das ist unser Job. Das müssen wir machen, die Last Journalists Standing, die unabhängigen Medien, der öffentliche Geheimdienst.
Machen wir diesen Job richtig.

08.12.2019 - 17:53 [ Consortium News ]

Moral Injury & America’s Endless Conflicts

PTSD symptoms are a psychological reaction to an experience of life-threatening physical danger or harm. Moral injury is the lasting mental and emotional result of an assault on the conscience — a memory, as one early formulation put it, of “perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations.”

The idea remains controversial in the military world, but the wars that Americans have fought since 2001 — involving a very different experience of war fighting from that of past generations — have made it increasingly difficult for military culture to cling to its old manhood and warrior myths.

02.12.2019 - 19:57 [ Radio Utopie ]

Eine absehbare Eskalation

(6. Juni 2017)

Es ist wahrscheinlich, dass spätestens im Zuge dieses so „überraschenden“ Umzuges der Bundeswehr über Europol der Datentausch deutscher Polizeidienststellen mit den Todesschwadronen des Joint Special Operations Command und deren in Jordanien basierter Operation „Gallant Phoenix“ beginnt, von der die Bundesregierung im Mai noch sagte, sie würde sie „prüfen“ bzw gar nichts sagte. Der Datentauschring würde in Deutschland alle Landeskriminalämter, das Bundeskriminalamt, und damit über weitere Datentauschpraktiken praktisch alle Polizeibehörden und Regierungsbehörden in Deutschland umfassen, natürlich auch den Bundesnachrichtendienst, und sich über die weiteren Hierarchien wie Europol und das Pentagon mindestens über den Einflussbereich von U.S.-Europakommando (bzw „Europäischer Union“) und U.S.-Zentralkommando erstrecken.

Bereits im Frühjahr 2016 hatte die U.S.-Regierung das deutsche Militär zum Vorsprechen bei der Merkel-Gabriel-Regierung geschickt, um dieser anzubieten die Bundeswehr an „einer kleinen militärischen Einheit“ zu beteiligen“, zur „Beobachtung ausländischer Dschihadisten“.

Im November 2016 hatte die U.S.-Regierung unter Barack Obama über die „Washington Post“ verkündet, die „Eliteeinheit“ J.S.O.C. agiere nun offiziell global und werde vom Schlaginstrument regionaler Militärkommandos gegen „hochrangige Ziele“ dahingehend aufgewertet eine

„eine neue multibehördliche Geheimdienst- und Handlungsstreitmacht zu führen“.

02.12.2019 - 19:42 [ CryingWolf57 / Youtube ]

Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now! – Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield [Both parts in one]

23/04/2013 & 24/04/2013 | http://dirtywars.org/ | Jeremy Scahill, author of the new book, „Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield,“ charts the expanding covert wars operated by the CIA and JSOC, the Joint Special Operations Command. The book is based on years of reporting on U.S. secret operations in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Obama administration‘s assassination of two U.S. citizens in 2011, Anwar al-Awlaki and his 16-year-old Denver-born son Abdulrahman, is a central part of Scahill‘s book. While the Obama administration has defended the killing of Anwar, it has never publicly explained why Abdulrahman was targeted in a separate drone strike two weeks later.

02.12.2019 - 19:30 [ El Pais ]

WAR IN SYRIA: Spain helping US identify European jihadists in Syria

(04.03.2019)

Spanish agents in Syria are cooperating with Operation Gallant Phoenix, a U.S.-led effort to identify fighters from Western nations who have joined Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda-affiliated groups in the region, counter-terrorism sources told EL PAÍS.

02.12.2019 - 19:27 [ Scoop.co.nz ]

NZ confirms ongoing part in Operation Gallant Phoenix

(10.06.2019)

“New Zealand began participating in Operation Gallant Phoenix in late 2014 in support of our efforts to uncover information relating to the location of a New Zealander taken hostage by ISIS,” Jacinda Ardern said.

02.12.2019 - 19:24 [ GIASP ‏/ Twitter ]

#Breaking #Israel is taking part in a multi-national #intelligence force: Operation Gallant Phoenix, based in the #Jordan capital, alongside Arab powers #SaudiArabia #Egypt and #UAE in order to quash #ISIS #Daesh working alongside #US #UK #France #Italy

(10.06.2019)

02.12.2019 - 19:17 [ Florian Flade ‏/ Twitter ]

Exklusiv: Operation „Gallant Phoenix“ – @BKA soll sich an Anti-Terror-Projekt in #Jordanien beteiligen. Es geht um Zugänge zu Informationen über IS-Terroristen, die in deutsche Strafverfahren verwendet werden sollen. Mehr @tagesschau #WDRNDRSZ #BKA

19.10.2019 - 11:06 [ Disappointed from NY ‏/ Twitter ]

This Retired Admiral William McRaven was the Head of SOCOM in Benghazi. He loves Hillary. Of course he doesn‘t like Trump. This wacko is a Warmonger just like Hillary is.

19.10.2019 - 10:25 [ Daily Mail ]

Pentagon DELETES files about Osama bin Laden raid after transferring them to CIA where they can‘t be made public

(08.07.2013)

– Military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden‘s hideout have been purged from Pentagon computers
– Associated Press requested information on the raid some 20 times in 2011 but requests were rejected
– A line in an inspector general‘s draft report states the files were purged from the defense department to another government department to prevent certain information about the raid being made public
– The sentence was removed from the final report released weeks ago

19.10.2019 - 10:00 [ Radio Utopie ]

Admiral William McRaven: der Letzte der Viererbande

(17.11.2013)

Auf dem U.S.-Luftwaffenstützpunkt McDill Air Force Base in Tampa in Florida residiert noch unangefochten der Herrscher über die grösste geheime internationale Schattenarmee – mächtiger als der U.S.-Präsident als Oberkommandierender der U.S.-Streitkräfte mitsamt seinem Verteidigungsminister – wo er seine Befugnisse unkontrollierbar immer weiter ausbaut.

19.10.2019 - 09:48 [ New York Times ]

The Admiral vs. the President

An Op-Ed by a retired admiral strongly criticizing President Trump brought a reader to tears, “when contrasted so starkly with the dishonor and hubris emanating from the White House.”

19.10.2019 - 09:44 [ ABC News ]

Former Navy SEAL commander William McRaven says US under attack from Trump

“The America that they believed in was under attack, not from without, but from within,” Adm. William H. McRaven, who led the U.S. Special Operations Command before retiring, wrote in the New York Times Thursday describing the mood at two functions he attended in the span of a week — one at an Army change of command ceremony and the other a gala honoring members of the intelligence and Special Operations communities.

Recalling a conversation he had while attending a ceremony at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, McRaven wrote, “one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, ‘I don’t like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!’”

21.06.2019 - 21:24 [ Maleshov ‏/ Twitter ]

USAF SOCOM C146 Wolfhound 11-3016 MAGMA11 over Persian Gulf now flight from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi

21.06.2019 - 08:12 [ Tulsi Gabbard, candidate for President / Twitter ]

.@realDonaldTrump Your Iran strategy has been ill-advised and short-sighted. Change course now. Return to the Iran nuclear agreement before it’s too late. Put aside your pride and political calculations for the good of our country. Do the right thing.

21.06.2019 - 06:03 [ New York Times ]

Trump Approves Strikes on Iran, but Then Abruptly Pulls Back

It was not clear whether Mr. Trump simply changed his mind on the strikes or whether the administration altered course because of logistics or strategy. It was also not clear whether the attacks might still go forward.

Asked about the plans for a strike and the decision to hold back, the White House declined to comment, as did Pentagon officials. No government officials asked The New York Times to withhold the article.

21.06.2019 - 05:57 [ Haaretz ]

Report: Trump Approved Military Strikes Against Iran but Pulled Back After Planes Were in Air

U.S. President Donald Trump approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation for downing of American global hawk drone but pulled back after planes were in the air and ships were in position, according to a report by the New York Times citing administration officials.

The report claimed the order to halt attacks on Iranian radar and missile batteries came after intense debate at the White House among top security officials and congressional leaders.

21.06.2019 - 05:44 [ New York Times ]

Want War With Iran? Ask Congress First

From the U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898 to the U.S.S. Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964, maritime incidents, shrouded in the fog of uncertainty, have lured the United States into wars on foreign shoals. Which is why cooler heads must prevail — and Congress must be consulted — as American and Iranian forces inch closer to open conflict in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

21.06.2019 - 05:34 [ taskandpurpose.com ]

‚We are there to deter aggression‘ — Pompeo addressed CENTCOM on Iran mere moments before Shanahan announced his departure

(19.06.2019)

Pompeo, who arrived in Tampa on Monday, met with Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. and Army Gen. Richard Clarke, commanders of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command respectively, to align the Government‘s efforts in the Middle East, according to Central Command.

The meeting focused on deterrence plans against Iran after U.S. officials blamed the country for two recent oil tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman.

07.06.2019 - 17:45 [ Matthias Monroy ]

Biometric data exchange with the US military: Europol seconds liaison officer for Operation Gallant Phoenix

(21.04.2017)

According to an EU Council document, the EU police agency Europol intends to process fingerprints and DNA traces in The Hague that are processed by the US military in war zones. This data is being exchanged in the context of Operation Gallant Phoenix, which is an intelligence project spearheaded by the US military that according to media reports, is based in Jordan. US intelligence services are also involved in this undertaking. Operation Gallant Phoenix is being coordinated by the United States Joint Special Operations Command, which commands the special units of all branches of the US military.

Alongside Operation Gallant Phoenix, the US Government has offered to set up a database on “foreign fighters” for a number of EU member states and to compare this information with the biometric data of incoming refugees.

07.06.2019 - 17:37 [ Tagessschau.de ]

Ausländerzentralregister: Ein Datenmoloch außer Kontrolle?

Eine einzige Kennziffer soll dabei sicherstellen, dass alle Daten sofort verfügbar sind – was der Rechtsprechung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts widerspricht. Im Ergebnis würden sogar Geheimdienste mit einem Klick Zugriff auf medizinische Atteste und Schulabschlüsse bekommen – selbst von Kindern, die zukünftig auch schon mit Fingerabdrücken erkennungsdienstlich erfasst werden sollen.

07.06.2019 - 17:30 [ Bericht aus Berlin / Twitter ]

„Man muss Gesetze kompliziert machen.“ Bundesinnenminister @der_Seehofer erklärt, wie man bei Gesetzen Widerspruch umgeht. Im Bundestag wird morgen mit dem #Migrationspaket auch über sein Datenaustauschgesetz abgestimmt. #KongressWehrhafteDemokratie

(06.06.2019)

22.02.2019 - 10:27 [ Devex.com ]

USAID mulls proposal to train aid workers as special forces

(19.2.2019) In order to gauge potential interest in the idea of RED Teams, the study’s authors consulted with representatives from a variety of military and civilian agencies where development officers might be embedded — including the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group, also known as SEAL Team Six.

RED Team officers, the report explains, would carry out development activities, but they would also have training and expertise that are not typically included in USAID job requirements.

06.01.2019 - 13:29 [ Andrej Hunko, Mitglied des Bundestages / Twitter ]

Jetzt bestätigt: Die EU-Polizeiagentur @Europol bereitet die Anschaffung von Trojanern vor! Wir vermuten wieder Zusammenarbeit mit dem @BKA. Deshalb unsere Kleine Anfrage zu neuen Fähigkeiten zur Entschlüsselung bei #Europol:

(2.1.2019)

06.01.2019 - 13:13 [ Heise.de ]

Europas größte Polizeidatenbank wird ausgeweitet

(2.1.2019) Seit drei Jahren können SIS-Ausschreibungen zur „unverzüglichen Meldung“ genutzt werden. Die interessierte Behörde muss der Fahndung einen Hinweis anhängen und wird dann auf dem schnellsten Weg über einen Treffer unterrichtet. Eine Ausschreibung zur „gezielten Kontrolle“ kann außerdem als „Aktivität mit Terrorismusbezug“ gekennzeichnet werden. Damit werden etwa Polizeikräfte vor Gefahren bei einer Durchsuchung der Person oder ihres Fahrzeugs gewarnt.

Nicht alle Länder, die am SIS teilnehmen, erlauben „gezielte Kontrollen“, etwa wenn diese von Geheimdiensten angefordert werden.

06.01.2019 - 13:09 [ Andrej Hunko, Mitglied des Bundestages / Twitter ]

Der BND nimmt in Syrien an einem Datentauschring der NSA teil, auch Europol macht dabei mit. Darüber kann auch das BKA entsprechende Informationen erhalten. Dies würde jedoch das deutsche Trennungsgebot verletzen. Meine PM dazu: #GallantPhoenix

(12.2.2018)

06.01.2019 - 12:57 [ New York Times ]

Fight Against Last Vestige of ISIS in Syria Stalls, to Dismay of U.S.

(6.11.2018) In Jordan, state intelligence officials said they had worked closely with the C.I.A. to thwart more than a dozen terrorist plots in the past several months in the Middle East and Europe.

A classified American military program in Jordan, called Operation Gallant Phoenix, is scooping up data collected in commando raids in Syria and Iraq and funneling it to law enforcement agencies in Europe and Southeast Asia, according to United States military and intelligence officials who described details of the initiative on condition of anonymity because of its secretive nature.

06.01.2019 - 12:54 [ Olivier Guitta ‏/ Twitter ]

A classified #US military program in #Jordan, called Operation Gallant Phoenix, is scooping up data collected in commando raids in #Syria and #Iraq and funneling it to law enforcement agencies in #Europe and Southeast #Asia.

(8.11.2018)

04.01.2019 - 11:03 [ legalinsurrection.com ]

Israel Helped 30 Countries Foil Terror Attacks in 2017, Says Economy Minister

(28.2.2018) Israeli military’s intelligence branch, known as “Unit 8200,” told the Australian authorities about a hidden explosive device destined for an Etihad Airways flight leaving Sydney for Abu Dhabi last July.

Earlier this month, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Israel’s role in helping Germany and European countries in combating Islamist terror. It revealed that Israel is part of a covert multinational counter-terrorism operation named “Gallant Phoenix” that gathers intelligence on Islamic State war criminals returning from the Middle East to Europe.

04.01.2019 - 10:46 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Israel working with Germany to combat ISIS terrorism in Europe

(5.2.2018) Israel is part of a secret counter- terrorism coalition that gathers intelligence on Islamic State combatants returning from the Syrian war to Europe, according to a Sunday report in Der Spiegel magazine.

The intelligence collection and anti-terror campaign is named “Gallant Phoenix” and includes a total of 21 states. Germany, the US and Jordan are part of the coalition that is based in Jordan at the US Joint Special Operations Command.

02.01.2019 - 17:50 [ CDU/CSU ‏/ Twitter ]

Was passiert nach dem angekündigten Abzug der US-Truppen aus #Syrien? @RKiesewetter plädiert im Interview mit @DLFNachrichten für die Errichtung einer Pufferzone unter @UN-Mandat. #Europa müsse im UN-Sicherheitsrat mit einer lauteren Stimme sprechen.

02.01.2019 - 17:12 [ Zeit.de ]

BND an US-geführter Operation gegen den IS beteiligt

(3.2.2018) Insgesamt sollen 22 Länder an der Operation beteiligt sein. Sie wird dem Bericht zufolge vom US-amerikanischen Joint Special Operations Command von einer Militärbasis in Jordanien aus gesteuert. Aufgabe der Mission ist unter anderem die Auswertung von Dokumenten, Datenträgern, DNA-Spuren und Fingerabdrücken, die Spezialkräfte in ehemaligen IS-Gebieten sichergestellt haben.

Der BND und die Bundeswehr wollten laut Spiegel schon länger, dass sich Deutschland an diesem Informationsaustausch beteiligt.

02.01.2019 - 17:06 [ Heise.de ]

Datentausch mit dem US-Militär: BND lehnt ab, Europol springt ein

(18.4.2017) Laut einem Ratsdokument der Europäischen Union will die EU-Polizeiagentur Europol in Den Haag Fingerabdrücke und DNA-Spuren verarbeiten, die das US-Militärs in Kriegsgebieten sammelt. Der Datentausch erfolgt im Rahmen der Operation „Gallant Phoenix“. Dabei handelt es sich um ein Aufklärungsprojekt des US-Militärs, das in Jordanien angesiedelt ist. Auch US-Geheimdienste nehmen daran teil. „Gallant Phoenix“ steht unter Leitung des Joint Special Operations Command, das die Spezialeinheiten aller Teilstreitkräfte befehligt.

02.01.2019 - 17:03 [ ForeignPolicy.com ]

The Pentagon Ups the Ante in Syria Fight

(30. März 2015) Also in Jordan is a U.S.-led multinational effort named Operation Gallant Phoenix, aimed at tracking the foreign fighter flow into Iraq and Syria. Begun as an initiative under Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which controls the military’s most elite special operations units, and JSOC’s higher administrative headquarters, U.S. Special Operations Command, it has expanded to include participation by U.S. Central Command and U.S. European Command, said the senior special operations officer. Although sometimes referred to as the “foreign fighter task force,” Gallant Phoenix doesn’t have troops of its own to send out on raids or direct assaults and instead passes on the information it receives to allied countries.

02.01.2019 - 16:31 [ Nick Turse, TomDispatch / Truthout.org ]

America’s Black-Ops Blackout: Unraveling the Secrets of the Military’s Secret Military

(7. Januar 2014) As Special Operations Command chief Admiral William McRaven put it in SOCOM 2020, his blueprint for the future, it has ambitious aspirations to create “a Global SOF network of like-minded interagency allies and partners.” In other words, in that future now only six years off, it wants to be everywhere.

(…)

While Congressional pushback has thus far thwarted Admiral McRaven’s efforts to create a SOCOM satellite headquarters for the more than 300 special operators working in Washington, D.C. (at the cost of $10 million annually), the command has nonetheless stationed support teams and liaisons all over the capital in a bid to embed itself ever more deeply inside the Beltway. “I have folks in every agency here in Washington, D.C. — from the CIA, to the FBI, to the National Security Agency, to the National Geospatial Agency, to the Defense Intelligence Agency,” McRaven said during a panel discussion at Washington’s Wilson Center in 2013. Referring to the acronyms of the many agencies with which SOCOM has forged ties, McRaven continued: “If there are three letters, and in some cases four, I have a person there.“

02.01.2019 - 16:12 [ theAtlantic.com ]

Obama Gives Commanders Wide Berth for Secret Warfare

(25. Mai 2010) Gen. Stanley McChrystal, at the time the director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised President Obama to allow combatant commanders more latitude to combat terrorism using task forces. Coming from McChrystal, it was a surprising endorsement of a policy that would shift responsibility for unconventional warfare from JSOC, which he had commanded, to the combatant commanders.

02.01.2019 - 15:58 [ New York Times ]

U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast

(24. Mai 2010) The order, which an official said was drafted in close coordination with Adm. Eric T. Olson, the officer in charge of the United States Special Operations Command, calls for clandestine activities that “cannot or will not be accomplished” by conventional military operations or “interagency activities,” a reference to American spy agencies.

While the C.I.A. and the Pentagon have often been at odds over expansion of clandestine military activity, most recently over intelligence gathering by Pentagon contractors in Pakistan and Afghanistan, there does not appear to have been a significant dispute over the September order.

A spokesman for the C.I.A. declined to confirm the existence of General Petraeus’s order, but said that the spy agency and the Pentagon had a “close relationship” and generally coordinate operations in the field.

02.01.2019 - 15:46 [ theAtlantic.com ]

The Special Ops Command That‘s Displacing The CIA

(1. Dezember 2009) The military at large has also felt the growing influence of JSOC. Indeed, General Stanley McChrystal, now the top military commander in Afghanistan, led JSOC from 2003 to 2008. McChrystal‘s extensive special operations in Iraq, credited as crucial in the country‘s stabilization, earned both him and JSOC wide support in the military and in Washington. In his high-powered role in Afghanistan, McChrystal is increasingly turning to his old command. Spencer Ackerman reports that JSOC‘s current leadership is „playing a large and previously unreported role in shaping the Obama administration‘s Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy.“ That new influence includes strategic decision-making and direct involvement in the more traditional warfare conducted by the conventional military. Ackerman writes:

„In his Afghanistan review, McChrystal said that a key goal for him would be to increase coordination between his NATO command and the independent command of JSOC, which suggested that the dichotomy between using Special Operations Forces for counterterrorism and conventional forces for counterinsurgency was eroding.“

02.01.2019 - 15:44 [ Seymour Hersh / New Yorker ]

Defending the Arsenal: In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe?

(16. November 2009) An American former senior intelligence official said that a team that has trained for years to remove or dismantle parts of the Pakistani arsenal has now been augmented by a unit of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the élite counterterrorism group. He added that the unit, which had earlier focussed on the warheads’ cores, has begun to concentrate on evacuating the triggers, which have no radioactive material and are thus much easier to handle.

“The Pakistanis gave us a virtual look at the number of warheads, some of their locations, and their command-and-control system,” the former senior intelligence official told me. “We saw their target list and their mobilization plans. We got their security plans, so we could augment them in case of a breach of security,” he said. “We’re there to help the Pakistanis, but we’re also there to extend our own axis of security to their nuclear stockpile.” The detailed American planning even includes an estimate of how many nuclear triggers could be placed inside a C-17 cargo plane, the former official said, and where the triggers could be sequestered.

02.01.2019 - 15:23 [ Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America / Twitter ]

“General” McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover!

02.01.2019 - 15:17 [ FOCUS Online TopNews ‏/ Twitter ]

US-Politik im News-Ticker – „Totale Pleite“: Trump schießt auf Twitter gegen Vier-Sterne-General

(heute)

02.01.2019 - 15:02 [ Jeremy Scahill / theNation.com ]

The Secret US War in Pakistan

(23. November 2009) “I think Cheney and Rumsfeld went directly into JSOC. I think they went into JSOC at times, perhaps most frequently, without the SOCOM [Special Operations] commander at the time even knowing it. The receptivity in JSOC was quite good,” says Wilkerson. “I think Cheney was actually giving McChrystal instructions, and McChrystal was asking him for instructions.” He said the relationship between JSOC and Cheney and Rumsfeld “built up initially because Rumsfeld didn’t get the responsiveness. He didn’t get the can-do kind of attitude out of the SOCOM commander, and so as Rumsfeld was wont to do, he cut him out and went straight to the horse’s mouth. At that point you had JSOC operating as an extension of the [administration] doing things the executive branch–read: Cheney and Rumsfeld–wanted it to do. This would be more or less carte blanche. You need to do it, do it. It was very alarming for me as a conventional soldier.”

02.01.2019 - 14:02 [ Democracy Now ]

Seymour Hersh: Secret US Forces Carried Out Assassinations in a Dozen Countries, Including in Latin America

(31. März 2009) AMY GOODMAN: Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh created a stir last month when he said the Bush administration ran an executive assassination ring that reported directly to Vice President Dick Cheney. Hersh made the comment during a speech at the University of Minnesota on March 10th.

SEYMOUR HERSH: Congress has no oversight of it. It’s an executive assassination wing, essentially. And it’s been going on and on and on. And just today in the Times there was a story saying that its leader, a three-star admiral named McRaven, ordered a stop to certain activities because there were so many collateral deaths. It’s been going in — under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or to the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving.

AMY GOODMAN: Yesterday, CNN interviewed Dick Cheney’s former national security adviser, John Hannah. Wolf Blitzer asked Hannah about Sy Hersh’s claim.

WOLF BLITZER: Is there a list of terrorists, suspected terrorists out there who can be assassinated?

JOHN HANNAH: There is clearly a group of people that go through a very extremely well-vetted process, inter-agency process, as I think was explained in your piece, that have committed acts of war against the United States, who are at war with the United States, or are suspected of planning operations of war against the United States, who authority is given to the troops in the field and in certain war theaters to capture or kill those individuals. That is certainly true.

WOLF BLITZER: And so, this would be, and from your perspective — and you worked in the Bush administration for many years — it would be totally constitutional, totally legal, to go out and find these guys and to whack ’em.

JOHN HANNAH: There’s no question that in a theater of war, when we are at war, and we know — there’s no doubt, we are still at war against al-Qaeda in Iraq, al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and on that Pakistani border, that our troops have the authority to go after and capture and kill the enemy, including the leadership of the enemy.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s John Hannah, Dick Cheney’s former national security adviser. Seymour Hersh joins me now here in Washington, D.C., staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. His latest article appears in the current issue, called “Syria Calling: The Obama Administration’s Chance to Engage in a Middle East Peace.”

……….

02.01.2019 - 13:58 [ CNN ]

Reporter alleges secret ‚assassination wing‘

(30. März 2009) A Special Operations Command spokesman rejected Hersh‘s report, saying their forces operate under established rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict. He adds that the vice president has no command-and-control authorities over the U.S. military. Two former Cheney aides also reject the claim, as does the former Bush homeland security adviser, now a national security analyst. Hersh did not disclose any sources in the speech or in the CNN interview, nor was he asked about sources.

The assassination of political leaders has been banned since 1976 – but suspected terrorists are a different story.

02.01.2019 - 13:39 [ minnpost.com ]

Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh describes ‘executive assassination ring’

(11. März 2009) “In many cases, they were the best and the brightest. Really, no exaggerations. Really fine guys that went in to do the kind of necessary jobs that they think you need to do to protect America. And then they find themselves torturing people.

“I’ve had people say to me — five years ago, I had one say: ‘What do you call it when you interrogate somebody and you leave them bleeding and they don’t get any medical committee and two days later he dies. Is that murder? What happens if I get before a committee?’

“But they’re not gonna get before a committee.”

02.01.2019 - 13:33 [ New York Times ]

U.S. Halted Some Raids in Afghanistan

(9. März 2009) According to senior military officials, the stand-down was ordered by Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, the head of the military’s Joint Special Operations Command, which oversees the secret commando units.

The rising civilian death toll in Afghanistan has soured relations between American commanders and the Afghan government led by President Hamid Karzai, who has vocally criticized the raids.

The stand-down began in mid-February, and the raids have since resumed. It is unclear, though, whether the Special Operations missions are being carried out with the same frequency as before the halt.

02.01.2019 - 13:20 [ Jake Tapper, CNN Anchor / Twitter ]

Retired four-star Admiral William McRaven, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014 (which included the OBL mission), just issued the following statement to CNN in response to POTUS attacking GEN McChrystal on twitter:

02.01.2019 - 13:08 [ CNN ]

Ret. admiral defends McChrystal on Trump claim

Ret. Admiral William McRaven came to the defense of Ret. General Stanley McChrystal after President Trump took shots at the general on Twitter following the comments McChrystal made on Trump during an ABC interview.

02.01.2019 - 12:47 [ BILD Politik / Twitter ]

„großes und dämliches Maul“ – Trump wettert gegen Vier-Sterne-General

(heute)

02.01.2019 - 12:43 [ Radio Utopie ]

Die Hersh-Bombe

(3.Juli 2008) Nun ist aber innerhalb des US-Militärs und in den Fluren von Washington bekannt geworden, dass ausser den CIA-geführten Einheiten auch hochgeheime Spezialkommandos des US-Militärs vom „Joint Special Operations Command“ (JSOC) auf direkten Befehl von Präsident Bush und unter direkter Kontrolle von US-Vize Dick Cheney im Iran operieren.

Diese Einsätze wurden in den letzten Monaten massiv ausgeweitet und erfolgten ohne Wissen, Zustimmung oder Kooperation von Kongress, US-Zentralkommando CENTCOM und sogar US-Verteidigungsminister Robert Gates.

Hintergrund ist die Rechtsauffassung des Weissen Hauses, dass nur für Einsätze der CIA das Parlament hinzugezogen werden muss, nicht aber für Einsätze des Militärs.

Erläuterung:

Dazu muss man die Struktur des US-Militärs kennen. Die Befehlskette geht vom Präsidenten, dem Vizepräsidenten, dem US-Verteidigungsminister im Pentagon über die Kontinentalkommandos zu den Oberkommandierenden in den einzelnen Ländern, wie z.B. in Irak oder Afghanistan.
Der „Joint Chiefs of Staff“, der „Vereinigte Generalstab“ hat operativ nichts zu melden.

Die US-Kontinentalkommandos haben sich quasi als „Verantwortungsbereiche“ den Planeten aufgeteilt. NORTHCOM für Nordamerika, SOUTHCOM für Südamerika, CENTCOM für den arabischen Raum mit den Kriegszonen Afghanistan und Irak, EUCOM für Europa, Russland und Nordpolregion und das neue AFRICOM für Afrika und PACOM für China, Indien, die Antarktis und den gesamten Pazifik.
Neben den Kontinentalkommandos gibt es aber noch andere, weltweit tätige Kommandoabteilungen des Pentagon, für strategische (also atomare) Kriegführung sowie aus dem Weltraum (STRATCOM), für Transport (TRANSCOM) und Versorgung (JFCOM).

Diese sind den Kontinentalkommandos gleichgestellt.

Ausserdem gibt es da noch das „U.S. Special Operations Command“ (SOCOM), dessen Einsatzgebiet nicht definiert ist und weltweit operiert. Ein klassischer Fall von oben organisierter Kompetenzüberschneidung im US-Militär um Rudelkämpfe hochzuhalten, Spannungen zu erzeugen und um Konkurrenzdruck zu erzeugen, was dann von der Hierarchie zu eigenen Zwecken umgemünzt werden kann.

Ein Unterkommando des SOCOM ist das „Joint Special Operations Command“ (JSOC), welches die Spezialeinheiten des Weissen Hauses führte um die es hier geht.
Bereits 2005 gab es Berichte über ein geheimes Unterprogramm im JSOC namens „Power Geyser“. Darin sollen Spezialagenten in unmittelbarer Umgebung des US-Präsidenten, des Vizepräsidenten und der Führungsebene des Kongresses zu derem Schutz eingesetzt worden sein.
Also Agenten in unmittelbarer Nähe und in unmittelbarer Kommunikation mit den mächtigsten offiziellen Amtspersonen der Welt. Eine ideale Voraussetzung um später mit diesen Agenten die Militärhierarchie zu umgehen.

02.01.2019 - 12:37 [ Seymour Hersh / New Yorker ]

Preparing the Battlefield

(Juli 2008) The covert operations set forth in the Finding essentially run parallel to those of a secret military task force, now operating in Iran, that is under the control of JSOC. Under the Bush Administration’s interpretation of the law, clandestine military activities, unlike covert C.I.A. operations, do not need to be depicted in a Finding, because the President has a constitutional right to command combat forces in the field without congressional interference. But the borders between operations are not always clear: in Iran, C.I.A. agents and regional assets have the language skills and the local knowledge to make contacts for the JSOC operatives, and have been working with them to direct personnel, matériel, and money into Iran from an obscure base in western Afghanistan. As a result, Congress has been given only a partial view of how the money it authorized may be used. One of JSOC’s task-force missions, the pursuit of “high-value targets,” was not directly addressed in the Finding. There is a growing realization among some legislators that the Bush Administration, in recent years, has conflated what is an intelligence operation and what is a military one in order to avoid fully informing Congress about what it is doing.

02.01.2019 - 12:24 [ New York Times ]

Commandos See Duty on U.S. Soil In Role Redefined by Terror Fight

(23. Januar 2005) As part of the extraordinary army of 13,000 troops, police officers and federal agents marshaled to secure the inauguration, these elite forces were poised to act under a 1997 program that was updated and enhanced after the Sept. 11 attacks, but nonetheless departs from how the military has historically been used on American soil.

These commandos, operating under a secret counterterrorism program code-named Power Geyser, were mentioned publicly for the first time this week on a Web site for a new book, „Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs and Operation in the 9/11 World,“ (Steerforth Press). The book was written by William M. Arkin, a former intelligence analyst for the Army.

The precise number of these Special Operations forces in Washington this week is highly classified, but military officials say the number is very small. The special-missions units belong to the Joint Special Operations Command, a secretive command based at Fort Bragg, N.C., whose elements include the Army unit Delta Force.

02.01.2019 - 11:23 [ CNN ]

Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal hits Trump as immoral, dishonest

(30.12.2018) Retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal on Sunday criticized President Donald Trump for his approach to the presidency in a wide-ranging interview that saw the former top commander of the US and international forces in Afghanistan label Trump as dishonest and immoral.
„I don‘t think he tells the truth,“ McChrystal told ABC‘s Martha Raddatz on „This Week.“ When asked if he thought Trump was immoral, McChrystal responded: „I think he is.“