alqaeda CENQUAL al-CIAduh al-CIA-duh al Qaeda http://www.google.com/search?q=seymour+hersh+qaeda http://www.google.com/search?q=rashid+khalidi+qaeda+cia
--- In cia-drugs@yahoogroups.com, "muckblit" <muckb...@...> wrote: > > alqaeda al-CIAduh al-CIA-duh al Qaeda CENQUAL > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR201003\ \ > 1805464.html > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR201003\ \ > 1805464_pf.html > > Dismantling of Saudi-CIA Web site illustrates need for clearer cyberwar > policies > > By Ellen Nakashima > Washington Post Staff Writer > Friday, March 19, 2010; A01 > > > > > By early 2008, top U.S. military officials had become convinced that > extremists planning attacks on American forces in Iraq were making use > of a Web site set up by the Saudi government and the CIA to uncover > terrorist plots in the kingdom. > > "We knew we were going to be forced to shut this thing down," recalled > one former civilian official, describing tense internal discussions in > which military commanders argued that the site was putting Americans at > risk. "CIA resented that," the former official said. > > Elite U.S. military computer specialists, over the objections of the > CIA, mounted a cyberattack that dismantled the online forum. Although > some Saudi officials had been informed in advance about the Pentagon's > plan, several key princes were "absolutely furious" at the loss of an > intelligence-gathering tool, according to another former U.S. official. > > Four former senior U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of > anonymity to discuss classified operations, said the creation and > shutting down of the site illustrate the need for clearer policies > governing cyberwar. The use of computers to gather intelligence or to > disrupt the enemy presents complex questions: When is a cyberattack > outside the theater of war allowed? Is taking out an extremist Web site > a covert operation or a traditional military activity? Should Congress > be informed? > > "The point of the story is it hasn't been sorted out yet in a way that > all the persons involved in cyber-operations have a clear understanding > of doctrine, legal authorities and policy, and a clear understanding of > the distinction between what is considered intelligence activity and > wartime [Defense Department] authority," said one former senior national > security official. > > CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf said, "It's sheer lunacy to suggest that any > part of our government would do anything to facilitate the movement of > foreign fighters to Iraq." > > The Pentagon, the Justice Department > <http://www.whorunsgov.com/Departments/DOJ_Organizational_Chart> and the > National Security Agency, whose director oversaw the operation to take > down the site, declined to comment for this story, as did officials at > the Saudi Embassy in Washington. > Precedent before policy > > The absence of clear guidelines for cyberwarfare is not new. The George > W. Bush <http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/George_W._Bush> > administration was compelled in its final years to refine doctrine as > it executed operations. "Cyber was moving so fast that we were always > in danger of building up precedent before we built up policy," said > former CIA director Michael V. Hayden, without confirming or denying > the existence of the site or its dismantling. > > Lawyers at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel > <http://www.whorunsgov.com/Departments/Justice/AG/DAG/AAG/OLC> are > struggling to define the legal rules of the road for cyberwarriors, > according to current and former officials. > > The Saudi-CIA Web site was set up several years ago as a "honey pot," an > online forum covertly monitored by intelligence agencies to identify > attackers and gain information, according to three of the former > officials. The site was a boon to Saudi intelligence operatives, who > were able to round up some extremists before they could strike, the > former officials said. > > At the time, however, dozens of Saudi jihadists were entering Iraq each > month to carry out attacks. U.S. military officials grew concerned that > the site "was being used to pass operational information" among > extremists, one former official said. The threat was so serious, former > officials said, that Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander > in Iraq, requested that the site be shut down. > > The operation was debated by a task force on cyber-operations made up of > representatives from the Defense and Justice departments, the CIA, the > Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the National > Security Council > <http://www.whorunsgov.com/Departments/White_House/COS/NSC> . Lt. Gen. > Keith B. Alexander, who directs the National Security Agency, made a > presentation. > > The CIA argued that dismantling the site would lead to a significant > loss of intelligence. The NSA countered that taking it down was a > legitimate operation in defense of U.S. troops. Although one Pentagon > official asserted that the military did not have the authority to > conduct such operations, the top military commanders made a persuasive > case that extremists were using the site to plan attacks. > > The task force debated whether to go forward and, if so, under what > authority. If the operation was deemed a traditional military activity, > no congressional committee needed to be briefed. If it was a covert > action, members of the intelligence committees would have to be > notified. > > The task force weighed possible collateral damage, such as disruption of > other computer networks, against the risk of taking no action. Most > thought that the damage would be limited but that the gain would be > substantial. > > "The CIA didn't endorse the idea of crippling Web sites," said a U.S. > counterterrorism official. The agency "understood that intelligence > would be lost, and it was; that relationships with cooperating > intelligence services would be damaged, and they were; and that the > terrorists would migrate to other sites, and they did." > > Moreover, the official said, "the site wasn't a pipeline for foreign > fighters, it was a broad forum for extremists." > > But the concerns of U.S. Central Command and other defense officials > prevailed. "Once DoD went to the extent of saying, 'Soldiers are dying,' > because that's ultimately what the command in Iraq, what Centcom did, > it's hard for anyone to push back," one former official said. > > The matter appeared settled, ex-officials said. The military would > dismantle the site, eliminating the need to inform Congress. > > A group of cyber-operators at the Pentagon's Joint Functional Component > Command-Network Warfare at Fort Meade seemed ideally suited to the task. > The unit carries out operations under a program called Countering > Adversary Use of the Internet, established to blunt Islamist militants' > use of online forums and chat groups to recruit and mobilize members and > to spread their beliefs. > > "We were very clear in the meetings" that the goal was to upend the > site, one participant said. "The only thing that caught us by surprise > was the effect." > Unintended outcomes > > A central challenge of cyberwarfare is that an attacker can never be > sure that an action will affect only the intended target. The > dismantling of the CIA-Saudi site inadvertently disrupted more than 300 > servers in Saudi Arabia, Germany and Texas, a former official said. "In > order to take down a Web site that is up in Country X, because the > cyber-world knows no boundaries, you may end up taking out a server that > is located in Country Y," the task force participant explained. > > After the operation, Saudi officials vented their frustration about the > loss of intelligence to the CIA. Agency officials said the U.S. military > had upset an ally and acted outside its authority in conducting a > covert operation, former officials said. > > Efforts were made to mollify the Saudis and the Germans, they said. > "There was a lot of bowing and scraping," one official said. > > One early advocate for using cyber-operations against extremists was > Gen. John P. Abizaid, former Central Command chief. He told a Senate > committee in 2006, "We must recognize that failing to contest these > virtual safe havens entails significant risk to our nation's security > and the security of our troops in the field." > > But some experts counter that dismantling Web sites is ineffective -- no > sooner does a site come down than a mirror site pops up somewhere else. > Because extremist groups store backup copies of forum information in > servers around the world, "you can't really shut down this process for > more than 24 or 48 hours," said Evan F. Kohlmann, a terrorism researcher > and a consultant to the Nine/Eleven Finding Answers Foundation. > > "It seems difficult to understand," he added, "why governments would > interrupt what everyone acknowledges now to be a lucrative > intelligence-gathering tool." > > Staff writers Dana Priest and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report. >
