RUSSIA 🇷🇺 Thread: Wikileaks=FSB front, UKRAINE?, SNOWED LIED; NATO Aggression; Trump = Putins B!tch
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James O'Brien's Devastating Attack On 'Corrupt' Russia
18 October 2016, 14:05
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This is James O'Brien's devastating attack on Russia, calling it a "filthy, degenerate, corrupt kleptocracy".
Speaking on his LBC show, James said: "Pay attention because a lot of people are wondering why we're not talking about the Russia Today story and the fact that NatWest Bank yesterday, which is government-owned of course, acted to close Russia Today's accounts.
"I don't want to hear it. I want to hear any nonsense about freedom of speech.
"If I was delivering a message to Vladimir Putin, I'd say very simply if you want to operate a television station in our country, stop killing journalists in your own country and stop sending spies here to kill men like Andrei Litvinenko.
"The idea that we're going to get a lecture from the Russians on anything frankly, except how to run a completely corrupt kleptocracy is about as absurd as anything I've heard in the last six months and don't forget this is 2016, the most absurd year in the history of humanity.
"The idea that British people today go, 'Oh, freedom of speech, Russia Today is being closed down'. They send goons to our country to kill people with polonium. And they kill journalists in their own country. And they kill political opponents. And they put men like Sergei Magnitsky on trial after he's dead, so corrupt and bankrupt is that country.
"They want to open up a propaganda channel here and they put their money in a bank that's owned by our government, I think our government should have shut down that account years ago.
"The notion frankly that they have some sort of right to preach lies and pump out propaganda nonsense to British viewers is absolutely absurd. Freedom of speech does not involve freedom to tell bare-faced lies, freedom to support a murderous regime like Vladimir Putin's.
"So don't fall into this trap. Even a mate of mine on Facebook yesterday was banging on about it. I said I'll tell you what I'll do about it, I'll introduce you to the widow of Andrei Litvinenko, I'll introduce you to Marina Litvinenko, who I've had the privilege of meeting on a couple of occasions and you can explain to her why we get a very misrepresented picture of Russia in this country and you get a much better idea of what Russia is really like by reading undiluted horse sugar on the internet than you do from actually living there.
"Man alive, if you had to pick one issue that proves how mad we've allowed ourselves to become, it would be the notion that Russia is anything other than a filthy, degenerate, corrupt kleptocracy.
"Stick that in your Russia Today tweets and smoke it."
Can't wait till this unknown c*nt gets a bullet in his head.
You too, OP.
Russia making sure America fall back Trump was right they got outsmarted in Syria and I wonder what is plan B because Assad not losing now. Iran China Russia lol good luck to those crooked ass elites.
What we know for sure about Snowden's work at CIA, Dell and Booz Allen Hamilt...
What we know for sure about Snowden's work at CIA, Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton (and thus NSA)
Very much of Snowden's career at CIA, Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton (under the latter two he had access to the NSA) are still a mystery in big parts. This is because very little official statements are made by his former employers, very little documents about his jobs are released, and on the other side we should not simply rely on claims verified only by Snowden himself.
From the very beginning of the Snowden saga, there was always a dispute between the NSA (or the U.S. government), who said Snowden was only a low-level IT technician with no insight into NSA's SIGINT apparatus, and Snowden and his supporters, who maintained he was a senior-level spy who clearly understood the documents he copied and released to journalists. With this post, I will try to recap the facts we know for sure so far (or for which there is at least good evidence), and then deduce some conclusions.
Snowden's time at CIA
Snowden apparently worked at CIA from 2006 to 2009. Little is known about his job duties you can really rely on. The unclassified HPSCI report[1] described him as an entry-level technician:
'He claimed to have worked for the CIA as a "senior advisor," which was a gross exaggeration of his entry-level duties as a computer technician.'
This statement was challenged by Barton Gellman, who answered[2]:
'Judge for yourself. Here are the three main roles Snowden played at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (1) His entry level position, as a contractor, was system administrator (one among several) of the agency’s Washington metropolitan area network. (2) After that he was selected for and spent six months in training as a telecommunications information security officer, responsible for all classified technology in U.S. embassies overseas. The CIA deployed him to Geneva under diplomatic cover, complete with an alias identity and a badge describing him as a State Department attache. (3) In his third CIA job, the title on his Dell business card was “solutions consultant / cyber referent” for the intelligence community writ large—the company’s principal point of contact for cyber contracts and proposals. In that role, Snowden met regularly with the chiefs and deputy chiefs of the CIA’s technical branches to talk through their cutting edge computer needs.'
However, Gellman didn't prove his claims with references. It is unclear if he has these informations because Snowden simply told him, or because Snowden could prove it to him with documents. I personally am skeptical about Gellman's claims, because in the same post he said:
'Well, no. He tried to fly to Ecuador, and the U.S. government trapped him in the Moscow transit lounge by revoking his passport.'
And this is simply no more than just a repetition of a Snowden claim, which in the meantime is proven wrong: The U.S. government revoked Snowden's passport while he still was in Hong Kong[3].
So the bottom line is, we know very little about Snowden's time at CIA. I expect that after the release of the unclassified HPSCI report, a lot of FOIA requests were filed, so maybe we will hear some reliable facts in the near future.
Snowden's time at Dell
It is not entirely clear when in 2009 Snowden left the CIA, and when he joined Dell. Maybe there is a gap, maybe not. So it is not clear whether Snowden had this hacking training and certification[4] while he was at CIA, Dell or in the time between, and if when it was while employed by CIA or Dell, whether he attended for business or privately. But at least it shows that Snowden was interested in hacking, and that at least he had some good basic knowledge (I will neither under- nor over-evaluate these kind of certifications). And it is unclear whether he needed this knowledge for his job or whether it was just his personal interest.
Apparently, Snowden worked for Dell in Tokyo, Maryland and Hawaii. Regarding the first two, very little is known, because Dell -- to my knowledge -- so far refused to comment at all. Regarding Hawaii, there are some facts:
The unclassified HPSCI report says[1]:
'For example, in June 2012, Snowden became involved in a fiery e-mail argument with a Supervisor about how computer updates should be managed.'
This statement was neither challenged by Gellman nor Snowden himself. It is no proof, but a clear indication that Snowden worked as a Microsoft Windows administrator. This is further affirmed by the fact that Gellman stressed that Snowden held a MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) certification.
Further there are FOIA documents about Snowden's time in Hawaii[5], for example this one[6]. It clearly shows that Snowden was engaged in end user support. It is not untypical for Windows administrators that they are also responsible for end user support.
So we know that Snowden's job, at least between June and August 2012, was most likely a Microsoft Windows administrator, or something similar.
Snowden's time at Booz Allen Hamilton
This time, and the circumstances that led to the job change, is likely the most interesting phase, albeit the time itself at Booz Allen Hamilton was very short: We know for sure that Snowden started on April 1st[7] and that he flew to Hong Kong May 20th.
Former NSA director Mike McConnell said about Snowden and his application for a new job[8]:
'He then broke into the agency’s system and stole the admittance test with the answers, Mr. McConnell said. Mr. Snowden took the test and aced it, Mr. McConnell said. “He walked in and said you should hire me because I scored high on the test.” The NSA then offered Mr. Snowden a position but he said didn’t think the level-called GS-13 was high enough and asked for a higher-ranking job. The NSA refused. In early 2013, Booz Allen hired Mr. Snowden.'
This is interesting for two reasons. First McConnell accused Snowden to have hacked the application test and its answers, thus scored high on it. Something similar was stated by HPSCI[1]:
'He also doctored his performance evaluations and obtained new positions at NSA by exaggerating his resume and stealing the answers to an employment test.'
It should be noted that Gellman challenged these claims. Currently it is not possible to verify whether the accusations are right or wrong, but it seems clear that Snowden passed this test with a very good result.
The second interesting thing is that McConnell said they offered Snowden a GS-13 ranking job. According to Wikipedia, GS-13 marks a "high-level technical specialist" position. So this, indeed, points to a "senior-level" position that Snowden often claimed -- but also keep in mind it only refers to the last weeks before Snowden flew to Hong Kong. And Snowden refused this job.
It seems clear, that after this, Snowden applied at Booz Allen Hamilton, and his former boss Steven Bay also gave an interesting interview[7]:
'Snowden’s interview took place in February 2013, Bay said, and he and his technical director were impressed with the man who had moved to Hawaii to work at an NSA facility originally as a Dell employee. “His resume came across, it looked solid, and it had a lot of the good technical things I was looking for,” Bay said. “The other big challenge we had was there was just not a lot of good technical talent in Hawaii. When we interviewed him, we had a set standard of questions, technical questions, that we asked. And we asked most of those questions and it was pretty evident early on that the questions were very simple for him.”'
So apparently Snowden could also impress here with his technical (hacking) skills. However, please also note that he was asked a standard set of questions, so it cannot be ruled out that Snowden was very good prepared with the (possibly stolen) NSA test questions and answers. And note that Bay said it was very hard to find good technicians in Hawaii at all.
But, after all, Snowden was able to convince with technical skills and he got the job.
Bay continued:
'“He asked me two or three times on how to get access to what essentially was the PRISM data — we didn’t call it that internally, but that’s kind of what everyone knows it is. That’s one of the interesting things about his story is that people don’t realize, he never actually had access to any of that data. All of the quote domestic collection stuff that he revealed, he never had access to that. So he didn’t understand the oversight and compliance, he didn’t understand the rules for handling it, and he didn’t understand the processing of it,” Bay said. He just “simply grabbed some PowerPoints” and “released those to the world,” according to Bay.'
So while Bay said that Snowden was a good technician, he also very clearly stated that Snowden had no clue about the programs he revealed, that he had none practical experience with them, that he clearly didn't understand them.
He continued:
'“I get frustrated by things like people considering Ed an expert in all things NSA, even though he was kind of a junior analyst and had a relatively junior role there. He’s not the foremost expert on this stuff. He’s a smart guy, don’t get me wrong, and he had experience, but he wasn’t some senior level person,” Bay said. “And the second part is, in my mind, Ed’s not a hero.”'
This a bit contradicts what NSA director Mike McConnell said, that NSA offered Snowden a GS-13 job. Bay clearly said Snowden had a junior-level role. But this is maybe explainable with what Snowden himself said, that he accepted a pay cut in order to get the job at Booz Allen, to be able to download even more files. So it is likely that we speak about two different kinds of jobs here: The NSA offered Snowden a job as an IT professional (where he already had good references and passed a test with a high score), while the job at Booz Allen was as an analyst, where he had to start as a junior. This also fits to an FOIA document, where Snowden is described as an "analyst-in-training"[10].
Conclusions
Still much remains a mystery, much because we only have reliable facts for the time June to August 2012 and April to May 2013. But we know for sure that in August 2012 his job was as a Microsoft Windows administrator (or something alike), so it is at least unlikely that he had some senior-level job before.
What we also know for sure is that even at his last job at Boot Allen (which lasted for less than two months), he had at best a first insight into the work as an intelligence analyst, so we can rule out that he is a reliable witness for NSA SIGINT operations or programs.
Regarding Snowden's technical skills, the view is still ambivalent. In the past I often doubted on Snowden's technical skills at all, but I'm not sure anymore about this. It is possible that he had quite good technical and hacking skills, but most likely he gained these skills privately, it is very unlikely that he ever had a corresponding position at the NSA. Maybe this was a reason why he got frustrated. Let's hope some more documents are FOIA-released soon and will clear this up.
[1] http://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hpsci_snowden_review_-_unclass_summary_-_final.pdf
[2] The House Intelligence Committee’s Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Snowden Report
[3]
[4] Edward Snowden sharpened his hacking skills in Delhi - Times of India
[5] Exclusive: Snowden Tried to Tell NSA About Surveillance Concerns, Documents Reveal | VICE News
[6]
[7] First on The Cipher Brief: Snowden's Boss Shares Lessons Learned
[8] Ex-NSA Chief Details Snowden's Hiring at Agency, Booz Allen
[9] General Schedule (US civil service pay scale) - Wikipedia
[10]
@Domingo Halliburton @FAH1223 @88m3 @GinaThatAintNoDamnPuppy! @Blessed Is the Man @ADevilYouKhow @Leasy
Mystery surrounds deaths of pro-Russian warlords
Pavlov assassination threatens to reignite full-scale fighting in eastern Ukraine
Deal to create ‘road map’ for Ukraine peace YESTERDAY
Arsen Pavlov, the assasinated pro-Russian warlord, was buried on Wednesday © AP
2
5 HOURS AGO
by: Roman Olearchyk in Kiev and Neil Buckley in London
The footage flashed across Ukrainian and Russian television this week was gruesome: the charred and bloodied interior of a lift, remnants of two men’s battle gear and weapons, their shrouded remains being carried away from an apartment building in Donetsk.
The victims of the bombing were Arsen Pavlov, a pro-Russian warlord better known as Motorola, and his bodyguard, blown up by an improvised explosive while entering the lift in separatist-held east Ukraine.
Pavlov, 33, was a separatist commander, a Russian citizen and Chechen war veteran who boasted of executing Ukrainian prisoners. He filmed battles on a helmet camera and then passed the footage on to Russian television. Even during his 2014 wedding he wore combat fatigues while his bride sported a handgun in a shoulder holster over her dress.
The killings late on Sunday threaten to reignite full-scale fighting in eastern Ukraine, even as the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed on Wednesday on a road map to implement the stalled peace plan in the war-torn region.
But, as the most prominent of at least seven rebel warlords assassinated in little more than a year, Pavlov’s death has also prompted a broader question: why are so many separatist leaders dying in mysterious circumstances during what is ostensibly a ceasefire?
Theories range from pro-Ukrainian groups taking revenge, to squabbles among rebel factions, to Russian security forces disposing of separatists they can no longer control.
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“I think this is all connected,” Eduard Basurin, deputy defence minister of the rebel Donetsk People’s Republic, told the Financial Times, describing the dead men as “leaders that the masses followed”.
“They were all killed by … terrorist acts,” he added. “It’s not worthwhile to blame one country. It could be special services from various countries, those that have an interest in this conflict.”
Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the Donetsk-based separatists who himself survived an attempted hit this year, was quick to accuse Ukraine’s security services of murdering “my friend” Pavlov.
“We can assume that [Ukrainian president] Petro Poroshenko violated the ceasefire and declared war on us,” he added.
Arsen Pavlov wore combat fatigues at his wedding while his bride sported a handgun in a shoulder holster © AFP
Kiev denied responsibility. Officials said its security services would not be capable of assassinating a well-guarded rebel commander in the heart of Donetsk.
A Russian war correspondent unearthed an internet video apparently showing a handful of masked neo-Nazis claiming responsibility for the killing. The obscure group later reportedly denied involvement.
Analysts suggested Pavlov, after several previous attempts on his life, was meticulous about security, maintaining a constant guard on his apartment building, and that the killing instead had the hallmarks of an inside job.
Deal to create ‘road map’ for Ukraine peace
Merkel, Putin, Hollande and Poroshenko revive stalled plan but key divisions remain
The fighter had hinted in a recent interview that he had enemies among his own people, adding: “I know that my death awaits me.”
These struggles may be connected to a fight for political influence or for control of energy resources or smuggling routes in the separatist regions’ mushrooming black market.
In the neighbouring rebel-held Lugansk region, at least four pro-Russian warlords — Pavel Dryomov, Alexander Bednov, Alexei Mozgovoi, and Russian-born Yevgeny Isachenko — have been either gunned down or blown up, well away from the frontline battles, since last December.
All were reportedly rivals of Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of the region who also survived an assassination attempt this year. Russian-born Gennady Tsypkalov, another Lugansk commander, was arrested last month for allegedly plotting a coup in the region, then died in detention in what was said to be suicide.
But while Pavlov was feted by Russian media this week, and his mass funeral in Donetsk carried by Moscow TV channels, Kiev officials and others suggested Russian security services might be involved in a “clean-up”.
Another activist, Yevhen Zhilin, who with Pavlov and other pro-Russian protesters temporarily seized government buildings in Kharkiv, east Ukraine’s largest city, in early 2014, was shot dead in an upmarket Moscow restaurant last month. He was the first rebel assassinated on Russian territory.
One motive could be an attempt by Moscow to eliminate rebels with knowledge of Russia’s efforts to stir up the war in eastern Ukraine and of alleged torture and war crimes. Those crimes include the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, killing 298 people in July 2014.
Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the Donetsk-based separatists, accused Ukraine’s security services of murdering Pavlov © AFP
Yulia Latynina, a Russian journalist and radio presenter who is a prominent critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, blogged this week that Pavlov had been killed by order of senior Moscow officials because he “knew who hit the Boeing”.
A spokesman for Kiev’s SBU security services, Oleksandr Tkachuk, said Ukraine would certainly have wanted to get hold of Pavlov, a “suspect in many cases, from terrorist activities to murder”. But he pointed the finger at Moscow.
“Imagine Ukrainian authorities having a witness like Pavlov in an international criminal court case against Russian war crimes,” Mr Tkachuk said. The death of Motorola, he added, “was to the benefit of Russia’s leadership”.
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This was utterly fascinating: