Headlines 14/02/2016

Headlines

• The Government Just Admitted it will Use Smart Home Devices for Spying

• Russia Raises Specter of World War over Syria

• Eight F-16s will be Sold to Pakistan, Congress Told

Details

The Government Just Admitted it will Use Smart Home Devices for Spying

If you want evidence that US intelligence agencies aren’t losing surveillance abilities because of the rising use of encryption by tech companies, look no further than the testimony on Tuesday by the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper. As the Guardian reported, Clapper made clear that the internet of things – the many devices like thermostats, cameras and other appliances that are increasingly connected to the internet – are providing ample opportunity for intelligence agencies to spy on targets, and possibly the masses. And it’s a danger that many consumers who buy these products may be wholly unaware of. “In the future, intelligence services might use the [internet of things] for identification, surveillance, monitoring, location tracking, and targeting for recruitment, or to gain access to networks or user credentials,” Clapper told a Senate panel as part of his annual “assessment of threats” against the US.

Clapper is actually saying something very similar to a major study done at Harvard’s Berkman Center released last week. It concluded that the FBI’s recent claim that they are “going dark” – losing the ability to spy on suspects because of encryption – is largely overblown, mainly because federal agencies have so many more avenues for spying. This echoes comments by many surveillance experts, who have made clear that, rather than “going dark”, we are actually in the “golden age of surveillance”. Privacy advocates have known about the potential for government to exploit the internet of things for years. Law enforcement agencies have taken notice too, increasingly serving court orders on companies for data they keep that citizens might not even know they are transmitting.

Police have already been asking Google-owned company Dropcam for footage from cameras inside people’s homes meant to keep an eye on their kids. Fitbit data has already been used in court against defendants multiple times. But the potential for these privacy violations has only recently started reaching millions of homes: Samsung sparked controversy last year after announcing a television that would listen to everything said in the room it’s in and in the fine print literally warned people not to talk about sensitive information in front of it. [Source: The Guardian]

Western governments fully aware about the impending collapse of their civilization are determined to spy on their own people. This is a desperate bid by the West to stymie people rebellion against liberal democracies that have been hijacked by the super-rich to safeguard their own interests at the expense of the masses.

Russia Raises Specter of World War over Syria

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said all powers must sit at the negotiating table to forge an end to the war in Syria “instead of unleashing a new world war.” “The Americans and our Arab partners must think well: do they want a permanent war?” Medvedev told Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper. It would be impossible to win such a war quickly, he said according to a German translation of his words, “especially in the Arab world, where everybody is fighting against everybody.” “All sides must be compelled to sit at the negotiating table instead of unleashing a new world war,” he said. He said the United States and Russia must exert pressure on all sides in the conflict in order to secure a ceasefire. Russia is carrying out bombing sorties around the key city of Aleppo, in support of advances by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. and other Western air forces are also involved in air strikes in northern Syria. [Source: Al Arabiyya]

Medvedev is surely mistaken! World War 3 began in Syria a few years ago, when the five permanent members of the UNSC and regional neighbours of Assad launched attacks against the Islamic opposition either through proxy or through direct support. In this war, the camps are quite clear: Secular fundamentalists versus Islam.

Eight F-16s will be Sold to Pakistan, Congress Told

The Obama administration notified the Congress on Friday that it planned to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. The proposed deal will now go through a 30-day notification period after which it will be finalised.

Earlier this week, the US State Department informed Congress that it was committed to improving Pakistan’s precision strike capability, which was seen as a veiled reference to F-16 fighter jets. And on Thursday, a State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, said at a news briefing that US weapon sales to Pakistan contributed to the fight against terrorism and furthered America’s foreign policy interests. The remarks followed a move by some US lawmakers and a campaign in the US media to stop the Obama administration from selling eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. Although Congress has delayed the proposed sale, the administration still seems interested in pushing it through, insisting that it’s in vital US interests to do so. At the State Department news briefing, an Indian journalist asked spokesman Mark Toner if US Secretary of State John Kerry had received a letter Republican Senator Bob Corker sent to him on Tuesday, asking him to stop the proposed sale to Pakistan. “As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on proposed arms sales or transfers or even our preliminary consultations with the Hill, with Capitol Hill, prior to any formal congressional notification,” Mr Toner replied. But he offered to address the broader issue of US security assistance to Pakistan, saying: “We are committed to working with Congress to deliver security assistance to our partners and our allies that we believe furthers US foreign policy interests by building the capacity to meet shared security challenges.” [Source: Dawn]

The burning question for most Pakistanis is not whether Pakistan receives F-16s but how will they be used. Is Pakistan going to use F16s to fight America and India that are working to undermine Pakistan’s territorial integrity or will they be used to spill more Muslim blood in the tribal areas.