He said the reason even more directly about QAnon's support of him. They like me.seacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:32 pm"Stand back and stand by, Proud Boys."MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:30 pmWhat we know for certain is that these hate groups sure do think Trump is on their side. They think he just needs to keep it on the down low at times, but they celebrate what they see as his support, again and again and again.seacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:15 pm 6 trying to convince people that Trump hasn't had words of solace for White Supremacists:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wuSqJG5bIKE/T ... syphus.jpg
The horse is out of the barn on this; it is clear as day that Trump will not suffer the loss of one White Supremacist's vote if he can help it.
And he signals that support quite openly. Because they like and support him...
JUST the Stolen Documents/Mar-A-Lago/"Judge" Cannon Trial
- MDlaxfan76
- Posts: 27113
- Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 5:40 pm
Re: The Politics of National Security
Re: The Politics of National Security
From USA TODAYseacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:32 pm"Stand back and stand by, Proud Boys."MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:30 pmWhat we know for certain is that these hate groups sure do think Trump is on their side. They think he just needs to keep it on the down low at times, but they celebrate what they see as his support, again and again and again.seacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:15 pm 6 trying to convince people that Trump hasn't had words of solace for White Supremacists:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wuSqJG5bIKE/T ... syphus.jpg
The horse is out of the barn on this; it is clear as day that Trump will not suffer the loss of one White Supremacist's vote if he can help it.
And he signals that support quite openly. Because they like and support him...
Yes, Trump did, and has repeatedly, denounced white supremacists
Wallace’s question and Biden’s answer were based on a false premise. Yet it was amplified when Wallace asked President Trump whether he was willing to denounce “white supremacists and militia groups,” and Trump answered, "Sure, I'm willing to do that," before moving the discussion to left-wing violence. Somehow “sure” was not translated into a yes answer by some observers, and the president was left on the defensive again. Some prominent Republicans are urging the president to unequivocally denounce white supremacy, as he previously has time and time again.
A simpler and more direct answer would have been that yes, President Trump denounces white supremacists and militia groups, has always denounced them and always will. Because that is the truth.
Re: The Politics of National Security
He said sure he would, then didn’t. He told them to stand back and standby. That means stay ready. Wait for my command to attack.6ftstick wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:39 pmFrom USA TODAYseacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:32 pm"Stand back and stand by, Proud Boys."MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:30 pmWhat we know for certain is that these hate groups sure do think Trump is on their side. They think he just needs to keep it on the down low at times, but they celebrate what they see as his support, again and again and again.seacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:15 pm 6 trying to convince people that Trump hasn't had words of solace for White Supremacists:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wuSqJG5bIKE/T ... syphus.jpg
The horse is out of the barn on this; it is clear as day that Trump will not suffer the loss of one White Supremacist's vote if he can help it.
And he signals that support quite openly. Because they like and support him...
Yes, Trump did, and has repeatedly, denounced white supremacists
Wallace’s question and Biden’s answer were based on a false premise. Yet it was amplified when Wallace asked President Trump whether he was willing to denounce “white supremacists and militia groups,” and Trump answered, "Sure, I'm willing to do that," before moving the discussion to left-wing violence. Somehow “sure” was not translated into a yes answer by some observers, and the president was left on the defensive again. Some prominent Republicans are urging the president to unequivocally denounce white supremacy, as he previously has time and time again.
A simpler and more direct answer would have been that yes, President Trump denounces white supremacists and militia groups, has always denounced them and always will. Because that is the truth.
Re: The Politics of National Security
Pro forma denunciation of WS, then when asked about one specific (and quite often violent) WS group - the Proud Boys, he backed off and used dog whistle code to tell them to be at the ready.njbill wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:55 pmHe said sure he would, then didn’t. He told them to stand back and standby. That means stay ready. Wait for my command to attack.6ftstick wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:39 pmFrom USA TODAYseacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:32 pm"Stand back and stand by, Proud Boys."MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:30 pmWhat we know for certain is that these hate groups sure do think Trump is on their side. They think he just needs to keep it on the down low at times, but they celebrate what they see as his support, again and again and again.seacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:15 pm 6 trying to convince people that Trump hasn't had words of solace for White Supremacists:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wuSqJG5bIKE/T ... syphus.jpg
The horse is out of the barn on this; it is clear as day that Trump will not suffer the loss of one White Supremacist's vote if he can help it.
And he signals that support quite openly. Because they like and support him...
Yes, Trump did, and has repeatedly, denounced white supremacists
Wallace’s question and Biden’s answer were based on a false premise. Yet it was amplified when Wallace asked President Trump whether he was willing to denounce “white supremacists and militia groups,” and Trump answered, "Sure, I'm willing to do that," before moving the discussion to left-wing violence. Somehow “sure” was not translated into a yes answer by some observers, and the president was left on the defensive again. Some prominent Republicans are urging the president to unequivocally denounce white supremacy, as he previously has time and time again.
A simpler and more direct answer would have been that yes, President Trump denounces white supremacists and militia groups, has always denounced them and always will. Because that is the truth.
Not exactly a true denunciation. Which is why most are characterizing this as support...
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Re: The Politics of National Security
6ftstick wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:39 pmFrom USA TODAYseacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:32 pm"Stand back and stand by, Proud Boys."MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:30 pmWhat we know for certain is that these hate groups sure do think Trump is on their side. They think he just needs to keep it on the down low at times, but they celebrate what they see as his support, again and again and again.seacoaster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 12:15 pm 6 trying to convince people that Trump hasn't had words of solace for White Supremacists:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_wuSqJG5bIKE/T ... syphus.jpg
The horse is out of the barn on this; it is clear as day that Trump will not suffer the loss of one White Supremacist's vote if he can help it.
And he signals that support quite openly. Because they like and support him...
Yes, Trump did, and has repeatedly, denounced white supremacists
Wallace’s question and Biden’s answer were based on a false premise. Yet it was amplified when Wallace asked President Trump whether he was willing to denounce “white supremacists and militia groups,” and Trump answered, "Sure, I'm willing to do that," before moving the discussion to left-wing violence. Somehow “sure” was not translated into a yes answer by some observers, and the president was left on the defensive again. Some prominent Republicans are urging the president to unequivocally denounce white supremacy, as he previously has time and time again.
A simpler and more direct answer would have been that yes, President Trump denounces white supremacists and militia groups, has always denounced them and always will. Because that is the truth.
... methinks the lady doth protest overmuch.
STAND AGAINST FASCISM
Re: The Politics of National Security
If China attacks Taiwan, should the US help defend Taiwan militarily ?
What say you MD ? Yes or No ? ...no equivocating.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/19/ch ... to-taiwan/
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4032607
What say you MD ? Yes or No ? ...no equivocating.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/19/ch ... to-taiwan/
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4032607
Re: The Politics of National Security
Why is our military full of greedy idiots?
We need more Patriots like Don Jr!
Liz Goodwin @lizcgoodwin
Don Jr tells a PA rally his father pressed US generals to explain why we’re still in Afghanistan, but they couldn’t. “The end goal is they want a board seat at Raytheon,” he says. Trump’s defense secretary, who he gets to pick, was a Raytheon lobbyist.
6:20 PM · Oct 20, 2020
MAGA
We need more Patriots like Don Jr!
Liz Goodwin @lizcgoodwin
Don Jr tells a PA rally his father pressed US generals to explain why we’re still in Afghanistan, but they couldn’t. “The end goal is they want a board seat at Raytheon,” he says. Trump’s defense secretary, who he gets to pick, was a Raytheon lobbyist.
6:20 PM · Oct 20, 2020
MAGA
by cradleandshoot » Fri Aug 13, 2021 8:57 am
Mr moderator, deactivate my account.
You have heck this forum up to making it nothing more than a joke. I hope you are happy.
This is cradle and shoot signing out.
Mr moderator, deactivate my account.
You have heck this forum up to making it nothing more than a joke. I hope you are happy.
This is cradle and shoot signing out.
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Re: The Politics of National Security
Thought this was timely and interesting:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/opin ... ticleShare
“It’s quite an accomplishment, but in only five months, the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, has already put himself in the running to be considered among the most destructive intelligence officials in U.S. history.
During his confirmation hearing in May, Mr. Ratcliffe testified that he would not allow outside influence to affect his work, claiming that he would be “entirely apolitical” in the position.
Instead, he seems to have jumped into the partisan fray. On Monday, Mr. Ratcliffe seemed to bolster an unconfirmed news report by The New York Post related to the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son in the Ukraine. Mr. Ratcliffe suggested on Fox Business that the Obama-Biden administration had committed (unnamed) criminal abuses of power and that voters should take these supposed actions into account in the upcoming election.
Such personal political commentary for a sitting intelligence leader is virtually unprecedented. Michael Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, tweeted that Mr. Ratcliffe’s actions were “reprehensible” and worthy of a “tin-pot dictatorship.”
Mr. Ratcliffe had already broken norms by mining and declassifying material that might help President Trump get re-elected. He has controlled how information is shared with congressional Democrats, while supplying select, out-of-context material to those Republicans trying to grasp any shred of evidence that might fit their theory of a deep-state conspiracy to investigate President Trump’s connections to the Kremlin.
While a traitor or mole inside our spy agencies can do tremendous damage, only a deeply partisan intelligence leader can undermine the very system of trust that underpins our intelligence establishment.
During World War II and the Korean War, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Charles Willoughby, falsified reports; limited and controlled sources; dismissed reporting by allies, the O.S.S., the C.I.A. and U.S. code breakers; and actively tried to suppress anything that challenged MacArthur’s preconceived views.
As David Halberstam wrote in “The Coldest Winter,” his history of the Korean War, General MacArthur believed it was crucial that “his intelligence reports blend seamlessly with what he had intended to do in the first place. What that meant was that the intelligence that Willoughby was turning over to MacArthur was deliberately prefabricated.”
General MacArthur’s unwillingness to listen to others left the United States and its allies blindsided when the North Korean Army invaded South Korea in June 1950, and again when the Chinese stormed into Korea later that year, leading to one of the worst military defeats of U.S. forces and the longest retreat in U.S. history. General MacArthur even advocated using nuclear weapons to stem the retreat. It wasn’t the failure to collect or analyze intelligence that led to the catastrophe, but the failure of leadership. Maj. Gen. Willoughby shaped intelligence to fit what his master wanted to hear.
Mr. Ratcliffe, like Maj. Gen. Willoughby before him, seems to think his job is to serve only his boss, who requires that everyone agree with him at all times. As General MacArthur is often quoted: if you control intelligence, you control decision-making. Intelligence professionals call this politicization and see it as a poison that can harm national-security decision-making.
We can see today, through Mr. Ratcliffe, just what can happen when the office is politicized.
Rather than operating as an honest steward of the large and important intelligence community, Mr. Ratcliffe appears to regard the nation’s secrets as a place to hunt for nuggets that can be used as political weapons — sources and methods be damned. Even if the particular material he declassifies is not especially sensitive, the failure to provide proper context, sourcing or background only serves to confuse the public and distract voters.
That may be the point. Creating a fictional narrative for political purposes requires corrupting a system that relies on in-depth, contextual and all-source analysis. However, if you are sending damaging signals to allies, potential sources or even your own officers, it is child’s play to concoct any story you wish by plucking selective details from the millions and millions of pages held by the intelligence agencies.
But exploiting the intelligence community in this manner fundamentally debases it — in ways the American public cannot always see. Hastily considered declassification of selective secret material runs the risk of exposing sources and methods, assisting foreign adversaries and undercutting the trust of our allies. And why would allies or potential sources be willing to share their secrets with intelligence officials who won’t hesitate to publicize their information if they see short-term political benefit? In the end, our defenses are weakened.
In the world of intelligence, credibility is paramount. Our allies and sources must trust us. And policymakers need to trust that intelligence professionals are providing the very best, unbiased analysis. If that bond of trust is breached, and motives and honesty are questioned, the intelligence is worthless. Mr. Ratcliffe and his enablers need to understand that once the credibility of our intelligence community is surrendered, it will be extremely hard to recapture.”
I know. Hard to believe a Trump appointee is such a disgrace. But there it is.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/opin ... ticleShare
“It’s quite an accomplishment, but in only five months, the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, has already put himself in the running to be considered among the most destructive intelligence officials in U.S. history.
During his confirmation hearing in May, Mr. Ratcliffe testified that he would not allow outside influence to affect his work, claiming that he would be “entirely apolitical” in the position.
Instead, he seems to have jumped into the partisan fray. On Monday, Mr. Ratcliffe seemed to bolster an unconfirmed news report by The New York Post related to the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son in the Ukraine. Mr. Ratcliffe suggested on Fox Business that the Obama-Biden administration had committed (unnamed) criminal abuses of power and that voters should take these supposed actions into account in the upcoming election.
Such personal political commentary for a sitting intelligence leader is virtually unprecedented. Michael Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, tweeted that Mr. Ratcliffe’s actions were “reprehensible” and worthy of a “tin-pot dictatorship.”
Mr. Ratcliffe had already broken norms by mining and declassifying material that might help President Trump get re-elected. He has controlled how information is shared with congressional Democrats, while supplying select, out-of-context material to those Republicans trying to grasp any shred of evidence that might fit their theory of a deep-state conspiracy to investigate President Trump’s connections to the Kremlin.
While a traitor or mole inside our spy agencies can do tremendous damage, only a deeply partisan intelligence leader can undermine the very system of trust that underpins our intelligence establishment.
During World War II and the Korean War, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Charles Willoughby, falsified reports; limited and controlled sources; dismissed reporting by allies, the O.S.S., the C.I.A. and U.S. code breakers; and actively tried to suppress anything that challenged MacArthur’s preconceived views.
As David Halberstam wrote in “The Coldest Winter,” his history of the Korean War, General MacArthur believed it was crucial that “his intelligence reports blend seamlessly with what he had intended to do in the first place. What that meant was that the intelligence that Willoughby was turning over to MacArthur was deliberately prefabricated.”
General MacArthur’s unwillingness to listen to others left the United States and its allies blindsided when the North Korean Army invaded South Korea in June 1950, and again when the Chinese stormed into Korea later that year, leading to one of the worst military defeats of U.S. forces and the longest retreat in U.S. history. General MacArthur even advocated using nuclear weapons to stem the retreat. It wasn’t the failure to collect or analyze intelligence that led to the catastrophe, but the failure of leadership. Maj. Gen. Willoughby shaped intelligence to fit what his master wanted to hear.
Mr. Ratcliffe, like Maj. Gen. Willoughby before him, seems to think his job is to serve only his boss, who requires that everyone agree with him at all times. As General MacArthur is often quoted: if you control intelligence, you control decision-making. Intelligence professionals call this politicization and see it as a poison that can harm national-security decision-making.
We can see today, through Mr. Ratcliffe, just what can happen when the office is politicized.
Rather than operating as an honest steward of the large and important intelligence community, Mr. Ratcliffe appears to regard the nation’s secrets as a place to hunt for nuggets that can be used as political weapons — sources and methods be damned. Even if the particular material he declassifies is not especially sensitive, the failure to provide proper context, sourcing or background only serves to confuse the public and distract voters.
That may be the point. Creating a fictional narrative for political purposes requires corrupting a system that relies on in-depth, contextual and all-source analysis. However, if you are sending damaging signals to allies, potential sources or even your own officers, it is child’s play to concoct any story you wish by plucking selective details from the millions and millions of pages held by the intelligence agencies.
But exploiting the intelligence community in this manner fundamentally debases it — in ways the American public cannot always see. Hastily considered declassification of selective secret material runs the risk of exposing sources and methods, assisting foreign adversaries and undercutting the trust of our allies. And why would allies or potential sources be willing to share their secrets with intelligence officials who won’t hesitate to publicize their information if they see short-term political benefit? In the end, our defenses are weakened.
In the world of intelligence, credibility is paramount. Our allies and sources must trust us. And policymakers need to trust that intelligence professionals are providing the very best, unbiased analysis. If that bond of trust is breached, and motives and honesty are questioned, the intelligence is worthless. Mr. Ratcliffe and his enablers need to understand that once the credibility of our intelligence community is surrendered, it will be extremely hard to recapture.”
I know. Hard to believe a Trump appointee is such a disgrace. But there it is.
Re: The Politics of National Security
NYT -- Blah, blah, blah.
Ratcliffe's first words were " don't drag the intelligence community into this. "
Ratcliffe's first words were " don't drag the intelligence community into this. "
Re: The Politics of National Security
And yet he's trying to drag the intelligence community into this...
But I thought he was the deep state though? Hard to keep the administration's arguments straight nowadays.
But I thought he was the deep state though? Hard to keep the administration's arguments straight nowadays.
Re: The Politics of National Security
But I'm personally free to assist in this dragging endeavor so they don't have to to be dragged into this.....
Read John Sipher's piece (He is a former CIA station chief)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/opin ... e=Homepage
Last edited by Kismet on Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Politics of National Security
The writer is a former Chief of Station for the CIA. The Times is simply the publisher. So attack the source of the words. Anything?
Ratcliffe's words are belied by....his words. He plainly endorsed the current administration, perhaps because he will be swept out and back to Texas with a new one. He was an arch-toady in Congress, and was set upon this pedestal by Trump so that intelligence would work for the President.
There really is nothing you won't condone.
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Re: The Politics of National Security
If Joe Biden were regular government employee, he would be denied a security clearance.
Re: The Politics of National Security
The Most Surprising Thing About the New Indictment of Six Russian Intelligence Hackers
..The indictment describes a series of malware incidents over a period of four years that Unit 74455 carried out “for the strategic benefit of Russia,” such as attacking Ukraine’s electric grid in December 2015, leaving many without power—and heat. It says there were five targets that the incidents in question were designed to “undermine, retaliate against, or otherwise destabilize.” These five targets are described as: “(1) Ukraine; (2) the country of Georgia; (3) France’s elections; (4) efforts to hold Russia accountable for its use of a weapons-grade nerve agent on foreign soil; and (5) the 2018 Winter Olympics after a Russian government-sponsored doping effort led to Russian athletes being unable to participate under the Russian flag.”
Notably, none of those are U.S. targets! Certainly, the United States was affected by some of these incidents—particularly the NotPetya malware that was distributed by Russia in 2017 to target Ukrainian infrastructure. While it was aimed at Ukraine, the NotPetya malware famously ended up infecting the networks of hundreds of organizations worldwide, including the Heritage Valley Health System in Pennsylvania, which the indictment discusses at some length (perhaps because it is the only connection to the Western District of Pennsylvania in the entire document). Other U.S. companies hit by NotPetya are mentioned in passing—such as a pharmaceutical company and FedEx—but the bulk of the indictment is devoted to Russia’s operations in other countries: how it infiltrated the Ukrainian electric grid as early as 2015, for instance, and overwrote the memory in Ukrainian computers with zeros and the terms “mrR0b07” and “fS0cie7y” repeated over and over (references to the television show Mr. Robot).
The indictment is unusually rich with these sorts of details—the names of the infected attachments that the perpetrators used to distribute their malware, the email addresses they sent those phishing emails from (e.g., [email protected] and [email protected]), the URLs they purchased to set up phishing websites (for instance, mafra.go.kr.jeojang.ga, a site that was set up to resemble the official Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs website at mafra.go.kr), the fact that some of the perpetrators named in the indictment actively celebrated the deployment of NotPetya on June 27, 2017. Those details are presumably intended not just to show off the United States’ investigative and forensic skills but also to send a clear message to Russia that the United States knows every webpage its officers have visited, every URL they’ve registered, every email they’ve sent. And it’s hard to believe that it’s a total coincidence the Department of Justice chose to send that message only two weeks before the presidential election, despite Assistant Attorney General John Demers saying on Monday that there was no particular significance to the timing of the announcement.
"The purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog." - Calvin, to Hobbes
Re: The Politics of National Security
There is really nothing you won't swallow, if it fits your agenda.seacoaster wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:42 amThe writer is a former Chief of Station for the CIA. The Times is simply the publisher. So attack the source of the words. Anything?
Ratcliffe's words are belied by....his words. He plainly endorsed the current administration, perhaps because he will be swept out and back to Texas with a new one. He was an arch-toady in Congress, and was set upon this pedestal by Trump so that intelligence would work for the President.
There really is nothing you won't condone.
A former spook, now out of the loop. A dying wail from the Deep State tar pits.
Ratcliffe has access to current intel & analysis. He speaks for the current IC.
The rest is sour grapes & a diversion. The DoJ & FBI now concur.
I'm seeking evidence of Russian disinformation & interference. Not speculation.
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Re: The Politics of National Security
Perfect; you got “Deep State” into the discussion. Aluminum futures are up in late trading.old salt wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:29 pmThere is really nothing you won't swallow, if it fits your agenda.seacoaster wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:42 amThe writer is a former Chief of Station for the CIA. The Times is simply the publisher. So attack the source of the words. Anything?
Ratcliffe's words are belied by....his words. He plainly endorsed the current administration, perhaps because he will be swept out and back to Texas with a new one. He was an arch-toady in Congress, and was set upon this pedestal by Trump so that intelligence would work for the President.
There really is nothing you won't condone.
A former spook, now out of the loop. A dying wail from the Deep State tar pits.
Ratcliffe has access to current intel & analysis. He speaks for the current IC.
The rest is sour grapes & a diversion. The DoJ & FBI now concur.
I'm seeking evidence of Russian disinformation & interference. Not speculation.
Re: The Politics of National Security
Good to see the "speaking" indictments BEFORE the election this go 'round. Well Done AG Barr !dislaxxic wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 12:40 pm The Most Surprising Thing About the New Indictment of Six Russian Intelligence Hackers
The indictment describes a series of malware incidents over a period of four years that Unit 74455 carried out “for the strategic benefit of Russia,” such as attacking Ukraine’s electric grid in December 2015, leaving many without power—and heat. It says there were five targets that the incidents in question were designed to “undermine, retaliate against, or otherwise destabilize.” These five targets are described as: “(1) Ukraine; (2) the country of Georgia; (3) France’s elections; (4) efforts to hold Russia accountable for its use of a weapons-grade nerve agent on foreign soil; and (5) the 2018 Winter Olympics after a Russian government-sponsored doping effort led to Russian athletes being unable to participate under the Russian flag.”
Notably, none of those are U.S. targets! Certainly, the United States was affected by some of these incidents—particularly the NotPetya malware that was distributed by Russia in 2017 to target Ukrainian infrastructure. While it was aimed at Ukraine, the NotPetya malware famously ended up infecting the networks of hundreds of organizations worldwide, including the Heritage Valley Health System in Pennsylvania, which the indictment discusses at some length (perhaps because it is the only connection to the Western District of Pennsylvania in the entire document). Other U.S. companies hit by NotPetya are mentioned in passing—such as a pharmaceutical company and FedEx—but the bulk of the indictment is devoted to Russia’s operations in other countries: how it infiltrated the Ukrainian electric grid as early as 2015, for instance, and overwrote the memory in Ukrainian computers with zeros and the terms “mrR0b07” and “fS0cie7y” repeated over and over (references to the television show Mr. Robot).
The indictment is unusually rich with these sorts of details—the names of the infected attachments that the perpetrators used to distribute their malware, the email addresses they sent those phishing emails from (e.g., [email protected] and [email protected]), the URLs they purchased to set up phishing websites (for instance, mafra.go.kr.jeojang.ga, a site that was set up to resemble the official Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs website at mafra.go.kr), the fact that some of the perpetrators named in the indictment actively celebrated the deployment of NotPetya on June 27, 2017. Those details are presumably intended not just to show off the United States’ investigative and forensic skills but also to send a clear message to Russia that the United States knows every webpage its officers have visited, every URL they’ve registered, every email they’ve sent. And it’s hard to believe that it’s a total coincidence the Department of Justice chose to send that message only two weeks before the presidential election, despite Assistant Attorney General John Demers saying on Monday that there was no particular significance to the timing of the announcement.
Last edited by old salt on Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Politics of National Security
+1old salt wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:47 pmGood to see the indictments BEFORE the election this go 'round. Well Done AG Barr !dislaxxic wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 12:40 pm The Most Surprising Thing About the New Indictment of Six Russian Intelligence Hackers
The indictment describes a series of malware incidents over a period of four years that Unit 74455 carried out “for the strategic benefit of Russia,” such as attacking Ukraine’s electric grid in December 2015, leaving many without power—and heat. It says there were five targets that the incidents in question were designed to “undermine, retaliate against, or otherwise destabilize.” These five targets are described as: “(1) Ukraine; (2) the country of Georgia; (3) France’s elections; (4) efforts to hold Russia accountable for its use of a weapons-grade nerve agent on foreign soil; and (5) the 2018 Winter Olympics after a Russian government-sponsored doping effort led to Russian athletes being unable to participate under the Russian flag.”
Notably, none of those are U.S. targets! Certainly, the United States was affected by some of these incidents—particularly the NotPetya malware that was distributed by Russia in 2017 to target Ukrainian infrastructure. While it was aimed at Ukraine, the NotPetya malware famously ended up infecting the networks of hundreds of organizations worldwide, including the Heritage Valley Health System in Pennsylvania, which the indictment discusses at some length (perhaps because it is the only connection to the Western District of Pennsylvania in the entire document). Other U.S. companies hit by NotPetya are mentioned in passing—such as a pharmaceutical company and FedEx—but the bulk of the indictment is devoted to Russia’s operations in other countries: how it infiltrated the Ukrainian electric grid as early as 2015, for instance, and overwrote the memory in Ukrainian computers with zeros and the terms “mrR0b07” and “fS0cie7y” repeated over and over (references to the television show Mr. Robot).
The indictment is unusually rich with these sorts of details—the names of the infected attachments that the perpetrators used to distribute their malware, the email addresses they sent those phishing emails from (e.g., [email protected] and [email protected]), the URLs they purchased to set up phishing websites (for instance, mafra.go.kr.jeojang.ga, a site that was set up to resemble the official Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs website at mafra.go.kr), the fact that some of the perpetrators named in the indictment actively celebrated the deployment of NotPetya on June 27, 2017. Those details are presumably intended not just to show off the United States’ investigative and forensic skills but also to send a clear message to Russia that the United States knows every webpage its officers have visited, every URL they’ve registered, every email they’ve sent. And it’s hard to believe that it’s a total coincidence the Department of Justice chose to send that message only two weeks before the presidential election, despite Assistant Attorney General John Demers saying on Monday that there was no particular significance to the timing of the announcement.