Purveyor
Purveyor's JournalSeychelles Drone Crash Raises More Questions About Security
U.S. officials said Tuesday that another drone aircraft has mysteriously crashed, this time while on routine patrol around the small island of Seychelles, east of Africa.
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The crash in Iran whipped up speculation of a possible cyber-attack, after an Iranian official claimed they brought the drone down by hacking into it and commandeering the controls. Unnamed intelligence officials who spoke to reporters said that Iranian hackers could have accomplished the feat with the help of hackers in China or Russia, but there’s no proof of that yet.
There were also reports back in October of a mysterious virus that had infected America’s drone fleet. Engineers said that it might just be common malware, but it kept coming back after they erased it from their systems.
The software contains a keylogger that may have been sending information to parts unknown over the Internet. Wired magazine noted that it had infected systems that handle both common information and classified materials.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/13/another-u-s-drone-mysteriously-crashes-this-time-in-seychelles/
Palestinian Flag Raised At UNESCO After Admission
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The Palestinian flag was raised for the first time on Tuesday above a UN agency, the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, in a diplomatic victory won despite stiff resistance from the US and Israel.
President Mahmud Abbas looked on as the flag was raised and the Palestinian anthem played, just weeks after Palestine won admission to UNESCO in move that sparked fury and reprisals fromWashington and Israel.
“President Abbas wants to show the importance he attaches to UNESCO,” a Palestinian diplomat said ahead of the ceremony. “And this is the first time that the flag will be flown at the headquarters of a UN institution.”
UNESCO said the flag-hoisting was a symbolic ceremony “to mark Palestine’s admission to the organisation” that takes place each time a new member joins.
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/13/palestinian-flag-raised-at-unesco-after-admission/
The U.S. Just Crashed Another Unmanned Drone — This Time In Seychelles Read more: http://www.busine
For the second time in as many weeks, the U.S. Air Force lost a unmanned aerial vehicle, blaming mechanical problems once again.
AlertNet reports the MQ-9 drone crashed at Seychelles International Airport on Tuesday and the U.S. Embassy in Mauritius confirmed the news, saying: "A U.S. Air Force remote-piloted MQ-9 crashed at the Seychelles International Airport in Mahe. The MQ-9 was not armed and no injuries were reported."
The MQ-9, generally referred to as the Reaper, is capable of autonomous or controlled flight operations during its "hunter-killer" missions. The large drone flies at high-altitude for extended periods and can be laden with 1,000 pounds of ordnance and stay aloft for more than 14 hours.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/another-us-drone-just-crashed-on-an-island-in-the-indian-ocean-2011-12#ixzz1gQvWdvWQ
Afghan Deputy DM: No One Allowed to Use Afghanistan for Attacking Iran
TEHRAN (FNA)- Afghan Deputy Defense Minister Homayoun Fawzi in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi assured Tehran that Kabul would never allow anyone to use Afghanistan as a platform for attacking Iran.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of our good friends and we will not allow any threat to Iran from Afghanistan's soil," Fawzi said during the meeting here in Tehran on Tuesday.
He also reiterated that the security of the two neighboring countries of Iran and Afghanistan is interwoven.
He made the remarks after a US spy drone that took off from neighboring Afghanistan was brought down in Iran earlier this month.
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http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9007277280
Oil Surges as Iran Plans Drills to Close Strait of Hormuz
Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Oil surged above $100 a barrel as Iran’s military prepared to hold drills for closing the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck for oil exports from the Persian Gulf.
The military maneuvers will be “soon,” the state-run Fars news agency reported, citing Parvis Sorouri, a member of the parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee. “If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure.”
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-13/oil-surges-as-iran-plans-drills-to-close-strait-of-hormuz.html
Why The U.S. Still Can't Count On Iraq
(CNN) -- Nearly 4,500 American soldiers lost and 32,000 wounded. A trillion dollars of borrowed money to remove Saddam Hussein and create an Iraq that would not only be safe from possessing weapons of mass destruction but also friendly toward the United States. These are the United States' heavy sacrifices in blood and treasure. One can be forgiven for expecting some Iraqi support for U.S. foreign policy aims in the region.
On Monday, the Iranian-backed prime minister of Iraq, Nuri al-Maliki, met with President Barack Obama at the White House to express his thanks for liberating Iraq from Hussein and discuss next steps. The frosty news conference afterward told us that all was not well. Tense, lacking in warmth and smiles and with public disagreement about Iraq's neighbor, Syria, the appearance did not reflect a productive meeting.
As the United States formally ends the almost nine-year war and nears the end of its troop withdrawal, there is still much at stake -- and it's not the relatively tiny Iraqi nation of 30 million people, but U.S. influence and foreign policy objectives in the region.
The Iraqi prime minister knows that his country, particularly his armed forces, is not yet ready to contain the probable outbreak of sectarian violence. And he wants U.S. financial expertise in developing Iraq's private sector. He made no secret of wanting greater U.S. assistance on both fronts. Iraq, under al-Maliki, is keen to receive U.S. help in countering terrorism and developing its economy. It seems perfectly legitimate, therefore, for the United States to express its own expectations from Iraq. But what is the Iraqi response?
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/13/opinion/husain-iraq-us/index.html
Iranian Prosecutor Indicts 15 ‘American And Zionist’ Spies
By Associated Press,
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s official news agency says the country’s judiciary has issued indictments against 15 ‘American and Zionist’ spies.
IRNA on Tuesday quoted Tehran’s chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi as saying the suspects carried out espionage activities against Iran.
He did not elaborate on the nationality of the suspects, nor say when they were detained.
The report does not say whether the suspects include any of the 12 alleged agents that Tehran said in November had been arrested for ties to the American CIA, Israel’s Mossad and regional intelligence agencies.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/iranian-prosecutor-indicts-15-american-and-zionist-spies/2011/12/13/gIQAz4YIrO_story.html
Lowe’s Stands By Decision To Pull Ads From Show About Muslims Despite Growing Backlash
By Associated Press,
NEW YORK — Home improvement chain Lowe’s plans to stick by its decision to yank its ads from a reality TV show about American Muslims amid growing debate over the move.
California Sen. Ted Lieu said Sunday that he is considering calling for a boycott of Lowe’s Cos., sparking criticism of the chain from both inside and outside of the Muslim community.
On social media web site Twitter, actor Kal Penn began directing people to a petition on signon.org in support of the TLC cable network show, “All-American Muslim.” By Monday afternoon, there were about 9,200 signatures.
U.S. Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who is Muslim, released a statement Monday condemning Lowe’s for choosing “to uphold the beliefs of a fringe hate group and not the creed of the First Amendment.”
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/industries/lowes-stands-by-decision-to-pull-ads-from-show-about-muslims-despite-growing-backlash/2011/12/12/gIQASEmFqO_story.html
IDF Scrambles As Right-Wing Activists Seize Structures Near Jordan Border
By Chaim Levinson
Israel Defense Forces scrambled to the otherwise calm border with Jordan on Monday, after several right-wing activists took control of structures located near the border with Israel's neighbor to the east.
The incident began when about 25-30 activists reportedly seized abandoned churches near the Qasr al-Yahud holy site, the believed site of Jesus' baptism, in a deliberate provocation meant to signal to the Jordanian authorities to keep out of matters concerning the Temple Mount.
The activists, who were escorted to the site by a television crew, reportedly cut their way through a fence that used to protect a surround a minefield surrounding the area, before it was cleared by Israeli security forces.
Israeli and Jordanian security forces arrived at the scene, with IDF soldiers attempting to remove the infiltrators.
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1134
Hamas: Israel Declaring War On Muslim Holy Sites With Closure Of Jerusalem Bridge
By Haaretz and Nir Hasson
A Hamas spokesman said Monday that the closure of Jerusalem's Mughrabi Bridge, which leads from the Western Wall Plaza to the Temple Mount, is an attack against Muslim holy sites, AFP reported.
"This is a serious step that shows the Zionist scheme of aggression again the Al Aqsa mosque," Fawzi Barhum told AFP.
"This is a violent act that amounts to a declaration of religious war on the Muslim holy places in Jerusalem."
The Jerusalem Municipality ordered the closure of the wooden bridge due to fears it may collapse or catch fire. There are 15 gates leading into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, 10 of which are in use.
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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-israel-declaring-war-on-muslim-holy-sites-with-closure-of-jerusalem-bridge-1.401007
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