CLG: Obama administration expands elite military unit's powers to hunt foreign fighters globally

 News Updates from CLG
30 November 2016

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

 

Previous editions: Breaking: Fidel Castro, Cuba's revolutionary leader, dies aged 90

 

Obama administration expands elite military unit's powers to hunt foreign fighters globally --Known as the 'Counter-External Operations Task Force,' the group will be designed to take JSOC's targeting model | 25 Nov 2016 | The Obama administration is giving the elite Joint Special Operations Command expanded power to track, plan and potentially launch attacks on terrorist cells around the globe, a move driven by concerns of a dispersed terrorist threat as Islamic State militants are driven from strongholds in Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials said. The missions could occur well beyond the battlefields of places like Iraq, Syria and Libya where Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) has carried out clandestine operations in the past. When finalized, it will elevate JSOC from being a highly-valued strike tool used by regional military commands to leading a new multiagency intelligence and action force.

 

Lawsuit Aims to Hold 2 Contractors Accountable for C.I.A. Torture | 27 Nov 2016 | Even as President Obama acknowledged that the United States "tortured some folks," his administration declined to prosecute any government officials. But now, one lawsuit has gone further than any other in American courts to fix blame. The suit, filed in October 2015 in Federal District Court in Spokane, Wash., by two former detainees in C.I.A. secret prisons and the representative of a third who died in custody, centers on two contractors, psychologists who were hired by the agency to help devise and run the program. One of them, James E. Mitchell, has written a book to be released Tuesday about his involvement in the program. In the book, he argues that he acted with government permission and that he and Bruce Jessen, the other psychologist and his co-defendant in the lawsuit, received medals from the C.I.A.

 

ISIS Calls Ohio State University Attacker a 'Soldier' --The Islamic State, which has urged Muslims to carry out attacks in the West, released a one-paragraph statement on its news wire | 29 Nov 2016 | The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the attack at Ohio State University, calling the student who drove his car into pedestrians and then slashed people with a butcher knife a "soldier" of the terrorist group. A day after the assault injured 11 people, local and federal law enforcement agencies were searching for evidence to determine whether it was an act of terrorism and whether the assailant acted alone...The attacker, identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a Somali-born Ohio State student, was shot and killed by a police officer.

 

Terrorism suspected in OSU attack that injured 11 | 28 Nov 2016 | The suspect in an attack at Ohio State University has been identified as 18-year-old OSU student Abdul Razak Ali Artan. Eleven people were injured after a man drove a car into a crowd at Ohio State University, then started attacking people with a knife. Police said they are investigating whether it was a terrorist attack. NBC reports, "(Artan) was a Somali refugee who left his homeland with his family in 2007, lived in Pakistan and then came to the United States in 2014 as a legal permanent resident of the United States, officials said."

 

Rampage at Ohio State: Somali refugee with knife attacks students | 28 Nov 2016 | A Somali refugee and Ohio State University student plowed his car into a group of people who had just evacuated a campus building after a caller reported a gas leak -- then slashed them with a butcher knife, leaving nine injured, before he was shot dead, according to officials and a report. When the attack began, police issued an "active shooter" alert that prompted a campus-wide lockdown and chillingly ordered students to "run, hide, fight." A cop was on the scene within a minute and killed the attacker, 18-year-old Abdul Razak Ali Artan, who became a legal permanent resident of the US, NBC News reported.

 

Ohio State shooting: Nine transported to hospitals, one suspect killed --"Run, hide, fight" alert urged students to shelter in place --Shelter-in-place order lifted at 11:14 a.m., but more than a dozen buildings remain closed | 28 Nov 2016 | Law enforcement sources say nine people have been transported to hospitals and a suspect has been killed in an active shooter situation at Ohio State University. At 11:30 a.m., the university said the scene is secure and that all classes are canceled on campus. The university issued an alert of an active shooter around 10 a.m. at Watts Hall at 19th Street and College. Law enforcement sources said a car rammed Watts Hall about 9:40 a.m., and at least two people got out of the car. One person had a gun and another appeared to have a large knife.

 

German intelligence officer 'arrested over Islamist plot' raising fears the spy agency has been infiltrated | 29 Nov 2016 | German intelligence officer has reportedly been arrested over a suspected Islamist plot to bomb the agency's headquarters in Cologne. The 51-year-old official was said to have made a "partial confession" to the plot, according to Der Spiegel. The suspect attempted to pass on "sensitive information about the BfV (Germany's domestic security agency), which could lead to a threat to the office", an official told the newspaper.

 

Armed counter-terrorism police numbers boosted across London | 28 Nov 2016 | More overt and undercover counter-terrorism police will be patrolling London’s streets in the near future in order to spot those carrying out 'hostile surveillance' in preparation for crimes or acts of terrorism, the Metropolitan Police Service has announced. The tactic, dubbed 'Operation Servator,' is already used by the British Transport Police and the City of London Police. The Met claims the shift is based "on extensive research into the psychology of criminals and what undermines their activities."

 

Dutch parliament approves partial burqa ban in public places | 29 Nov 2016 | MPs in the Netherlands have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a ban on wearing face-covering Islamic veils in some public places, including schools, hospitals, government buildings and on public transport. The rule - which will outlaw all face coverings including ski-masks and helmets - was approved by 132 members of the 150-seat house. It will now go before the Senate, where it must be approved before becoming law.

 

Video Shows 'White Helmets' Staging Fake Rescue in Syria | 24 Nov 2016 | Video of the controversial aid group Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the "White Helmets," has leaked showing the staging of a fake rescue. The video shows White Helmet workers and a trapped "victim" getting into position and preparing for a scene, laying completely still as the camera move around them. Then the action kicks into gear with a flurry of activity and shouting off-camera with the "victim" suddenly screaming in agony as White Helmet workers/actors remove debris from his body and carry him away...Other videos have shown the White Helmets carrying weapons and aiding in jihadist executions. [See: The Syria White Helmets Exposed as US, UK Agents Embedded With Al Nusra and ISIS 29 April 2016.]

 

Vladimir Putin grants action hero Steven Seagal Russian passport | 26 Nov 2016 | Vladimir Putin has expressed his hopes for improving relations between Moscow and Washington as he personally granted a Russian passport to Hollywood star Steven Seagal. "I want to congratulate you and express the hope that this is another, albeit small, gesture and it might be a sign of the gradual normalisation of relations between our countries," the Russia president said to the US actor and director as the document was handed over. "Spasibo bolshoye," replied Seagal (thank you very much)...Seagal, who has Russian heritage and is a regular visitor to the country, has been a vocal supporter of Mr Putin, who earlier this month signed an order granting his Russian citizenship.

 

Putin grants Russian citizenship to US action star Steven Seagal | 04 Nov 2016 | Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order to give citizenship to American action star Steven Seagal. The 64-year old has been a vocal supporter of President Putin and a regular visitor to the country - where he has attended several martial arts events with the Russian leader. "He has been insistent for a long time in asking to be granted Russian citizenship," said Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Perkov...Russia's deputy prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin, tweeted on Wednesday: "I congratulate my friend Steve on the fact that now he has become our compatriot!"

 

Fukushima nuclear decommission, compensation costs to almost double - media | 27 Nov 2016 | Japan's trade ministry has almost doubled the estimated cost of compensation for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and decommissioning of the damaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant to more than 20 trillion y-n ($177.51 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday...

 

FBI and NSA Poised to Gain New Surveillance Powers Under Trump --New rule in effect Dec. 1 gives FBI greater hacking authority | 29 Nov 2016 | The FBI, National Security Agency and CIA are likely to gain expanded surveillance powers under President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress, a prospect that has privacy advocates and some lawmakers trying to mobilize opposition. Trump's first two choices to head law enforcement and intelligence agencies -- Republican Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general and Republican Representative Mike Pompeo for director of the Central Intelligence Agency -- are leading advocates for domestic government spying at levels not seen since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

 

Trump to Announce Carrier Plant Will Keep Jobs in U.S. | 29 Nov 2016 | From the earliest days of his campaign, Donald J. Trump made keeping manufacturing jobs in the United States his signature economic issue, and the decision by Carrier, the big air-conditioner company, to move 2,000 of them from Indiana to Mexico was a tailor-made talking point for him on the stump. On Thursday, Mr. Trump and Mike Pence, Indiana's governor and the vice-president elect, plan to appear at Carrier’s Indianapolis plant to announce they've struck a deal with the company to keep a majority of the jobs in the state, according to officials with the transition team as well as Carrier.

 

Trump wins Michigan's 16 electoral votes, state board says | 29 Nov 2016 | President-elect Donald Trump has won Michigan's 16 electoral votes. The Board of State Canvassers certified Trump's 10,704-vote victory on Monday, nearly three weeks after the election...Trump's win in Michigan gives the Republican 306 electoral votes to Democrat Hillary Clinton's 232.

 

Trump alleges 'serious voter fraud' in Virginia, New Hampshire, California | 27 Nov 2016 | President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to allege, without specific evidence, that there was massive voter fraud in the election he just won. In one tweet, Mr. Trump also attacked the media and accused it of not reporting on "serious voter fraud" in three states won by Democrat Hillary Clinton. "Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!" he tweeted.

 

Clinton campaign backs Stein effort to ensure vote recount is 'fair' | 26 Nov 2016 | A top lawyer for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has come out in support of Dr. Jill Stein's recount efforts in Wisconsin, in order to ensure that the initiative, which Donald Trump has labeled "ridiculous" and a "scam," is "fair to all sides." Clinton lawyer Mark Elias said in a post on Medium on Saturday that the campaign will participate in the Wisconsin recount which was initiated by Green Party nominee Stein on Friday. Elias said the campaign will follow the same approach in Michigan and Pennsylvania if Stein pursues recounts in those states.

 

Ministry of Conformity, Inequity & Exclusion | 28 Nov 2016 | "A New York University Professor [CLG Founder, Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D.] was forced to go on paid leave for the rest of the semester for tweeting out against PC culture. The University's Ministry of Conformity, Inequity & Exclusion said the professor was guilty of illogic and incivility!" (Must-see video)

 

Great Smoky Mountains fires leave three dead, 'scene of destruction' | 29 Nov 2016 | Local officials said on Tuesday that "the worst is over" for two small Tennessee resort towns in the Great Smoky Mountains where wildfires killed three people, destroyed or damaged more than 100 homes and forced thousands to flee...The flames, driven to the outskirts of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge overnight by hurricane-force winds and fed by drought-parched brush, forced 14,000 people to flee and sent three to hospitals with severe burns, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said. Three people were killed in the wildfires, the agency said, and a total of 14 people injured.

 

*****

CLG needs your support.

http://www.legitgov.org/donate.html

Or, please mail a check or m*ney order to CLG: Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG) 
P.O. Box 1142 
Bristol, CT 06011-1142 
Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible.

Feel free -- and CLG encourages you -- to forward this newsletter to your lists and friends!
Those who wish to be added to the list can go here: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name.  Please add clg_news@legitgov.org to your contacts or approved senders list. For subscription questions, pls. write signup at legitgov dot org.

 

CLG News Managing Editor: Lori Price. Copyright © 2016, Citizens for Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved.