Pentagon Gunman ‘Had Gone off the Deep End,’ According to Friends, Writings
In recent years, in conversations with friends and in Internet writings and audio postings, which appear to be his, Bedell spoke often and at length about social issues and what he saw as attacks on personal liberty. He was especially irked by criminal penalties for marijuana use, said Reb Monaco, who has known Bedell since Bedell was a child. Bedell had not expressed hostility towards the military, Monaco said

Parents of Pentagon Shooter Reportedly Warned Authorities About Him
San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill told the AP the parents of John Patrick Bedell filed a missing persons report and were worried about his mental stability. After reading an e-mail from their son to an acquaintance, the parents told deputies they were worried that he had purchased a gun.

Pentagon Shooter Acted Alone
The man who opened fire at the entrance to the Pentagon Thursday evening, shooting two Pentagon officers before being shot, acted alone and is not believed to have any ties to domestic or international terrorism, Pentagon Police Chief Richard Keevill said Friday morning.

John Patrick Bedell: Rants on Wikipedia and YouTube May Have Foreshadowed Breakdown
A Wikipedia entry linked to Bedell, posted under the name JPatrickBedell, says that he intended to “see that justice is served in the death of Colonel James Sabow, as a step toward establishing the truth of events such as the September 11 demolitions and institutions such as the coup regime of 1963 that maintains itself in power through the global drug trade, financial corruption, and murder, among other crimes.”

Pentagon Shooter: Another Violent Anti-Government Loon?
The Internet Archive has a series of deranged audio files by “JPatrickBedell:” Internet Archive: Free Download: Directions to Freedom, part two (25 November 2006).

Pentagon Shooter: Anti-Bush Nut Case and 9/11 Truther
Internet research shows that the guy was a 9/11 Truther and an anti-Bush nut case.

John Patrick Bedell, Pentagon Shooter Photos
21 photos from the scene.

J. Patrick Bedell’s Amazon Profile
Reading list – More than a little paranoia to be found here.

Suspected Pentagon Gunman Outlined Theories Online
As a reader of the blog Media Elites pointed out on Friday, the YouTube channel jpbedell2006 includes just one uploaded video, “Introduction to Information Currency.” In the video, embedded at the top of this post, the user, speaking directly to a camera, describes “information currency” as his “invention,” and says, “We will be able to use it in order to better manage the huge amount of information that’s available today and also to make more money from the information that we create and release to the public.” The video goes on to describe — in a somewhat uncanny fashion to a news blogger coming across this video today — how items like YouTube videos created by one person might later be purchased by “specialists who want to identify important information… and make a profit by reselling” access to those videos.

Stop Playing Games, MSM. John Patrick Bedell was a Registered Democrat
www.Electorates.us has 180 million registered voter records available online (thanks to Anne Horrigan). Thirty-six-year-old John Patrick Bedell’s voter registration records in Hollister, CA are available for any journalist before he/she goes off and labels him a “right-wing extremist.” Guess which party he registered under in 2005 and was actively registered under as of 2008? DEMOCRAT.

Worth Watching: Tweets about John Patrick Bedell

Former MI6 Spy in Court Accused of Stealing Secrets
Daniel Houghton, 25, who was arrested on Monday at a central London hotel, worked for the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, between September 2007 and May last year.

Hamas Founder’s Son ‘Spied for Israel’
In a new book, Mosab Hassan Yousef said that after being released by the Israelis following his arrest in 1996, he began to supply intelligence to Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet. He gave them information about suicide bombers and key leaders of both Hamas and its rival, Fatah.

Hezbollah Boosts Security Amid Spy Scare
Hezbollah has beefed up security following the arrest of several suspected Israeli spies and the assassination of a top operative from Hamas in Dubai on Jan. 19, allegedly by Israel’s foreign intelligence service, the Mossad. The Iranian-backed Shiite movement was a prime target for as many as 25 undercover Mossad cells across Lebanon that were rolled up last year in an unprecedented crackdown that began in November 2008.

Is Iran’s Cyberwar Sustainable?
During protests last month to mark the anniversary of Iran’s Islamic republic, the Revolutionary Guard was able to handicap demonstrations with a nationwide shutdown of Internet and cell phone access. After being scattered into smaller groups, unable to spread word of their organizing destination or warnings about arrests, the opposition became an easy target for thousands of riot police.

Epic Cyber War (Full Story): Japan V.S Korea
Information is power, according to Sun Tzu knowing all information regarding war is benefitial to your steps toward “victory” and it is evidently true from observing this timeline of events.

Details of “Einstein” Cyber Shield Disclosed by White House
The Obama administration lifted the veil Tuesday on a highly-secretive set of policies to defend the U.S. from cyber attacks. It was an open secret that the National Security Agency was bolstering a Homeland Security program to detect and respond to cyber attacks on government systems, but a summary of that program declassified Tuesday provides more details of NSA’s role in a Homeland program known as Einstein.

Cracking the Code for Crystal-Powered Super Spooks
Imagine coming up with a way to power an iPod by converting the energy from walking or jogging into electricity. That’s the idea behind new nano-technology research funded by the U.S. intelligence community that could potentially turn spies into self-powered electricity machines.

NYPD Hercules Unit Staging Anti-Terrorism Exercise at Alice Tully Hall
The NYPD Special Operations Division is staging an anti-terrorism exercise at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center this morning. The drill was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue for a few hours.

Hugo Chávez and Terrorism
Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez has been exporting his “Bolivarian” revolution from the day he came to power 11 years ago. This week, a Spanish judge opened a window on the methods that revolution allegedly entails.

BA Worker Quizzed in Newcastle Terrorism Inquiry
A British Airways worker is being questioned on suspicion of terrorist fund-raising after being arrested at the company’s offices in Newcastle.

Worth Watching: DoDLiveMil

Six More British Passports Used in Dubai Assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
An official statement given to The Times in Dubai today listed the six new British names, as well as three more Irish passport-holders, three French and three Australian. All the new suspects are thought to have been using phoney passports as a result of identity theft.

After Iran Gets the Bomb
The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to become the world’s tenth nuclear power. It is defying its international obligations and resisting concerted diplomatic pressure to stop it from enriching uranium. It has flouted several UN Security Council resolutions directing it to suspend enrichment and has refused to fully explain its nuclear activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Even a successful military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities would delay Iran’s program by only a few years, and it would almost certainly harden Tehran’s determination to go nuclear. The ongoing political unrest in Iran could topple the regime, leading to fundamental changes in Tehran’s foreign policy and ending its pursuit of nuclear weapons. But that is an outcome that cannot be assumed. If Iran’s nuclear program continues to progress at its current rate, Tehran could have the nuclear material needed to build a bomb before U.S. President Barack Obama’s current term in office expires.

State Department Lifts Ban on Exports of Night-Vision Goggles
The State Department’s decision on ITT Corp., a defense contractor that makes military-grade goggles, monoculars and gun sights capable of seeing through darkness, followed the company’s plan to prevent future export violations, as well as its cooperation with the government’s investigation, administration officials said.

Gates Names First Woman to Head Major Intel Agency
The next director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will be the first woman to head a major intelligence agency, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday. Letitia Long, currently the Defense Intelligence Agency’s deputy director, will take over NGA this summer, Gates said. Navy Vice Adm. Robert Murrett, the current NGA director, will stay on for several months to ensure a smooth transition.

Women to Serve on Subs, Gates Tells Congress
The Navy plans to repeal its ban on women serving on submarines, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has informed Congress. Gates signed a letter Feb. 19 informing Congress of the Navy’s plan to lift the policy, which it intends to do through the phased-in assignment of women to submarines, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed today. The secretary endorsed the plan, the brainchild of Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Morrell said.

Taliban Capture Raises Hopes of Pakistan Shift
The capture of a second high-level leader of the Afghan Taliban by Pakistani authorities has raised the prospect that Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, long accused by the U.S. of ties with Islamist extremists, has begun to turn on an organization it once cultivated.

CIA Briefed 68 Lawmakers on Interrogation Program
CIA officials briefed at least 68 U.S. lawmakers between 2001 and 2007 on enhanced interrogation methods like simulated drowning that were being considered or used against captured al Qaeda members, according to declassified documents released on Tuesday.

Nuclear weapons, Iran and the NPT
Yesterday I met Yukiya Amano, the new Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). His latest report, released this week, is very clear – Iran’s programme is of grave concern. They have also defied the UN and the IAEA by enriching uranium to 20%.

Pakistani US Envoy Denies Blackwater’s Presence
Pakistan Ambassador to the US asserts that there is no evidence of a ‘Blackwater’ presence in his country and no license has been issued to the notorious American security firm.

Blackwater in Kabul, or Eric Cartman Gets an AK-47
The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing today on Paravant, a previously little-known subsidiary of Xe Services (a.k.a. Blackwater). It caps a six-month investigation by the committee, and it promises to be a doozy. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the Democratic chair of the committee, met with reporters yesterday to give a sneak preview. According to a statement released last night by Levin, the investigation revealed “failures in U.S. government oversight” that allowed employees of Blackwater — sorry, Paravant (Levin said he saw “no meaningful distinction between the two”) — to go buck wild in Afghanistan.

Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/02/blackwater-in-kabul-or-eric-cartman-gets-an-ak-47/#ixzz0gSviXGTO

Eye Opener: Homeland Security has More Contractors than Feds
The department estimates it employs 200,000 contractors and roughly 188,000 federal employees, a total that does not include uniformed members of the Coast Guard.

We Would Lose Cyberwar says Former DNI Mike McConnell
In a hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, former DNI Mike McConnell, of Booz Allen, told legislators that “If the nation went to war today, in a cyberwar, we would lose. We’re the most vulnerable. We’re the most connected. We have the most to lose.”

Jones: NATO Must be Lean, Agile, and Flexible
In a provocative closed door session yesterday, National Security Advisor Jim Jones proclaimed that “NATO must be prepared to address, deny, and deter the full spectrum of threats, whether emanating from within Europe, at NATO’s boundaries, or far beyond NATO’s borders.” When Jones talks NATO, people listen. He’s a former Supreme Allied Commander and Atlantic Council chairman and has more than four decades of experience in the international security arena. And, when he addressed the Washington Strategic Concept Seminar yesterday, he had a lot to say.

Osprey Marjah Recon Raid Revealed
No photos from the raid were available at the time, but just today the PAOs over there at Leatherneck posted the first shots from the Feb. 19 raid. One thing to remember is that the Osprey has a slightly smaller cargo compartment than a 46 — or at least it feels smaller when you’re flying in it — and I’ll tell you, the way that thing arcs up out of the zone, I always felt like I or my gear was going to roll right out the back of the ramp.

Radio – Armed with Science – Upcoming Show: 2/24/2010 1:00 PM
The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, more commonly known as “HAARP,” is a joint Air Force and Navy research program to enhance our knowledge of the physics of the ionosphere and radio science. The ionosphere, an upper atmosphere layer between about 60 and 200 miles in altitude, contains charged particles created by solar activity. These charged particles can impact long-range communications and space operations.

Worth Watching: BostonMaggie

Exclusive: Cyber Attacks will ‘Catastrophically’ Spook Public, Warns GCHQ
“A successful cyber attack against public services would have a catastrophic impact on public confidence in the government, even if the actual damage caused by the attack were minimal,” it adds. The warning forms part of a preliminary “horizon scanning” report produced by the new unit, which is scheduled to begin operations next month. Its job will be to continually monitor internet security, producing intelligence on botnets, denial of service attacks and other digital threats to national security. CSOC was established by last summer’s Cyber Security Strategy. With an initial staff of 19 and funded from GCHQ’s budget of hundreds of millions of pounds, it reports to the equally-nascent Office of Cyber Security within the Cabinet Office, which coordinates digital national security policy across Whitehall.

Now Hiring: Spy Agencies Seeking a Few Good Brains
As job losses continue to mount in almost all areas of the economy, there is one sector that is still busily hiring: U.S. security agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the CIA and the NSA. But tough-guy types need not apply. What these organizations need is a few good minds. Hoping to help fill the growing demand for qualified cybersecurity experts, Brigham Young University’s math department is recruiting students for classes in cryptography with a simple slogan: “Fight Terrorism.”

Israel and the Dubai Murder Mystery
No country that faces the threat of foreign terrorism on the scale that Israel does can afford to entirely renounce the use of targeted assassinations, despite the ethical and legal problems that such executions raise. But such acts need to be extremely rare. In the case of Israel, such operations require the explicit approval of the prime minister, and they are authorized only after the political risks are carefully weighed. In the case of Dubai, it seems that this did not occur. Either the risks were not explained to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, or he made a serious miscalculation.

Germany Arrests Three Alleged Fund-Raisers for Terrorism
German police have arrested two men and a woman for allegedly raising funds and remitting them to the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a group affiliated with al-Qaeda, prosecutors said Monday. The three were picked up on Saturday in the southern city of Ulm and the capital Berlin. A man, 31, was later granted bail. The other man, 20, and the woman, 28, were remanded in custody. All are German nationals of foreign extraction.

Under Plan, Intelligence Agencies Would be Consulted Before Reading of Rights
The Justice Department and the FBI will consult with the intelligence community on information about terrorism suspects arrested in the United States before deciding whether to read them their Miranda rights under a plan now under review in the White House, according to senior administration officials.

Poland Admits Role in CIA Rendition Programme
Warsaw air control service confirms that at least six CIA flights landed at disused military air base in northern Poland in 2003

Experts Call Austin Plane Crash a ‘Cathartic Outburst,’ not Terrorism
To be an act of terrorism, “there has to be some political motive and it has to send a broader message that seeks some policy change,” Georgetown University professor Bruce Hoffman said. “From what I’ve heard, that doesn’t appear to be the case. It appears he was very mad at the [IRS] and this was a cathartic outburst of violence. His motivation was the key.”

Military Launches Afghanistan Intelligence-Gathering Mission
On their first day of class in Afghanistan, the new U.S. intelligence analysts were given a homework assignment. First read a six-page classified military intelligence report about the situation in Spin Boldak, a key border town and smuggling route in southern Afghanistan. Then read a 7,500-word article in Harper’s magazine, also about Spin Boldak and the exploits of its powerful Afghan border police commander. The conclusion they were expected to draw: The important information would be found in the magazine story. The scores of spies and analysts producing reams of secret documents were not cutting it.

Terrorism Focus of Talks with Pakistan: Nirupama Rao
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Monday said India’s concern about terrorism would be its main focus at the forthcoming talks with Pakistan this week.

Intel community gets new CHCO
Paula Roberts, the head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s human development directorate, will be the next chief human capital officer of the intelligence community. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said Roberts will oversee the design, development and execution of human resource strategies and policies to support the 16 agencies in the intelligence community.

Intelligence director Blair in Kansas
National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair is in Kansas to give an update on the United State’s efforts to detect and deter terrorists. Blair will speak Monday afternoon at Kansas State University as part of its Landon Lecture series.

Falklands Suffer the First Argentine Attack of the 2010 Cyber War
The Falkland Islands suffered a first cyber-war attack from Argentine hackers who hijacked the website of the Falkland Islands’ weekly, Penguin New, posting reasons why the disputed Islands should belong to Argentina rather than Britain.

Worth Watching: WebSecurityNews

Wikipedia Bio: Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
Mahmoud Abdel Rauf al-Mabhouh (February 14, 1960 – January 19, 2010) was a senior Hamas military commander and one of the founders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Al-Mabhouh was assassinated in the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai on January 19, 2010, having arrived in the country earlier that day from Syria. It is suspected by Dubai police that he was murdered in his own hotel room, with accounts of the cause of death ranging from suffocation to electrocution. A controversy over the murder has arisen over speculation that it was an Israeli government sanctioned assassination

Israeli Envoys Meet British, Irish officials over Dubai Killing
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the government was determined to get to the bottom of the passport issue in the international murder mystery, in which the official was killed last month in his Dubai hotel room.

Miliband Denies Going Soft on Israel over ‘Mossad’ Killing
The Foreign Secretary insisted today that Britain was not “going through the motions” over the cloning of six British passports in a suspected Mossad assassination after Israel’s Ambassador denied he was rebuked by the Government.

Miliband: Israel Must ‘Cooperate Fully’ in Fake Passport Probe
Israel’s ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, Zion Evroni, said Wednesday that he too had received a summons from the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs and would be meet Minister Michael Martin on Thursday. In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry officials declined to comment on the matter, but an Israeli diplomat said on condition of anonymity that the government has decided to withhold a public statement until the British message is received, and would then choose how to respond.

Six More Hunted in Dubai Assassination
The identities of the new six have not yet been made public, but among the group there is thought to be at least one more female in addition to the woman originally identified as “Gail Folliard from Ireland”, until the Irish authorities said that no such person existed. The second, as yet unnamed woman, was caught on CCTV camera following al-Mabhouh to his hotel room and identifying him at close quarters, before other members of the team moved in for the kill. She had arrived at the hotel dressed as a tourist and wearing a large summer hat and was accompanied by a large man in a Panama hat and beard.

France Demands Israel Explain Dubai Passport Affair
“We are asking for explanations from Israel’s embassy in France over the circumstances of the use of a fake French passport in the assassination of a Hamas member in Dubai,” the Foreign Ministry said in an electronic news briefing.

UK, Ireland Envoys: ‘Nothing to Add’
Ambassador Zion Evrony said after the hour-long meeting he had nothing useful to tell Ireland because he knew nothing confidential about the Dubai assassination.

Analysis: Dubai Hit Was Not a Botched Job
Irrespective of who carried out the January 19 assassination of senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, the operation was meticulously planned and successfully executed, and despite a surprisingly impressive investigation by Dubai police, the hit cannot be considered a botched job.

Analysis: Long-Term Fallout with UK from Dubai Hit Unlikely
While the British government (and the governments of France and Ireland, whose passports were also reportedly used in the operation) will be understandably angry, past experience shows that disputes in this area tend to be treated as belonging to the special, sealed-off category of ‘national security.’ Where states have good reasons to maintain healthy ties with one another, such incidents are rarely allowed to muddy the waters for long.

‘Israelis with Names on Assassins’ Passports not Protected’
Israeli law protects citizens from privacy violations, but not necessarily that of the seven Israelis whose names appeared on passports allegedly used by the team that assassinated Mabhouh.

Worth Watching: haaretzonline