Today, Voice of America News reports that the Department of Homeland Security has opened a new National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. The center will be focused on averting cybersecurity breaches by hackers and state actors.
Assistant Secretary of Cybersecurity and Communications, Gregory Schaffer, said that this center will improve the efficiency and effectivness of US cybersecurity measures.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a sharp rebuke of Pakistan’s efforts against al Qaeda. Speaking to a group a Pakistani journalist while on a fence-mending tour of the country, Clinton said she found it “hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn’t get them if they really wanted to.” Though the main purpose of her visit was to improve strained relations, Clinton also criticized Pakistan’s military establishment and tax practices. Mrs. Clinton’s tour of Pakistan comes at a time of heavy criticism of U.S. drone strikes in the western region of Pakistan which some believe violate Pakistan’s sovereignty. Read more at the Los Angeles Times.
In a deal signed Friday between negotiators for ousted president Manuel Zelaya and the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti, Zelaya will be allowed to return and finish up the last three months of his presidential term. Normal elections will be held on Nov. 29, and neither Zelaya nor Micheletti will run for office. Also, the electoral court will take over control of the army, and a truth counsel will be established to investigate events that lead to the coup.
60 soldiers and police officers, including 13 high-ranking officers, were detained today in regards to the twin bombings this past Sunday, Oct. 24. The government is clear that they are being detained, not arrested, as this point, and was not clear if they are suspected of involvement of the bombing or if they are detained because of negligence in their duties.
Iran told the United Nations that it plans to not accept an agreement that its negotiators agreed to last week. The plan had called for Iran to remove its uranium stockpile from the country. They would have been left with some uranium, but not enough for a nuclear weapon. This comes after very positive remarks by Iranian President Ahmadinejad, in which he declared that the country was ready to cooperate with the West in regards to its nuclear capabilities. Read further at New York Times.
The UN General Assembly voted to condemn the US embargo of Cuba on Wednesday. The resolution passed 187-3, with only Israel, Palau, and the United States opposing it. This marks the 18th year in a row that the UN has passed a resolution criticizing the American embargo of Cuba. Read more at CNN.com.
On Tuesday, Philip Alston, a UN Special Rapporteur, voiced concerns about the international legal basis for unmanned drone killings on the Afghan border.
AU Law’s own Professor Kenneth Anderson has provided prior scholarship on international law related to targeted killings. Recently, he’s also blogged on this particular story at OpinioJuris.org. In these last two documents, Professor Anderson argues that the drone program is perfectly legal, as the United States is legitimately acting in its own self-defense.
Should the Obama Administration, as Anderson suggests, assert such legal bases more clearly? This is a compelling argument, especially if the program is, on the merits, the best method for narrowly targeting terrorists and avoiding innocents.
Although we hear a lot about IEDs in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, global use of improvised explosive devises (IEDs) is on the rise. According to a study published in the New York Times, the number of IEDs exploded or discovered worldwide rose from 3,267 in 2006 to 4,027 in 2007 to 4,273 in 2008.
The federal government charged former state department official turned lobbyinst, Robert J. Cabelly, with violating U.S. sanctions by illegally representing the Sudanese government. A federal indictment accuses Cabelly of money laundering, passport fraud, making false statements and working as an unregistered agent of Sudan. According to the indictment, Cabelly’s illegal representation of Sudan earned him hundreds of thousands of dollars which the Sudanese government directly deposited into accounts in the Cook Islands. Cabelly worked on Africa issues for the State Department in the eighties and nineties and took on the authorized role of lobbying for Sudan under the Bush Administration. Cabelly terminated the contract and waiver to work with Sudan, but apparently continued to covertly advise the Sudanese government and engage in commercial activities on behalf of Sudan. Cabelly’s interaction with Sudan violated the trade embargo imposed against Sudan in 1997 and continued by the Obama Administration. The U.S. instigated the 1997 trade embargo to pressure Khartoum into ending the genocide in Darfur and to stop aiding and abetting terrorist groups.
For more information see: State Department Official Turned Lobbyist Is Accused of Illegally Working for Sudan.
The Jerusalem Post reports that Syrian President Bashar Assad announced on Wednesday that Syria is ready to resume peace talks with Israel. Assad commended Turkey for its mediation and encouraged European countries to contribute as well.
National Security News
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