SpyTalk: August 8, 2010 - August 14, 2010

Iranians flooding an overwhelmed U.S. Embassy in Turkey

Apart from maybe nuclear-armed Pakistan and India, it’s hard to imagine an American diplomatic mission more important to the United States than Turkey, a Near East tinderbox and “a frontline state in countering narcotics, human trafficking, organized crime, money laundering,...

By Jeff Stein  | August 13, 2010; 10:45 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (21)
Categories:  Foreign policy, Homeland Security, Intelligence, Military  
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New intelligence on Iran antiaircraft missiles in Afghanistan

An intelligence report recently delivered to the NDS, Afghanistan’s domestic intelligence agency, says that Iran has supplied fresh batteries for some three dozen shoulder-fired SA-7 missiles stockpiled by Taliban forces in Kandahar, in anticipation of a U.S. attack. Although uncorroborated,...

By Jeff Stein  | August 12, 2010; 3:17 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (12)
Categories:  Intelligence, Military  
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Of 2,000 civil liberties complaints, Justice Dept. investigates one

Nearly 2,000 civil liberties complaints were filed against Justice Department officials and employees in the first six months of 2010, but only one was deemed worthy of further investigation by the department’s inspector general, a report released Tuesday said. The...

By Jeff Stein  | August 11, 2010; 1:40 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Homeland Security, Justice/FBI, Lawandcourts  
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Ex-spies ponder N. Korean missile sale to Taliban

CIA-supplied Stinger missiles proved to be a game-changer for mujaheddin rebels fighting the Soviet Red Army in Afghanistan 25 years ago, so why aren’t their sons using shoulder-fired weapons to down NATO helicopters there today? According to one of the...

By Jeff Stein  | August 10, 2010; 5:27 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (13)
Categories:  Intelligence, Military  
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Letitia Long takes helm of Pentagon intelligence agency

Stella Rimington needn’t worry about Letitia Long stealing her thunder. The former head of Britain’s MI5 countersubversion agency, now the successful author of five spy thrillers and a memoir, is nearly a household name in the United Kingdom, not to...

By Jeff Stein  | August 9, 2010; 3:49 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (14)
Categories:  Intelligence  
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