Stories related to: US intelligence

The Bush administration distorted facts in justifying the invasion of Iraq and overstated Saddam Hussein’s links to al-Qaeda, a long-delayed report from the Senate intelligence committee concludes. Bush and his advisers also ignored doubts about Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction in constructing their case for military action, Reuters reports. More »

Richard Armitage rarely saw eye-to-eye with the Bush administration on the Iraq war, but these days he may be more sanguine. That’s because Armitage has profited handsomely from his own national security consulting firm, as well stakes in a dozen private defense and intelligence companies that do business with the CIA, NSA, and others. Across Washington, top spies and officials are jumping to private sector gigs, writes Tim Shorrock in his new book Spies for Hire. More »

A cache of computer files found on a dead Colombian guerrilla leader's laptops implicates Hugo Chávez in arms deals with the FARC rebels. The Wall Street Journal reports that Colombian and American intelligence agencies, which came into possession of about 100 files, have no doubt of their authenticity. Both FARC and the Venezuelan president claim that they are counterfeit. More »

The 6-year NATO campaign in Afghanistan is failing, the US intelligence chief told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week. Mike McConnell said Harmid Karzai’s US-backed government controls only about 30% of the country, with the Taliban holding another 10%, and the rest under tribal rule. Security, meanwhile, is “deteriorating” as the Taliban adopts Iraqi guerrillas' tactics. More »

Turkey bombed Kurdish rebel targets in Northern Iraq today, claiming strikes on "infrastructure" but no fatalities, the BBC reports. Ten planes reportedly attacked the al-Amadiyah region, which Kurdish officials say is abandoned for fear of military strikes. Turkish officials said the militant PKK "suffered heavy losses in terms of its infrastructure and its human resources." More »

Turkey launched its first air strike since 2003 on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq early this morning, targeting a mountainous region near the Turkish border where the government says the PKK has its leadership council and camps. About 50 warplanes were used in the offensive, the AP reports, which lasted just over three hours. More »

Whether or not Al Qaeda has regained its pre-9/11 operational capacity,  the terrorist group has certainly beefed up its PR. Al Qaeda’s media arm has released at least 63 audio and video messages this year, compared with 58 for all of 2006, according to AP figures. And they're are slicker, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More »