Glenn Greenwald has called out National Public Radio in a recent interview for a story by Dina Temple-Raston for a story that it aired on how a study had found “tangible evidence” that leaks by Edward Snowden had harmed security by showing terrorists that they have to develop more sophisticated encryption programs. However, that study was the work of a firm named “Recorded Future,” which Greenwald claims has been funded by the CIA to the tune of millions of dollars. Greenwald chastises Temple-Raston and NPR for not informing listeners that the source is a CIA funded outfit. He accuses NPR of essentially airing CIA talking points.
The company released a report called “How Al-Qaeda Uses Encryption Post-Snowden” in two parts in May and August on how “Snowden leaks influencing Al-Qaeda’s crypto product innovation.”
Temple-Raston responded to the release with a story entitled Big Data Firm Says It Can Link Snowden Data To Changed Terrorist Behavior. She interviewed Recorded Future’s CEO and co-founder Christopher Ahlberg who said that they began to delve more deeply into the issue when “We saw at least three major product releases coming out with different organizations with al-Qaida and associated organizations fairly quickly after the Snowden disclosures.” She reported:
As it turns out, Recorded Future and Reversing Labs discovered that al-Qaida didn’t just tinker at the edges of its seven-year-old encryption software; it overhauled it. The new programs no longer use much of what’s known as “homebrew,” or homemade algorithms. Instead, al-Qaida has started incorporating more sophisticated open-source code to help disguise its communications.
Greenwald calls the failure to inform listeners of the CIA connection “a pure and indisputable case of journalistic malpractice and deceit.” He also notes that stories running back to 2001 detail how al-Qaeda was fully aware of the need to develop more advanced forms of encryption. I cannot find any response from NPR to the allegations.
The cause and effect relationship of the report can clearly be challenged given the continual reports of U.S. intelligence interceptions before and after the Snowden disclosures. That makes the connection and possible funding of the CIA more problematic if true. I do believe that, if Greenwald is correct and this firm receives such a high level of funding from the CIA, it should have been disclosed.
Recorded Future takes on an ominous sound if it is, as Greenwald claims, a company that has received millions from the CIA. He alleges that “the investment arm of the CIA, In-Q-Tel, sits on the board of this company, and the researcher on whom they rely himself is the head of a company in a strategic partnership with the CIA.” The company’s motto is “creating an insightful world.”
Oh by the way, great hijack of this thread. Are we in Cuba yet?
There was no looting last night.
MikeA, The President spoke about the looting and how that hurts where the focus should be. There are too many enablers here. The instant offense[shooting] is getting PLENTY of attention in the MSM. There’s just a lot of enabling going on here. I was pleased to see the prez was not enabling.
Whenever people gather to protest, there is always a possibility that some will take advantage of the opportunity to break the law. The all too typical response from many in such instances is to voice concern over the loss of property and ignore entirely what lay behind the protest. This is what has happened in Ferguson, Missouri. We will hear many complaints about law and order, but few will wish to seriously discuss the underlying issues. What we have observed in Ferguson is not policing, but military occupation, complete with the unilateral imposition of de facto martial law. Perhaps the Ferguson police department needs to be disbanded, beginning with the chief of police, and rebuilt from scratch.
Until someone w/ more credibility, wisdom and stature becomes a leader in the black community, guys like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson will always show up and stoke the flames of hatred. I heard a local black minister interviewed on the radio. He was MUCH more credible and reasonable. But, Sharpton has the forum w/ MSNBC. Pitiful.
I believe that the profession of journalism has suffered severely, in that it is now the norm for journalists to allow their own politics to affect their job. They give softball questions for politicians they support, and they look the other way on their scandals.
The media is not supposed to be a propaganda machine.
And NPR should not be publicly funded if it has any political bias. It is demonstrably Liberal, so it is unfair that it is supported in any way by taxpayers. It is no longer a public service, meant for everyone.
I would appreciate if the politics could be completely removed from NPR, and it returned to simply bringing the arts to the masses. NPR, as its name implies, should be for everyone, regardless of political affiliation.
I used to love NPR, but I finally had to stop listening. It’s offensive that our tax dollars are used for an openly biased program.
Citing “National Security” is the “means” to uphold our “ends” [constitutional democratic republic] – where the constitutional rule of law is supreme over all branches and level of government officials.
How can an agency destroy the U.S. Constitution in order to preserve, protect and defend that same U.S. Constitution.
Loyalty should be the top requirement for any official dealing in intelligence, military or police work – they agree to a contract [oath of office] that their top loyalty in their job duties/authorities is to the U.S. Constitution – they agreed to it as a condition of employment.
Maxcat, the comments and the hatred has ratcheted up, no doubt about. Allegations by some commenters toward other commenters about their parenting skills, their marriage status, their ethnicity, calling others “cultists” and “victims” on a daily basis, even calling others unAmerican, it’s gotten very ugly indeed. Some want Americans to join together against overreach by government and police, but honestly, I doubt it’s possible. We seem to hate each other way to much to ever get together to affect change. Years of divisive messaging has truly divided and conquered. I suspect there are powerful forces who are finding it all very amusing.
Paul C.
That “IF” is the first step up the ladder of your slippery slidy slope.
Max-1 – statistically we know that more crime is committed by blacks by population than whites (forget reasons for the moment). Therefore, if police take arrest records into account when thinking about hiring police applicants, then by population, fewer blacks would be eligible. Whether we like it or not, blacks, as a group, test lower than whites and Asians. Hence, if testing was an issue, it is possible they did not makethe cut
Annie,
Isn’t that Civil Rights pic wonderfully revealing?
Post racial America… John Roberts, eat your heart out!
maxcat, Even the poetry has a hateful tone.
As I am writing this, word is coming in of a video that supports both the testimony of the young man who was with the victim in Ferguson, and the young woman who watched from her balcony. There is no video being shown, so this is unsubstantiated, but there appears to be more weight on the side of the victim, and far less on the policeman.
John Oliver and others commenting on looters: yes, it’s wrong. It was wrong in Watts, it was wrong in New Orleans (of course, when whites took things, they were “getting essentials”). It, in the end, too, generally hurts the community where the looters are looting, as it’s generally their own. Yet, I understand the complete and total rage, frustration and feeling of impotence. I read the comments here, and as a 63 year old white woman I feel them. The smugness, the righteousness, the snarkiness. I know that this original thread isn’t even about Ferguson, but you all had to go there, didn’t you? If you wanted to keep it about the press and Ferguson, that would have been staying on topic, but no; it had to go to the looters and the President being on vacation (I will post his total vacation days vs. Bush’s if you like). Same as every other topic.
Don’t reply to me. If you want to reply about my post, fine, but I won’t be reading them, or any other of Professor Turley’s posts. You see, I’m drawn to comments, and I used to love the ones here. They were from bright, ‘lawyerly’ type people. Now they’re from haters.
John Oliver, Sounds right.
SWM,
Is this a logic challenge? I’m sure I’m missing something here.
A. The fact all people have the right to protest does not mean all people are protesters.
B. The fact businesses were looted does not mean it was done by protesters.
The only conclusion that is provable is some people protested and some people looted.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/hank-johnson-stop-militarizing-law-enforcement-act ”
Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson proposed legislation on Thursday aimed at demilitarizing domestic police forces, amid national criticism of heavily armed cops going after protesters in Ferguson, Mo.
“Our main streets should be a place for business, families, and relaxation, not tanks and M16s,” the Democratic congressman wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter to members of Congress. “Unfortunately … our local police are quickly beginning to resemble paramilitary forces.”
The Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act would prevent the transfer of certain military-grade equipment from the Department of Defense to local law enforcement agencies. That includes some automatic weapons, armored vehicles, armored drones, silencers and flash-bang or stun grenades.
Johnson boasted endorsements from the Friends Committee on National Legislation, American Civil Liberties Union and Defending Dissent Foundation.
“Before another small town’s police force gets a $700,000 gift from the Defense Department that it can’t maintain or manage, it behooves us to reign in the Pentagon’s 1033 program and revisit the merits of a militarized America. I hope we can work together on this important issue,” he wrote to colleagues.” Hopefully, it will get bi-partisan support.
oops protesters
Were the protestors looting last night?
Are you saying the protestors were looters?
Looting is usually considered a shooting offense in most states. If you are looting you can expect to be shot and killed.
maxcat06 – it is not unusual for a thread to get off-topic and stay off topic or have several topics running simultaneously.
SWM,
Aren’t protesters in violation of the law if they loot in the process? I’m not understanding your point.
SWM,
I don’t know yet, are all the “facts” in? I wouldn’t be surprised if the officer believed his life was in imminent danger and I wouldn’t be surprised if the shooting was unprovoked. In either case I wouldn’t be surprised if the officer ended up on death row or given a medal. Justice in America today is as predictable as the weather.