Peas in a podcast: Devouring the past
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NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
US Spy Chief Accuses Obama Of "Conspiracy". Ex-CIA Official Hits Back
A former CIA official who led the intelligence assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 election has slammed Tulsi Gabbard's claims of a "treasonous conspiracy" against Donald Trump, calling them false and uninformed. Susan Miller, who served as the CIA's head of counter-intelligence at the time, said Gabbard's accusations against former US president Barack Obama and his national security team were "based on false statements and basic misrepresentations." Tulsi Gabbard, now Director of National Intelligence, has accused Obama-era officials of "manufacturing" intelligence to make it appear that Russian President Vladimir Putin supported Trump's 2016 campaign. She claims the objective was to delegitimise Trump's win and initiate a prolonged effort to undermine his presidency. Speaking to The Guardian, Miller said that her team's findings were based on multiple verified sources and legitimate intelligence practices. Miller, who is not mentioned in Gabbard's report, said she felt compelled to speak publicly. "My reputation and my team's reputation is on the line," she said. "Tulsi comes out and doesn't use my name... but basically says this was all wrong and made up." Miller, a 39-year CIA veteran, also questioned Gabbard's qualifications to challenge the intelligence community's work. "Has she ever met a Russian agent?" she asked. "Has she ever given diamonds to a Russian who's giving us, you know? Has she ever walked on the streets of Moscow to do a dead drop? Has she ever handled an agent? No. She's never done any of that. She clearly doesn't understand this." Miller and members of her former team have hired legal representation to protect themselves against potential charges. Miller is now represented by defence attorney Mark Zaid. The matter has been referred to Attorney General Pam Bondi, who recently announced a Justice Department "strike force" to investigate. Reports suggest Bondi was caught off guard by Gabbard's request. Gabbard has called for criminal charges against several former officials, including Obama himself. Obama has rejected the allegations as "outrageous and ridiculous," calling them a distraction from the Jeffrey Epstein files, which reportedly mention Trump. Former intelligence leaders James Clapper and John Brennan also refuted Gabbard's claims in a joint op-ed in The New York Times, calling her claims "patently false" and accusing her of attempting to "rewrite history."
Hans India
2 hours ago
- Hans India
'One of the nicest places I've run', Omar Abdullah praises Sabarmati riverfront during Gujarat visit
Ahmedabad: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, currently on a two-day visit to Gujarat to promote tourism in the Union Territory, took to social media to praise Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Riverfront, calling it 'one of the nicest places' he has run. CM Abdullah, who went for a morning jog along the popular promenade, is in the state to engage with tour operators and reconnect with a key domestic travel market following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that deeply impacted tourism in Kashmir. He wrote on X: While in #Ahmedabad for a tourism event I took advantage of being here to get my morning run at the famed Sabarmati River Front promenade. It's one of the nicest places I've been able to run & it was a pleasure to get to share it with so many other walkers/runners. I even managed to run past the amazing Atal Foot Bridge." The tweet set a lighter tone to a visit marked by a serious mission: rebuilding tourist confidence in Jammu and Kashmir following the April terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives, including several from Gujarat. The J&K CM, in the city for a major tourism outreach event, said the visit is part of efforts to restore Jammu and Kashmir's standing as a safe and welcoming destination. "Gujarat, along with Maharashtra and West Bengal, has always played a major role in Kashmir's tourism economy," said CM Abdullah, expressing hope that Gujarati tourists would soon return in large numbers. However, the visit also carried a strong political undertone. Addressing the media on July 30, Abdullah sharply criticised the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration over intelligence and security lapses linked to the Pahalgam attack. 'Even the Lieutenant Governor has admitted there was a failure. If that's the case, someone must be held accountable,' he said. While the three terrorists responsible have been eliminated, CM Abdullah pointed out that no action has yet been taken against the officials responsible for the lapses. He also questioned the Centre's claims post-Article 370 abrogation. 'They said terrorism would end after 370 was removed. It's been five years. Terrorists are still being killed. So what happened to those promises?' he asked. Earlier on Wednesday, he met Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in his office in Gandhinagar. The meeting focused on deepening inter-state relations, promoting tourism and sharing best practices for inclusive development.
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Business Standard
3 hours ago
- Business Standard
IS, al-Qaeda threat intense in Africa, with growing risks in Syria: UN
The threat from Islamic State and al-Qaeda extremists and their affiliates is most intense in parts of Africa, and risks are growing in Syria, which both groups view as a strategic base for external operations, UN experts said in a new report. Their report to the UN Security Council circulated Wednesday said West Africa's al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin group, known as JNIM, and East Africa's al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab have continued to increase the territory under their control. The experts monitoring sanctions against the two groups said the organisation's pivot towards parts of Africa continued" partly because of Islamic State losses in the Middle East due to counterterrorism pressures. There are also increasing concerns about foreign terrorist fighters returning to Central Asia and Afghanistan, aiming to undermine regional security, they said. The Islamic State also continues to represent the most significant threat to Europe and the Americas, the experts said, often by individuals radicalised via social media and encrypted messaging platforms by its Afghanistan-based Khorasan group. In the United States, the experts said several alleged terrorist attack plots were largely motivated by the Gaza and Israel conflict, or by individuals radicalised by IS, also known as ISIL. They pointed to an American who pledged support to IS and drove into a crowd in New Orleans on January 1, killing 14 people in the deadliest attack by al-Qaeda or the Islamic State in the US since 2016. In addition, they said, Authorities disrupted attacks, including an ISIL-inspired plot to conduct a mass shooting at a military base in Michigan, and the IS Khorasan affiliate issued warnings of plots targeting Americans. In Africa's Sahel region, the experts said, JNIM expanded its area of operations, operating with relative freedom in northern Mali and most of Burkina Faso. There was also a resurgence of activity by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, particularly along the Niger and Nigeria border, where the group was seeking to entrench itself. JNIM reached a new level of operational capability to conduct complex attacks with drones, improvised explosive devices and large numbers of fighters against well-defended barracks, the experts said. In East Africa, they said, al-Shabab maintained its resilience, intensifying operations in southern and central Somalia and continuing its ties with Yemen's Houthi rebels. The two groups have reportedly exchanged weapons and the Houthis have trained al-Shabab fighters, they said. Syria, the experts said, remains in a volatile and precarious phase, six months after the ouster of President Bashar Assad, with unnamed countries warning of growing risks posed by both IS and al-Qaeda. Member states estimated that more than 5,000 foreign terrorist fighters were involved in the military operation in which Damascus was taken on December 8, the experts' 27-page report said. Syria's new interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa led the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, once an al-Qaeda affiliate that later split from it. He has promised that the country will transition to a system that includes Syria's mosaic of religious and ethnic groups under fair elections, but sceptics question whether that will actually happen. The experts expressed concern at the Syrian military's announcement of several senior appointments including prominent Syrian armed faction leaders and six positions for foreigners three with the rank of brigadier general and three with the rank of colonel. The ideological affiliation of many of these individuals was unknown, although several were likely to hold violent extremist views and external ambitions," the report said. As for financing, the experts said the HTS takeover in Syria was considered to pose financial problems for the Islamic State and likely to lead to a decline in its revenues. Salaries for Islamic State fighters were reduced to USD 50-70 per month and USD 35 per family, lower than ever, and not paid regularly, suggesting financial difficulties, said the experts, who did not give previous salaries or family payments. They said both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State vary methods to obtain money according to locations and their ability to exploit resources, tax local communities, kidnap for ransom and exploit businesses. While the extremist groups predominantly move money through cash transfers and informal money transfer systems known as hawalas, the experts said the Islamic State has increasingly used female couriers and hawala systems where data is stored in the cloud to avoid detection, and safe drop boxes where money is deposited at exchange offices and can only be retrieved with a password or code.
