This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Foreign Policy

  • Yer “Private” Email Update

    Here’s the latest update on the Clintoon email server brouhaha.

    • Number of classified emails found on that “private” server? Now approaching 200 – 188 (125 + 63), to be precise.

    • How did that classified email get there?   Good question. Apparently, it  either “magically” moved between air-gapped systems or was deliberately moved to or created on State Department unclassified systems without proper markings.

    • But the State Department IT staff knew about Clintoon’s private server and gave their OK, right? In a word: no.

    • Oh and that private email server? It appears to have been on the same network – and maybe the same physical machine – as the Clinton Foundation email server.  Compromise one, you compromise both – and does anyone really think that the Clinton Foundation wasn’t high-profile enough to be a hacker target?   In any case, it’s a good bet that the network admins would have had access to both to some degree.

    • Some of the email on that server was, shall we say, “interesting” DoS business. One email apparently included a discussion of impeaching a sitting SCOTUS justice.

    Finally, in unrelated email news: a Federal judge has ruled that the IRS cannot refuse to produce White House emails relating to individual tax returns under the FOIA by refusing to say whether or not the records even exist. The IRS was apparently doing exactly that for FOIA requests relating to the IRS nonprofit scandal headed up by a lady named Lois Lerner.

     

    With apologies to the late Dezi Arnez, in his “Ricky Ricardo” role:  “Lois, Hill’ry – ladies, looks like you both got some ‘splainin’ to do!”

  • US: ISIS Used Chem Weapons Against Kurds

    US authorities have confirmed that ISIS used chemical weapons in an 11 August 2015 attack against Kurdish forces.

    After the attack, numerous Kurdish personnel became ill.  Kurdish forces obtained shell fragments from shells used by ISIS during the attack and provided them to the US for analysis.

    Preliminary analysis indicates that the shell fragments tested positive for agent HD – sulfur mustard.

    It is not known where ISIS obtained these agents.  Both Syrian and Iraqi stocks are a possibility, since ISIS has occupied large portions of each nation and both are reputed to have stockpiled chemical weapons in the past.

    But remember:  don’t worry, be happy.  Iraqi and Syrian WMDs don’t pose any threat – in fact, the former don’t even exist .  Nothing to see here; move along.

     

    (I trust the fact that the final paragraph above is sarcasm is quite obvious.)

  • US-South Korea Military Exercise Halted – Maybe

    In response to the DMZ incident yesterday, the US and South Korea reportedly halted their annual joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian.  This year’s exercise had begun on Monday, 17 August 2015 and was originally scheduled to end on Friday, 28 August 2015.

    It is not clear whether the exercise has resumed, might be resumed, or if the remainder has been cancelled outright.   Some reports indicate that the exercise has indeed been resumed.  Others only indicate it has been halted.

    The halt occurred after an exchange of artillery fire across the Korean DMZ.  US defense officials publicly announced the halt, while asserting that they were “monitoring the situation”.  Later claims were that it was a “planned halt” and a halt to consult with South Korea regarding the DMZ incident.

    Hmm.  I guess sabre-rattling – even with a needle-thin, weak, and unreliable tool like the one ND:tBF waves around publicly from time to time – can be effective if your opponent lacks both backbone and guts.  Gee, who’d a thunk it?

    Well done, Obama Administration.  You just caved, and gave the Dork of NorK – AKA Fatboy Kim – exactly what he wanted.

    Why in the hell do you think the DPRK chose this week to lob a few shells southwards?  North Korea has tried for years to get annual US-ROK exercises cancelled or halted; they’ve occasionally been successfu at doing that.  By making this halt public – and by appearing confused and uncertain about what you were doing – you just handed North Korea a major propaganda victory on that score.  That’s true even if the exercise was only halted temporarily.

    But don’t worry, folks; everything will be all right.  After all:  caving and giving a sabre-rattling despot exactly what he wanted worked perfectly well back in the 1930s, right?

  • Ever Wondered “Why Platte River Networks”?

    Ever wonder why Clintoon chose Platte River Networks to host her private email server?  Well, it appears that the UK’s Daily Mail got curious about that too.

    So they tracked down a few former Platte River Networks employees and asked them some questions.

    This is what they found.   I’ll warn ya:  “It ain’t pretty.”  But the article does appear to have a good timeline of what happened when.

    Color me unsurprised.  When it comes to the Clintoons and how they operate, insider connections and plausible deniability seem to be primary concerns.

    The linked article is IMO worth a read.  But after reading it, I can’t say I’ll be surprised if it turns out there really aren’t any existing backups of Clintoon’s server.

  • Here Ya Go – A “Private” Email Update

    Here’s the latest on the continuing saga of the Clintoon “private” email brouhaha.

    • The number of “private” emails in Clintoon’s stash that have been reviewed and found to contain classified information now stands at at least 60.

    • A guy named Bob Woodward says that the whole thing “reminds me of the Nixon tapes” – and he’d probably know a thing or two about the Watergate scandal.

    • The Washington Times also discusses a whole host of procedural irregularities regarding the handling of Clintoon’s “private” emails.

    • And, finally, we have this from ABC News, courtesy of YouTube:

    Might want to tighten up that shoulder harness, Madam Former SECSTATE. It looks like the ride’s about to get bumpy.

    But your husband seems to be handling the stress of the situation fairly well. Maybe you also should hit the links to relax – instead of the campaign trail.

    (Hat tip to Drudge for the first 4 links.)

     

    UPDATE:  later reporting says the number of emails possibly containing classified information now exceeds 300.

  • “Curiouser and Curiouser”, Said . . . Pretty Much Everyone

    By now, I’d guess everybody has heard about former SECSTATE Clinton’s use of a private email server for official business email.

    While Clinton’s private email server appears to have been wiped clean of data before being turned over to Federal authorities, copies of many emails it formerly stored were apparently transferred to a USB “thumb drive”. That thumb drive was in turn apparently transferred to Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall in December of last year.

    A sample of email stored on that thumb drive was later reviewed by Intelligence Community (IC) officials. Those IC officials determined that some of those emails were contained classified information.

    That determination happened on 22 May of this year. But it wasn’t until early July that Federal authorities delivered a GSA-approved safe allowing proper storage of classified information to Kendall’s offices.

    So, riddle me this. How and where was that classified thumb drive stored between 22 May and early July? Why wasn’t that thumb drive turned over to the government – perhaps in a sealed envelope after a joint inspection by Clinton’s and the Federal government’s lawyers – on or about 23 May in order to ensure it was properly stored and safeguarded?

    And, perhaps most importantly – besides Clinton and her Kendall, who else had access to the device between 22 May and early July?

    Inquiring minds want to know!

     

    FWIW: it also appears that Clinton’s aide and confidante extraordinaire, Huma Abedin, also had and used an account on that email server. And it still remains unclear whether the internet hosting service from which Clintoon rented the server – Platte River Networks – did or did not maintain a backup server that might shed further light on these . . . somewhat unusual goings on.

    I just don’t think we’ve heard the last of this.  Stay tuned.

  • Cuba

    Cuba

    Three Marines

    Several of you have sent us a link about the three Marines who lowered the US flag at the embassy in Cuba in 1961 and then raised it again yesterday. Personally, I wouldn’t have voluntarily taken part in that sh1t show, but I guess that’s what you do when you’re called to duty again.

    So, the Cuban government should be grateful that we’ve resumed diplomatic relations with them, right? Well, no, not much. In fact, before the flag had flapped more than a few times, Josefina Vidal, director of U.S. affairs for the Cuban Foreign Ministry, was telling Reuters that they ain’t moving on any issues with the US.

    “Decisions on internal matters are not negotiable and will never be put on the negotiating agenda in conversations with the United States…Cuba will never do absolutely anything, not move one millimeter, to try to respond,” she said….

    Yeah, this administration is doing a bang-up job at this negotiating thing. They just give away the store, every negotiating lever they have and get nothing in return. Cuba is harboring US criminals since the 60s and 70s and we can’t even get them back. Freedom fighters in Cuba, didn’t attend the flag raising yesterday because the Kerry contingent didn’t invite them.

    In fact, Fidel Castro, in a rambling piece written for local consumption the other day, says that the US owes Cuba millions of dollars for our embargo against Cuban goods.

    Let me get this right – one country out of more than 160 countries doesn’t trade with the Communist paradise and that’s the reason that their economy is in the dumper? We’re responsible for the damage that the communist government inflicted on the people of Cuba?

    But I have no doubts that they’ll get paid by this administration because that’s how we roll these days. Billions for terrorists at the cost of our own national security.

  • About That Clinton “Private Email” Server . . . .

    Well, this just keeps getting “better and better”.

    It turns out that the “private email server” that the former SECSTATE was using for work-related purposes wasn’t a stand-alone machine. Rather, it was apparently a server rented from an internet hosting company named “Platte River Networks”. The physical machinery was located in a data center in New Jersey; the precise ownership of that data center is unclear (hosting vendors sometimes lease physical hardware from other firms).

    And as the old Ronco TV ads said:  “But wait, there’s more!”  It also appears that when initially set up – e.g., for the first 2 to 3 months – the server had abysmally weak security overall, making it vulnerable to potential spoofing, monitoring, and unauthorized access.  And it also appears that the email stored on the server may never have been encrypted while in storage.

    Did I mention that Clinton traveled extensively during her first 3 months in office – including visits to Japan, Indonesia, Korea, China, Egypt, Israel, Belgium, Switzerland, and Turkey?

    The server was picked up by Federal agents on Wednesday of this week. But it seems there’s one last minor issue.

    That issue is that the server has been wiped clean – apparently professionally. There’s no useful information left on it, and the hosting company doesn’t have any backup copies of what it formerly contained.

    Hmm. Stonewall for months, then turn over a machine that has been professionally wiped. Yeah, that sounds completely innocent and aboveboard to me.

    Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.