FAS | Intelligence | News | 1999 ||||

March 1999 Intelligence News

• Task force takes DOD lead to stop computer virus (AFPN) 31 Mar 1999 -- The Defense Department's new computer defense team worked all weekend to inform employees of a new macro virus and instruct them on how to fix it. The Joint Task Force-Computer Network Defense and its components, including the military service Computer Emergency Response Teams and the Defense Information Systems Agency's DOD CERT, have been working 24 hours a day since March 26 after learning of the "Melissa" virus.
• Viruses infecting DOD computers by Staff Sgt. Michael Dorsey Air Force Print News 30 March 1999 -- Hot on the heels of one irritating computer virus has come one more hostile in nature. In both cases, the Department of Defense and America's private sector have had to react quickly to prevent damage to worldwide computer networks. "Melissa" struck first, hitting computer systems hard March 26. It appeared in e-mail messages titled, "Important Message From ..." DOD computer officials advise users not to pass the e-mail along or open the e-mail's attachment.
• Global Hawk UAV crashes at Edwards 30 Mar 1999 Aeronautical Systems Center Public Affairs -- The U.S. Air Force's Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle No. 2 was destroyed when it crashed at approximately 10:14 a.m. PST March 29 on the test range at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
• GENERAL PINOCHET'S FUTURE Voice of America 29 March 1999 -- THE RETIRED ARMY GENERAL WHO LED THE CHILEAN GOVERNMENT FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, AUGUSTO PINOCHET, CONTINUES TO STIR CONTROVERSY AS HE WAITS FOR A POSSIBLE EXTRADITION TO SPAIN.
• BRITAIN/PINOCHET Voice of America 29 March 1999 -- BRITAIN'S HIGH COURT SAYS HOME (INTERIOR) SECRETARY JACK STRAW HAS UNTIL APRIL 15TH TO DECIDE IF THE EXTRADITION CASE MAY PROCEED AGAINST FORMER CHILEAN LEADER AUGUSTO PINOCHET.
• OKLAHOMA BOMBING CHARGES Voice of America 29 March 1999 -- ONE OF THE TWO MEN CONVICTED OF FEDERAL CHARGES IN THE BOMBING ATTACK AGAINST THE OKLAHOMA CITY FEDERAL BUILDING HAS BEEN CHARGED IN STATE COURT.
• NOVEMBER 17TH TERRORIST GROUP Voice of America 29 March 1999 -- THIS MONTH, BOMBS EXPLODED OUTSIDE TWO BRANCH OFFICES OF THE AMERICAN-OWNED CITIBANK CORPORATION NEAR ATHENS, GREECE. NO ONE HAS CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY, BUT GREEK AUTHORITIES SUSPECT THE TERRORIST GROUP, NOVEMBER 17TH.
• STATEMENT BY WARREN B. RUDMAN, CHAIRMAN OF THE PRESIDENT?S FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE ADVISORY BOARD (PFIAB) March 26, 1999 -- In response to the President?s request for the PFIAB to undertake a review of the security and counterintelligence threat to the Department of Energy's weapons labs, I am pleased to announce that I have asked PFIAB Members Ms. Ann Caracristi and Dr. Sidney Drell to join me on a special panel of the Board to conduct this inquiry.
• BRITAIN / PINOCHET Voice of America 26 March 1999 -- THE SPANISH JUDGE DEMANDING THE EXTRADITION FROM BRITAIN OF FORMER CHILEAN LEADER AUGUSTO PINOCHET SAYS HE HAS PRESENTED NEW CASES OF TORTURE AND ASSASSINATION WHICH OCCURRED AFTER 1988.
• CUBA: 'CASTRO'S RATCHETTING UP OF REPRESSION' DRAWS HEAVY FIRE USIA Foreign Media Reaction Report 25 March 1999 -- Events in Cuba since mid-February--the passage of new legislation, the "Law for the Protection of the National Independence and the Economy of Cuba," which creates a broad new category of counter-revolutionary crimes for government opponents; a revision of the island's penal code to expand the death penalty and lengthen sentences for common crimes; and the closed-door trial resulting in the conviction and sentencing of four leading dissidents on charges of inciting sedition--were roundly condemned.
• PINOCHET RULING Voice of America 24 March 1999 -- BRITAIN'S HOUSE OF LORDS HAS RULED THAT FORMER CHILEAN LEADER AUGUSTO PINOCHET IS NOT PROTECTED BY DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY AND CAN FACE EXTRADITION TO SPAIN.
• PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES CRESENCIO S. ARCOS AND STEPHEN FRIEDMAN AS MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENT'S FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE ADVISORY BOARD White House Briefing 24 March 1999 --
• TEXT: CLINTON NAMES ARCOS & FRIEDMAN TO INTELLIGENCE BOARD USIA 24 March 1999 -- President Clinton announced March 24 his intent to appoint Cresencio S. Arcos and Stephen Friedman to serve as Members of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.
• CUBA BOMBINGS / SENTENCE Voice of America 23 March 1999 -- A CUBAN COURT HAS IMPOSED THE DEATH PENALTY AGAINST A SALVADORAN MAN CONVICTED OF CONDUCTING A BOMBING CAMPAIGN ON THE ISLAND IN 1997.
• CHILE / PINOCHET Voice of America 23 March 1999 -- ANTICIPATION IS BUILDING IN CHILE AS ITS CITIZENS AWAIT BRITAIN'S DECISION WEDNESDAY WETHER TO ALLOW THE EXTRADITION OF FORMER DICTATOR AUGUSTO PINOCHET TO SPAIN.
• BRITAIN / PINOCHET RULING Voice of America 23 March 1999 -- BRITAIN'S HOUSE OF LORDS' LAW PANEL WILL RULE WEDNESDAY ON WHETHER FORMER CHILEAN LEADER AUGUSTO PINOCHET CAN BE EXTRADITED TO SPAIN TO FACE CHARGES OF GENOCIDE.
• MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS WEAKNESSES Voice of America 22 March 1999 -- U-S MILITARY INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARE INCREASINGLY VULNERABLE TO ATTACKS BY MALICIOUS COMPUTER OPERATORS OUTSIDE THE DEFENSE SYSTEM.
• CLINTON CALLS FOR REVIEW OF SECURITY AT DOE USIA 19 March 1999 -- President Clinton announced that he has asked former Republican Senator Warren Rudman to head up a review of security at Department of Energy laboratories.
• CUBA DISSIDENTS Voice of America 16 March 1999 -- CUBA SENTENCED FOUR HIGH-PROFILE DISSIDENTS TO JAIL TERMS RANGING FROM THREE AND A HALF TO FIVE YEARS. MOST CUBAN EXILES VIEW THE DISSIDENTS' SENTENCING AS ONE MORE EXAMPLE OF THE REPRESSION THAT THEY THEMSELVES FLED IN YEARS PAST.
• CUBA DISSIDENTS SENTENCED Voice of America 15 March 1999 -- CUBA'S GOVERNMENT HAS SENTENCED FOUR HIGH-PROFILE DISSIDENTS TO JAIL TERMS AFTER A TRIAL THAT GENERATED PROTESTS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.
• TEXT: CLINTON NAMES SHERIDAN TO DOD SPECIAL OPERATIONS USIA 15 March 1999 -- President Clinton March 15 announced his intent to nominate Brian E. Sheridan to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict at the Department of Defense.
• PRESIDENT CLINTON UNVEILS NEW EFFORTS TO COMBAT TERRORISM USIA 15 March 1999 -- President Clinton announced new steps to provide fire fighters and other first responders with the tools they need to defend against terrorist attacks using chemical and biological weapons.
• LIBYA / EGYPT WRAP Voice of America 12 March 1999 -- LIBYAN LEADER MUAMMAR GADHAFI HAS ENDED A WEEK-LONG VISIT TO EGYPT WITHOUT BREAKING ANY NEW GROUND ON THE LONG-AWAITED HAND-OVER OF TWO LIBYANS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE 1988 BOMBING OF A PAN AM JETLINER OVER LOCKERBIE SCOTLAND.
• WORLDNET DIALOGUE ON FIGHTING ECONOMIC CORRUPTION USIA 12 March 1999 -- The bad news on the anti-corruption front, according to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Jonathan Winer and State's Deputy Inspector General John Payne, is that globalization may have opened up new avenues for corruption. The good news, they assert, is that countries are now working together to curtail that corruption.
• NEW PLAN OFFERED ON MEASURING GLOBAL ANTI-DRUG COOPERATION Eric Green USIA 11 March 1999 -- New legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate o change the way the United States measures whether foreign nations are doing enough in the global effort against illegal drugs.
• REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT SIGNING CEREMONY AND SUMMIT CLOSING STATEMENTS March 11, 1999 -- In 1996, we were notified that there was some indication of a breach of security at one of the energy labs and that the appropriate agencies were investigating. The appropriate congressional committees were notified at the same time. Since then, they have received at least 16 briefings on this issue. Now, in 1997, in July, we were notified that the scope of the potential espionage might be very broad, and might be directly related to lax security at the energy labs.
• TRUTH COMMISSIONS Voice of America 11 March 1999 -- TRUTH COMMISSIONS HAVE BEEN USED BY SEVERAL COUNTRIES TO HELP REBUILD NATIONS TORN APART BY INTERNAL CONFLICT. A PANEL OF EXPERTS MET AT THE U-S INSTITUTE OF PEACE TO DISCUSS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUCH EFFORTS.
• SENATE-EMBASSY BOMBS Voice of America 11 March 1999 -- RETIRED ADMIRAL AND FORMER AMBASSADOR WILLIAM CROWE, CHARGED WITH ASSESSING SECURITY NEEDS AT U-S EMBASSIES AFTER LAST YEAR'S BOMBINGS OF U-S FACILITIES IN AFRICA, HAS WARNED THAT AMERICA'S OVERSEAS OUTPOSTS STILL FACE DANGER.
• CLINTON/GUATEMALA Voice of America 11 March 1999 -- PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS EXPRESSED REGRET OVER PAST U-S SUPPORT FOR MILITARY DICTATORS IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND HAS SAID THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
• GUATEMALA/U-S DOCUMENTS Voice of America 11 March 1999 -- NEWLY-DECLASSIFIED U-S INTELLIGENCE DOCUMENTS SHOW THE UNITED STATES WAS VERY INVOLVED IN EQUIPPING AND TRAINING GUATEMALAN SECURITY FORCES -- WHICH KILLED THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS DURING GUATEMALA'S LONG-RUNNING CIVIL WAR.
• FRANCE LIBYA TRIAL Voice of America 10 March 1999 -- A FRENCH COURT WEDNESDAY CONVICTED AND SENTENCED SIX LIBYANS IN THEIR ABSENCE TO LIFE IN JAIL FOR THE 1989 BOMBING OF A FRENCH AIRLINER THAT KILLED 170 PEOPLE ON BOARD.
• SENATE-AFGHANISTAN Voice of America 10 March 1999 -- THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION HAS ISSUED A FRESH WARNING TO THE RULING TALEBAN PARTY IN AFGHANISTAN NOT TO HARBOR ACCUSED TERRORIST OSAMA BIN LADEN.
• REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION ON PEACE EFFORTS March 10, 1999 - For the United States, it is important that I state clearly that support for military forces or intelligence units which engaged in violent and widespread repression of the kind described in the report was wrong, and the United States must not repeat that mistake. We must, and we will, instead, continue to support the peace and reconciliation process in Guatemala.
• White House Briefing March 9, 1999 -- I think the President supports Secretary Richardson's action of dismissing the employee. The Secretary did it after conferring with the FBI on the status of the ongoing investigation. As you all know from Secretary Richardson's comments yesterday, the Department of Energy had already taken steps in relation to this employee, including suspending security clearance and moving him from a classified work place to a nonclassified job.
• THE CHANGING FACE OF TERRORISM Voice of America 09 March 1999 -- FEW WOULD DISAGREE THAT THE UNITED STATES POSSESSES GLOBAL MILITARY SUPREMACY. ADVOCATES OF A BEEFED-UP COUNTER-TERRORISM EFFORT SAY IT'S PRECISELY THAT STATUS WHICH MAKES THE UNITED STATES MORE VULNERABLE TO TERRORIST ATTACKS ON ITS OWN SOIL.
• Advanced hacks sting Pentagon (Federal Computer Week) MARCH 8, 1999 -- John Pike, a defense and intelligence analyst with the Federation of American Scientists, downplayed media reports that DOD has become overly concerned about recent attacks, calling the heightened concern "nothing new."
• RUSSIAN MOB Voice of America 05 March 1999 -- THE F-B-I INFORMED REPORTER ROBERT FRIEDMAN, WHO WRITES ABOUT RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES, THAT A RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME FIGURE HAD TAKEN OUT A CONTRACT ON HIS LIFE.
• ANNUAL U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT GARNERS CRITICISM / PRAISE, EXPOSES U.S. 'DOUBLE STANDARD' USIA Foreign Media Reaction Report 05 March 1999 -- The U.S. State Department report on the human rights situation in 194 countries throughout 1998 garnered mostly denunciations, but also some praise in the media abroad. Critics of the document revived their perennial charges that, with the report, the U.S. is "interfering" in other countries' domestic matters and that it has no authority to appoint itself the arbiter of human rights.
• U.S. ANTI-DRUG POLICY: CERTIFICATION CRITICIZED; 1999 DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY PRAISED USIA Foreign Media Reaction Report 03 March 1999 -- Commentators in drug-producing and -transit countries and elsewhere judged certification to be a "unilateral," "interventionist" U.S. policy that has been applied "arbitrarily" and that, ultimately, has been "ineffective" in the battle against drugs.
• PRESS BRIEFING BY BARRY TOIV AND DAVID LEAVY March 3, 1999 -- Q Let's start with what we talked about this morning, which is this book claims there was a mole or maybe still is a mole in the White House, an Israeli mole, and that the President was black-mailed with a tape of a conversation or conversations he had with Monica Lewinsky into calling off the search.
• PRESS BRIEFING BY BARRY TOIV AND DAVID LEAVY March 2, 1999 -- Q The point here is that back in August, Iraq made a formal claim to the United Nations that the U.S. was spying on them, and they stopped cooperating with UNSCOM at that time. Is it not possible that the U.S. got caught spying and that's what basically resulted in the death of UNSCOM's weapons inspections?