Lawmakers want legislation to punish media for publishing security leaks

Senior lawmakers said Thursday that they plan to introduce legislation meant to restrict the leaking of sensitive national security information to news outlets and suggested that they might attempt to restrict access to sensitive information.

Leaders of the House and Senate intelligence committees met Thursday with National Intelligence Director James R. Clapper to discuss recent news reports detailing national security decisions made by the Obama administration, including the recent U.S. involvement in a cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program.

“This has been as serious a problem as I have seen,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) told reporters, adding that a formal investigation is needed because officials with the Central Intelligence Agency and the national security division of the Justice Department have told the intelligence panels that officials with their agencies might have leaked information to reporters.

Despite their concerns, none of the four leaders of the intelligence committees agreed with suggestions by other lawmakers that the leaks are part of an overt political effort to improve President Obama’s reelection chances.

“This is not finger-pointing at anybody. What we’re trying to do is say we have a problem and we want to stop that problem,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said.

In addition to Thursday’s meeting with Clapper, the intelligence leaders said they planned to meet with FBI Director Robert Mueller on Thursday afternoon and plan to hold subsequent hearings.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said Thursday that “as a general matter, the President feels strongly that we must prevent leaks of classified or sensitive information that could risk ongoing counterterrorism or intelligence operations. This Administration takes all appropriate and necessary steps to prevent leaks of classified information, or sensitive information that could risk ongoing counterterrorism or intelligence operations.”

In an e-mail, Vietor also noted that the authors of several of the recent reports on national security operations have said that their reporting was not controlled in any way by the White House.

Congressional concerns amplified Tuesday when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called on Obama to appoint a special counsel to determine who is leaking the information. The Arizona lawmaker also charged that the leaks are designed to bolster Obama’s reelection campaign.

McCain and others cited several stories published in recent weeks that detail key national security decisions, including a New York Times story chronicling Obama’s approval of a “kill list” of suspected terroriststargeted with drone attacks, reports in the Times and The Washington Post regarding U.S. involvement in cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program and details in a new book by Newsweek special correspondent Daniel Klaidman about the administration’s deliberations on the detention of suspected terrorists.

On Thursday, Rogers, Feinstein and their counterparts did not call for a special prosecutor.

Asked Wednesday about the concerns, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the Obama administration “takes all appropriate and necessary steps to prevent leaks of classified information or sensitive information that could risk ongoing counterterrorism or intelligence operations. Any suggestion that this administration has authorized intentional leaks of classified information for political gain is grossly irresponsible.”

McCain shot back Wednesday, charging that “what is grossly irresponsible is U.S. officials divulging some of the most highly classified programs involving the most important national security priorities facing our nation today.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John F. Kerry (D-Mass.)came to the White House’s defense, reminding reporters Wednesday that the reporters who have written those stories have said that they did not obtain their information in a coordinated fashion. Leaking national security information is a long, if upsetting, tradition, he added.

“If you pick up Bob Woodward’s books, and David Sanger is a damn good reporter, and David Ignatius and these guys, they get a lot of people talking about things that people shouldn’t be talking about,” Kerry said. “And it always amazes me.”

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The public face of Boeing's Phantom Eye

NORAD scrambles jets when 2 small planes stray into POTUS airspace.

(Reuters) - Fighter jets were scrambled on Thursday to intercept two small planes that strayed into airspace over the Los Angeles area restricted for President Barack Obama, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said.

 The F-16 fighters responded after two single-engine planes, identified as a Cessna 206 and Cherokee PA 28, entered into the restricted airspace at mid-morning in separate incidents, NORAD said.

 Both planes were escorted by the fighter jets until they left the area and were directed to contact the Federal Aviation Administration, NORAD said.

 In a similar incident on Wednesday, an F-16 intercepted a single-engine Cessna after it flew into the restricted airspace over Southern California. The fighter followed the plane until it landed at an airport less than 10 minutes later and was met by local law enforcement, NORAD said.

 Each of the three cases involved private pilots unknowingly flying into temporarily restricted airspace and were not apparent threats, an FAA official who asked not to be named told Reuters. "In most cases it's a matter of the pilots not being aware of the notice to airmen that get issued by the FAA," NORAD spokesman Lieutenant Al Blondin said.

 "If they follow the proper procedures they should be aware there's a restricted area." On May 11, a small private plane was intercepted by fighter jets over Southern California area after it inadvertently entered airspace restricted for a visit by Obama.

 Obama has been in the Los Angeles area as part of a West Coast fundraising tour ahead of the November presidential election that included two events in San Francisco and a Beverly Hills gala with gay and lesbian activists. He was scheduled to leave Los Angeles on Thursday en route to a fundraising event in Las Vegas. (Additional reporting by Jim Wolf in Washington; Editing by Greg McCune and Bill Trott)

North Korean air exercise causing scrambles

By Kim Young-jin
North Korea has greatly increased exercises involving its fighter jets in recent weeks, including sending aircraft close to South Korean airspace, a military source said Wednesday. 

“The number of sorties North Korean jet fighters have been making has risen sharply since mid-May,” the source said. “Up to 50 have been made each day and two to three of them have approached close to the tactical action line (TAC).”

The TAC is a conceptual line designated at 20 to 50 kilometers north of the border by the military which uses it to prepare for an early reaction to an infiltration by Pyongyang. 

The source said the increase appeared to be part of summer combat inspections but that the military was closely monitoring the situation. 

A military source said that one North Korean jet approached the TAC, without specifying which part, and four South Korean fighters were scrambled. Previously, Voice of America reported that one fighter jet flew to 24 kilometers from Ganghwa Island on the west coast Tuesday, prompting eight South Korean fighters to scramble.

North Korean jets, estimated to be able to hit Seoul three to five minutes after liftoff, have crossed the line in the past in apparent saber-rattling maneuvers.

Officials say the North could carry out further provocations against the South to bolster the military credentials of Kim Jong-un, the untested leader who took power following the death of his strongman father Kim Jong-il.

The uptick comes amid heightened peninsular tension following recent threats by the Pyongyang to attack conservative media outlets here in response to what it deemed disparaging coverage of its regime.


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Drone takes out Al Queda top dog

FOX/AP 

Abu Yahya Al-Libi, a top Al Qaeda operative was killed in a U.S. drone strike Monday, Fox News confirms.

Al-Libi, known as a rock star in the jihadist world with his videos and lectures going viral on the Web, was the intended target of the strike, U.S. officials said.

The strikes have been increasingly unpopular among Pakistanis, but successful in recent years at taking out terrorist leaders.

Pakistan has evidence that Al-Libi was in a house hit by the U.S. drone strike, but it was initially unclear whether he was killed.

A U.S. official later confirmed his death.

“Abu Yahya was among al-Qaeda’s most experienced and versatile leaders," the official said. He "played a critical role in the group’s planning against the West, providing oversight of the external operations efforts.”

U.S. officials originally said they were "optimistic" Al-Libi was among the eight militants reportedly killed in the strike in the tribal region of North Waziristan.They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the drone program.

Militants and residents in the area told Pakistani agents that al-Libi was in the house when it was hit, said intelligence officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

A vehicle used by al-Libi was destroyed during the strike, said one of the officials. Agents intercepted a militant phone call indicating an Arab was killed in the attack, but it was unclear if they were talking about al-Libi, who was born in Libya, said the official.

A local Taliban chief said al-Libi's guard and driver were killed in the strike, but the Al Qaeda commander was not there. Al-Libi did survive a previous strike, said the Taliban chief, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by the Pakistani army.

It was the third strike in three days in Pakistan, with a Taliban leader killed in the first strike. And it was said to be the eighth strike in the last two weeks.

The target zone, Mir Ali, is described by sources as a terrorist haven that is a "crossroads" for the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and the latest strike, according to Pakistani officials, is believed to have killed foreign fighters -- code for Arab members of Al Qaeda or Western recruits.

As for Al-Libi, he made his name in July 2005 when he escaped from this high security U.S. prison in Bagram, Afghanistan, along with three other Al Qaeda members. In keeping with his reputation, Al-Libi made a 54-minute video documenting his capture by the Pakistanis, his handover to U.S. authorities and escape from the prison.

Al-Libi is known as a preacher and scholar who more recently took the second-in-command spot when Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri took charge of Al Qaeda after Usama bin Laden's death. As Al Qaeda's de facto general manager, al-Libi oversaw the group's day-to-day operations in Pakistan's tribal areas and managed outreach to Al Qaeda's regional affiliates.

The State Department's Rewards for Justice program had set a $1 million reward for information leading to the Libyan-born fugitive.

Despite the progress in taking out Al Qaeda leadership, the U.S. drone campaign had been in a holding pattern before the NATO summit in Chicago last month in an effort to mend fences. When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was unable to reach a deal with the Pakistanis to re-open supply lines for NATO forces, the drone program resumed.

"This is one of the more prominent names" among the targets of drone strikes in Pakistan, which helps bolster the CIA's push to continue the drone program despite the continued political resistance from Pakistan and collateral damage, added former CIA officer Paul Pillar.

FoxNews.com's Catherine Herridge and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/05/drone-strike-kills-no-2-al-qaeda-leader-in-pakistan/#ixzz1wxCJRz5Q