Sources: NYPD cops' killer angry at chokehold death

NEW YORK — A gunman who announced online that he was planning to shoot two "pigs" in retaliation for the police chokehold death of Eric Garner ambushed two officers in a patrol car and shot them to death in broad daylight Saturday before running to a subway station and killing himself, authorities said.

The suspect, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, wrote on an Instagram account: "I'm putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let's take 2 of theirs," officials said. He used the hashtags Shootthepolice RIPErivGardner (sic) RIPMikeBrown.

Police said he approached the passenger window of a marked police car and opened fire, striking Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in the head. The New York Police Department officers were on special patrol doing crime reduction work in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

"They were, quite simply, assassinated — targeted for their uniform," said Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, who looked pale and shaken at a hospital news conference.

Brinsley took off running as officers pursued him down to a nearby subway station, where he shot himself in the head. A silver handgun was recovered at the scene, Bratton said.

"This may be my final post," Brinsley wrote in the Instagram post that included an image of a silver handgun. The post had more than 200 likes.

Bratton confirmed that the suspect made very serious "anti-police" statements online but did not get into specifics of the posts. He said they were trying to figure out why Brinsley had chosen to kill the officers. Two city officials with direct knowledge of the case confirmed the posts to The Associated Press. The officials, a senior city official and a law enforcement official, were not authorized to speak publicly on the topic and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The shootings come at a tense time; Police in New York and nationwide are being criticized for their tactics, following the July death of Garner, who was stopped on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. Amateur video captured an officer wrapping his arm around Garner's neck and wrestling him to the ground. Garner was heard gasping, "I can't breathe" before he lost consciousness and later died.

Demonstrators around the country have staged die-ins and other protests since a grand jury decided Dec. 3 not to indict the officer in Garner's death, a decision that closely followed a Missouri grand jury's refusal to indict a white officer in the fatal shooting of Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old. Bratton said they were investigating whether the suspect had attended any rallies or demonstrations.

Brinsley was black; the officers were Asian and Hispanic, police said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said Garner's family had no connection to the suspect and denounced the violence.

"Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in connection with any violence or killing of police, is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases," Sharpton said.

Brown's family also released a statement condemning the shooting. "We must work together to bring peace to our communities," the statement says. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the officers' families during this incredibly difficult time."

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the killing of the officers in the nation's largest department strikes at the heart of the city.

"Our city is in mourning. Our hearts are heavy," said de Blasio, who spoke softly with moist eyes. "It is an attack on all of us."

Scores of officers in uniform lined up three rows deep lined the hospital driveway and stretched into the street, their hands raised in a silent salute, as two ambulances bore the slain officers' bodies away. The mayor ordered flags at half-staff.

In a statement Saturday night, Attorney General Eric Holder condemned the shooting deaths as senseless and "an unspeakable act of barbarism." President Barack Obama, in a statement issued while he's vacationing in Hawaii, said he unconditionally condemns the slayings.

"The officers who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day — and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day," Obama said. "Tonight, I ask people to reject violence and words that harm, and turn to words that heal — prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen."

Early Saturday, Bratton said, Brinsley went to the home of a former girlfriend in the Baltimore area and shot and wounded her. Police there said they noticed Brinsley posting to the woman's Instagram account about a threat to New York officers. Baltimore-area officials sent a warning to New York City police, who received it around the time of the shooting, Bratton said.

Criminal records show Brinsley has a history of arrests on various charges in Georgia, including robbery, shoplifting, carrying a concealed weapon, disorderly conduct and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. Bratton said his last-known address was Georgia, but he had some ties in Brooklyn.

A block from the shooting site, a line of about eight police officers stood with a German shepherd blocking the taped-off street. Officer Ramos was married with a 13-year-old son, police said. He had been on the job since 2012. Liu had been on the job for seven years and got married two months ago, Bratton said.

"Both officers paid the ultimate sacrifice today while protecting the communities they serve," he said.

Rosie Orengo, a friend of Ramos, said he was heavily involved in their church and encouraged others in their marriages.

"He was an amazing man. He was the best father and husband and friend," she said. "Our peace is knowing that he's OK, and we'll see him in heaven."

The president of the police officers union, Patrick Lynch, and de Blasio have been locked in a public battle over treatment of officers following the grand jury's decision. Just days ago, Lynch suggested police officers sign a petition that demanded the mayor not attend their funerals should they die on the job. On Saturday, some officers turned their backs on de Blasio as he walked into the hospital. At a news conference, Lynch said there is "blood on many hands" tonight, explicitly blaming the mayor and protesters.

The last shooting death of an NYPD officer came in December 2011, when 22-year veteran Peter Figoski was shot in the face while responding to a report of a break-in at a Brooklyn apartment. The triggerman, Lamont Pride, was convicted of murder and sentenced in 2013 to 45 years to life in prison.

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Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire and Tom McElroy in New York, Juliet Linderman in Baltimore and Josh Lederman in Honolulu contributed to this report.

Robert Oakley dies at 83; diplomat mediated in 'Black Hawk Down' turmoil

Ambassador and diplomat Robert Oakley had retired from the Foreign Service, twice, when he got an emergency phone call in 1993 while at a party. Could he come to the White House early the next morning?

Oakley, known as an unrelenting trouble shooter, was asked to take on one more assignment: go to Somalia and gain the release of a U.S. helicopter pilot captured during what came to be known as the "Black Hawk Down" firefight.

"They knew he was the man to do it," his wife, Phyllis Oakley, said this week. "And they knew Bob would say 'yes.'"

Robert Oakley, 83, who served in trouble spots around the world during a nearly four-decade Foreign Service career, died Dec. 10 at a nursing home in McLean, Va. He had been suffering from a Parkinson's-related disorder, his wife said.

Except for a stint in Paris, his only European assignment, Oakley did not get the relatively cushy postings. His resume included three ambassadorships — to Pakistan, Zaire and Somalia — plus time in Vietnam (during the war), Afghanistan, the Sudan and Lebanon.

"He didn't wind up in places like Copenhagen, if you get my drift," Chester Crocker, former assistant secretary of State, said in a 1993 Times interview.

But the lanky Oakley, who spoke with a Southern drawl, was drawn to difficult situations and approached them with a rare directness. "Bob is quite the opposite of the stereotyped view of Foreign Service officers so concerned with their careers that they pull their punches," said Sam Lewis, former ambassador to Israel.

"Bob has never pulled a punch."

Robert Bigger Oakley was born in Dallas on March 12, 1931. When he was about 5, his family moved to Shreveport, La.

For high school, Oakley went to South Kent boarding school in Connecticut. "Their motto was, 'Simplicity of life, directness of purpose,'" Phyllis Oakley said. "Bob lived by that all his life."

In 1952 he graduated from Princeton University, where he studied philosophy and history, and then served in the Navy until 1955, mostly in Japan where he did work in naval intelligence.

He briefly attended graduate school at Tulane University, but left to begin his Foreign Service career.

Of all his postings, he is most identified with Somalia, located on the Horn of Africa bordering Ethiopia and Kenya. He was first posted there as ambassador from 1982 to '84, and though he retired from the Foreign Service in 1991, he returned to Somalia the next year for a humanitarian mission at the request of his friend, Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs.

At that point Somalia was ripped apart by fighting among warlords, and ordinary citizens were struggling to survive.

"Television was on it," he said in a 1998 interview for the "Frontline" PBS series. "You saw hundreds of thousands of people dying slowly of starvation [and] disease caused by a combination of famine, drought and civil war."

He quickly met with representatives of the two major warring warlords, careful not to take sides. "All we're trying to do is change the environment here and teach them that they can cooperate with each other," he told the Chicago Tribune. "If we can change that, then this great white bwana can go home."

After about two months, Oakley secured agreements that allowed U.S. Marines — bearing critically needed aid — to land in the country. He also made it clear that U.S. forces would fight back if attacked. Though some violence continued, Oakley was credited with creating conditions that nearly eradicated starvation, and he returned home.

Then came the battle of Oct. 3, 1993. It began with what was supposed to be a quick mission by elite U.S. forces flying high-tech Black Hawk helicopters into the capital of Mogadishu. But warlord gunmen caught them in an ambush and in the ensuing firefight, 18 Americans were killed and 73 wounded. One of the dead soldiers was dragged through the streets, and a wounded pilot, Michael Durant, was captured.

Americans were outraged and Oakley was sent by President Clinton to get Durant back, without conditions. In Mogadishu, he met representatives of Durant's captors. "I guarantee you we are not going to pay or trade for him in any way, shape or form," he said, as quoted in Mark Bowden's bestselling 1999 book about the firefight, "Black Hawk Down," that was made into a 2001 film.

Oakley then explained what would happen if Durant was not released. "This whole part of the city will be destroyed, men, women, children, camels, cats, dogs, goats, donkeys, everything."

Less than a week later, Durant was set free, and Oakley finally retired from the Foreign Service for good.

In addition to his wife, Phyllis, who was also in the Foreign Service and served twice as an assistant secretary of State, he is survived by a daughter, Mary Kress of Falls Church, Va.; son Thomas Oakley of McLean; and five grandchildren.

———

©2014 the Los Angeles Times

BlackBerry joining Boeing to offer self-destructing spy phone

CHICAGO — Boeing is teaming up with BlackBerry on a secretive, self-destructing smartphone developed for use by U.S. defense and homeland security employees and contractors.

The partnership showcases a push by Boeing, the second- largest U.S. defense contractor, into software development as sales slow for its military hardware amid Pentagon budget cuts. BlackBerry gains a new way to hold on to its government base as commercial sales decline.

"We're pleased to announce that Boeing is collaborating with BlackBerry to provide a secure mobile solution for Android devices utilizing our BES12 platform," John Chen, chairman and chief executive officer of Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry, said during an earnings call Friday. "That by the way is all they allow me to say."

The Chicago-based aerospace company has been testing its secure smartphone, known as the Boeing Black, with BlackBerry's main business enterprise server product, known as BES, which provides software that allows large corporations and government departments to keep track of their employees' devices. The server is compatible with Android and iPhone handsets.

The companies are "pursuing a number of opportunities" that would pair the Boeing device with BlackBerry's server, Andy Lee, a Boeing spokesman, said in a phone interview.

"Boeing has decades of experience providing defense and security customers with secure communications," Lee said. "We are working with BlackBerry to help them ensure the BES12 operating system is compatible with, and optimized for use by, the ultra-secure mobile devices favored by the defense and security community."

Since taking over last year, Chen has focused on providing software and security for governments and corporations, while also introducing new phones that cater to business users, like the Passport and the Classic, which was introduced earlier this week.

Boeing has released few details about the inner-workings of the phone, which it says in a brochure "was designed with security and modularity in mind."

While the Boeing Black may look like a thicker cousin to other widely used Android devices, it's packed with features out of a John le Carre novel, including triggers that can cause the handset to self-destruct.

The phone is manufactured as a sealed device with epoxy around its casing and screws and a tamper-proof covering over the screw-heads "to identify attempted disassembly," Bruce Olcott, outside counsel to Boeing, said in a Feb. 24 letter to the Federal Communications Commission requesting that confidential design details be kept under wraps.

"Any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable," Olcott wrote.

The Boeing Black is also outfitted with two SIM cards instead of the one that's standard on other mobile phones, so users can switch between government and commercial networks, according to a product description on the aerospace company's website. There's also a "modular expansion port," which allows users to connect to satellites or expand the phone's power capacity.

Voice and data are encrypted via Boeing's PureSecure architecture, a multilayered security system created for mobile devices along the lines of Samsung Electronics Co.'s Knox offering.

Although Boeing has been developing the phone for more than two years, the handset fits with an innovative "Silicon Valley" mindset promoted by Chris Chadwick, the president and chief executive officer of Boeing's Defense Space & Security unit.

Rather than viewing the $33.2 billion-revenue business in terms of military programs, such as its F/A-18 fighter jets, Chadwick sees opportunities in hardware, software and services. "It's not IT. It's how do you leverage the power of information across multiple dimensions," Chadwick said in an Oct. 30 interview.

— De Vynck reported from Toronto.

(c) 2014, Bloomberg News.

Israel carries out airstrike on Hamas site in Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM — Israel's military struck a Hamas site in the Gaza Strip early Saturday in its first airstrike on the Palestinian territory since this summer's war.

The Israeli military said the airstrike on what it called a "Hamas terror infrastructure site" in the southern Gaza Strip was in response to a rocket fired from Gaza into southern Israel on Friday. The rocket fire caused no injuries.

Palestinian residents reported hearing two explosions in the Khan Yunis region of Gaza, in an area that contains training sites for Palestinian militants. No injuries were immediately reported.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said Israel's military "will not permit any attempt to undermine the security and jeopardize the well being of the civilians of Israel. The Hamas terrorist organization is responsible and accountable for today's attack against Israel."

The Gaza rocket attack and Israeli retaliation came days after a European Union court ordered Hamas removed from the EU terrorist list for procedural reasons but said the bloc can maintain asset freezes against Hamas members for now. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas is "a murderous terror organization" and called for Hamas to be immediately returned to the list.

Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, fought a 50-day war this summer. In that war, Hamas launched thousands of rockets and mortars toward Israel, which carried out an aerial campaign and a ground invasion.

The war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.

In the West Bank on Friday, fierce clashes erupted between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces at a West Bank military checkpoint and near the village of Turmus Aya, though no injuries were reported.

The village was the site of a Palestinian-Israeli scuffle earlier this month during which Palestinian Cabinet minister Ziad Abu Ain collapsed. He later died en route to hospital.

Palestinian and Israeli pathologists subsequently disagreed over the cause of Abu Ain's death. The Palestinian expert said the cause of death was a "blow," while his Israeli colleague said Abu Ain died of a heart attack.

In other developments, the Israeli military on Friday began relaxing travel restrictions for Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the Christmas holiday season, saying it granted 700 permits for Gazans to travel to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan.

Israel said it was also allowing West Bank Christians to travel to Israel, permitting 500 of them to visit their families in the Gaza Strip, subject to security checks.

Israel restricts Palestinians in the two territories from entering the country without special permits, citing security concerns. Travel between the territories is also restricted but those bans are usually relaxed for Christians during the holiday season.

The army also said it would also expand the working hours at military checkpoints to allow pilgrims from around the world faster access to the West Bank city of Bethlehem during Christmas.

Associated Press writer Fares Akram contributed to this report from Gaza City, Gaza Strip.

Rising casualty count takes toll on Afghanistan's veterans

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan — The rocket-propelled grenade slammed into the side of the Humvee with a blinding explosion, creating a shower of broken glass.

Police commander Qandagha Qandaghari stepped out of the vehicle to return fire. As he ran for position he stepped on an improvised land mine, one of the most ubiquitous and lethal weapons employed by Taliban insurgents during Afghanistan’s war. When the dust cleared, he was conscious just long enough to see where his legs used to be.

Stories like Qandaghari’s have become more and more common as Afghan security forces have waded ever deeper into a conflict that shows no sign of abating.

As thousands of international combat troops prepare to depart, the Afghan forces they once worked with are facing a tide of casualties. The result is a growing population of injured veterans, orphaned children and widows in a country that often can’t provide the most rudimentary health care, especially compared to the standards that coalition servicemembers are accustomed to in their home countries.

In September, Interior Ministry officials said that across Afghanistan, more than 1,500 policemen died and 2,500 were injured during the preceding six months. The Defense Ministry refused to release military casualty figures. But in October, Gen. John Campbell, the top U.S. and ISAF commander in Afghanistan, told reporters that as many as 9,000 members of Afghanistan’s security forces had been killed or injured in combat in the first 10 months of this year.

Both the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan officials said care for veterans is an issue handled solely by the Afghan government. The international coalition has no treatment programs as part of the follow-on advising-and-training mission, which will take effect on Jan. 1.

Gen. Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said the families of soldiers killed in the fighting receive 100 percent of their salaries, while wounded soldiers receive a range of payments depending on the severity of their wounds. Injured soldiers who are able to work are kept on in the army, he said.

Veterans’ care in the United States has been the subject of serious scandals of its own recently, but American veterans are on the receiving end of an entire government department dedicated to their care, and former servicemembers are often eligible for health care, disability compensation and rehabilitation, pensions, education funding and vocational training, and home loans, among other possible benefits.

Although desertion remains a constant challenge, so far the high costs for members of the security forces have yet to reduce enlistments in an economy in which steady jobs can be scarce.

But many veterans of both the police and the army around Afghanistan say they still feel left behind.

“My children are faced with a bad future if I can’t be the father they need,” Qandaghari, 23, said at his house in Lashkar Gah, speaking of his 5-month-old son. He had been married for less than a year when he lost his legs.

Since his injury, he has been homebound. But Qandaghari said it doesn’t have to be that way.

In 2012, he graduated first in his class from the national police academy and worked at the Interior Ministry for a year before becoming commander of an elite special-operations unit in Helmand, one of the most violent provinces in Afghanistan.

That experience didn’t disappear along with his legs, Qandaghari said.

“When I had my legs, I fought in every one of Helmand’s 14 districts. But now that they’re gone, I am nothing to the government. All I want is to work. I am proud to be an Afghan police officer and to fight for my country.”

That plea was echoed by Shah Zaman, 48, a former major in the Afghan National Army. Sitting in his home in a small village outside Kabul, he recalled the day his life changed.

A graduate of Afghanistan’s military academy 30 years ago, Zaman joined the army in 2003 after the allied invasion that drove the Taliban from power. He was placed in charge of securing one of the army’s largest bases in Kandahar province, a Taliban stronghold and one of the bloodiest for international and Afghan troops.

He was making his daily rounds one summer morning in 2008, inspecting defensive positions outside the base, when a car bomb exploded near the main gate.

When Zaman came to, he was being dragged from the flames by other soldiers. The blast killed two of his men outright and several civilians.

Doctors were unable to save the major’s left leg, which was amputated just below the knee. They also wanted to remove his left arm, which had been shredded by shrapnel. Zaman had to borrow about $20,000 to travel to India to receive the care necessary to save his arm.

The burden of his medical expenses and the lost income meant Zaman was unable to send his oldest son to college. He receives 60 percent of his former salary as a pension, but he said he has had no other contact or help from the government.

The 24-year-old son now works as a security guard, helping to support not only his young wife and two children, but his parents and seven brothers and sisters.

Family tops the list of concerns for one current lieutenant colonel in the Afghan army. He asked not to be identified because he was worried about protecting his job.

“No one wants their family member to have a dangerous job in the military,” said the officer, who is based in Helmand. “But if someone is killed or wounded, then it is the family that is ignored and pays the price.”

While the tragedy may not have shaken his faith in the military or the job he was doing, Zaman said he has a hard time convincing his neighbors that it was worth it. “They see me and they see the problems and they think it was a waste. That I lost my body parts for nothing.”

Like Qandaghari, Zaman said he had no regrets serving his country. “Once you wear the uniform, you know that this is a possibility,” he said. “I just worry about the families of the veterans. They suffer the most.”

Elyas Dayee and Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report.

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Twitter: @joshjonsmith

Tuskegee Airman Lowell Steward, who flew over 100 missions, dies at 95

VENTURA, Calif. — Lowell Steward, a former member of the Tuskegee Airmen who flew well over 100 missions over Europe during World War II, has died in California. He was 95.

His son Lowell Jr. says Steward died Wednesday of natural causes at a hospital in Ventura.

After graduating with a business degree from Santa Barbara College in 1941, Steward joined the Army Air Corps and trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama.

He was shipped to Italy in 1944 with the 100th Fighter Squadron of the famed all-black unit. From Capodechino Air Base in Naples, Steward completed dozens of missions in P-39 Airacobras and P-40 Warhawks. Later based in Ramitelli, Italy, he flew dozens more escort and strafing missions in P-51 Mustangs. He would fly 143 missions in all.

America's first black military pilots faced an unprecedented level of scrutiny under racial segregation. As a result they held themselves to a higher standard, Steward often said.

"He would say, 'we had to be better because we were looked at harder. The odds were stacked against us. Some people wanted us to fail,'" Lowell Jr. said.

Steward was ultimately awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

After being discharged in 1946, he moved to Los Angeles and tried to buy a house, only to be repeatedly denied bank loans because he was black.

"After several encounters like that he said, 'I need to figure out how to finance my own home.' That's when he went to real estate school," Lowell Jr. said.

Steward became one of the first black real estate agents in Los Angeles and went on to a 40-year career in the industry.

He helped organize and later served as president of the Los Angeles chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., a group devoted to preserving the legacy of the fighter pilots. He also founded a scholarship foundation in the name of the airmen.

In 2007, Steward was present at the U.S. Capitol when President George W. Bush presented members of the Tuskegee Airmen with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Steward's wife of 60 years, Helen, died in 2004. In addition to Lowell Jr., he is survived by daughters Shelley Lambert and Pamela Mills, along with 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

A funeral is planned for next week.

Navy admits error, honors World War II captain's bravery in sinking of U-boat

WASHINGTON — The Navy has posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit with a Combat ‘V” device to Herbert G. Claudius, 42 years after it dismissed his claims that he and his crew sunk a German U-boat off the coast of Louisiana during World War II.

His son, Herbert Gordon Claudius, Jr., accepted the award from Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert during a Tuesday ceremony at the Pentagon.

The elder Claudius has finally been recognized for his actions on July 30, 1942, when he led the patrol ship USS PC-566 into battle against a German submarine that had been attacking American vessels.

At the time, U-Boats were wreaking havoc on Allied shipping. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called them “the only thing that ever really frightened me during the war.”

Minutes after the passenger ship SS Robert E. Lee was torpedoed and sunk by U-166 45 miles south of the Mississippi River Delta, Claudius’ crew spotted a periscope in the area. After Claudius ordered depth charges fired, the crew saw an oil slick in the area where the weapons were dropped, according to historical accounts of the incident. This was strong evidence that the submarine had been severely damaged or destroyed.

But when Claudius submitted his after-action report, the Navy doubted his account because he and his crew had not yet received anti-submarine training, according to National Geographic, which is making a documentary about the affair.

The Navy’s Anti-Submarine Warfare Assessment Committee even admonished the crew for a poorly executed attack, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Claudius was removed from command and sent to anti-submarine warfare school.

“Claudius was shafted,” U-boat expert Richie Kohler said, according to National Geographic. “He should have returned home a hero, but he was humiliated and sent back to school.”

But the Navy has since come around. Nearly 60 years after the fact, an oil company discovered U-boat wreckage very close to where the battle occurred. Last summer, oceanographer Robert Ballard explored the site with remotely piloted vehicles and conducted high-resolution mapping to try to figure out what happened. The evidence suggested that U-166 had in fact been destroyed by a depth charge.

After concluding its own historic and archeological assessment, the Naval History and Heritage Command recommended the service credit PC-556 and Claudius for sinking the U-boat and give them the appropriate recognition.

Mabus acknowledged that the Navy made a mistake.

“Seventy years later, we now know that [Claudius’s] report after the action was absolutely correct,” Mabus said at the award ceremony, according to National Geographic. “[Claudius’ ship] did sink that U-boat, and it’s never too late to set the record straight.”

Mabus also praised the captain’s bravery, noting that Claudius and his crew were operating in “very dangerous waters.”

Greenert went on social media to pay tribute.

“Claudius was essential in sighting and sinking [U-166],” Greenert wrote on his Facebook page. “Claudius’ actions reflected great credit upon himself, and it was a true pleasure to be able to share the presentation with his family.”

Claudius served 33 years in the Navy and died in 1981.

“He would have felt vindicated,” Gordon Claudius said, according to National Geographic.

harper.jon@stripes.com

Twitter: @JHarperStripes

Judge orders company to release servicemembers’, civilians’ vehicles

25 minutes ago

By Adam L. Mathis

Stars and Stripes

Published: December 19, 2014

A Defense Department subcontractor was ordered on Wednesday to release dozens of servicemembers’ and civilians’ vehicles seized in a financial dispute between the subcontractor and its partner company.

A U.S. District Court judge ordered Liberty Global Logistics, based in Lake Success, N.Y., to release 66 vehicles held as a lien against more than $3.6 million the company claimed it was owed by International Auto Logistics, the Defense Department’s contractor responsible for shipping Defense Department employees’ vehicles.

Liberty is also enjoined from seizing any more vehicles unless given permission by the court.

Liberty seized the vehicles on Dec. 11 after it claimed International stopped making payments on “undisputed ocean freight,” according to court documents. The company also claimed — in a document opposing International’s motion — that International owed almost $20 million in other fees

International argued the two companies had been in negotiations and the seizure was nothing more than “self-help thuggery.”

International and Liberty have had disputes about money reaching back to at least September, with Liberty citing a lack of payment and International arguing it was not receiving adequate shipping information to pay bills. Wednesday’s order requires International to pay ocean freight bills “that the parties have agreed are due and owing through Friday” to Liberty. International must also stay current on all future charges on a weekly basis and Liberty must provide “appropriate and adequate billing support.”

Liberty hopes to have “virtually all” vehicles they ship for International “to the final port of discharge by early January,” said Robert G. Wellner, executive vice president of Liberty, in an e-mail on Thursday.

The judge ordered both sides to settle any outstanding issues by arbitration.

International has faced heavy criticism for the late delivery of vehicles and failure to provide accurate tracking information.

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Twitter: @AMathisStripes

Army corrects retirement inequity

About 160 Army officers pegged to be forced out of the service with reduced benefits will now be allowed to remain on active duty or retire with full benefits after an Army review found numerous officers were unfairly targeted.

“Under the criteria for officer separations, these soldiers should not have been considered,” Secretary of the Army John McHugh said in a statement issued Thursday. “This is an issue of fundamental fairness, and today we have taken appropriate action.”

As the Army works to reduce its overall end strength and officer corps, it conducted a review of 19,000 potential candidates for separation and early retirement boards. However, during that review only an officer’s commissioned service was taken into account, which put troops with enlisted service at a disadvantage.

As a result, 44 officers with prior enlisted service were selected for early retirement even though they did not meet the minimum commissioned service threshold, the Army said. Those separations have been voided and the officers now have the option of remaining in the Army until they have completed the necessary years of service to retire as an officer.

“These soldiers have served their country honorably both as enlisted soldiers, and now, as officers,” McHugh said. “We owe them nothing less.”

In addition, McHugh waived the eight-year requirement to allow another 120 soldiers reviewed by separation boards to retire as officers upon their mandatory retirement date.

“Once again, this is about doing what’s right, and taking care of our men and women in uniform,” McHugh said.

Many of the former enlisted soldiers transitioned to the officer corps during the war in Iraq, when the Army faced a growing demand for experienced junior officers.

The Army’s decision to restore the benefits came after a congressional inquiry into the matter, which found that the Army’s plan would have cost a soldier $1,000 a month, or $1 million over a 40-year retirement, in the case of a captain forced to retire as a sergeant first class.

“To demote these soldiers in retirement is an injustice that devalues their service and will materially disadvantage them and their families for the rest of their lives,” wrote a bipartisan group of senators in a November letter to McHugh. “We strongly urge you to take the necessary steps to rectify this situation in order to allow these soldiers to retire at the rank they have earned and appropriately honor their service to our nation.”

“We appreciate that this oversight was brought to our attention, and glad we were able to take corrective action in the best interests of these soldiers,” McHugh said.

With the Pentagon facing steep budget cuts, the Army plans to decrease its active-duty end strength from a high of 570,000 during the peak of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to 450,000 by 2019. If sequestration — a congressionally mandated series of cuts over several years — is not repealed in the meantime, the Army will likely be forced to cut down to 420,000 troops.

vandiver.john@stripes.com

Family of transgender Filipina wants US Marine in local jail during trial

MANILA, Philippines — A U.S. Marine charged with killing a transgender Filipino woman he picked up in a bar was brought back Friday to the city where the attack occurred two months ago, and lawyers of the victim say they will seek his detention in a local jail during his murder trial.

Relatives of Jennifer Laude saw the suspect, Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, for the first time since the killing as he was being photographed and fingerprinted by officers of the Regional Trial Court in Olongapo City, about 50 miles northwest of Manila.

The U.S. Embassy has already rejected a request by the Philippine government to take custody of Pemberton, citing a provision in the Visiting Forces Agreement between the countries that gives Americans custodial rights over a U.S. servicemember facing charges while judicial proceedings are ongoing.

In a statement in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. government will cooperate with the Philippine government but that under the agreement, "the United States is retaining the suspect until completion of all judicial proceedings."

Pemberton was brought from a military camp in Manila to Olongapo early Friday under heavy guard, including U.S. armed service personnel assigned to secure him.

He was whisked through a backdoor into the courtroom, evading dozens of journalists and cameramen waiting for him. After the booking procedures, he was driven back to Manila.

Laude family lawyer Virgie Suarez said she expects the judge to soon rule on where he should be detained.

"He (Pemberton) was not on official duty and he committed the crime in Olongapo, so he should be detained here in Olongapo," she told reporters.

Laude's sister, Marilou, said she had "mixed emotions — scared ... and trembling with anger" when she first saw Pemberton during the booking proceedings. She said Pemberton was smiling before he saw her. "He quickly looked away from me and never smiled again," she said.

"I wanted to come close to him to ask him why he killed my sibling, to smash his head on the wall, but there were too many (guards) around him," she said.

Philippine government prosecutors charged Pemberton with murder Monday, saying he killed Laude, who was formerly known as Jeffrey, after he found out she was a transgender woman. Laude had apparently been strangled and drowned in a toilet bowl in a motel where the pair had checked in after meeting in a disco bar Oct. 11, according to prosecutors.

Pemberton was in the Philippines to take part in combat exercises involving thousands of American and Filipino troops.

8 children found dead in northern Australia home

SYDNEY — Eight dead children and a woman suffering from stab wounds were found inside a home in a northern Australian city on Friday, police said.

Queensland state police said they were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries.

When police got to the house, they found the bodies of the children inside. The victims range in age from 18 months to 15 years.

A 34-year-old woman found inside the home was suffering from stab wounds to the chest, a Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said.

The woman was receiving treatment for her wounds and was in stable condition at a hospital, Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said. He said he had no further information, including how the children were killed.

"As it stands at the moment, there's no need for the public to be concerned about this other than the fact that it's a tragic, tragic event," Asnicar said. "The situation is well controlled at the moment. There shouldn't be any concern for anyone else out of this environment."

Detectives were speaking with neighbors and police had not determined the relationship between all of the children and the hospitalized woman.

But Lisa Thaiday, who said she was the woman's cousin, said the children were all siblings and that the woman was their mother. Thaiday said another sibling, a 20-year-old man, came home and found his brothers and sisters dead inside the house.

"I'm going to see him now, he needs comforting," Thaiday said. "We're a big family ... I just can't believe it. We just found out (about) those poor babies."

The street has been cordoned off and a crime scene will remain in place for at least the next day, Asnicar said.

Dozens of police have swarmed the home.

"These events are extremely distressing for everyone of course and police officers aren't immune from that — we're human beings as well," Ascinar said.

The tragedy comes as Australia is still reeling from the shock of a deadly siege in a Sydney cafe earlier this week. On Monday, a gunman stormed into a cafe in the heart of the city and took 18 people inside hostage. Two hostages were killed along with the gunman after police stormed into the cafe 16 hours later in a bid to end the siege.

Dog fights or target practice? Booms from Gulf's 'Whiskey 470' prompt complaints

(Tribune Content Agency) — The military calls it “Whiskey 470,” a roughly 200-rectangular-mile patch of airspace over the Gulf of Mexico about 30 miles northwest of Tampa, Fla. It’s a busy place where pilots learn how to fly one of the newest and most sophisticated fighters in the Air Force inventory.

Few people outside of military and aviation circles have heard of Whiskey 470. But last week, folks as far inland as Gainesville, Fla., began reporting loud booming noises likely emanating from it.

“People are saying that their houses are shaking and windows rattling,” according to a post on the Citrus County Sheriff’s website.

The noises were tied to military exercises run out of Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle that were taking place in airspace over the Gulf, said Aaron Gallaher, spokesman for the state’s Division of Emergency Management.

“The atmospheric conditions were right so that the sound carried very far inland,” Gallaher said. “It was a freak occurrence.”

Still, the division put out a notice last week warning the public that the exercises will continue through the end of this week and that 34 Florida counties could be affected by noise.

Whiskey 470 is part of a much larger area called the Gulf of Mexico Complex, stretching to about 20 miles east of the Louisiana coastline. Like much of the U.S., Florida is surrounded by restricted airspace. South of Whiskey 470 is Whiskey 168, from just south of Tampa to around the Florida Keys. The Federal Aviation Administration considers these “warning areas,” where the military trains and civilian aircraft can enter only after coordinating with the military.

A lot of coordination is required for these areas. The FAA controls the airspace in warning areas, and civilian aircraft fly through the areas on direct routes when the airspace is not in use by the military, according to the FAA, which has formal agreements with the Pentagon over airspace use. Although military use of some warning areas is scheduled in advance, sometimes it is on short notice.

The agreement between the FAA and the Pentagon allows the FAA to resume using the airspace when it cannot reroute flights around the warning areas because of severe weather. And there is also the Holiday Airspace Release Program, allowing commercial flights to transit special-use airspace to give airlines a more efficient routing during busy travel periods, according to the FAA.

The Gulf complex is hopping these days, said Herman Bell, Tyndall’s spokesman.

Tyndall is home to the 43rd Fighter Squadron, the nation’s only F-22 Raptor training unit, and pilots routinely fly through the warning area practicing aerial combat, he said.

“Not only do pilots learn how to fly the F-22, they learn how to fight it too in that airspace,” Bell said, adding that the pilots take on other manned aircraft as well as remotely piloted F-4 Phantoms.

A major training exercise is also taking place in Whiskey 151, to the west of Whiskey 470, according to Bell.

Called a Weapons Systems Evaluation Program, the exercise involves about 30 jets from various bases in the region, including F-15 Eagles and F-16 Falcons as well as the Raptors. During the exercise, which takes place about 150 miles off the coast, jets fire air-to-air missiles at small jet-powered drones called Firebees and the remotely piloted Phantoms for target practice. The exercise is scheduled to run through Friday.

In 2013, there were 10 such WSEPs. More than 330 air-to-air missiles were fired during those exercises, Bell said. The current exercise is the 12th this year, but no finally tally has yet been made of how many missiles have been fired in 2014.

Given the timing of the calls about the booms, Bell said the most likely cause was noise produced by the Raptors, which can fly up to 1,500 mph, or about twice the speed of sound. Shock waves are created in front of an aircraft traveling at the speed of sound, or about 750 mph, and sonic booms are created when aircraft fly faster than the speed of sound and break through the shock waves.

But the booms could also have been caused by the Eagles, with a top speed of about 1,875 mph, or Falcons, with a top speed of about 1,345 mph, engaging with the Raptors during dog fights in Whiskey 470, or while on the way to their training mission in Whiskey 151, according to Bell.

The noise complaints, which caused Sheriff’s Offices from at least three Florida counties to get calls from concerned citizens, are unprecedented, Bell said.

“This is the first time we had many people talking about the booms,” he said. “We do (the exercises) all the time.”

©2014 the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

McCain: I think A-10s will be part of fighter jet fleet for a long time

TUCSON, Ariz. — The two Republican U.S. senators from Arizona visited four military installations in the state on Thursday and offered assurances that the installations will play a key role in national defense in the future.

During a visit to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Sen. John McCain said the future of the A-10 Warthog, an attack aircraft, is safe despite Air Force calls that it be retired to free up money for the F-35, a more modern and expensive fighter jet.

Davis-Monthan has more than 80 active A-10 planes, said Capt. Casey Osborne, a spokesman for the 355th Fighter Wing at the base.

"The A-10 is the most capable air-to-ground weapon system that is in the entire inventory," McCain said. "I think they will be with us for an extended period of time."

Congress last week sent President Barack Obama a massive defense policy bill that, among many things, would prohibit the retirement of the A-10.

McCain, who will soon become chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been critical of the F-35 and its hefty price tag.

He also delivered reassurance when asked about the future of Fort Huachuca, an Army intelligence center near Sierra Vista.

He said the facility has the Army's only training facility for drones and more than 13,000 Army personnel train there annually.

"Frankly I see nothing but expansion for Fort Huachuca in the future because of the type of warfare that we are engaged in against radical Islam, ISIS and al-Qaida," McCain said.

The Army has proposed cutting up to 2,700 military and civilian jobs at Fort Huachuca during the next five years. The base is the largest employer in Cochise County, and many think job cuts would be detrimental to the southern Arizona economy.

McCain said the massive hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an example of why the U.S. needs to beef up its military intelligence operations such as those at Fort Huachuca.

"Electronic warfare is one of the key elements of one of the new challenges we face, and Fort Huachuca is the place where the training and the work is being done," he said.

McCain was accompanied on the visits by Sen. Jeff Flake. Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican who represents parts of Phoenix and the western state, also attended the visit in Tucson.

US cautious about ramping up airstrikes in Iraq

WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials are expressing caution about intensifying the air war against Islamic State militants, despite calls by Iraqi leaders to step up the pace of airstrikes.

Since the bombing campaign against the Islamic State began in August, the international coalition has conducted more than 1,300 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, the bulk by American forces.

RELATED: Top Islamic State lieutenants killed in Iraq, Pentagon says

During a visit to Iraq earlier this month by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Iraqi leaders called for more bombing, according to Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby. But U.S. military officials have indicated that they’re not inclined to ramp up operations — at least not in the near term.

One major concern for the Pentagon is the risk of civilian or friendly-fire casualties, which could create operational and political problems for the coalition.

“The coalition is really very deliberate about how it conducts strikes out there,” Army Lt. Gen. James Terry, the commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday.

“We have some great capability in terms of precision. [But] what’s in the balance here is, if you’re not careful … you can strike [Sunni] tribes, you could strike Iraqi security forces, and you could create a very bad situation … We’re very conscious of any collateral damage.”

Terry said that up to this point, he’s seen no reports of civilian casualties resulting from coalition airstrikes.

Another issue that makes calling in strikes more challenging is the fact that the U.S. has no forward air controllers near the front lines spotting targets. The Obama administration doesn’t want American ground forces directly involved in combat operations, and U.S. troops are therefore required to stay away from the fight.

According to Terry, the process in place now requires U.S. advisers and Iraqi personnel at the division headquarters level report back to joint operations centers in Baghdad and Irbil about the locations of Iraqi forces and Islamic State fighters. American intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flying overhead also feed information to the JOCs. Officials at the JOCs then use that information to tell coalition air crews where to strike.

Some Iraqi leaders are reportedly keen to go on the offensive in places like Mosul, an Islamic State stronghold. But American military officials feel like the ISF need more training and preparation before launching such an operation.

“It takes some patience as we continue to build the Iraqi security forces out there,” Terry said. He said it will take “a minimum of three years” before the ISF and Kurdish peshmerga are capable of defeating the Islamic State group.

A large contingent of American trainers will begin deploying to Iraq in the coming weeks, according to Terry.

When it comes to airstrikes, “We’ve been very effective in delivering those fires” and “I think we’ve got it just about right,” Terry said.

A U.S. military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Stars and Stripes that the Iraqis’ desire for more American assistance was understandable, but acceding to those demands at the present time wouldn’t be in America’s interest.

“A government dealing with an adversary like [the Islamic State] is always going to want the most military capability possible,” the official said, but “our pace needs to be such that we… [aren’t] getting too far out in front of the ISF and making this our fight” instead of an Iraqi fight.

harper.jon@stripes.com

Twitter: @JHarperStripes

Re-enactors recall spirit of US WWII troops in Battle of Bulge

ST. VITH, Belgium — Pvt. Edwin Cotter kneels in the cold, wet mud of the Prümerberg, a large hill above St. Vith, near the German border, catching his breath as snowflakes float to the ground slowly blanketing the forest around him. Shovels rhythmically break ground and the barking commands of soldiers disturb the otherwise peaceful setting.

“Cotter!” ... schunk ... schunk...

“Use branches for cover, think about camouflage!” ... schunk ...

Soldiers with the 106th Infantry Division begin digging foxholes as they prepare to take their turn on the front lines in the Ardennes Forest. The date is Dec. 13, 2014, yet it feels and looks exactly as it must have 70 years ago when the U.S. and its allies were engaged in war against Nazi Germany. These soldiers are actually re-enactors, mostly from the Netherlands, who commit a lot of time and money to portray World War II U.S. infantrymen.

Cotter and about 20 others belong to a living-history group called American Patrol and they are the only group out of more than 100 in the Netherlands that portrays infantry divisions who fought in Europe in 1944. According to Leonard van Oord, a 19-year-old World War II re-enactor, American Patrol maintains a high level of authenticity. Focusing on different units every year, the group studies each unit in depth, looking at everything from the uniforms worn to the unit’s achievements and everything in between.

“We don’t just want to look good or pose in a uniform,” said van Oord. “We want to know the unit we portray and the history. We want to understand their living conditions.”

This year, for the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, American Patrol teamed up with about five other groups to portray units from the U.S. 106th Infantry Division. According to Carl Wouters, the 106th Infantry Division Association’s Belgium liaison, the actions of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne overshadowed those of the 106th ID, but St. Vith arguably was an equally important road junction that had great tactical importance for the Germans.

Despite being stretched too thin with little-to-no experience, the young men of the106th, the last infantry division to be activated in World War II, truly lost their innocence overnight when the Germans attacked them on Dec. 16, 1944. Two of the division’s three regiments were surrounded and completely cut off from supplies and reinforcements. After three days of holding out and taking mass casualties, both regimental commanders independently decided to surrender what was left of their regiments on Dec. 19, 1944.

“The actions of the division made it possible for the other units to move in from the rear, join the fight and plug the hole in the ‘dam,’” Wouters said. “Against all odds, they put up one hell of a fight. For that, they deserve credit, praise and everlasting respect.”

Paying respect and remembering are largely the reasons American Patrol members participate in these re-enactments.

“We do this to remember the people who liberated Western Europe 70 years ago, to make sure they are not forgotten by current generations,” said van Oord. “They made great sacrifices, they came all the way from their farms in America to liberate us from German oppression and for that we are thankful.”

Two 106th ID veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, Herb Sheaner Jr., 90, and Dick Lockhart, 91, came to the re-enactment site on Prümerberg, where actual fighting had taken place, to see what the young re-enactors were doing.

They were here for the third annual Flag of Friendship Ceremony held in St. Vith on Sunday. The re-enactors also stood in formation, performed a 27-gun-salute and carried flowers in the ceremony.

Sheaner and Lockhart saw the men in their foxholes and were given a tour of the headquarters, where they had coffee and talked with the re-enactor commanding officer before witnessing a mock battle with an advancing German unit.

According to Sheaner, the young re-enactors could’ve been his buddies 70 years ago at about the right ages and wearing the same clothing and gear.

“Those people absolutely look like Americans 70 years ago; it’s amazing what they did out here,” Sheaner said. “They would’ve been real good soldiers back in World War II; they would have. I’ll never forget this.”

demotts.joshua@stripes.com

Pentagon: Top Islamic State lieutenants killed in Iraq

U.S. airstrikes have killed several senior military leaders of Islamic State forces in Iraq, the Pentagon disclosed Thursday.

“I can confirm that since mid-November, targeted coalition airstrikes successfully killed multiple senior and midlevel leaders within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),” Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in an statement.

“We believe that the loss of these key leaders degrades ISIL’s ability to command and control current operations against Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), including Kurdish and other local forces in Iraq.”

Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that three key Islamic State military leaders in Iraq were killed there in recent weeks during operations that are part of an expanding coalition effort ahead of a planned offensive next year.

Between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9, American airstrikes killed Abd al Basit, the head of Islamic State’s military operations in Iraq, and Haji Mutazz, a key deputy to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the group, officials told the Journal.

In late November, another strike killed a midlevel commander, Radwin Talib, Islamic State’s wali, or governor, in Mosul, officials told The Wall Street Journal.

The strikes in which the leaders were killed were designed to hamper the group’s ability to conduct its own attacks, supply its fighters and finance its operations, Dempsey said.

“It is disruptive to their planning and command and control,” Dempsey said. “These are high-value targets, senior leadership.”

“The success of these airstrikes,” Kirby said, “demonstrates the coalition’s resolve in enabling the ISF to disrupt and degrade ISIL as they continue to regain control of their territory.”

Ahmed Ali, an analyst at the Institute of the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank that closely monitors the developments, told the Journal that the recent strikes were significant.

“These are big hits, and eliminating these figures always temporarily disrupts the organization,” Ali said.

Ali described Mr. Mutazz, also known as Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, as one of Baghdadi’s “closest and most senior aides.”

Basit, also known as Abd al-Basit Inad Allah Mulla Gaidh, was considered the group’s top military expert, Ali said.

He told the Journal that Talib was also sometimes identified as Radwin Talib Hamdun.

news@stripes.com

A look at North Korea's cyberwar capabilities

SEOUL, South Korea — Most North Koreans have never seen the Internet.

But the country Washington suspects is behind a devastating hack on Sony Pictures Entertainment has managed to orchestrate a string of crippling cyber infiltrations of South Korean computer systems in recent years, officials in Seoul believe, despite North Korea protesting innocence.

Experts say the Sony Pictures hack may be the costliest cyberattack ever inflicted on an American business. The fallout from the hack that exposed a trove of sensitive documents, and this week escalated to threats of terrorism, forced Sony to cancel release of the North Korean spoof movie "The Interview." The studio's reputation is in tatters as embarrassing revelations spill from tens of thousands of leaked emails and other company materials.

Despite widespread poverty, malnutrition and decades of crippling U.S.-led economic sanctions, Pyongyang has poured resources into training thousands of hackers who regularly target bitter rival Seoul.

A look at the country's suspected capabilities and where experts believe the authoritarian nation is heading with its cyber program:

North Korea's cyberarmy

South Korea's former spy chief and a North Korean defector put the number of professional hackers at between 1,000 and 3,000. These numbers from Seoul's intelligence agency in 2010 and a leaked North Korean government document from 2009, which contained an order from late leader Kim Jong Il, may be outdated. But they agree that North Korea trains hackers at top schools to launch attacks on cyberspace mostly targeted at South Korea.

Defector Kim Heung Kwang said he trained student hackers at a university in the industrial North Korean city of Hamhung for two decades before defecting in 2003. Hackers also are sent to study abroad in China and Russia.

In 2009, then-leader Kim Jong Il ordered Pyongyang's "cyber command" expanded to 3,000 hackers, Kim said, citing a North Korean government document that he obtained that year. The veracity of the document could not be independently confirmed.

Kim, who has lived in Seoul since 2004, believes that more have been recruited since then, and said some are based in China to infiltrate networks abroad.

Simon Choi, a senior security researcher at Seoul-based anti-virus company Hauri Inc., said North Korean hackers have honed their skills from various attacks in South Korea. Choi, who analyzes malicious codes from North Korea, said the country's skills have improved and it is able to disguise malware as harmless computer code.

The perception of growing cyber security threats from North Korea has prompted South Korea's defense ministry to beef up its cyber warfare capabilities.

Past cyberattacks

South Korea blames North Korea for carrying out at least six high-profile cyberattacks since 2007 with many more unsuccessful attempts at infiltrating computer systems of businesses and government agencies. In the six cases, hackers destroyed hard drive disks, paralyzed banking systems or disrupted access to websites. Some of these attacks were so crippling that in one case a South Korean bank was unable to resume online banking services for more than two weeks.

The first suspected cyberassault by North Korea took place on July 7, 2009 in the form of "denial of service" attacks on dozens of websites of South Korean and U.S. government agencies. Hackers triggered intense traffic from tens of thousands of "zombie" PCs that are crippled by malware. Initially, South Korea's spy agency pointed the finger at North Korea. Some experts later said that there were no conclusive evidence that Pyongyang was behind it, but South Korea came to see the attack as a prelude to a growing cyber threat from the North.

A similar infiltration was carried out on March 4, 2011. Hackers attacked about 40 South Korean government and private websites, prompting officials to warn of a substantial threat to the country's computers. The targets included websites belonging to South Korea's presidential office, the foreign ministry, the national intelligence service, US Forces Korea and major financial institutions.

One month later, South Korean bank Nonghyup was the victim of a damaging cyberattack on the country's financial industry. It took the bank more than two weeks to recover and resume online banking and ATM services. South Korean authorities concluded that North Korea was responsible for the April 12, 2011 attack.

A smaller scale breach linked to North Korea was on South Korean daily newspaper JoongAng Ilbo on June 6, 2012. Hackers changed the home page of its website and destroyed data in its editorial system.

One of the most damaging attacks took place in 2013. The March 20 cyberattack struck 48,000 computers and servers, hampering banks for 2-5 days. Officials said that no bank records or personal data were compromised but staffers at three TV broadcasters were unable to log on to news systems for several days, although programming continued.

Three months later on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, dozens of government and media companies were hit by malicious code and denial of service attacks.

What next for North Korea's cyberwar

Experts believe that for impoverished North Korea, expanding its warfare into cyberspace is an attractive choice because it is cheaper and faster to develop malicious computer codes than to build nuclear bombs or other weapons of mass destruction. Online attacks can be performed anonymously, another upside for the infiltrators.

It is also a battle in which North Korea has little to lose. Unlike South Korea where commerce and many aspects of daily life are dependent on the Internet, only a fraction of North Koreans can go online. In South Korea, a crippled website or a disruption of online banking poses great inconvenience.

"North Korea has very few Internet-connected PCs so they have little in the way of being attacked. But South Korea has a huge IT infrastructure that can come under attack," said Choi, the security expert. That provides ample targets for North Korean hackers, he said.

Choi believes the North's hackers are highly skilled and organized with the capacity to "freely hack into other computer systems without any limits."

Experts have warned of the possibility that North Korea could mobilize its hackers to attack key infrastructure such as power plants.

Caveats

What the world knows about North Korea's cyberwarfare capabilities comes mostly from intelligence agencies and North Korean defectors who left the country before 2007 when the first major cyberattack linked to North Korea occurred in South Korea.

North Korea's nuclear capabilities have been a point of pride for the isolated nation, but it has never openly admitted the existence of a state-trained cyberarmy.

The North has denied Seoul's accusations it is responsible for cyberattacks in South Korea. In the Sony Pictures case, North Korea said it might have been the work of sympathizers.

Former sex workers who serviced US troops get day in court

SEOUL, South Korea — Former sex workers who have sued the South Korean government, claiming it encouraged them to prostitute themselves to U.S. troops after the Korean War, have their first court hearing Friday.

The 122 elderly women are asking for more than $1.2 million, an official apology from the government and an investigation into South Korea’s oversight of their work. The South Korean government and Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn were named in the suit, which alleges that Seoul began encouraging the women to work as prostitutes for U.S. servicemembers in the 1950s, a practice that continued into the 1970s. A ministry litigation officer declined to comment on the case.

“They were victims of history,” said Kim Mikyoung, one of the attorneys for the women. She was one of several people who confirmed the contents of the lawsuit, filed June 25. The Seoul Central District Court would not provide a copy to Stars and Stripes, citing rules that bar the general release of such documents.

Until recent years, the former prostitutes’ history has been relatively unknown. But experts have said that the South Korean government, fearing that the U.S. would withdraw its troops from the peninsula, encouraged the women to prostitute themselves to U.S. servicemembers to keep them happy and to bring American dollars into a struggling economy.

Many of the now elderly women still live outside the bases they once served. In Anjeong-ri, a neighborhood within sight of Camp Humphreys, many of the women have lived in squalid housing, unable to afford better in an area where rent has skyrocketed as the base has expanded.

Experts say most of the women have had difficult lives, many unable to find husbands and some giving birth to children fathered by U.S. troops. Some of the women gave their children up for adoption or raised them in relative isolation because of the dual stigmas of being an unwed mother and having interracial children.

The government insisted the women register at clinics for regular health checks. A story in Stars and Stripes from Nov. 2, 1971, described how U.S. and Korean officials monitored the health of U.S. servicemembers and the prostitutes.

Soldiers with venereal disease were treated and asked to identify the prostitutes they had been involved with from books of photos of every prostitute treated at a Korean government health clinic. A U.S. military vice control team would then help South Korean police locate the women and take them to an “isolation ward” for mandatory treatment, usually consisting of twice-daily penicillin shots for four days.

A bill calling for financial support for the women’s living expenses and additional research into the government’s involvement and its alleged oversight of the women is pending in the National Assembly.

An aide to Kim Kwangjin, one of 10 lawmakers who sponsored the bill, filed this summer, said police and health centers told the women they were conducting “patriotic acts” with U.S. troops.

“This bill is to let people know that the women are victims and the state needs to take responsibility for them,” he said.

Lee Na-young, a sociology professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, said Seoul is unlikely to concede that it encouraged prostitution. “South Korea achieved its national security by using women’s bodies and sex,” she said.

The women have had little money or backing to sue the government, she said. But increased attention on another group known in South Korea as “comfort women,” who were forced into sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation, has benefitted the former prostitutes. Both groups support each other, with the former prostitutes attending weekly rallies that the comfort women hold outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

The U.S. military has said it is aware of the case but declined to comment on the women’s claims or the lawsuit. A statement issued after the suit was filed, said U.S. Forces Korea has zero tolerance for prostitution.

rowland.ashley@stripes.com

chang.yookyong@stripes.com

Former sex workers who served US troops get day in court

SEOUL, South Korea — Former sex workers who have sued the South Korean government, claiming it encouraged them to prostitute themselves to U.S. troops after the Korean War, have their first court hearing Friday.

The 122 elderly women are asking for more than $1.2 million, an official apology from the government and an investigation into South Korea’s oversight of their work. The South Korean government and Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn were named in the suit, which alleges that Seoul began encouraging the women to work as prostitutes for U.S. servicemembers in the 1950s, a practice that continued into the 1970s. A ministry litigation officer declined to comment on the case.

“They were victims of history,” said Kim Mikyoung, one of the attorneys for the women. She was one of several people who confirmed the contents of the lawsuit, filed June 25. The Seoul Central District Court would not provide a copy to Stars and Stripes, citing rules that bar the general release of such documents.

Until recent years, the former prostitutes’ history has been relatively unknown. But experts have said that the South Korean government, fearing that the U.S. would withdraw its troops from the peninsula, encouraged the women to prostitute themselves to U.S. servicemembers to keep them happy and to bring American dollars into a struggling economy.

Many of the now elderly women still live outside the bases they once served. In Anjeong-ri, a neighborhood within sight of Camp Humphreys, many of the women have lived in squalid housing, unable to afford better in an area where rent has skyrocketed as the base has expanded.

Experts say most of the women have had difficult lives, many unable to find husbands and some giving birth to children fathered by U.S. troops. Some of the women gave their children up for adoption or raised them in relative isolation because of the dual stigmas of being an unwed mother and having interracial children.

The government insisted the women register at clinics for regular health checks. A story in Stars and Stripes from Nov. 2, 1971, described how U.S. and Korean officials monitored the health of U.S. servicemembers and the prostitutes.

Soldiers with venereal disease were treated and asked to identify the prostitutes they had been involved with from books of photos of every prostitute treated at a Korean government health clinic. A U.S. military vice control team would then help South Korean police locate the women and take them to an “isolation ward” for mandatory treatment, usually consisting of twice-daily penicillin shots for four days.

A bill calling for financial support for the women’s living expenses and additional research into the government’s involvement and its alleged oversight of the women is pending in the National Assembly.

An aide to Kim Kwangjin, one of 10 lawmakers who sponsored the bill, filed this summer, said police and health centers told the women they were conducting “patriotic acts” with U.S. troops.

“This bill is to let people know that the women are victims and the state needs to take responsibility for them,” he said.

Lee Na-young, a sociology professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, said Seoul is unlikely to concede that it encouraged prostitution. “South Korea achieved its national security by using women’s bodies and sex,” she said.

The women have had little money or backing to sue the government, she said. But increased attention on another group known in South Korea as “comfort women,” who were forced into sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation, has benefitted the former prostitutes. Both groups support each other, with the former prostitutes attending weekly rallies that the comfort women hold outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

The U.S. military has said it is aware of the case but declined to comment on the women’s claims or the lawsuit. A statement in July, when the suit was filed said U.S. Forces Korea has zero tolerance for prostitution.

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Nigerian court martial sentences 54 soldiers to death for refusing to fight Islamic extremists

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria on Wednesday sentenced 54 soldiers to death for mutiny, assault, cowardice and refusing to fight Islamic extremists.

The court-martial charges all were connected to the soldiers' refusal to deploy to recapture three towns seized by Nigeria's home-grown Boko Haram in August, according to the charge sheet.

The lawyer for the condemned men, Femi Falana, said the 54 soldiers were convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad. He said five soldiers were acquitted.

They all were accused of "conspiring to commit mutiny against the authorities of 7 Division, Nigerian Army," which is on the front line of the fighting in the northeast of the West African nation.

Twelve soldiers were sentenced to death in September for mutiny and attempted murder of the commanding officer in the counter-insurgency. They blamed him for the deaths of an unknown number of soldiers ambushed and killed after they were ordered to drive at night on a road frequently attacked by the militants.

Troops regularly complain that they are outgunned by Boko Haram, they are not paid in full and they are abandoned on the battlefield without enough ammunition or food.

Boko Haram has seized a string of towns and villages and in August declared an Islamic caliphate along Nigeria's border with Cameroon.

In recent weeks, Special Forces have been deployed and have recaptured at least four towns with help from air raids, traditional hunters and vigilantes.

The turnaround comes as Nigerians prepare for Feb. 14 presidential elections that are expected to be the most closely contested since decades of military dictatorship ended in 1999. President Goodluck Jonathan, 57, is being challenged by former military dictator Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, 72. Buhari is being touted by an opposition coalition as more likely to succeed in curbing the insurgency and in fighting corruption that Jonathan is accused of fueling.

Thousands of people have been killed in the 5-year-old Islamic uprising that has driven some 1.3 million people from their homes, with tens of thousands fleeing across borders into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

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Associated Press writer Michelle Faul contributed to this report from Cambridge, England.

Guantanamo not part of US-Cuban bargain

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has no intention of withdrawing from the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, despite the sudden shift in U.S.-Cuban relations.

“There is no impact to Guantanamo from the changes announced today,” the National Security Council spokeswoman, Bernadette Meehan, said Wednesday evening.

Hours earlier, at the U.S. outpost in southeast Cuba, base spokeswoman Kelly Wirfel said amid reports that American prisoner Alan Gross was on his way to freedom that there was no change in security posture at the 45-square-mile outpost of about 6,000 residents that straddles Guantanamo Bay and sits behind a Cuban minefield.

From the earliest days of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro sought to get the U.S. out of the base — a prime piece of real estate long before the George W. Bush administration decided to put its iconic war-on-terror prison there.

Successive U.S. administrations have said the military has permanent tenancy under a 1934 treaty made public by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The United States cuts an annual check for $4,085 in rent, even though the Cuban government does not cash it.

Wednesday, a senior Obama official told McClatchy that Cuban diplomats object to the continued U.S. presence on the base “in every discussion ... but there won’t be change to that status quo.”

The Pentagon spokesman for U.S. military activity in Latin America and the Caribbean said the administration was still committed to closing the base’s war-on-terror prison, which currently hold 136 foreign captives there in an operation staffed by around 2,000 U.S. troops and civilians on temporary duties.

But the U.S. military uses Guantanamo for other purposes. Its airstrip has been a launch pad for drug-interdiction and humanitarian relief missions in the Caribbean. U.S. Coast Guard and Navy vessels pass through on resupply missions. Just this past weekend, the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa was in port.

“As of today, the Defense Department is maintaining current operations and policies throughout the region,” said Army Lt. Col. Myles B. Caggins III, the spokesman. “We continue to support the president’s goal of reducing the detainee population at Guantanamo through transfers and prosecutions.”

Beyond the Detention Center Zone, there was no hint this week of the coming upheaval in U.S.-Cuban relations on the base, which resembles small-town America. It has a church, McDonald’s, a scruffy golf course, schools for sailors’ children and every morning at 8 a.m. the blare of the Star Spangled Banner.

At the U.S. Navy’s base radio station, called Radio Gitmo, the shelves were bulging with fresh stocks of “Rockin’ in Fidel’s Backyard” T-shirts, Castro bobble head dolls and other souvenirs. It was also offering a new item: $5 Santa caps in advance of the holiday season.

During the height of the Cold War, tens of thousands of troops served at Guantanamo with munitions hidden in hillside bunkers and U.S. Marines guarding a tense frontier — as portrayed in the Hollywood hit “A Few Good Men,” starring Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore.

The 17.4-mile fence line was known as the Cactus Curtain. Then in 1999 U.S. President Bill Clinton had the Marines remove the minefield, heralding a new era. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, successive Guantanamo base commanders, Navy captains, described the U.S.-Cuban relationship along the minefield as “benign.”

Now, only the occasional sound of Cuban mines popping off in the heat or by something rustling in the minefield remind of the dangers of the frontier.

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(Lesley Clark of the McClatchy Washington Bureau contributed to this report.)

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©2014 Miami Herald

Japan, Australia to provide maintenance, facilities for US F-35s in Pacific

Japan and Australia will provide maintenance and upgrades for U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets in the Pacific, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

The countries will split the duties, with Australia servicing aircraft in the South Pacific, while Japan handles the north region, a division of labor that is expected to save time and money.

“If you're having airplanes in the northern Pacific that need a rapid upgrade to respond to a new threat, having to move them 7,000 miles to do that mod in Australia, or vice versa, has an operational impact,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan told reporters in Washington, D.C., Wednesday.

Australia is expected to have the facility operational no later than early 2018. Japan will have its operation up and running three to five years later, or as late as 2023.

The Pentagon did not specify where the maintenance facilities would be located. Inquiries by Stars and Stripes to U.S. Forces Japan about locations were referred to U.S. Pacific Command. A spokesman at PACOM said Wednesday said he did not know the locations.

However, Bryan Bullerdick, president of defense contractor BGSE Group, said in an email to Stars and Stripes that his firm has completed an F-35 repair hangar at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on the Japan mainland and that “more would be coming in Iwakuni.”

Bullerdick said his firm had also been contacted by a design firm in charge of constructing an F-35 hangar in Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. That firm asked to use BGSE equipment as a basis for its design.

Australian Minister for Defence David Johnston said in a news release Wednesday that the facilities in his country would likely be based at one of two east coast sites: Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberley or RAAF Base Williamtown.

Amberley is near Brisbane in Queensland and is the RAAF’s largest base. Williamtown base is to the south in New South Wales and is headquarters to Australia’s Air Combat Group.

The Pentagon announced last week that heavy maintenance for F-35s in Europe would be done in Italy and Turkey.

Bogdan said that after the full fleet of F-35s are in the Pacific and Japan has completed its facilities, the Pentagon would “see if these decisions are still appropriate and if we have to make any kind of adjustments in terms of the assignment capabilities moving forward.”

The F-35 maintenance depot in the U.S. is located in Fort Worth, Texas, Bogdan said, but Japan’s will likely be configured differently than it and the one in Italy.

“Both the plant at Fort Worth and the plant in Italy are expansive in terms of distance on the ground,” he said, as compared with Japan’s vertical design.

Work will take place on a number of floors, moving through the process on elevators, Bogdan told reporters.

He said Japan is responsible for the funding and construction of its facility, which will be operated by a Japanese company. Reuters reported Wednesday that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries would handle the work in Japan initially.

Bogdan said Lockheed Martin will have oversight in Italy and Japan, with security maintained by the U.S.

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Twitter: @WyattWOlson

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Pakistan angry at school killings, moves to execute convicted terrorists

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan’s government lifted a moratorium on executing convicted terrorists Wednesday and sought Afghanistan’s help to find the mastermind of Tuesday’s murderous attack on an army-run school in the northern city of Peshawar, as the death toll rose to 144.

There was a national outpouring of grief, shame and anger at the attack, in which 132 schoolchildren, many of them the sons of military officers, were killed.

Three more school staff members succumbed to their wounds at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital, as staff there and at a military hospital in Rawalpindi fought to save the lives of dozens of critically injured victims, repeatedly issuing calls to the public to donate blood.

The leaders of Pakistan’s political parties set aside bitter rivalries at a conference in Peshawar, called by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, to develop a consensus on legislation dealing with the trials and convictions of terrorists, an issue that successive governments have failed to settle since the Pakistani Taliban launched an insurgency in 2007.

Sharif set the agenda by announcing that he had lifted a six-year moratorium on capital punishment, which a previous administration had put into place under the human rights terms of a preferential trade agreement with the European Union.

“The biggest issue right now is that of hardened terrorists who’ve been arrested … when they are not convicted, they return to their havens and carry out further acts of terror. Until and unless this issue is resolved, we cannot resolve the terrorism problem,” Sharif said.

There are about 8,000 convicts on death row in Pakistani prisons, one of the world’s largest such populations, including more than 3,000 terrorists.

Police, prosecutors and judges who handle terrorist cases have been threatened and murdered, making most reluctant to pursue such cases. And convictions have been difficult to secure.

Pakistan’s democratic constitution requires that defendants’ lawyers have access to prosecution evidence and witnesses, potentially exposing classified information.

Only the military’s security agencies have access to advanced forensic-evidence techniques — such as cross-referencing explosive residue from bombing scenes with databases of materials used in previous attacks — and they’ve been reluctant to expose that intelligence in court.

The security agencies clashed with the judiciary last year over their indefinite detention of terrorism suspects and refusal to produce them in court.

The detentions were legalized last June, when Pakistan’s government abandoned attempts to negotiate a peace settlement with the Pakistani Taliban after militants attacked an airport in the southern city of Karachi.

Pakistan’s ceremonial president, Mamnoon Hussain, responded immediately Wednesday by rejecting mercy petitions filed by eight convicted terrorists in 2012, and his office ordered the administrators of the prisons where they’re being held to carry out the executions, the Pakistani media reported.

Sharif’s populist measure came as Pakistanis reacted to the horrific Taliban attack Tuesday on an army-run school in Peshawar, as its victims were buried.

Funerals in absentia, a Muslim custom, were held for victims in cities around the country. Most schools and colleges were closed for the first of three days of national mourning declared by the government, while students and teachers at some gathered briefly to pray for the dead and wounded. Impromptu candlelight vigils sprang up in some cities as people struggled to come to terms with the carnage.

Pakistanis at home and abroad exchanged condolences over social media networks, many replacing profile pictures with black screens and talking about how they hadn’t been able to stop crying. Others posted slides that read, “The smallest coffins are the heaviest,” an obvious reference to the dead schoolchildren, while a minority called for the public execution, within 24 or 72 hours, of convicted terrorists.

National sentiment was summed up by the military’s chief spokesman, Gen. Asim Bajwa: “Today is one of the saddest days of our history. … All of us are ashamed that we have in our midst people whose instincts are worse than animals, who have killed innocent children on such a large scale,” he told journalists gathered near the school.

Amid the mourning, the army chief of staff, Gen. Raheel Sharif, traveled to neighboring Afghanistan, brandishing intelligence that the school attack had been planned by Pakistani militants who had relocated to eastern Afghanistan to escape the military’s campaign in the adjacent Pakistani tribal area of Khyber.

Sharif, who isn’t a relative of the Pakistani prime minister’s, met in Kabul with the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, and military and security officials to demand their help in capturing or killing the militants, including the Pakistani Taliban chief, Maulana Fazlullah, who is notorious for ordering the October 2012 shooting of 2014 Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai.

The Pakistani chief of staff also met with U.S. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the commander of international security forces in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani military retaliated Tuesday against the terrorist factions involved in the school attack while it was happening, with U.S.-built F-16 air force jets carrying out 10 bombing sorties within an hour against militants in the remote Tirah Valley of the Khyber tribal area, on the border with the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, the military said.

Around the same time, a CIA drone attacked a pickup in Nangarhar’s Sherzad district on the border with Khyber, killing all 11 occupants, who included at least four Pakistani militants, Afghan officials said.

The Pakistani military said Wednesday that its warplanes had carried out 20 raids on militant positions in Khyber since the school attack.

The school tragedy prompted Pakistan’s longtime foe, India, to set aside tensions arising from recent border skirmishes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led two minutes of silence for the Peshawar dead, observed early Wednesday in Parliament and at schools across the country.

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(Hussain is a McClatchy special correspondent.)

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©2014 McClatchy Washington Bureau

No evidence Pa. fugitive stabbed himself to death, coroner says

PHILADELPHIA — Brad Stone’s lifeless body sat in the woods near his Pennsburg, Pa., home for at least 12 hours before police found it Tuesday, but how the mass killer died remains a mystery, the Montgomery County coroner said Wednesday.

A preliminary autopsy showed Stone did not die of self-inflicted stab wounds, said Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman, and an official cause of death is still pending a toxicology report.

Still, detectives uncovered a gruesome tableau upon finding Stone’s body. According to Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele, the items found near the corpse included two medicine bottles, one containing a white powder; an energy drink with powder on the lip; and a large-handled machete and doubled-bladed black axe, both coated in blood.

The only injury that medical examiners discovered, according to Hofman said, was a “limited injury” to Stone’s left leg — and one that didn’t cause his death.

The coroner said the leg wound was not a gunshot wound, but he said he would not elaborate the type of injury.

On Tuesday, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman had said Stone apparently died of self-inflicted cutting wounds to the center of his body.

Steele said the leg wound was about 7 centimeters deep. But if it had been ruled out as a cause of death, he said, the toxicology report or other items near the corpse might shed light.

“If the stab wound isn’t the cause of death,” he said, “then you look to other possibilities based on the evidence around the scene.”

Stone, an Iraq war veteran, was the subject of a 32-hour manhunt after a predawn killing spree Monday that left his ex-wife and five of her relatives dead in their homes in Lansdale, Souderton and Harleysville.

He was found dead Tuesday afternoon about half a mile from his Pennsburg home, Ferman said.

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©2014 The Philadelphia Inquirer