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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
December 13, 2013
Why Is Saudi Arabia Buying 15,000 U.S. Anti-Tank Missiles for a War It Will Never Fight? Hint: Syria.
BY David Kenner
DECEMBER 12, 2013
BEIRUT — No one is expecting a tank invasion of Saudi Arabia anytime soon, but the kingdom just put in a huge order for U.S.-made anti-tank missiles that has Saudi-watchers scratching their heads and wondering whether the deal is related to Riyadh's support for the Syrian rebels.
The proposed weapons deal, which the Pentagon notified Congress of in early December, would provide Riyadh with more than 15,000 Raytheon anti-tank missiles at a cost of over $1 billion. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report, Saudi Arabia's total stockpile this year amounted to slightly more than 4,000 anti-tank missiles. In the past decade, the Pentagon has notified Congress of only one other sale of anti-tank missiles to Saudi Arabia -- a 2009 deal that shipped roughly 5,000 missiles to the kingdom.
"It's a very large number of missiles, including the most advanced version of the TOWs [tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles]," said Jeffrey White, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former intelligence analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency. "The problem is: What's the threat?"
That's a tough question to answer. A military engagement with Iran, the most immediate potential threat faced by Riyadh, would be largely a naval and air engagement over the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia has fought a series of deadly skirmishes with insurgents in northern Yemen over the years, but those groups have no more than a handful of military vehicles. And Iraq, which posed a real threat during Saddam Hussein's day, is far too consumed by its internal demons and the fallout from the war in Syria to ponder such foreign adventurism.
Why Is Saudi Arabia Buying 15,000 U.S. Anti-Tank Missiles for a War It Will Never Fight? Hint: Syria
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/12/12/why_is_saudi_arabia_buying_15000_us_anti_tank_missiles_for_a_land_war_it_will_neWhy Is Saudi Arabia Buying 15,000 U.S. Anti-Tank Missiles for a War It Will Never Fight? Hint: Syria.
BY David Kenner
DECEMBER 12, 2013
BEIRUT — No one is expecting a tank invasion of Saudi Arabia anytime soon, but the kingdom just put in a huge order for U.S.-made anti-tank missiles that has Saudi-watchers scratching their heads and wondering whether the deal is related to Riyadh's support for the Syrian rebels.
The proposed weapons deal, which the Pentagon notified Congress of in early December, would provide Riyadh with more than 15,000 Raytheon anti-tank missiles at a cost of over $1 billion. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance report, Saudi Arabia's total stockpile this year amounted to slightly more than 4,000 anti-tank missiles. In the past decade, the Pentagon has notified Congress of only one other sale of anti-tank missiles to Saudi Arabia -- a 2009 deal that shipped roughly 5,000 missiles to the kingdom.
"It's a very large number of missiles, including the most advanced version of the TOWs [tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles]," said Jeffrey White, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former intelligence analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency. "The problem is: What's the threat?"
That's a tough question to answer. A military engagement with Iran, the most immediate potential threat faced by Riyadh, would be largely a naval and air engagement over the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia has fought a series of deadly skirmishes with insurgents in northern Yemen over the years, but those groups have no more than a handful of military vehicles. And Iraq, which posed a real threat during Saddam Hussein's day, is far too consumed by its internal demons and the fallout from the war in Syria to ponder such foreign adventurism.
December 13, 2013
When Outsourcing Public Services to Private Companies Goes Wrong
Wednesday, 11 December 2013 09:30
By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | News
The point of carpooling is to save some gas money while reducing traffic congestion and air pollution, but in Virginia, taxpayers could be on the hook when commuters try to do just that.
The Australian company Transurban recently teamed up with a construction firm to build new express toll lanes in a congested part of the Washington, DC-area beltway. Under a 40-year contract with Virginia, the state must reimburse the private companies up to 70 percent of toll revenues lost when the number of carpoolers in the express lanes exceeds 24 percent of the total traffic, making taxpayers foot the bill when carpooling cuts into contractor revenues.
It's unclear if the carpooling rate will ever hit that mark. But whether they like it or not, Virginia taxpayers are stuck with the toll reimbursement deal for the next four decades, or until the firms post $100 million profit, according to In The Public Interest (ITPI), a policy group that examines government contracting. Voters can't vote the consortium of private companies out of public service if carpooling becomes popular.
The Virginia carpooling toll deal is just one example on a list of "failures" that illustrate the problems that can arise when cash-strapped governments outsource public services to private companies that put profit before the public interest, according to a recent ITPI report.
When Outsourcing Public Services to Private Companies Goes Wrong
http://truth-out.org/news/item/20546-when-outsourcing-public-services-to-private-companies-goes-wrongWhen Outsourcing Public Services to Private Companies Goes Wrong
Wednesday, 11 December 2013 09:30
By Mike Ludwig, Truthout | News
The point of carpooling is to save some gas money while reducing traffic congestion and air pollution, but in Virginia, taxpayers could be on the hook when commuters try to do just that.
The Australian company Transurban recently teamed up with a construction firm to build new express toll lanes in a congested part of the Washington, DC-area beltway. Under a 40-year contract with Virginia, the state must reimburse the private companies up to 70 percent of toll revenues lost when the number of carpoolers in the express lanes exceeds 24 percent of the total traffic, making taxpayers foot the bill when carpooling cuts into contractor revenues.
It's unclear if the carpooling rate will ever hit that mark. But whether they like it or not, Virginia taxpayers are stuck with the toll reimbursement deal for the next four decades, or until the firms post $100 million profit, according to In The Public Interest (ITPI), a policy group that examines government contracting. Voters can't vote the consortium of private companies out of public service if carpooling becomes popular.
The Virginia carpooling toll deal is just one example on a list of "failures" that illustrate the problems that can arise when cash-strapped governments outsource public services to private companies that put profit before the public interest, according to a recent ITPI report.
December 13, 2013
Who's Excited About Another Decade in Afghanistan?
By davidswanson - Posted on 12 December 2013
With 196 nations in the world and U.S. troops already in at least 177 of them, there aren't all that many available to make war against. Yet it looks like both Syria and Iran will be spared any major Western assault for the moment. Could this become a trend? Is peace on the horizon? Are celebrations of Nelson Mandela's nonviolence sincere?
~snip~
The U.S. public has been telling pollsters we want all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan "as soon as possible" for years now. We're spending $10 million per hour, and $81 billion in the new annual budget, on an operation that many top officials and experts have said generates hostility toward our country. The chief cause of death for U.S. troops in this operation is suicide.
And now, at long last, we have an important (and usually quite corrupt) politician on our side, responding to public pressure and ready -- after 12 years -- to shut down Operation Enduring ... and Enduring and Enduring.
Oddly, this politician's name is not President Barack Obama. When Obama became president, there were 32,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. He escalated to over 100,000 troops, plus contractors. Now there are 47,000 troops these five years later. Measured in financial cost, or death and destruction, Afghanistan is more President Obama's war than President Bush's. Now the White House is trying to keep troops in Afghanistan until "2024 and beyond."
Who's Excited About Another Decade in Afghanistan?
http://warisacrime.org/content/whos-excited-about-another-decade-afghanistanWho's Excited About Another Decade in Afghanistan?
By davidswanson - Posted on 12 December 2013
With 196 nations in the world and U.S. troops already in at least 177 of them, there aren't all that many available to make war against. Yet it looks like both Syria and Iran will be spared any major Western assault for the moment. Could this become a trend? Is peace on the horizon? Are celebrations of Nelson Mandela's nonviolence sincere?
~snip~
The U.S. public has been telling pollsters we want all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan "as soon as possible" for years now. We're spending $10 million per hour, and $81 billion in the new annual budget, on an operation that many top officials and experts have said generates hostility toward our country. The chief cause of death for U.S. troops in this operation is suicide.
And now, at long last, we have an important (and usually quite corrupt) politician on our side, responding to public pressure and ready -- after 12 years -- to shut down Operation Enduring ... and Enduring and Enduring.
Oddly, this politician's name is not President Barack Obama. When Obama became president, there were 32,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. He escalated to over 100,000 troops, plus contractors. Now there are 47,000 troops these five years later. Measured in financial cost, or death and destruction, Afghanistan is more President Obama's war than President Bush's. Now the White House is trying to keep troops in Afghanistan until "2024 and beyond."
December 13, 2013
How Wall Street Power Brokers Are Designing the Future of Public Education as a Money-Making Machine
Wednesday, 11 December 2013 09:33
By Anna Simonton, AlterNet | Op-Ed
Given that Arthur Rock has a net worth of $1 billion, lives in California and spends his time heaping money on tech startups (with the mantra, “Get in, get out,” as his guide), a local school board race in Atlanta, Ga. seems an unlikely candidate for his attention.
~snip~
The biggest question facing the board of newcomers is to what degree they will embrace charter schools. Last year, Georgia voters passed a constitutional amendment that enabled the creation of a state-appointed commission authorized to bypass local and state school boards in approving new charter schools. Critics say the measure passed because the text on the ballot, written by governor Nathan Deal, referenced “parental involvement” and “student achievement,” but not the specific authorities of the commission. In this climate, APS, which already has the most charter schools of any Georgia school district, will only avoid becoming the next laboratory for corporate education reform with significant pushback from the new school board.
That’s where Arthur Rock comes in. And a lot of other rich people, too.
Rock is not the only name on the reports with financial power and a less than obvious connection to Atlanta Public Schools. Greg Penner of the Walmart empire, Dave Goldberg of the Sheryl Sandberg empire (they’re married), and Kent Thiry of the DaVita kidney dialysis empire (it sounds inglorious, but he pulls in $17 million annually), are among the names that had some Atlantans scratching their heads this election season.
How Wall Street Power Brokers Are Designing the Future of Public Education as a Money-Making Machine
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/20567-how-wall-street-power-brokers-are-designing-the-future-of-public-education-as-a-money-making-machineHow Wall Street Power Brokers Are Designing the Future of Public Education as a Money-Making Machine
Wednesday, 11 December 2013 09:33
By Anna Simonton, AlterNet | Op-Ed
Given that Arthur Rock has a net worth of $1 billion, lives in California and spends his time heaping money on tech startups (with the mantra, “Get in, get out,” as his guide), a local school board race in Atlanta, Ga. seems an unlikely candidate for his attention.
~snip~
The biggest question facing the board of newcomers is to what degree they will embrace charter schools. Last year, Georgia voters passed a constitutional amendment that enabled the creation of a state-appointed commission authorized to bypass local and state school boards in approving new charter schools. Critics say the measure passed because the text on the ballot, written by governor Nathan Deal, referenced “parental involvement” and “student achievement,” but not the specific authorities of the commission. In this climate, APS, which already has the most charter schools of any Georgia school district, will only avoid becoming the next laboratory for corporate education reform with significant pushback from the new school board.
That’s where Arthur Rock comes in. And a lot of other rich people, too.
Rock is not the only name on the reports with financial power and a less than obvious connection to Atlanta Public Schools. Greg Penner of the Walmart empire, Dave Goldberg of the Sheryl Sandberg empire (they’re married), and Kent Thiry of the DaVita kidney dialysis empire (it sounds inglorious, but he pulls in $17 million annually), are among the names that had some Atlantans scratching their heads this election season.
December 13, 2013
Jim Hightower | Coke's Conspiracy Against Tap Water
JIM HIGHTOWER ON BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Thursday, 12 December 2013 10:43
Coca-Cola is running a stealth advertising campaign.
Stealth? Yes, it's a nationwide product promotion that's being run below the public radar! Why would a corporation as ad-dependent as Coke spend big bucks on advertising that it doesn't want consumers to notice? Shhhh — because the campaign is a surreptitious ploy to enlist restaurants in a marketing conspiracy that targets you, your children, and — of course — your wallet.
Coke calls its covert gambit "Cap the Tap," urging restaurateurs to stop offering plain old tap water to customers: "Every time your business fills a cup or glass with tap water, it pours potential profits down the drain." Cap the Tap can put a stop to that, says Coke, "by teaching (your) crew members or waitstaff suggestive selling techniques to convert requests for tap water into orders for revenue-generating beverages."
The program provides a guide for restaurant managers who agree to direct Coke's sneak attack on customers. It also supplies a handy backroom poster to remind waitstaff "when and how to suggestively sell beverages," plus a participant's guide to put "suggestive selling" foremost in mind as staff confronts the enemy... uh, I mean customers. Tactics include outflanking those recalcitrant customers who insist on water. Just switch the sales pitch to bottled water — remember, Coca-Cola also owns Dasani, one of the top-selling brands of bottled water in the U.S.
Jim Hightower | Coke's Conspiracy Against Tap Water
http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18363-hightower-coke-conspiracy-tap-waterJim Hightower | Coke's Conspiracy Against Tap Water
JIM HIGHTOWER ON BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
Thursday, 12 December 2013 10:43
Coca-Cola is running a stealth advertising campaign.
Stealth? Yes, it's a nationwide product promotion that's being run below the public radar! Why would a corporation as ad-dependent as Coke spend big bucks on advertising that it doesn't want consumers to notice? Shhhh — because the campaign is a surreptitious ploy to enlist restaurants in a marketing conspiracy that targets you, your children, and — of course — your wallet.
Coke calls its covert gambit "Cap the Tap," urging restaurateurs to stop offering plain old tap water to customers: "Every time your business fills a cup or glass with tap water, it pours potential profits down the drain." Cap the Tap can put a stop to that, says Coke, "by teaching (your) crew members or waitstaff suggestive selling techniques to convert requests for tap water into orders for revenue-generating beverages."
The program provides a guide for restaurant managers who agree to direct Coke's sneak attack on customers. It also supplies a handy backroom poster to remind waitstaff "when and how to suggestively sell beverages," plus a participant's guide to put "suggestive selling" foremost in mind as staff confronts the enemy... uh, I mean customers. Tactics include outflanking those recalcitrant customers who insist on water. Just switch the sales pitch to bottled water — remember, Coca-Cola also owns Dasani, one of the top-selling brands of bottled water in the U.S.
December 13, 2013
Household International, which was acquired by HSBC in 2002, was implicated in a major fraud case.
Lurid Subprime Scams Unveiled in Long-Running Fraud Trial
By Matt Taibbi
POSTED: December 12, 4:20 PM ET
Lost amid the hoopla over JP Morgan Chase's record-setting $13 billion settlement this fall was news of another monster court resolution – a $2.46 billion judgment, the largest ever awarded after trial in a securities fraud class action case, handed down in October against a HSBC acquisition called Household International.
It's an old case, with the trial completed way back in 2009 and the fraud in question having all taken place between 1997 and 2002. But it has crucial ramifications for the present, for one key reason:
The evidence uncovered in the Household suit should put to lie once and for all the oft-repeated idiotic myth – spread by many of America's most notable dumb people, from Rush Limbaugh to New York City Mayor-unelect Mike Bloomberg – that the financial crisis was caused by the government "forcing" banks to lend to poor people.
In reality, of course, the subprime bubble exploded because financial companies and banks were in a mad rush to get as many iffy borrowers into loans as quickly as possible – and not because they were forced to, but because they made assloads of money doing so.
Lurid Subprime Scams Unveiled in Long-Running Fraud Trial
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/lurid-subprime-scams-unveiled-in-long-running-fraud-trial-20131212Household International, which was acquired by HSBC in 2002, was implicated in a major fraud case.
Lurid Subprime Scams Unveiled in Long-Running Fraud Trial
By Matt Taibbi
POSTED: December 12, 4:20 PM ET
Lost amid the hoopla over JP Morgan Chase's record-setting $13 billion settlement this fall was news of another monster court resolution – a $2.46 billion judgment, the largest ever awarded after trial in a securities fraud class action case, handed down in October against a HSBC acquisition called Household International.
It's an old case, with the trial completed way back in 2009 and the fraud in question having all taken place between 1997 and 2002. But it has crucial ramifications for the present, for one key reason:
The evidence uncovered in the Household suit should put to lie once and for all the oft-repeated idiotic myth – spread by many of America's most notable dumb people, from Rush Limbaugh to New York City Mayor-unelect Mike Bloomberg – that the financial crisis was caused by the government "forcing" banks to lend to poor people.
In reality, of course, the subprime bubble exploded because financial companies and banks were in a mad rush to get as many iffy borrowers into loans as quickly as possible – and not because they were forced to, but because they made assloads of money doing so.
December 13, 2013
The Art of Resistance, In the Selective Eye of the Beholder
by Abby Zimet
12.12.13 - 2:43 PM
Happily, the press recently discovered the extraordinary garden created from empty tear gas canisters in the West Bank village of Bil’in, site of weekly protests against the occupation and the Apartheid Wall. Unhappily, but somewhat unsurprisingly, almost all the coverage and photos omitted a key fact: The garden was planted and is daily nurtured in memory of Bassem Abu Rahmah, a popular protest leader killed in 2009 by an Israeli tear gas grenade, and other victims of the Occupation. Today, Bassem's mother Sabiha Abu Rahmah, who also lost a daughter to tear gas, regularly waters the garden; its centerpiece is a photo of Bassem mounted on spent tear gas casings. And the protests continue. The latest victim, though not fatally: the brother of the filmmaker who made the terrific film Five Broken Cameras, which tells Bil’in's story. Fully.
The Art of Resistance, In the Selective Eye of the Beholder
http://www.commondreams.org/further/2013/12/12-3The Art of Resistance, In the Selective Eye of the Beholder
by Abby Zimet
12.12.13 - 2:43 PM
Happily, the press recently discovered the extraordinary garden created from empty tear gas canisters in the West Bank village of Bil’in, site of weekly protests against the occupation and the Apartheid Wall. Unhappily, but somewhat unsurprisingly, almost all the coverage and photos omitted a key fact: The garden was planted and is daily nurtured in memory of Bassem Abu Rahmah, a popular protest leader killed in 2009 by an Israeli tear gas grenade, and other victims of the Occupation. Today, Bassem's mother Sabiha Abu Rahmah, who also lost a daughter to tear gas, regularly waters the garden; its centerpiece is a photo of Bassem mounted on spent tear gas casings. And the protests continue. The latest victim, though not fatally: the brother of the filmmaker who made the terrific film Five Broken Cameras, which tells Bil’in's story. Fully.
December 13, 2013
"While we believe any action is better than nothing, the FDA’s tepid response to this public health crisis is a missed opportunity to keep the American public safe," said Heather White of EWG.
Public Health Still Threatened as Toothless FDA Antibiotic Plan Slammed
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Thursday, December 12, 2013 by Common Dreams
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's newly unveiled "voluntary plan with industry" to curb the use of antibiotics in livestock does too little, too late to address the public health crisis posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, critics charge.
In the U.S., 80 percent of all antibiotics are used on food animals in an effort to make then grow faster and resist disease. Yet food safety advocates and health professionals as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned that this has contributed to the rise in antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs.' "A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it," the World Health Organization has warned.
To address this growing threat, the FDA announced that it "is working to address the use of 'medically important' antibiotics in food-producing animals for production uses" so that they will "only be used in food-producing animals to treat, prevent or control disease under the order of or by prescription from a licensed veterinarian."
But as watchdog groups such as Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Food and Water Watch highlight, there are two main problems with the FDA plan: first, the fact that it is voluntary means livestock producers can simply ignore it; and second, livestock producers can say the antibiotics are being used for "disease prevention" instead of "growth promotion," causing no change other than one of semantics.
Public Health Still Threatened as Toothless FDA Antibiotic Plan Slammed
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/12-4"While we believe any action is better than nothing, the FDA’s tepid response to this public health crisis is a missed opportunity to keep the American public safe," said Heather White of EWG.
Public Health Still Threatened as Toothless FDA Antibiotic Plan Slammed
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Published on Thursday, December 12, 2013 by Common Dreams
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's newly unveiled "voluntary plan with industry" to curb the use of antibiotics in livestock does too little, too late to address the public health crisis posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, critics charge.
In the U.S., 80 percent of all antibiotics are used on food animals in an effort to make then grow faster and resist disease. Yet food safety advocates and health professionals as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned that this has contributed to the rise in antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs.' "A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it," the World Health Organization has warned.
To address this growing threat, the FDA announced that it "is working to address the use of 'medically important' antibiotics in food-producing animals for production uses" so that they will "only be used in food-producing animals to treat, prevent or control disease under the order of or by prescription from a licensed veterinarian."
But as watchdog groups such as Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Food and Water Watch highlight, there are two main problems with the FDA plan: first, the fact that it is voluntary means livestock producers can simply ignore it; and second, livestock producers can say the antibiotics are being used for "disease prevention" instead of "growth promotion," causing no change other than one of semantics.
December 13, 2013
Associated Press finally tells public what it knows about Robert Levinson, a CIA asset abducted in Iran nearly seven years ago
CIA, Caught in Colossal Lie, Lost Agent in Iran in 2007
- Common Dreams staff
Published on Friday, December 13, 2013 by Common Dreams
Though the Associated Press held back the story three times at the request of the US government, on Thursday the news agency finally published a multi-year investigation that found an American who went missing in Iran in 2007 was not just a private businessman traveling for work, but a CIA asset.
It remains unclear if Robert Levinson is still alive—he would be now be 65—with the last proof of life coming in the form of a video released by his captures in 2011.
According to AP, Levinson's case was peculiar because the top brass at the CIA was not fully informed of his activities and it appears that his contacts at the agency were in over their heads, analysts who assumed the role of clandestine operatives. The real shock of the story, however, is not that a seemingly rogue group of CIA analysts operated outside their normal duties by employing Levinson, a former FBI agent and financial investigator, to work as an on-the-ground asset.
More disturbing is how the cult of secrecy so sacred to the intelligence world trickled down through government agencies and lawmakers who have responsibilities to the public. In this case, though keeping Levinson's CIA ties a secret was defended as a way to keep him safe, it's just as likely that the many years of obfuscation resulted in his possible death.
CIA, Caught in Colossal Lie, Lost Agent in Iran in 2007
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/13-0Associated Press finally tells public what it knows about Robert Levinson, a CIA asset abducted in Iran nearly seven years ago
CIA, Caught in Colossal Lie, Lost Agent in Iran in 2007
- Common Dreams staff
Published on Friday, December 13, 2013 by Common Dreams
Though the Associated Press held back the story three times at the request of the US government, on Thursday the news agency finally published a multi-year investigation that found an American who went missing in Iran in 2007 was not just a private businessman traveling for work, but a CIA asset.
It remains unclear if Robert Levinson is still alive—he would be now be 65—with the last proof of life coming in the form of a video released by his captures in 2011.
According to AP, Levinson's case was peculiar because the top brass at the CIA was not fully informed of his activities and it appears that his contacts at the agency were in over their heads, analysts who assumed the role of clandestine operatives. The real shock of the story, however, is not that a seemingly rogue group of CIA analysts operated outside their normal duties by employing Levinson, a former FBI agent and financial investigator, to work as an on-the-ground asset.
More disturbing is how the cult of secrecy so sacred to the intelligence world trickled down through government agencies and lawmakers who have responsibilities to the public. In this case, though keeping Levinson's CIA ties a secret was defended as a way to keep him safe, it's just as likely that the many years of obfuscation resulted in his possible death.
December 13, 2013
Guardsman accused of stealing military IDs in N.C.
By Amy Forliti
The Associated Press
© December 12, 2013
MINNEAPOLIS
A Minnesota National Guardsman and Iraq War veteran charged with fraud for allegedly stealing personal information of roughly 400 members of his former Army unit had worked in intelligence, where he likely was responsible for analyzing enemy information.
Keith Michael Novak, 25, planned to use the names, Social Security numbers and other information he allegedly stole to create fake identities for members of his militia group. He also wanted to sell the information for money to expand his radio communications capability, according to an affidavit and complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
The affidavit said he also took combat gear from his former unit at Fort Bragg, N.C., including flak jackets, and gave them to fellow militia members.
Lt. Col. Alayne Conway, an Army spokeswoman, said in an email that, in general, "appropriate precautionary actions will be taken in this matter."
Guardsman accused of stealing military IDs in N.C.
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/12/guardsman-accused-stealing-military-ids-ncGuardsman accused of stealing military IDs in N.C.
By Amy Forliti
The Associated Press
© December 12, 2013
MINNEAPOLIS
A Minnesota National Guardsman and Iraq War veteran charged with fraud for allegedly stealing personal information of roughly 400 members of his former Army unit had worked in intelligence, where he likely was responsible for analyzing enemy information.
Keith Michael Novak, 25, planned to use the names, Social Security numbers and other information he allegedly stole to create fake identities for members of his militia group. He also wanted to sell the information for money to expand his radio communications capability, according to an affidavit and complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
The affidavit said he also took combat gear from his former unit at Fort Bragg, N.C., including flak jackets, and gave them to fellow militia members.
Lt. Col. Alayne Conway, an Army spokeswoman, said in an email that, in general, "appropriate precautionary actions will be taken in this matter."
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