Intelligence Reports

Two new assessments by the U.S. intelligence community present a gloomy picture of the Afghanistan war, contradicting a more upbeat view expressed by military officials as the White House prepares to release a progress report on the 9-year-old conflict. The classified intelligence reports contend that large swaths of Afghanistan are still at risk of falling to the Taliban, according to officials who were briefed on the National Intelligence Estimates on Afghanistan and Pakistan, which represent the collective view of more than a dozen intelligence agencies.

WASHINGTON - When a Russian intelligence service told the CIA that Tamerlan Tsarnaev had become an Islamic radical looking to join underground groups, the agency put his name in the government's catch-all database for terrorism suspects. The Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment list, known as TIDE, was the government's attempt after the Sept. 11 attacks to consolidate a hodgepodge of watch lists, and ensure that every law enforcement agency would be alerted when it came into contact with a possible terrorist.

Contrary to President Reagan's public statements at the time, U.S. intelligence officials quickly determined in 1983 that the Soviet Union had shot down a Korean Air Lines 747 without realizing that it was a civilian airliner, according to documents made public Tuesday. On Sept.

SAN DIEGO -- Although declining to discuss specific protection measures, Navy officials said Monday that the public can "be assured" local military bases are secure in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. "Access to installations is limited to those with proper identification cards and credentials," according to a statement issued by San Diego-based Navy Region Southwest, "and our security personnel are highly trained and extremely competent. " Security officials "consistently monitor intelligence reports and potential threats, and are prepared to increase the security condition in the region if and when necessary," it said.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens, responding to growing criticism of his nation's weapons exports, said Saturday that Israel will continue to sell arms to any country it chooses, including China, because it needs the funds to keep its defense industry humming. Arens denied that Israel has ever sold U.S.-developed arms without Washington's permission.

WASHINGTON - When a Russian intelligence service told the CIA that Tamerlan Tsarnaev had become an Islamic radical looking to join underground groups, the agency put his name in the government's catch-all database for terrorism suspects. The Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment list, known as TIDE, was the government's attempt after the Sept. 11 attacks to consolidate a hodgepodge of watch lists, and ensure that every law enforcement agency would be alerted when it came into contact with a possible terrorist.

A federal domestic security effort to help state and local law enforcement catch terrorists by setting up more than 70 information-sharing centers around the country has threatened civil liberties while doing little to combat terrorism, a two-year examination by a Senate subcommittee found. The so-called fusion centers were created in 2003 after the Sept. 11 commission concluded that federal, state and local law enforcement agencies needed to collaborate more in counter-terrorism efforts.

SAN DIEGO -- Although declining to discuss specific protection measures, Navy officials said Monday that the public can "be assured" local military bases are secure in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings. "Access to installations is limited to those with proper identification cards and credentials," according to a statement issued by San Diego-based Navy Region Southwest, "and our security personnel are highly trained and extremely competent. " Security officials "consistently monitor intelligence reports and potential threats, and are prepared to increase the security condition in the region if and when necessary," it said.

The United States is holding dozens of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay who have no meaningful connection to Al Qaeda or the Taliban, and were sent to the maximum-security facility over the objections of intelligence officers in Afghanistan who had recommended them for release, according to military sources with direct knowledge of the matter. At least 59 detainees -- nearly 10% of the prison population at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- were deemed to be of no intelligence value after repeated interrogations in Afghanistan.

WAYNE, Pa. - Two weeks after sharply criticizing the Obama administration for its handling of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, Mitt Romney said Friday that it was "premature" to cast judgment on how his Democratic rival handled the developments in Libya and said he would wait for the results of an investigation. It was a clear tonal shift on the part of the Republican presidential nominee. As the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, were unfolding earlier this month, Romney released a late-night statement taking issue with a statement from U.S. diplomats in Cairo.

WASHINGTON - Majorities of people in most countries will achieve middle-class economic status by 2030, but the effects of climate change, an aging global population and anti-government movements in authoritarian nations such as China could cause upheaval in economic and political systems. The predictions come from a forward-looking study by the National Intelligence Council, which every four years analyzes key trends and projects their implications 20 years into the future. The United States is likely to remain "first among equals" among world powers because of the legacy of its leadership role and military power, according to the report.

WASHINGTON - Appearing before two congressional committees in closed-door sessions, former CIA Director David Petraeus did little to dispel the partisan divide over whether Obama administration officials misled the public in the days after heavily armed militants killed four Americans in Benghazi,Libya,  lawmakers said Friday. Petraeus told the House and Senate intelligence committees that he believed almost immediately that the Sept. 11 assault was an organized terrorist attack, according to lawmakers and staff sources.

A federal domestic security effort to help state and local law enforcement catch terrorists by setting up more than 70 information-sharing centers around the country has threatened civil liberties while doing little to combat terrorism, a two-year examination by a Senate subcommittee found. The so-called fusion centers were created in 2003 after the Sept. 11 commission concluded that federal, state and local law enforcement agencies needed to collaborate more in counter-terrorism efforts.

WAYNE, Pa. - Two weeks after sharply criticizing the Obama administration for its handling of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, Mitt Romney said Friday that it was "premature" to cast judgment on how his Democratic rival handled the developments in Libya and said he would wait for the results of an investigation. It was a clear tonal shift on the part of the Republican presidential nominee. As the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, were unfolding earlier this month, Romney released a late-night statement taking issue with a statement from U.S. diplomats in Cairo.

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence agencies don't see signs that Syrian President Bashar Assad is losing his grip on power, said the chairman of the House intelligence committee during a television interview Sunday. “We don't see Assad's inner circle crumbling,” said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on CNN's "State of the Union" with Candy Crowley. In fact, the Syrian leadership believes they are “winning” against the armed rebels trying to topple the government, said Rogers, citing U.S. intelligence reports.

As U.S. and Israeli officials talk publicly about the prospect of a military strike against Iran's nuclear program, one fact is often overlooked: U.S. intelligence agencies don't believe Iran is actively trying to build an atomic bomb. A highly classified U.S. intelligence assessment circulated to policymakers early last year largely affirms that view, originally made in 2007. Both reports, known as national intelligence estimates, conclude that Tehran halted efforts to develop and build a nuclear warhead in 2003.

Before the war, intelligence reports warned that Saddam Hussein was hiding a trove of chemical and biological weapons, and that if we invaded, the brutal dictator would use them on us instantly. In fact, it was the alleged presence of these terrifying chemical and biological agents that was the casus belli for bringing down Hussein's regime.

Two reporters at one of Denmark's largest newspapers could face jail time for publishing classified intelligence reports about Iraq's weapons program, a prosecutor said Thursday. Michael Bjerre and Jesper Larsen of the Berlingske Tidende newspaper were charged Wednesday with publishing confidential government documents, state prosecutor Karsten Hjorth said. If convicted, they could be fined or sentenced to as much as two years in prison. No trial date was set.

Two new assessments by the U.S. intelligence community present a gloomy picture of the Afghanistan war, contradicting a more upbeat view expressed by military officials as the White House prepares to release a progress report on the 9-year-old conflict. The classified intelligence reports contend that large swaths of Afghanistan are still at risk of falling to the Taliban, according to officials who were briefed on the National Intelligence Estimates on Afghanistan and Pakistan, which represent the collective view of more than a dozen intelligence agencies.

The State Department issued a travel alert Sunday for American citizens in Europe in light of increased U.S. and European intelligence that a large-scale Al Qaeda attack may be imminent. Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe have said an increase in activity in recent weeks suggests that a small cell of potential terrorists hiding in North Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal region, is preparing an attack that could be as spectacular as the 2008 raids in Mumbai, India, that killed 166 people.