ISIS takes credit in downing Russian airliner

[Magda Hassan]

For me, a false flag is a real possibility. Russia's military entry into Syria shocked Washington to the core and I feel that they would be delighted to cause mayhem to them for having the nerve to thwart US designs in Syria.

I've been pondering the strangeness of the sudden UK's decision to cancel its planned air campaign in Syria back in 2013 - followed by the US, and Obama's demand to the French to stand down. I smelled a rat at the time and wondered if Russia had made it's willingness to defend Assad known? All very circumstantial I know, but I wonder if Russia and Syria had a secret defence pact that Syria triggered as the minutes ticked down for British and French aircraft to begin bombing Damascus, and the Russians told Washington if this campaign went ahead they would be forced to intervene as a consequence?

Agree David. Russia and Syria have long been allies going back many decades. I also feel that Obama is also getting sections of his military to stand down too. The more rabid Strangelovian sections. I think he has had to that several times. That's when some military are not taking it on themselves (a la Minot AFB)

[Tracy Riddle]

CNN just had a couple of Zionist "experts" speculating about ISIS elements operating inside of Egypt's government. It looks to me like Egypt is the next target to be destabilized and broken up (like Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan). Lebanon will probably follow. ISIS just seems to be everywhere, to have almost supernatural powers to strike anybody. What a perfect new villain!

[Paul Rigby]

Anti-Terrorist Hacker Group Reveals 40 ISIS Websites Protected by US Tech Firm

By Joshua Philipp, Epoch Times | November 6, 2015

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1892477-...tech-firm/

The terrorist organization ISIS, or the Islamic State, is known to promote its activities by exploiting the open nature of the Internet. This includes recruiting through social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and using sites like YouTube to publish propaganda videos.

They also make use of available web services to guard their sites against cyberattacks and hide their locations.

According to information provided by anti-terrorist hacker group GhostSec, close to 40 pro-ISIS websites are using the services of a Silicon Valley company called CloudFlare. CloudFlare is a content delivery network that provides services to speed up websites and render them virtually immune to distributed denial of service, or DDS, cyberattacks that can overload websites to bring them offline.

Among the sites, 34 are for spreading propaganda, 4 are terrorist forums, and 2 offer technical services. A brief perusal of the sites showed they heap praise on ISIS, promote terrorist attacks, and some are used as chatrooms for extremists.

ISIS recruiters on social media often direct people to these websites, according to "WauchulaGhost," a cyberoperations director with GhostSec. GhostSec's attempts to disrupt these sites have run into problems as ISIS recruiters have turned to web services to block their efforts.

WauchulaGhost said CloudFlare hides the origin of the sites, and "with the site being hidden' it's harder to be taken down, not only by us, but by our own government as well."

Many online efforts used by ISIS go through open services, and this places providers of these services in a difficult spot. Sites like Google regularly index websites both good and bad, and ISIS terrorists can create new Facebook and Twitter accounts as quickly as they're pulled offline.

According to CloudFlare spokesperson Daniella Vallurupalli, they're in a similar position. She said in an email that CloudFlare has more than a million customers, and close to 5,000 new sites register with their services each day.

Digital Counterterrorism

GhostSec is an affiliate of the Anonymous hacker collective. GhostSec launches cyberattacks against ISIS recruiting websites, and occasionally passes information on planned terrorist attacks to government agencies.

WauchulaGhost said when they find information on threats, they forward it to the government, yet noted they "do not work for the gov in any way shape or form."

"We do this as a free service to not only the USA but to all countries of the world. Ghost Security's mission is to eliminate the online presence of the Islamic State extremist group," he said.

Earlier this year, their information helped thwart a planned ISIS terrorist attack in Tunisia, and may have stopped a similar attack on New York City.

The work that GhostSec is doing is … making it harder for people to find ways to communicate with them. We are slowing down their communication process.
WauchulaGhost, GhostSec, anti-terrorism hacker group

Some hacker groups that launch attacks against terrorist websites, however, have had conflicts with CloudFlare over their policy for websites that promote terrorism.

For example, CloudFlare was provided with a list of terrorist sites, but their apparent practice is not to revoke service for sites based on content, unless they're ordered to by authorities. Vallurupalli said "CloudFlare will comply with all valid U.S. court orders and we work with law enforcement authorities and honor valid legal requests."

CloudFlare's position was outlined in a Aug. 9, 2013, blog post from CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince, which Vallurupalli referenced in response to questions about their policies.

"One of the greatest strengths of the United States is a belief that speech, particularly political speech, is sacred. A website, of course, is nothing but speech," Prince states.

CloudFlare has been accused of providing service to similar sites in the past. Prince's response was that "a website is speech. It is not a bomb."

Prince generally takes a strong stance against censorship, and seems to regard censorship of any kind as a slippery slope which he prefers to avoid.

He also says CloudFlare does not monitor content of websites using its services, stating "we do not believe that investigating' the speech that flows through our network is appropriate. In fact, we think doing so would be creepy."

Between Speech and Violence

CloudFlare's stance has concerned many hackers trying to fight digital terrorism. GhostSec, Anonymous, and other groups are launching cyberattacks against ISIS websites in efforts to stop ISIS from spreading its propaganda and recruiting new members.

From their vantage, which includes going toe-to-toe with ISIS recruiters online and at times monitoring terrorist online discussions, the websites used by ISIS aren't just about speech, but the promotion of violenceand the consequence could be the loss of innocent lives.

Websites used by ISIS aren't just about speech, but the promotion of violence
The cyber campaign, which they call "OpISIS," runs into trouble when they find ISIS websites that have been rendered immune to their cyberattacks by using CloudFlare.

While CloudFlare doesn't host the sites directly, WauchulaGhost notes some of the sites use "Always On Technology," which means "even if the site goes offline, a cached copy is on CloudFlare's servers."

"If it stores cached content, isn't it hosting as well?" WauchulaGhost stated.

CloudFlare also offers free services, but according to WauchulaGhost, security certificates (SSL certificates) used by many of the ISIS websites show they're using CloudFlare's paid services.

WauchulaGhost noted we are seeing more and more about ISIS in the news, and shared his concern that "if these sites remain up it will just cause more damage, more attacks."

"The work that GhostSec is doing is slowing down this process," he said. "We are making it harder for people to find ways to communicate with them. We are slowing down their communication process."

[Paul Rigby]

A new war began on October 31…

by SouthFront

http://thesaker.is/a-new-war-began-on-october-31/

The most up-to-date information indicates the October 31 tragedy was the result of a terrorist act on board the Airbus A321. If that supposition is confirmed, and considering the reaction by the Russian authorities, one might say that Qatar finally got what it wanteda war.

Incidentally, Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs Khaled al-Atyya publicly threatened Russia with "World War Three". We can't speak for Russia, but as far as Qatari clans are concerned, the war is on.

Sinai is the zone of responsibility of pro-Qatari formations. There has existed an unwritten agreement between Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia on not allowing terror acts in Egyptian resorts. What is more, the agreement provided for timely exchange of information concerning any threats to the resorts.

If it is established that the A321 was destroyed by a pro-Qatari group, it will cause Egypt's anger and Riyadh's displeasure. There are all reasons to believe that, as a minimum, a few members of Qatari elite would have to pay for this with their lives.

But will the story end with dispatching a few highly placed criminals to heaven? There are reasons to believe that the Russian leadership is inclined to view the A321 incident as a direct declaration of war, similar to the 9/11 attacks on the United States. All terror organizations of a certain size are backed by this or that country or financial interest.

One should also turn one's attention to Great Britain's position. Almost immediately following the attack, London announced that the British secret services have intercepted telephone conversations among terrorists connected to the Islamic State. This information was being concealed from Russia. That's why the Russian MFA sharply reminded the British that such information ought to be shared. "We are shocked at the fact that the British government could have some information which might shed light on what happened in the skies over Egypt," said Russian MFA representative Mariya Zakharova.

We cannot make the claim that MI-5 and MI-6, and therefore also the CIA, had information concerning the terrorist attack prior to the event. But circumstantial evidence suggests there exists a likelihood this was the case. Granted, our information indicates that following a recent lengthy telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and David Cameron, the level of exchange of information between London and Moscow has increased.

In any event, the terrorist attack confirmed the necessity of renewing cooperation between West and Russia, at least on the level of special services.

As far as Russian leadership's reaction to the confirmed fact of an attack on a Russian civilian aircraft, one should expect that its fight against terrorism will intensify. In practice it means increasing the scope of the military operation in Syria and in other parts of the world. It would appear that the emphasis will be shifted to a global war on terror, which implies attacking the sponsors and organizers of the radical formations.

[Drew Phipps]

Investigators '90 percent sure' of bomb on crashed Russian plane

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/11/08/in...14_amp-bon

Investigators of the Russian plane crash in Egypt are "90 percent sure" the noise heard in the final second of a cockpit recording was an explosion caused by a bomb, a member of the investigation team told Reuters on Sunday. The Airbus (AIR.PA) A321 crashed 23 minutes after taking off from the Sharm al-Sheikh tourist resort eight days ago, killing all 224 passengers and crew. Islamic State militants fighting Egyptian security forces in Sinai said they brought it down.


"The indications and analysis so far of the sound on the black box indicate it was a bomb," said the Egyptian investigation team member, who asked not to be named due to sensitivities. "We are 90 percent sure it was a bomb." His comments reflect a much greater degree of certainty about the cause of the crash than the investigation committee has so far declared in public. Lead investigator Ayman al-Muqaddam announced on Saturday that the plane appeared to have broken up in mid-air while it was being flown on auto-pilot, and that a noise had been heard in the last second of the cockpit recording. But he said it was too soon to draw conclusions about why the plane crashed.


Confirmation that militants brought down the airliner could have a devastating impact on Egypt's lucrative tourist industry, which has suffered from years of political turmoil and was hit last week when Russia, Turkey and several European countries suspended flights to Sharm al-Sheikh and other destinations. It could also mark a new strategy by the hardline Islamic State group which holds large parts of Syria and Iraq.


Asked to explain the remaining 10 percent margin of doubt, the investigator declined to elaborate, but Muqaddam cited other possibilities on Saturday including a fuel explosion, metal fatigue in the plane or lithium batteries overheating. He said debris was scattered over a 13-km (8-mile) area "which is consistent with an in-flight break-up". "What happened in Sharm al-Sheikh last week, and to a lesser extent with the ... (Germanwings) aircraft, are game changers for our industry," Emirates Airlines President Tim Clark said, referring to the crash of a Germanwings airliner in the French Alps in March, believed crashed deliberately by its co-pilot.


"They have to be addressed at industry level because no doubt the countries -- U.S., Europe -- I would think will make some fairly stringent, draconian demands on the way aviation works with security," he said at the Dubai Airshow. Clark said he had ordered a security review but was not suspending any flights as a result of the disaster. Emirates does not operate regular flights to Sharm al-Sheikh. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also said the incident could lead to changes in flight security. "If this turns out to be a device planted by an ISIL operative or by somebody inspired by ISIL, then clearly we will have to look again at the level of security we expect to see in airports in areas where ISIL is active," Hammond told the BBC.


Islamic State, which wants to establish a caliphate in the Middle East, is also called ISIS or ISIL. Islamic State militants fighting security forces in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have said they brought down the aircraft as revenge for Russian air strikes against Islamist fighters in Syria. They said they would eventually tell the world how they carried out the attack. If the group was responsible, it would have carried out one of the highest profile killings since al Qaeda flew passenger planes into New York's World Trade Center in September 2001.


Russia has returned 11,000 of its tourists from Egypt in the last 24 hours, RIA news agency said on Sunday, a fraction of the 80,000 Russians who were stranded by the Kremlin's decision on Friday to halt all flights to Egypt. In St Petersburg, where the flight was headed on Oct. 31, the bell of St Isaac's Cathedral rang 224 times and a service was held in memory of the victims. Russia has sent specialists to conduct a safety audit of Egypt's airports and to provide recommendations on additional measures, Arkady Dvorkovich, deputy prime minister, was quoted as saying by Russian agencies.


Dvorkovich, the head of a government group created on Friday to deal with suspended flights to Egypt, added a second group was going to Egypt on Sunday and a third would be sent later. Britain, which has 3,000 nationals waiting to return home, has sent a team of 70 people, including 10 aviation specialists working at Sharm al-Sheikh airport to make sure security measures are being followed. Eight flights were expected to take British tourists back home on Sunday.

[David Guyatt]

I doubt any of us here will be terribly surprised by the below published at Voltaire.

Airbus 321 in the Sinaï - only one hypothesis remains

by Valentin Vasilescu

Valentin Vasilescu demonstrates here the impossibility of the theory of a bomb placed in the plane. After having explored all hypotheses, there is now only one left that of a failure in the software of the automatic pilot. We may therefore conclude that the accusations of the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the claim for responsibility by the Islamic Emirate, are propaganda. The crash was not a terrorist attack. But the problems in the automatic pilot system may be either an accident or the effect of sabotage by an extremely specialised secret service.

VOLTAIRE NETWORK | BUCHAREST (ROMANIA) | 12 NOVEMBER 2015 FRANÇAIS ROMÂNĂ ESPAÑOL

Russian investigators brought with them to Egypt a complex apparatus designed to test the débris both inside and outside the plane. This equipment enables the detection of aerosol-based explosives to a level of sensitivity of 20 nanogrammes. If, in the test solutions, there appear traces of a brown-violet colour, the agent is revealed as TNT. If an orange precipitate appears, the explosive is Tetryl, or another explosive from group A (TNB, DNT, picric acid, etc.). The Russian device possesses a range of separate tests for explosives from group B. With this system, the appearance in test solutions of a rosy colour would indicate the use of dynamite, nitroglycerine, RDX, PETN, SEMTEX or nitrocellulose. If the chemical reactions do not identify explosives from groups A and B, the test equipment automatically checks for the presence of components containing inorganic nitrates, such as chlorine, bromine or peroxyde, used in the preparation of improvised explosive devices (ANFO).The Egyptian daily Almasry Alyoum published a declaration from the team of investigators working on the accident of the Russian A321 in the Sinaï peninsula the team affirmed that no trace of explosive had been discovered in the débris of the plane, or on the articles of clothing and tissues recovered from the passengers. Thus, the hypothesis conveyed by British civil servants - according to which the crash of the Russian plane had been caused by an on-board bomb, on the basis of the so-called 'interception' of a conversation between leaders of the Islamic Emirate is proved to be false. The hypothesis of an attack by a missile, either ground-to-air or air-to-air, also collapses, since missile war-heads contain TNT, a substance which was not detected by the investigators. The hypothesis of an explosion in one of the motors must also be discarded, since the turbine blades were discovered to be intact.The same is true for the theory of the explosion of one of the fuel tanks, since these are situated in the wings, and an explosion to the right or left would have detached the wing from the fuselage. But the wings fell to the ground intact, a few metres away from the anterior part of the fuselage, before catching fire. This fact indicates that they were not detached from the fuselage, and that there was no fire in the fuel tanks before contact with the ground.Thus, the myth woven by the US television channel NBC, according to which the Pentagon declared that a US military satellite had detected, in the area and at the moment of the accident, a peak of heat and light, turns out to be a lie. Finally, at this point, the Islamic Emirate or any other terrorist organisation, is relieved of responsibility in the crash of the Russian Airbus A321 in the Sinaï,which, apparently, bothers the US and UK governments. Why?Depressurisation in the plane remains one of the active hypotheses, but only as a result of the plane's chaotic manœuvres, and not as a cause in itself. As I pointed out in a previous article [1], the repetitive pitching movements, with negative and positive overloads beyond anything normal for a passenger plane, are what led to the separation of the exterior panels, the twisting and dislocation of certain resistance elements in the plane's basic structure (central girders, ribs, etc.) and rupture of the hydraulic pipes and hoses fixed to the exterior cladding. In the absence of hydraulic pressure, the plane's crew can control neither depth nor direction. The abnormal noise, discovered during the analysis of the black box, probably indicates depressurisation, followed by the dislocation of some of the plane's parts at an altitude of about 5,000 to 6,000 metres, as confirmed by the impact of large fragments of the plane over more than 2 kilometres in the direction of the flight.Let's return to 06:12:59 in the progress of the accident, and attempt to decode each of the fluctuations in the flight parametres. It is essentiel to underline the fact that the plane was at that moment flying by automatic pilot. First of all, we note a 3-second descent, with a loss of altitude of 150 metres, which led to a negative overload of 2 G. This manœuvre is too sudden, producing an « air-pocket » sensation, to have been commanded by the flight crew.The second command was the aircraft's recovery, climbing 800 metres in 2 - 3 seconds, causing positive overloads of between 5 and 6 G, values which only exist for fighter aircraft in close combat situations, and lead to the pilot's loss of vision, known in aeronautical jargon as the « black veil » . In my opinion, it is impossible that this command could have been originated by the flight crew only a defective automatic pilot could have generated such a climb. If the pilots had been at the controls, after the first brutal descent, they would have redressed the plane progressively, first of all horizontally for 8 to 10 seconds, then climbing slowly to return to their cruising altitude.The third command consisted of switching from a 40° to 50° climb to a dive of 20° to 30°, with a negative overload of 4 G, and it is impossible for this manœuvre to have been executed by the crew of a passenger aeroplane, because everybody loses consciousness, with the appearance of what is called the « red veil ». The only moments in which the crew could apparently have intervened would have been during the brief moments of horizontal flight 5 seconds and 3 seconds, if unhindered by further uncontrolled developments. In normal situations, the aerodynamic centre of the automatic pilot will not allow manœuvres which could lead to overloads close to material destruction, whatever commands may be operated by the pilot in manual control. The cause of these chaotic manœuvres can therefore only be due to a dysfunction of the mechanism of the automatic pilot.Apart from the failure of the automatic pilot's computer, due to material exhaustion, I have explained, in a previous article, that it is possible to take control of the A321 from the outside, by hacking into the automatic pilot's software, either through a previously-installed programme, or via a ground-based transmission. By a strange « coincidence », from the first seconds that the plane's chaotic manœuvres were noted, both the transponder and the radio ceased transmitting. The transponder would have indicated the plane's flight parametres to the air traffic controllers and, via the on-board radio, the crew could have signalled the appearance of an emergency situation and described the plane's behaviour.However, what led to the dysfunction of the automatic pilot at that precise moment, only the investigating committee will be able to determine.

[Magda Hassan]

Wonder if this a Michael Hastings aviation event?

[Magda Hassan]

Vladimir Putin Announcing the Findings
The Russian plane crash in Sinai, Egypt, was caused by a terrorist attack as traces of explosives have been found in the wreckage of the plane, Federal Security Service director Aleksandr Bortnikov told President Vladimir Putin.

TrendsRussian plane crash in Sinai

"We can say that that [Sinai plane crash] was a terror act," Bortnikov told Putin. According to the FSB chief, experts analyzed passengers' belongings as well as the parts of the plane. "After the examination on all these objects, we have found traces of a foreign-made explosive substance," Bortnikov said.
"During the flight, a homemade device with the power of 1.5 kilograms of TNT was detonated. As a result, the plane fell apart in the air, which can be explained by the huge scattering of the fuselage parts of the plane," he added.
READ MORE: ISIS releases video claiming revenge downing' of Russian passenger jet over Sinai

This not the first time that Russia has faced "barbarous terrorist crimes, more often without apparent causes, outside or domestic, as it was with the explosion at the railway station in Volgograd at the end of 2013," He added: "We haven't forgotten anything or anyone. The murder of our nationals in Sinai is among the bloodiest crimes in [terms of] the number of casualties."

Putin again expressed condolences to families of victims of #7K9268 plane crash in #Sinaihttps://t.co/QRjw5cEz5Mpic.twitter.com/4HaZjZ9wz9
RT (@RT_com) November 2, 2015

But Russia won't be "wiping tears from our soul and heart," he said. "This [tragedy] will stay with us forever. But this won't stop us from finding and punishing the culprit."
Vladimir Putin has vowed to find and punish the culprits behind the Sinai plane attack. "Our military work in Syria must not only continue. It must be strengthened in such a way so that the terrorists will understand that retribution is inevitable," he said.
READ MORE: RT EXCLUSIVE: First look at site of Russian jet crash in Sinai (VIDEO)

The Federal Security Service director also announced a reward of $50 million for information on those behind the terror attack on the A321.
The Russian president asked the Foreign Ministry to "call on all our [foreign] partners" to assist in the search for the terrorists behind the attack. "We look forward in the course of this work to [help from] all our friends, including in finding and punishing the criminals," he added.
Russia will act in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, which provides for countries' right to self-defense, Putin said. "Those who attempt to assist criminals should be aware that the consequences of such attempts will be entirely their responsibility," he added.
The Kogalymavia A321 air crash took place over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt on October 31. All 224 people on board the plane were killed, making it the deadliest air accident in modern Russian aviation history.

[Drew Phipps]

Russia says bomb was definitely responsible for plane crash in Egypt

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/11/17/ru...D359423920

Jaime Fuller Nov 17th 2015 9:22AM

Russia finally confirmed that a bomb was responsible for the plane crash that left 224 people dead last month. "Traces of foreign explosives" were found on the debris of the Russian A321 airliner, which scattered all over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt after exploding midair on October 31. "We can say definitely that this was a terrorist act," the head of the Federal Security Service told Russia's Security Council, according to the New York Times.


He added that Russia was unable to confirm that ISIS which claimed it had carried out the attack immediately was responsible, but the government is offering $50 million for any information about the attack. "It may have been an individual who was inspired by ISIS who was self-radicalized by looking at ISIS propaganda and was acting in the name of ISIS without necessarily being directed," he said.


U.S. intelligence officials already suspected that the plane had been brought down by a bomb. Two weeks ago, President Obama said, "I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board and we're taking that very seriously." Russian officials originally scoffed at the idea that a bomb may have gotten on the plane. Egypt has also been reticent to admit or agree that an explosion brought the plane down, given the injury it could cause to the tourism industry. Most airlines have stopped flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, the resort town that the downed plane was returning from, already. The bomb contained about two pounds of TNT.


After the announcement, Putin gave remarks that were broadcast nationally. "We will search for them everywhere, no matter where they are hiding," he said. "We will find them in any place on the planet and will punish them." The Kremlin also announced that it will start conducting more air strikes in Syria. Putin said that the air strikes "must be intensified so that the criminals understand that retribution is inevitable."

******
Question: What is a "foreign" explosive?

Comment: Even though Russia seems kinda vague about their intended targets, they will intensify their bombing.

PS: Also, Egypt has detained somewhere between 2 and 7 employees from the originating airport in connection with Egypt's investigation.

[Magda Hassan]

******
Question: What is a "foreign" explosive?

Comment: Even though Russia seems kinda vague about their intended targets, they will intensify their bombing.

PS: Also, Egypt has detained somewhere between 2 and 7 employees from the originating airport in connection with Egypt's investigation.

Yes I wondered what that meant too. Can only assume it is either some sort of new explosive not made by Russia. Semtex itself has to have additives to create a detection taggant to identify it. There are still batches of (expired) Semtex which don't have this tagging which would make identifying the explosive difficult. Then again it may be a completely new type of explosive.

Would love to know what's in the CCTV footage from the airport.