NEW: "We are much closer to the start of a peace negotiations than we have ever been before" #Afghanistan acting Minister of Foreign Affairs @MHaneefAtmar tells @USIP "We are optimistic"
"The last hurdles in terms of release of prisoners & a couple of difficult questions that we had are being addressed successfully" adds #Afghanistan acting Minister of Foreign Affairs @MHaneefAtmar
"[#Afghanistan] will have to remain an independent, sovereign, unified state w/its full territorial integrity...It will have to be a constitutional, representative democracy on the strong foundation of human rights, women's rights"
"We understand that the #Taliban demand for the departure of foreign troops" per #Afghan acting FM @MHaneefAtmar
"We certainly demand the elimination or departure of all #foreignfighters, terrorist fighters" he says re #alQaida, #ISIS
With talks btw #Afghanistan gvt & #Taliban -"It seems that most of the hurdles have been wither removed or we are working on building consensus toward a solution" @MHaneefAtmar tells @USIP#AfghanPeace
"I'm cautiously optimistic"
"With the release of the last batch of the #Taliban prisoners, we will have released by the end of next week over 5,600 of #Taliban's prisoners" per @MHaneefAtmar "The Taliban will have to honor their promise that these ppl will not go back to the battlefield"
"We want a reduction in violence...an immediate humanitarian ceasefire" per @MHaneefAtmar, adding these are things to be negotiated
#Afghanistan gvt, #Taliban agree negotiations should be held in countries that have supported the process
"They need to be part of the process" per @MHaneefAtmar, emphasizing the talks will be between Afghans
"There is still a risk that some regional actors...certain circles would want to pursue not an end state that that Afghan people demand" per @MHaneefAtmar
"They might try to define the end state in terms of their narrow political, national security interests...a serious danger"
"We are, together, facing a common threat so therefore we have a common interest...China is directly affected by terrorism in the region"
NEW: "We have been assured that the agreement btw the #Taliban & the United States is about a conditions based drawdown of troops" per acting FM @MHaneefAtmar tells @USIP#AfghanPeace "We are confident that those conditions will be informing the decisions made by our partners"
"It has always been part of the end state that Afghanistan as an independent country will be responsible for its own security" per acting FM @MHaneefAtmar
"However, when it comes to the global & int'l nature of terrorism & the threats that we face, cooperation w/the UnitedStates, our NATO partner & our regional partners has been a key feature of our foreign policy" per acting FM @MHaneefAtmar
.@UN recently noted the issue of #foreignfighters, warning in June the estimated 8,000-10,000 such fighters in #Afghanistan "will require careful monitoring"
Some nuggets from @FBI Dir. Christopher Wray's appearance Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies...
#ArtificialIntelligence & #Election2024-"We are, of course, seeing & I've been warning about this for some time, the role of AI to enhance efforts that our foreign adversaries have already been engaged in" per @FBI's Wray
"It's not that it [#ArtificialIntelligence] changes fundamentally what it is our adversaries want to do...it allows them to amplify to do it, to make it more sophisticated, more deceptive, cheaper, faster" per @FBI's Wray
HAPPENING NOW - US intelligence chiefs testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee:
@ODNIgov Dir Avril Haines
@CIA Dir William Burns
@FBI Dir Christoper Wray
@NSAGov Dir Gen Timothy Haugh
@DefenseIntel Dir LtGen Jeffrey Krause
@StateDept Asst Sec for Intel Brett Holmgren
Noting that the current era is as challenging as ever, with a wide variety of threats, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair @MarkWarner calls for "redefining what we think of" when it comes to national security
@MarkWarner "We are no even seeing the possibility of foreign adversaries weaponizing space" in ways that could be detrimental to US way of life, per @MarkWarner
NEW: @FBI joins White House, Senate intelligence committee chair in sounding alarm about foreign interference in #Election2024
"This election cycle, the US will face more adversaries, moving at a faster pace & enabled by new technology
per Dir Christopher Wray at @INSAlliance
#ArtificialIntelligence advances "lowering the barrier to entry-making it easier for both more & less-sophisticated foreign adversaries to engage in malign influence" per @FBI's Wray
"Making foreign influence efforts by players old and&new more realistic & difficult to detect"
@FBI Where are US adversaries focused?
“The attack surface for the bad guys is the private sector” per @FBI's Wray "The intelligence that we need is in the hands of the private sector, often”
NEW: US worried about #Russia seeking to interfere in #Election2024
"Of course there are concerns" White House Nat'l Security Adviser @JakeSullivan46 tells @MeetThePress
"There's plenty of reason to be concerned" per @JakeSullivan46
"There is a history here in presidential elections by the #Russia|n Federation, by its intelligence services" he says
"We are going to be vigilant"
Concerns about #Russia|n interference in #Election2024 "not about politics" per @JakeSullivan46
"This is about national security. It is about a foreign country, a foreign adversary seeking to manipulate the politics & democracy of the United States of America."
NEW: US confirms #Houthis using "various #Iran|ian-origin missiles & unmanned aerial vehicles" in their attacks on shipping in the #RedSea #GulfofAden
Conclusion based on new analysis by @DefenseIntel
The assessment is based on information current as January 2024 - including a "comparative analysis of publicly available images of #Iran|ian missiles & UAVs to those displayed & employed by #Houthi forces in #Yemen to attack commercial shipping" per @DefenseIntel
US @DefenseIntel on #Iran|ian drones in #Houthi arsenal:
-Sayad (Sammad) - range of 1800km
-Shahed-136 - range of 2500km
-Waid-1 (version of the Shahed-131) - range of 900km
AQ "established up to 8 new training camps in Afghanistan, including four in #Ghazni, #Laghman, #Parwan & #Uruzgan Provinces w/a new base to stockpile weaponry in the #Panjshir Valley" per new @UN report
The new #alQaida camps appear to be "conducting suicide bomber training for TTP [Tehrik-i-Taliban #Pakistan]" per the @UN report
Intelligence provided by @UN member states also notes #alQaida is operating madrasas in #Laghman, #Kunar, #Nangarhar, #Nuristan & #Parwan provinces
AQ also "maintains safe houses to facilitate the movement between #Afghanistan & the Islamic Republic of #Iran"