domingo, enero 10, 2016

El misterio del misil Hellfire estadounidense de alta tecnología que acabó en Cuba en extrañas circunstancias y que la administración del Presidente Barack Hussein Obama ha ocultado desde antes del anuncio del supuesto descongelamiento de las relaciones entre EE.UU. y Cuba y que el Wall Street Journal WSJ


Nota del Bloguista de Baracutey Cubano

El misil Hellfire  está siendo pedido de vuelta por EE.UU. desde hace año y medio; es decir: en medio de los 17 meses de negociaciones secretas entre el ejecutivo de Barack Obama y la tiranía de los Castro para el  supuesto descongelamiento  de las relaciones entre ambas partes ya EE.UU. estaba pidiendo la devolución de ese misil o cohete de la más avanzada tecnología  y la tiranía  de los Castro no accedió a devolverlo.  Para colmo, el gobierno de Barack Hussein Obama (pese a que Obama prometió   en su primera campaña electoral  que su gobierno  iba a ser  un gobierno  transparente) ha guardado   el secreto de la presencia de ese misil  en Cuba y sólo el Wall Street Journal pudo conocer la presencia de ese misil en Cuba mediante fuentes no identificadas conocedoras del caso, las cuales  pidieron permanecer en el anonimato.

El Senador Marco Rubio en su carta a Roberta Jacobso, la jefa de las negociaciones entre EE.UU. y la tiranía de los Castro para el deshielo de las relaciones, expresó:

The fact that the administration, including you, have apparently tried to withhold this information from the congressional debate and public discussion over U.S.-Cuba policy is disgraceful.
Traducción aproximada: El hecho de que la administración, incluida usted, ha tratado  aparentemente  de retener esta información en  el debate en el Congreso y en el debate público sobre la política entre Estados Unidos y Cuba es una vergüenza.

La carta íntegra del Senador Marco Rubio (en idioma Inglés) se encuentra en este post, al igual que  la nota de los congresistas cubanoamericanos Ileana  Ros-Lehtinen,  Mario Díaz-Balart,  Carlos Curbelo  y Albio Sires.



  ************
Tomado de http://internacional.elpais.com

El misterio del misil estadounidense que acabó en Cuba

********
La Habana se niega a devolver el misil que contiene información estratégica
Un misil de EE UU enviado a España para unas maniobras terminó en Cuba
********
Por  Silvia Ayuso
Washington
8 ENE 2016

¿Sabe dónde está el misil? “Ni idea”. John Kelly, el jefe saliente del Comando Sur (Southcom) del Ejército estadounidense, respondió francamente sorprendido este viernes cuando se le preguntó por el misil aire-tierra Hellfire que, según reveló The Wall Street Journal, fue enviado en 2014 a Europa para servir en ejercicios de entrenamiento y que, en el viaje de regreso, acabó en Cuba. “¿Quizás habría que echarle la culpa a Correos?”, bromeó el todavía responsable militar que tiene a su cargo América del Sur, incluido el Caribe. Otros altos mandos del Pentágono, así como del Gobierno de Barack Obama, no encuentran tan graciosa la historia. Al fin y al cabo, ni siquiera se ha logrado averiguar aún si el misil, que no estaba cargado, acabó por error en Cuba o si es fruto de una cuidada operación de espionaje. “Esto es un asunto que el Gobierno se toma muy, muy en serio por motivos obvios. El Pentágono y el Departamento de Estado están interesados en llegar al fondo del asunto”, aseguró la Casa Blanca.

El periplo del Hellfire es, cuanto menos, rocambolesco. Fue enviado por la empresa que lo fabrica, Lockheed Martin, a España con el visto bueno del Departamento de Estado. Tras ser utilizado en un ejercicio militar de la OTAN en la base de Rota, fue empaquetado y enviado por carretera hasta Madrid. Allí debía ser cargado en un avión con destino a Fráncfort, Alemania, desde donde continuaría su trayecto hasta Florida.

Pero los responsables de cargar ese primer avión desde España a Alemania se dieron cuenta de que el misil no estaba. Había sido puesto —¿por error, adrede?— en el cargamento destinado a un avión de Air France con destino al aeropuerto parisino Charles de Gaulle. Allí, fue colocado junto a otros paquetes clasificados como “carga mixta” y acabó siendo embarcado —¿de nuevo un error, o fue a propósito?—en otro vuelo de Air France que tenía como destino La Habana.

Todos los responsables se lavan las manos o no contestan, destaca el diario estadounidense. Pero nadie desmiente el incidente.

Mientras, el misil no aparece. Pese al acercamiento político iniciado en diciembre de ese mismo 2014 con Cuba, La Habana no responde, asegura el rotativo, a las peticiones de Washington para que devuelva el arma. Y pese a que el Departamento de Estado aseguró el viernes que el misil no tenía ni carga ni sistema de posicionamiento, existe la preocupación de que enemigos de Estados Unidos puedan acabar haciéndose con la tecnología de un arma que Estados Unidos usa de forma habitual en sus operaciones antiterroristas, como en los bombardeos realizados con aviones no tripulados (drones) en Yemen o Pakistán.

Al fin y al cabo, La Habana cuenta entre sus más estrechos aliados a China, Rusia e incluso Irán. Inquietan, también, los lazos con Corea del Norte, un país que acaba de poner en vilo a Estados Unidos y el resto de la comunidad internacional con su anuncio, aún por verificar, de que ha probado con éxito una bomba de hidrógeno. En la mente de muchos en Washington está todavía el caso del Chong Chon Gang, el barco con bandera norcoreana que fue detenido en Panamá en 2013 cuando regresaba desde Cuba por sospechas de narcotráfico. Pero lo que las autoridades panameñas encontraron en las tripas del buque no fueron drogas, sino armas cubanas escondidas entre toneladas de azúcar. Que La Habana afirmara que se trataba de armamento obsoleto no calmó los ánimos ni el hecho de que se considerara una violación del embargo de armas impuesto por la ONU al régimen de Pyongyang.

Casi justo un año después de ese incidente, le caía a La Habana, pareciera que regalado, el misil con tecnología militar estadounidense que haría salivar a cualquier antagonista de Estados Unidos. Uno de los principales obstáculos en los esfuerzos norteamericanos por recuperar su misil es que, pese a la incipiente normalización de relaciones, que llevó a la reapertura de embajadas en Washington y La Habana el año pasado, salvo para temas relacionados con la base de Guantánamo, la cooperación militar con Cuba es, en palabras del jefe de Southcom Kelly, “cero”.
****************

 Tomado de http://www.extremetech.com

It probably won’t matter Cuba got a dummy Hellfire missile — and that’s terrifying


 


 By Graham Templeton
January 9, 2016

In 2014, the US mistakenly shipped a neutered, non-explosive training version of a Hellfire air-to-ground missile to Cuba, instead of America. It had been in Spain for a training exercise, moved around between European cities for a while as it prepared for the journey home — but then, it was somehow mistakenly loaded onto a cargo flight headed directly from Paris to Havana, reportedly along with a bunch of non-military cargo. The US has asked the Cuban government to return it, but the Cubans are being clear on the issue of givesies backsies: They just don’t do it.

How bad is this, really? Well, the missile has no explosive payload or working propulsion system, but it’s a real Hellfire missile in just about every other way. Its design could be extremely helpful to engineers in any number of countries looking to build better missiles, or design better countermeasures to American ones. That sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? Cuba could sell the dummy missile to Russia, China — anybody!

But, let’s look at how the Hellfire has been doing over the past several years. Most trivially, the US Army lost a dummy Hellfire over New York just last September, simply because it slipped off an aircraft in mid-flight it seems, but they later got it back. Worse, there’s good reason to suspect that China and other cyber-powers might already have blueprints for the Hellfire and more, thanks to the still-vague scope of several highly successful military cyber-attacks on the US and its allies. And of course, the US sells thousands upon thousands of working Hellfires to “close” military “allies” like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

By far the worst recent example of the Hellfire being compromised, however, is the fall of Iraq’s Mosul to forces from ISIS (or Daesh, if you prefer), which led to about $700 million worth of working Hellfire missiles falling into the hands of terrorists. Remember that ISIS doesn’t have much in the way of air power to actually fire said missiles, so we can only assume that the cash-hungry organization at least tried to sell them off. Pretty much the only non-Shia US rival government I can’t imagine secretly getting in on that action would be Russia, given its totally overriding organizational hatred of Islamists — though even that might not be enough to sour the prospect of getting one over on the old U. S. of A.

Compared with these and other Hellfire-related breaches or risks, it seems hard to justify being all that upset about a dummy missile ending up in Cuba. It’s certainly embarrassing, and doubly so because Cuba is refusing to return the thing, but anyone who might credibly buy it from Cuba, and to whom Cuba might credibly sell it, could easily have been a potential Hellfire customer for a long time now through overtures to even less-ethical actors.

And, not to sound like too much of an idealist, but Cuba is just on the brink of seeing what it might be able to gain through diplomacy with the US, rather than strife. It’s not the Cold War anymore, and the younger Castro doesn’t see Cuba’s continued existence as mutually exclusive with America’s. It makes less sense for Cuba to tick the US off now than at any time since the island nation didn’t actually attack the USS Maine at the turn of the last century.

You always have to take threats like this seriously, and shore up leaks wherever you find them. However, as far as the proliferation of US war tech is concerned, terrifyingly, this is just a drop in the bucket.


***********
Tomado de http://www.capitolhillcubans.com

 Rubio Demands Answers on U.S. Missile in Cuba's Possession

January 8, 2016

Rubio Demands Answers From Administration on U.S. Missile in Cuba's Possession

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, today demanded answers from the Obama Administration  regarding reports of a U.S. Hellfire missile in Cuba’s possession. In a letter to the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roberta S. Jacobson, Rubio asks the State Department about its prior knowledge of the missile, and he warns of its significant implications on U.S. national security.

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Assistant Secretary Jacobson:

Preventing the proliferation of sensitive U.S. technology is one of the most important duties carried out by the State Department. While your bureau is not the primary entity within the State Department handling these issues, you oversee U.S. policy toward Cuba and interactions with Cuban officials. Thus, the fact that members of Congress are reading about Cuba's possession of a U.S. missile in the newspaper rather than from you or other State Department officials is astounding and inexcusable.

Given that you have been talking to officials of the Cuban government for more than a year as part of President Obama's efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba, I would like to know:

  •     When was the State Department informed that a U.S. Hellfire missile had been sent to Cuba?
  •     When were you personally first informed of this matter and by whom?
  •     What has been done to obtain the missile's return by the Cuban government?
  •     What specific entity of the Cuban government is currently in possession of the missile?
  •     Please provide a list of the specific occasions on which you or other U.S. Government officials have raised this issue with the Castro regime.
  •     Why was the return of the missile not obtained as a result of the negotiations that led to President Obama's December 17, 2014 announced change in U.S. policy toward Cuba?
  •     Why was the return of the missile not a condition of removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list?
  •     Why was the return of the missile not a condition of establishment of embassies in Havana and Washington?
  •     What members of Congress did you inform of this issue during your briefings and testimony regarding U.S. policy toward Cuba over the last 18 months?
  •     Does the State Department know if the Cuban government shared the missile or its design with any foreign governments?
As you know, Cuba has extensive military and intelligence ties to U.S. adversaries around the world, including countries such as China and Russia. In July 2013, the Castro regime was caught red handed trading military technology with North Korea. Sensitive U.S. technology falling into the hands of such a regime has significant implications for U.S. national security. The fact that the administration, including you, have apparently tried to withhold this information from the congressional debate and public discussion over U.S.-Cuba policy is disgraceful.

I urge you to provide the above information to Congress as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

Marco Rubio

******

Tomado de http://www.capitolhillcubans.com

 Chairman Royce: Obama Has Lots of Explaining to Do on Missile in Cuba

The Obama Administration Has a Lot of Explaining to Do

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) released the following statement in response to reports that Cuba has been holding a lost U.S. Hellfire missile:

“The Obama administration has a lot of explaining to do. How on earth did a Hellfire missile get into Cuban hands? Who else has had access to this technology after it went missing? It looks like the Obama Administration’s normalization with Cuba has gotten even more one-sided – we couldn’t even get this missile back.

Cuba has traded military secrets with North Korea in the past, and we can’t allow this key piece of national security technology to get to the Kim regime – or China and Russia.”
*******

Tomado de http://www.capitolhillcubans.com

 Cuban-American House Members: Joint Statement on U.S. Missile in Castro's Possession

Ros-Lehtinen, Díaz-Balart, Curbelo and Sires Make Joint Statement Regarding Unaccounted U.S. Hellfire Missile Acquired by Castro Regime

“The fact that the Castro regime was able to acquire a U.S. Hellfire missile could be indicative of the lengths it is willing to go to undermine our national security and harm our interests”

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL); Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Albio Sires (D-NJ) made the following joint statement concerning reports that Cuba is in possession of a U.S. Hellfire missile.

Joint Statement by Ros-Lehtinen, Díaz-Balart, Curbelo and Sires:

Regardless of how Cuba came into possession of a U.S. Hellfire missile – which must be investigated – it is unconscionable that the Obama administration knew the Castros were in possession of this sensitive U.S. military technology since June 2014 and still moved forward with its policy to open up travel, trade, investment and diplomatic relations with the regime.

The fact that the Castro regime was able to acquire a U.S. Hellfire missile could be indicative of the lengths it is willing to go to undermine our national security and harm our interests. Congress must provide oversight to determine how the U.S. export control system failed to prevent this gross violation from occurring, and if Cuba’s espionage apparatus played a role in this Hellfire acquisition.

The Cuban regime rebuffed the President’s efforts to secure the return of the Hellfire missile even as the negotiations were ongoing, and yet the regime still got everything it could have wanted. It is no wonder that the Castro brothers feel ever more emboldened to continue on with the repression of the Cuban people, with intimidation and unlawful arrests at an alarmingly high rate.

This is a very serious breach and we are deeply concerned that the Castros have already shared the sensitive technology with the likes of Russia, North Korea or China. Let us not forget that last year the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and China's top military official General Fan Changlong both visited Havana to discuss strengthening military cooperation efforts and one of Cuba’s senior officials Miguel Diaz-Canel traveled to the DPRK to visit Kim Jong-Un. We urge the Administration to start holding the Cuban regime accountable for its continued transgressions not only against its own people, but its continued disregard for international norms.
********

Tomado de http://www.capitolhillcubans.com

 Negligence or Malpractice: U.S. Hellfire Missile Ends Up in Cuba

Another "little detail" the Obama Administration failed to disclose to the American people.

If the U.S. knew about Castro having the missing Hellfire missile since June 2014 -- why didn't it make its return a condition for the normalization of relations, which it announced in December 2014?

Moreover, if Castro won't return this missile, the Obama Administration didn't know how it got to Cuba and U.S. intelligence agencies are concerned that the technology is being shared with other rogue actors -- why did it proceed to remove Cuba from state-sponsors of terrorism list in May 2015?

It's beyond negligence. It's policy malpractice.

Let's not forget, as we learned from Cuba's attempt to smuggle 240 tons of weapons -- including ballistic missile technology -- to North Korea in mid-2013, the Castros are more than willing to share such weapons, information and technology with other rogue actors.