WINs contain intelligence-related open source items and
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SECTION I CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
NATIONAL OPERATIONS & ANALYSIS
HUB (NOAH) - A NEW NATIONAL FUSION CENTER? -- Representative Curt Weldon
(R. PA) is advocating the establishment of
a new government-wide "data mining" agency tasked with developing threat
profiles of terrorists and world hotspots - a national fusion agency. NOAH would
be modeled after the Army's Land Information Warfare Activity (LIWA) at Fort
Belvoir, Virginia, which Congressman Weldon credits with one of the most
effective massive data mining and profiling capabilities in the intelligence
community. NOAH would integrate the more than 28 intelligence community networks
as well as databases from a vast array of government agencies, in a "very
controlled environment of classified and unclassified systems," to support
policymakers. Rep. Weldon, who chairs the House Military Research and
Development Subcommittee, stated that "in the 21st century, you have to be able
to monitor where information is going and who's tapping into it. You have to be
able to do massive data mining, and nobody can do that today." Weldon wants to
kick-start NOAH this year with funding in the DOD budget.
On the face of it,
this appears to conflict with CIA's charter of being the central focus and
integrator of the nation's intelligence production. The technology juggernaut is
moving apace, however, and one must remain nimble and adapt fast or wither on
the vine, a challenge for older companies and agencies alike. One surmises the
DCI will adapt. (Federal Computer Wk, 8 May2000; SIGNAL April 2000) (Jonkers
& Macartney)
EU TO REMOVE ALL RESTRICTIONS
ON EXPORTING STRONG ENCRYPTION -- The European ministers of Foreign Affairs
are expected to decide to lift all barriers to the export of encryption software
to countries outside the European Union. The US opposes that, but our own
restrictions have already loosened most of the way. <http://www.heise.de/tp/english/inhalt/te/8179/1.html> (Macartney)
PENTAGON ESTIMATE
OF 2020 CYBER-WARFARE -- A Joint Staff report published on 31 May ("Joint
Vision 2020") discusses the U.S. military capability by 2020 to conduct attacks
on foreign computers and networks while defending its systems against strategic
information warfare strikes. The military also will seek to improve weaknesses
uncovered during the Kosovo conflict last year to better conduct operations with
allies in combat. In conjunction, a senior DOD official said last week that DOD
is redefining the emerging field of high-tech information operations, based on
the lessons learned from the 78-day air war in Kosovo.
<http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0529/news-nato-05-29-00.asp>
<http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-200053122319.htm>
(R Levine <rlevine@ix.netcom.com>NewsBits - 06/01/00)
(Jonkers)
US MILITARY TURNING ATTENTION TO ASIA -- When Pentagon
officials first sat down last year to update the core planning document of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, they listed China as a potential future adversary, a
momentous change from the last decade of the Cold War. But the final version of
the document, titled "Joint Vision 2020," (see above item also) is far more
discreet. Rather than explicitly pointing at China, it simply warns of the
possible rise of an unidentified "peer competitor."
The Joint Chiefs'
wrestling with how to think about China--and how open to be about that
effort--captures in a nutshell the U.S. military's quiet shift away from its
traditional focus on Europe. Cautiously but steadily, the Pentagon is looking at
Asia as the most likely arena for future military conflict, or at least
competition. This new orientation is reflected in many small but significant
changes: more attack submarines assigned to the Pacific, more war games and
strategic studies centered on Asia, more diplomacy aimed at reconfiguring the
U.S. military presence in the area. It is a trend that carries huge implications
for the shape of the armed services. It also carries huge stakes for U.S.
foreign policy. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7981-2000May25.html> (Macartney)
FBI TO ISSUE LIST
OF INTERNET VULNERABILITIES - - The FBI, the Department of
Justice and the System Administration, Networking and Security Institute are
jointly releasing a list detailing the 10 most critical Internet security
threats and how to eliminate them. There are no shockers in the List. The NUMBER
ONE security mistake is an obvious one - opening e-mail attachments without
checking the source or content. (RLevine Newbits 1 June2000) (Jonkers)
(<http://www.thestandard.net/article/display/0,1151,15608,00.html>)
TAIWAN TO GET GROUND STATION
FOR US SATELLITE DATA -- According to Space Daily, the Taiwanese military
is building a ground station to receive China data collected by US spy
satellites. (The article does not make clear whether it is referring to SIGINT
or IMINT or perhaps commercial imagery). <http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-00z.html> (Macartney)
US PLACES TAIWAN
ON INTELLIGENCE THREAT LIST -- In a departure from longtime policy, the US
Justice Dept has placed Taiwan on the FBI's secret list of hostile intelligence
threats. Listed, in order of priority are: Russia, China, North Korea, Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbian-controlled Bosnia, Vietnam, Syria, Iraq, Iran,
Libya, Sudan and Taiwan. <http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-2000524233846.htm> <> (Macartney)
US SPECIAL FORCES
IN SIERRA LEONE? -- According to a "reliable Army source," the US
dispatched from Germany to Sierra Leone, a
task force of green beret soldiers to help capture notorious rebel leader Foday
Sankoh. The source said the American commandos blended in among 10,700 UN
peacekeepers and helped pro-government forces locate Mr. Sankoh. The key break
was developing an informant who said the Revolutionary United Front leader
planned to return to his home to recover some stashed cash and diamonds. When he
arrived, he was shot in the leg and captured. Also, a American patrol boat
offshore presumed to have Navy SEAL commandos aboard left the area shortly after
the capture. <http://www.washtimes.com/national/inring-2000526211824.htm> (Macartney)
SECTION II - CONTEXT AND
PRECEDENCE
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES SAY INTELLIGENCE IS UNDER-FUNDED AND IN
TROUBLE -- The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI)
faults the Clinton administration for under-funding the CIA and its sister spy
agencies and says the administration's lack of commitment "is placing undue
risks on its armed forces and its national security interests by not redressing
the many crucial problems facing the Intelligence Community."
The Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) homes in on under-funding and an array
of serious management issues that have defied solution for decades, ordering up
a blizzard of reports from the secretive agencies on everything from press leaks
to hiring practices by intelligence community inspector generals.
Both
committees saved their most breathless commentary for the perilous state of the
National Security Agency, with the SSCI "increasingly troubled" by the NSA's
inability to cope with new communications technologies and the HPSCI demanding
"ruthlessly honest assessments" about which new signals intelligence (SIGINT)
technologies the NSA can develop in-house and which it needs to buy from the
private sector. <http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22957-2000May28.html> <http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2000_rpt/hr106-620.html> <http://intelligence.senate.gov/000504.htm>
(Macartney)
US NAVY TO
UPGRADE SUBMARINE FLEET FOR INTELLIGENCE MISSION -- A
recent JCS study finds that the projected high operating tempo in the
contemporary world environment will require 68 rather than 50 submarines by
2015, with deployments for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
missions the most prevalent and important. Beginning with the FY 2002 budget,
therefore, the Navy will put greater emphasis on submarine ISR capabilities.
This means a shift away from a current investment focus on acoustic systems
towards future ISR systems, including the use of unmanned undersea vehicles
(UUV's) for improved intelligence gathering, and an increased use of digital
technologies, antennas with greater sensitivity, and similar technical
enhancements. (Jane's Def. Wkly, 31 May2000) (Jonkers)
FUTURE USMC
ROBOT INTELLIGENCE AND SENSOR SYSTEMS -- These excerpts from an article in
"Inside the Navy" (5/22), give a flavor of future intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR) systems:
Two weeks ago the Marine Corps Warfighting
Laboratory completed an "access denial war game."The war game gave the Marine
Corps a chance to test the viability of a sensor-to-shooter concept that uses
micro-sized ground robots, mini-UAVs, humans and other assets to gather and send
targeting information on mobile targets like Scud missile launchers.
The war
gamers also simulated Marines infusing several ground robots and other unmanned
vehicles into the enemy's territory to keep casualties down during the assault.
These include "Rattler" and "Mini-Rattler" robots that have cameras for daytime
use and a forward-looking infrared system for night use to perform surveillance
and reconnaissance missions in areas too dangerous for troops. The Rattler is
smaller than the Marine Corps' current SARGE ground robot but just as powerful,
while the even smaller Mini-Rattler is about the size of a shoebox yet still can
be guided around a battlefield and gather information for troops at a remote
location. The robots are under development at the Sandia National Labs, and
would likely be produced by an Orlando, FL, company if the service orders them
in production quantities. The new robots will be placed on the battlefield by
delta-wing gliders, or powered parafoils with wings that melt in (" Inside the
Navy" 5/22) (Macartney)
SECTION III - BOOKS
THE CULTURAL COLD WAR: The CIA and the World of Arts and
Letters, by Frances Stonor Saunders, New Press, 2000. The book deals with CIA's
covert funding of cultural magazines and conferences, mostly in the 1950s. It is
not an unbiased view of history -- rather, the author betrays her loathing for
the intelligence community's attempt to wage a cultural offensive against the
Soviet Union throughout the book. Michael Dirda, who reviewed the book in the
Washington Post, states that Saunders writes from a position of "savage
indignation," and the book should be regarded as a "historical diatribe." At the
heart of the study lies the Congress for Cultural Freedom and its sponsor,
Julius Fleischman's Fairfield Foundation, which presumably laundered CIA's
funding. Did the participants know? Michael Dirda opines that "Given that the
people involved were mainly intellectuals or academics, one can grant them an
ingrained naiveté and presume that most of them probably never thought hard
about who was paying for the spiffy parties, the first-class air fares, the
caviar and champagne. Weren't they the smart guys, after all, and deserving the
best?" Not having read the book, I will further quote Michael Dirda's
bottomline: " Welcome to the world as it really is......Machiavelli reminded us
that we live in a fallen world ..... only the young and unduly hopeful believe
otherwise. So do I like the book? Yes, in many ways: It's filled with testimony,
facts and figures; makes clear the sinuous interlocking nature of American
governmental, corporate and cultural life; and is consistently fascinating. "
Unquote. (M. Dirda in Wpost /BookWorld 2 April 2000, p.15) (Jonkers)
SECTION IV -
MISCELLANEOUS
EBBN #6 Master Schedule
Correction: The NMIA Potomac Chapter Luncheon is scheduled for Tuesday 13 June,
not on the 15th as announced in EBBN#6.
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