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Weekly Intelligence Notes #12-02 |
WIN #12-02 dtd 25 March 2002
Weekly Intelligence Notes (WINs) are produced and edited by Roy Jonkers for non-profit educational uses by AFIO members, ISIS associates and WIN subscribers. RADM (ret) Don Harvey contributes articles to selected WINs.
AFIO BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SYMPOSIUM: See Section V
CONTENTS of this WIN
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SECTION I - Current Intelligence
FBI Increasing Security Posture
Taiwan Intelligence and Influence Operations Made Public
SECTION II - Context and Precedence
Immigration and Naturalization Service Changes
Pacific Command Security Center Under Suspicion??
SECTION III - Cyber Intelligence
Bill Would Create Online 'National Guard'
Public Private Infotech Worker Exchange Bill
Firms Undergo NSA InfoSec Certification
Al Qaeda Used Web in High-Tech Caves
SECTION IV - Books and Sources
Doyle: True Men and Traitors- From the OSS to the CIA - My Life In The Shadows
Stanford Database of Missing Nuclear Materials
The Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Collection
SECTION V - Letters and Announcements
Change of Pace - Indian Wisdom
AFIO Business Intelligence Symposium Thursday, 16 May 02
AFIO National Luncheon - Tuesday, 16 April 02
Calling all Former Air Force Intelligence Personnel in D.C. Area
SECTION I - CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
FBI INCREASING SECURITY POSTURE -- The FBI is reducing by hundreds the number of agents with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), a special category of sensitive national secrets. At times roughly half the FBI's 28,000 employees held SCI clearance before the number was reduced. Officials said only employees who need to know such information for their immediate jobs now hold the special clearance.
FBI officials said they also have conducted more than 700 polygraph tests of FBI agents and workers with access to the most sensitive information, and have identified a small number whose tests raised red flags that warranted additional scrutiny. Most of these will probably be cleared because factors such as medical conditions can cause anomalies on the tests.
Security has been tightened considerably by the current FBI director, Robert Mueller. "Our goal is to bring the culture along to the point where security is considered part of the daily operations," said Ken Senser, a CIA employee who was brought over to the FBI to improve internal security. He oversees the FBI's new security division. The focus of FBI operations has now shifted from preoccupation with criminal cases, such as bank robberies, to terrorism. The new counter-terrorism & counter-intelligence focus carries with it a renewed emphasis on operations security and protective security procedures.
Former CIA and FBI Director William Webster is completing a massive review of the FBI's internal security in the aftermath of the Robert Hanssen spy case. It should be ready soon. (Jonkers) (AP News 03/23/02 // J. Solomon) (http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020323/D7IE8K900.html) (http://www.fbi.gov)
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CHINA-TAIWAN SITREP -- CIA Director George J. Tenet said on 20 March in House Committee Hearings that "China continues to upgrade and expand the conventional short-range ballistic missile force it has arrayed against Taiwan." U.S. intelligence agencies estimate there are about 350 of CSS-6 and CSS-7 short-range ballistic missiles now deployed in the coastal area. Adm. Dennis Blair, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, told the House Armed Service Committee "Where we are right now is that China is capable of causing a great deal of damage to Taiwan, damage that cannot be stopped by the Taiwanese armed forces or by forces of the United States, if they were ordered in."
One must expect that the Chinese will undoubtedly pursue what they perceive as their critical national interests, as does the US. Despite the limited - but locally concentrated - Chinese capabilities on display, smart diplomacy should be able to contain this problem while the War on Terrorism is pursued, if the US ideologues can be kept away from the rudder. That still seems to be the case at present. (Jonkers) (WashTimes 22 Mar02, p.9) (Gertz & Scarborough). ( http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,1870,110568,00.html)
TAIWAN INTELLIGENCE AND INFLUENCE OPERATIONS MADE PUBLIC -- The Taiwan government has acknowledged that its overseas undercover operations, especially in the United States, Japan and China, have been dealt a serious blow after the leakage of classified documents. The documents, published in the China Times, a Taiwanese daily, as well as Hong Kong's Next Magazine and Sing Tao Daily, detail secret dealings and payments to US, Japanese, and South African officials.
According to Sing Tao Daily, former president Lee allegedly drew on a slush fund set up by the Taiwan National Security Bureau to pay a Washington-based public relations firm, Cassidy and Associates, to lobby the US government and Congress. Lee also reportedly used money from the fund to host visits to Taiwan by the firm's executive, Carl Ford, who later joined US President George W. Bush's government as Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research. The paper also said the National Security Bureau allegedly paid senior Japanese officials.
The media also revealed the names of some Taiwanese spies and exposed the island's spy agencies in Hong Kong. Said Foreign Minister Eugene Chien, "The damage is very serious. It will take a long time for the government to mend the damage." Publicity on foreign influence operations may be embarrassing, but compromised spies are serious and deadly. Leaks are a pernicious but ubiquitous malady, not confined only to the US. (Jonkers) (Straits Times Taiwan Bureau 27 March 02 /PJK)
NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS -- Unidentified US officials leaked, revealed to, or mis-informed the press, that the Government has information indicating that North Korea possesses at least three nuclear bombs as well as an undetermined amount of fissile material, stored in underground bunkers that are kept off-limits to both the United States or the International Atomic Energy Agency. The ostensible revelation is probably part of a political power play underway, among other things to stop North Korea from exporting weapons to states the US does not like, such as Iran. (Jonkers) (World Tribune, 28 March 02) (http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_3.html)
SECTION II - CONTEXT AND PRECEDENT
IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE CHANGES -- House Republicans and Democrats agreed Thursday 21 March to dismantle the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which has come under intense criticism since the Sept. 11 attacks. Under their plan, the INS would be replaced by two separate bureaus, one for Enforcement of Immigration law, and another for providing Immigration Services. The bureaus would report to an assistant attorney general for immigration affairs, who would be the No. 3 official in the Justice Department. "This agreement will allow Republicans and Democrats in Congress, in concert with the Bush administration, to work together on fundamentally dismantling the INS," said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of the INS. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., is preparing to a similar piece of INS reform legislation in the Senate.
Pressure for more sweeping change intensified in the last two weeks after student visa paperwork for two Sept. 11 hijackers were delivered to a Florida flight school six months after the attacks. President Bush said he was "plenty hot" after learning of the blunder. White House spokesman Taylor Gross said Bush agrees major change is needed and will work with Congress. On balance, its clear that much more needs to be done to change our routine civil threat awareness and procedures to have reasonable protection against terrorist attacks -- much more than merely reorienting or restructuring our intelligence and counterintelligence agencies. One can only hope that the process of reform is dominated by common sense rather than hysteria. (Jonkers)(03/21/02 //S. Gamboa)
PACIFIC COMMAND SECURITY CENTER UNDER SUSPICION?? -- The Pentagon's Inspector General is allegedly investigating the U.S. Pacific Command's 'Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies,' which some in the Pentagon are said to view as a haven for 'pro-Beijing thinking'. The Center is headed by Lt. Gen. Hank Stackpole, USMC (ret). The IG probe is reportedly focusing on whether there was any improper hiring and employee practices by the center's executive director. According to the columnists' "Pentagon sources," however, the real problem at the Hawaii-based center is that it is perceived to have a 'pro-China' bias.
The Center's sin? Senior Center officials have stated in not-for-attribution lectures that US "missile defense will cause the PRC to mount an arms race." A 'Pentagon official' is said to have told the reporters that Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has been looking for an excuse to shut down the Center because of its alleged pro-China views. One can only comment, if true, Save us from the True Believers - whose ideological conformity and repression of logical thinking substitute for dispassionate reasoned discourse about the Nations security and interests. This will result in a failure to recognize the real world -- something that is already a problem in our dealings in the Islamic world. But then again, the whole report may be nothing but malicious hearsay. (Jonkers) WashTimes 22 Mar02, p. 9) (Gertz & Scarborough)
AL QAEDA IN THE BALKANS -- According to a high-ranking Bosnian official on 23 March, Al-Qaeda terrorists planned a devastating attack on Americans in Sarajevo after meeting in Bulgaria to identify European targets, The US Embassy closed immediately. On Tuesday, just a day before the U.S. Embassy received the threats, Bosnian police raided an Islamic charity, Bosnian Ideal Future, also known as Benevolentia International Foundation, seizing weapons, plans for making bombs, booby-traps and bogus passports. On Friday, police announced they had arrested Munib Zahiragic, a Bosnian citizen and the head of the Bosnian chapter of the charity. Zahiragic is also a former member of the Bosnian Muslim secret police, AID.
Earlier, the U.S. and British embassies were also closed for several days in October 2001, in response to terrorist threats. They reopened after local police arrested six naturalized Bosnians, all of them Algerian natives. The suspects were handed over to U.S. authorities in January, and now are being held at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Five of the six were employed as humanitarian aid workers; one was suspected of being Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant for Europe.
More than 1 million Muslims live in Bosnia, most of them native to the country but also including dozens of former Islamic fighters who came to fight on the Muslim side in the 1992-1995 ethnic civil war.
It may be noted that we now have trouble in Kosovo, Macedonia and Bosnia with Muslim terrorists of one kind or another, a predictable outcome of our policies toward Yugoslavia which encouraged these groups. Milosevic is currently on exhibit in the modern equivalent of the Coliseum to provide a fig leaf of respectability to our policies and assault on Yugoslavia, which many of us found un-admirable. (Jonkers) (AP 23 Mar02 // A. Dragicewic) ( http://wire.ap.org/?SLUG=ATTACKS%2dBOSNIA)
SECTION III - CYBER INTELLIGENCE
BILL WOULD CREATE ONLINE 'NATIONAL GUARD' -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced legislation today that would muster a technological equivalent to the National Guard designed to protect the nation's electronic assets. Wyden's Science and Technology Emergency Mobilization Act calls for the mobilization of volunteers from the high-tech community to be ready to respond, on the government's behalf, to attacks and other disasters that threaten the nation's technological infrastructure. Not a bad idea! (Jonkers) Levine 21 march 02) (http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175346.html)
PUBLIC-PRIVATE INFOTECH WORKER EXCHANGE BILL -- The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would establish an information technology worker exchange program between the federal government and the private sector. The committee passed the bill, "The Digital Tech Corps Act" after adding an amendment to clarify that pay and benefits would be provided by the exchange worker’s original employer.(Levine 21 March 02 ) (http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175355.html)
FIRMS UNDERGO NSA INFOSEC CERTIFICATION -- The National Security Agency identified the first companies to undergo an appraisal of their information security practices, as part of a program to help government and commercial organizations improve their systems security. According to the 'Infosec Assessment Training and Rating Program,' organizations that need to assess their vulnerability will be able to call on NSA-designated companies that are qualified to perform such assessments within NSA-defined guidelines and standards. (Levine 21 Mar)
(http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0318/web-nsa-03-20-02.asp)
AL QAEDA USED WEB IN HIGH-TECH CAVES -- The al Qaeda forces routed in a recent bloody battle were so well organized, they used the Internet and laptop computers to communicate as they dashed from cave to cave. The communications system used by the terrorists was reported by U.S. forces after searches of the cave network abandoned during Operation Anaconda. U.S. forces said a search of 30 caves in the high mountains in eastern Afghanistan revealed that hundreds of fighters were able to live for months in giant caverns that were furnished with beds, stoves, medical supplies, video monitors, high-tech weapons and large amounts of cash. (Levine)
(http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/44008.htm)
TRUE MEN AND TRAITORS: From the OSS to the CIA -- My Life in the Shadows, by David W. Doyle, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, ISBN 047 141 6088. Frequently outsiders ask to read books about how it really was - what kinds of activity go on within the intelligence world? This book is a great starting point for both outsiders and insiders who want to know more about clandestine operations. David Doyle was with the OSS in world War II and then became involved with CIA in its formative years, later serving with distinction in CIA as part of the Directorate of Operations, in the Far East, Congo, Burundi, Belgium and in the Soviet Bloc division.
David Doyle, like this editor, is a bit of an odd bird in that he received much of his primary and secondary education abroad, yielding an ability to speak foreign languages and an enhanced understanding of foreign cultures. He describes some of that in the first 83 or so pages, and tells his personal story about how he got involved in the intelligence business. The impatient reader, ready to go to the action tales, might scan those pages and start the real reading there. There is plenty of good stuff to follow. Doyle provides a window on how CIA operated (Note- the book was properly cleared for release), including agent recruitment, tradecraft in operations and successes as well as various inevitable snafus. Also included is a section on CIA traitors, such as Aldrich Ames, and the damage betrayal causes. This is a positive, constructive, interesting book, easy to read, a straightforward account that is a credit to the author, and incidentally, a real contribution to AFIO's educational objective. Highly recommended. (Jonkers)
STANFORD DATABASE OF MISSING NUCLEAR MATERIALS -- It takes just a few kilograms of plutonium and less than 20 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb. That's unsettling, considering 40 kilograms of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium have been stolen from facilities in the former Soviet Union. And that's just the beginning, according to Stanford researchers who created a database to track missing nuclear material. (Jonkers) (Stanford Monthly newsletter, March 19, 2002)
(http://www.stanford.edu/news/report/news/march6/database-a.html)
The 'Annual Report to Congress on Foreign Economic Collection & Industrial Espionage 2001,' prepared by the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive (NCIX), is now available on the NCIX Web site at http://www.ncix.gov/pubs/reports/fy01.htm . The report is not copyrighted and may be downloaded and disseminated as required. No hard copy distribution is available. (RJ)
SECTION V - LETTERS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
AFGHANISTAN OPERATIONS -- Member quotes unknown source --"Nothing seems to change, remember when we had trouble with the lift on choppers limiting the numbers you could put on because of elevation. Well, at 11,000 feet we still have the problem . . . Its seems that less than xxxxx choppers can actually put troops on the ground with equipment and enough folks to handle inserts. The elevation is also having an impact on the gun ships as they can't use their speed and lift to make hard fast runs at positions.
Back to our old SOG days of security leaks, seems now every mission has to pass by the locals and as a result they are hitting a lot of dry holes, sounds real familiar. Also if it isn't dry it gets real ugly quick. Classic NVA, had the last LZ (landing zone) bracketed, and let the first group get in and then just started to shell the crap out of our guys. It wasn't bad Intel as stated, it was bad security. Teams are now using an old SOG trick, LZ and plan are given to one and all, the 1/0 then puts the team someplace else, because of the counterpart problem leaking mission's information, worked for us and it apparently is working for them.
The SEAL that fell out of the chopper on insert, pilots took a direct hit in the front of the aircraft, pulled up to gain control and he wasn't hooked in and lost his footing and fell out. Everyone was so busy holding on and the crew trying to keep the bird airborne he wasn't noted missing till they got out of harms way. The bird couldn't go back and actually made an emergency landing not far away.
All in all I am told it is an unfair fight once we make contact, that the troops are doing one hell of a job killing them when they get to them. Don't expect reports of prisoners to be significant - troops are real pissed about the SEAL guy being executed." (courtesy Ed M.)
CHANGE OF PACE - Dan H. writes on Progress - -The old Cherokee chief sat in his reservation hut, smoking the ceremonial pipe, eyeing the two US government officials sent to interview him. "Chief Two Eagles," one official began, "you have observed the white man for many generations, you have seen his wars and his products, you have seen all his progress, and all his problems."
The chief nodded. The official continued, "Considering recent events, in your opinion, where has the white man gone wrong?"
The chief stared at the government officials for over a minute, and then calmly replied, "When white man found the land, Indians were running it. No taxes. No debt. Plenty buffalo. Women did most of the work. Medicine man free. Indian men hunted and fished all the time" The chief smiled, and added quietly, "White man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that."
AFIO BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SYMPOSIUM -- Thursday 16 May 02, at the Holiday Inn, Tyson's Corner (Rte 123 & Rte 7), McLean Virginia. Speakers from the White House, Department of Justice, FBI, CIA and DARPA have been invited, along with practicing professionals. The theme of the conference is "The Impact of Terrorism on Business," covering homeland and worldwide security, intelligence methods and counterintelligence practices relevant to business and professional enterprises, including IT and other technologies.
This one-day executive symposium is the fourth of an outstanding series of AFIO Business Intelligence conferences produced by two eminent AFIO Board members, Tom Spencer, Esq., Chairman, assisted by Ted Shackley (CIA ret), assuring the highest quality agenda and venue. It will be an exceptional opportunity for obtaining hard-hitting substantive information, legal and policy directions, professional contacts and useful networking. See agenda on the AFIO Website, <www.afio.com>
You may register by E-MAIL afio@afio.com, listing name, title, organization, address, phone and e-mail contact numbers. You may charge the registration fee to your VISA, MasterCard or American Express card via e-mail or fax (703 790 0320).
Alternatively you may register by MAIL and enclose your check. The address is: AFIO/Symposium, 6723 Whittier Avenue, Ste 303A, McLean, VA 22101-4533.
Registration fee, including lunch and parking, is $225.
A special discount rate of $135 is applicable to AFIO members (individual and corporate) and their personal guests, to professors and students, and to members of collegial intelligence professional organizations (SCIP, OPS, NIP, NMIA). Early registration is recommended to avoid disappointment. (Jonkers)
AFIO NATIONAL LUNCHEON PROGRAM – The next luncheon will be held on Tuesday, 16 April 2002, at the Holiday Inn, Tyson's Corner (Rte 123 & Rte 7) McLean, Virginia. The featured morning speaker is Lt. General (ret) James Clapper, Director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), who will speak on the current role and future direction of his agency in the War on Terrorism.
The second speaker is Jeffrey Richelson, speaking on CIA technology, past, present and future. The session will open at 11:00 a.m. for registration. General Clapper will speak at 11:30. Lunch will be served at 12:30. The session will end after the second speaker finishes, at 2:30 pm.
The registration fee is $27,00 for members and their guests, including lunch and free parking.
Register by e-mail (afio@afio.com) providing name, title, organization, tel and fax, and pay with credit card.
Alternatively, register by MAIL and enclose your check. The address is: AFIO/Symposium, 6723 Whittier Avenue, Ste 303A, McLean, VA 22101-4533.
Early registration is recommended – the last luncheon was sold out. (RJ)
CALLING ALL FORMER AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE PERSONNEL IN DC AREA -- for a Meeting at Fort Myers on 17 April at 11:00 a.m. -- - informal social gathering of current, former and retired Air Force Intelligence personnel, including a possible proposal to start an Air Force Intelligence association.
During the '80s and '90s an informal group of Air Force retired Intelligence folks gathered twice a year at Bolling AFB O'Club and the Ft Myers O'Club. It was a venue for getting together, network, swap lies, help each other, renew friendships, etc. There was no formal agenda. Folks from all disciplines attended. We always had a great time. It was quite popular. Then it stopped. Now Wally Scherer, the principal organizer, has scheduled another session. A Room at the Ft Meyers O'Club has been reserved for Wed 17 April, beginning at 1100hrs. There will be a 'heavy' buffet.
The price is $20.00.The club has changed both its policy and prices since we were last there. They now require a $1000 deposit. Therefore please send a $20.00 check made out to 'Wally Scherer' soonest. That will also serve as your reservation. Address: Wally Scherer, 510 Devonshire Dr NE, Vienna VA 22180-3630. If confused or late, call Wally at (703) 281 2952 . Register now!!! (Jonkers)
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