Weekly Intelligence Notes (WINs) are commentaries on Intelligence and related national security matters, based on open media sources, selected, interpreted, edited and produced by AFIO for non-profit educational uses by AFIO members and WIN subscribers. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO RECEIVE THESE NOTICES....SEE REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS AT Bottom
CONTENTS of this WIN [HTML version recipients - Click title to jump to story or section, Click Article Title to return to Contents] [This feature does not work for Plaintext Edition recipients. If you wish to change to HTML format, let us know at afio@afio.com. However, due to recent changes in AOL's security standards, members using AOL will not be able to receive HTML formatted WINs from AFIO and will thus be receiving our Plaintext Edition. The HTML feature also does not work for those who access their e-mail using web mail. NON-HTML recipients may view HTML edition at this link: https://www.afio.com/currentwin.htm
NOTE TO READERS - This WIN (for last week) was delayed because of office vacations. The WIN for this week will be sent tomorrow. Thank you for your patience and understanding of the limitations of a small staff.
SECTION I -- CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
20 DIE WHEN FBI IS UNABLE TO WARN U.S. ARMY IN TIME
SECTION II -- CONTEXT AND PRECEDENCE
SECTION III -- CYBER INTELLIGENCECIA BOWS TO CONGRESS ON NAZI-RELATED RECORDS
SECTION IV -- BOOKS, SOURCES, AND ISSUES
IssuesThe Varieties of Political Islam
GATES SAYS HE TURNED DOWN DNI POST
SECTION V -- CAREERS, NOTES, LETTERS, QUERIES AND AUTHORS SEEKING ASSISTANCE, CORRECTIONS, OBITUARIES, COMING EVENTS
Careers
Queries and Authors Seeking Assistance
AUTHOR SEEKS INFORMATION ABOUT FATHER'S WWII ACTIVITIES
23 February � Washington, D.C. - NSLS Career Fair
10 March 05 - Washington, DC - Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage - International Spy Museum
15-16 March 2005 - Irvine, CA - ISAC/ONCIX, ISAC/ONCIX Regional Seminar
19 March - Arlington - Amb. James Lilley to speak at OSSS Luncheon
21 - 22 March 05 - Washington, D.C. - EMININT 2005
23 - 24 March 05 - Fairfax, VA - NMIA National Intelligence Symposium
6 - 9 April 05 - Chicago, IL - SCIP Annual Conference
14 April 2005 - Huntsville, AL - NCMS/ONCIX, NCMS/ONCIX Regional Seminar
15 - 16 April 05 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Cryptologic Veterans Reunion
17-20 April 2005 - Copenhagen, Denmark - ASIS European Security Conference
18 - 21 April 05 - SFSAFBI Western Regional Conference
20 - 21 April 05 - Langley, VA - AFCEA Spring Intelligence Symposium
21 April 05 - Washington, DC - 2005 MOAA Career Fair - DC Convention Center
22 - 24 April 05 - Grapevine, TX - SFSAFBI South Central Regional Meeting
25 - 28 April 05 - Philadelphia, PA - 2005 DoDIIS Worldwide Conference
2-4 May 2005 - Falls Church, VA - NSI IMPACT 2005! 20th Annual Conference & Expo
23-27 May 2005 - San Diego, CA - IOSS, National OPSEC Conference and Exhibition
25-26 May 2005 - Washington, D.C. - GOVSEC, GovSec/US Law Enforcement/READY Expo & Conferences
12-15 September 2005 - Orlando, FL - ASIS, 51st Annual Seminar & Exhibits
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION I -- CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
20 DIE WHEN INFLEXIBLE FBI - PENTAGON COMMUNICATION CHANNELS MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO WARN U.S. ARMY IN TIME - The FBI was unable to pass on in time a warning to the U.S. Army based on a Saudi intelligence warning, delivered three hours before a suicide bomber killed 20 people in a mess hall at the U.S. Army base in Mosul on 21 December. So reports Philip Giraldi in his column Deep Background in the 14 February issue of The American Conservative.
According to Giraldi, a former CIA officer, Saudi penetration of al-Qa'ida revealed that a Saudi jihadi had volunteered to carry out a suicide attack against the base. The Saudis learned the jihadi's name and that the attack was imminent, information that, according to Giraldi�s account, the Saudi Counter-Intelligence Service passed on to the FBI liaison office in Riyadh.
The Bureau office told the Saudis it would not be possible to relay the information directly to the U.S. Army command as there was no mechanism established to do so; FBI headquarters in Washington would have to pass it to the Pentagon -- a certainty no one would know in time.
The Saudis persisted in urging that the information be delivered urgently to someone who could respond to it, but the FBI was unable to be of more assistance.
Three hours later the suicide bomber struck. The Saudi warning was never conveyed to military commanders in Mosul, Giraldi reported. (James A., DKR)
CIA ACKNOWLEDGES IRAQI WMD ERROR - A classified CIA report has revised the agency�s prewar assessments on Iraq and concluded that Baghdad abandoned its chemical weapons programs in 1991, intelligence officials familiar with the document said, according to the Los Angeles Times on 1 February.
Richard J. Kerr, a former senior CIA officer, hired by the agency last year to conduct an internal review of its prewar analysis, said he couldn't recall it ever issuing such a revised report on any subject. "But the situation is rather unique," he said, noting that Iraq's postwar reality had made the agency's failings obvious. "Ordinarily, you're never proven wrong in a clean, neat way."
The report, titled "Iraq: No Large-Scale Chemical Warfare Efforts Since Early 1990s" and dated 18 January, was part of revised assessments the agency is producing to correct its record on alleged Iraqi WMD, officials said.
Prior to the war, the CIA asserted that Iraq had stockpiled biological weapons and was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program.
An intel official said the document was not a high-level report and was designed to supplant outdated assessments still on classified computer networks but not meant to be called to the attention of President Bush or other senior government officials.
The report was based largely on findings by the Iraq Survey Group, an agency-led team of weapons experts that found no clear evidence of active illegal weapons programs.
A note in the report indicated it was the second in a series on post-Operation Iraqi Freedom understanding of Iraq's WMDs and delivery system programs. A report on 4 January focused on Scud missiles and other delivery systems. Intelligence officials said future reports would revise the agency's claims that Iraq had stockpiles of biological weapons and was rebuilding its nuclear weapons program. (DKR)
AUSTRALIA EXPELS ISRAELI DIPLOMAT - Israeli authorities have reportedly ordered an inquiry into circumstances surrounding Australia's expulsion of an Israeli diplomat, the Australian newspaper, the Herald Sun, reported on 8 February. www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12184619-421,00.html
News that the Israeli, Amir Lati, had been ejected several weeks ago emerged over the weekend with talk in Canberra that he was a Mossad operative. An official at the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Lati was a second secretary with responsibility for consular affairs.
News reports said Israeli foreign ministry officials dismissed speculation the matter was connected to the theft of New Zealand passports a year ago by two Israelis convicted, jailed and expelled from New Zealand as Mossad operatives. New Zealand passports are in high demand throughout the world because they are usually accepted without the need for a visa. (See NEW ZEALAND DEPORTS CONVICTED ISRAELI SPIES, WIN #36-04 dtd 4 October 2004)
New Zealand has demanded an apology from Israel but is yet to receive one. Israel has denied any involvement in the passport affair.
One of Lati's official duties was to visit the two Israelis in prison in New Zealand. The pair had also spent considerable time in Australia, where there was speculation that they might have been on a similar mission.
The Australian and Israeli governments have not officially commented on the matter. Israeli president Moshe Katsav is scheduled to visit Australia in March and both governments are keen to avoid a public row. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has ruled out a visit by Katsav, saying diplomatic relations were still strained as a result of the passport case. (DKR)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION II -- CONTEXT AND PRECEDENCE
CIA BOWS TO CONGRESS ON NAZI-RELATED RECORDS - Under pressure from Congress, the CIA has agreed to a new interpretation of a 1998 law that requires disclosure of classified records related to Nazi war criminals, the New York Times reported on 7 February.
www.nytimes.com/2005/02/07/politics/07nazi.html?oref=login&th (See CIA BALKS AT RELEASING FILES ON NAZIS, WIN 05-05 dtd 31 January 2005)
Sen. Mike DeWine, Republican of Ohio, called the CIA action a major breakthrough in a dispute that had been waged in private for more than two years. DeWine presided last week over what he called a very blunt meeting with agency officials and said he had threatened to summon DCI Goss to testify in public on the matter.
CIA agreement was sent as an e-mail message late on 4 February to members of the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group. In its message, the agency reversed its position that the law required disclosure only of records related to war crimes, not war criminals, and did not apply to information about the agency's postwar dealings with former Nazis.
The CIA e-mail was in reply to questions from the working group's three citizen members: Elizabeth Holtzman, a former congresswoman from New York; Thomas H. Baer, a former federal prosecutor; and Richard Ben-Veniste, a Washington lawyer. The message was made available to The New York Times by a person involved in the discussions who wanted the information made public.
DeWine and members of the group said the agreement left unclear whether the CIA would agree to hand over all of the records sought by the working group. The agency has the authority to assert broad exemptions from the law on grounds that some records are too sensitive to be made public. (DKR)
PRESIDENT'S WMD INTEL COMMISSION HAS GROWN IN IMPORTANCE - President Bush's commission to study WMD intelligence, appointed one year ago, has taken on greater importance as the administration struggles to restructure the IC as required by the act adopted by Congress in December, the Washington Post reported on 7 February.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3162-2005Feb6.html
The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, according to VP Cheney, is one of the most important things going forward today. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Cheney said the commission was expected to make its report next month.
Created on 6 February last year, the panel has subsequently been given new responsibilities beyond reviewing intel successes and failures over the past four years. Following his signing of the intel reform act on 17 December, Bush instructed the commission to review how the measure could be implemented.
Bush also directed DCI Goss to send recommendations to the commission for increasing by 50 percent the number of case officers and analysts. Bush also ordered DoD and CIA groups looking at future handling of clandestine paramilitary operations to send their reports to the commission.
Cheney, a major behind-the-scenes player on intelligence, praised the commission, headed by a retired federal judge, Laurence H. Silberman, and former senator Charles S. Robb. "They've done, sort of quietly outside the glare of publicity . . . I think a very, very thorough job of reviewing our intelligence needs and requirements across the board," Cheney said.
According to the Post, the administration may be waiting for guidance from the commission in clarifying the statute, powers and authority of the yet to be named DNI.
Also, no director has been appointed for the new National Counterterrorism Center. Under the intel reform act, the NCTC director is to report to the president on clandestine counterterrorism operations and the DNI on programs such as threat analyses and distribution of terrorist information.
The NCTC combines the Terrorist Threat Integration Center with counterterrorism elements from the CIA, FBI, DoD and DHS. It is currently being led by a senior agency official, John O. Brennan. (DKR)
SENATE HAS EYE ON INTEL ABOUT IRAN -The Senate Intelligence Committee is directing new critical attention at American intelligence on Iran and other hot spots, as part of an attempt to pre-empt any recurrence of the problems that marred prewar reporting on Iraq, the New York Times reported on 6 February.
www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/politics/06iran.html?pagewanted=all
Congressional officials said sources being used by intel agencies as a basis for conclusions about Iran would be scrutinized. Iran's nuclear program is of particular concern as the Bush administration believes Tehran is determinedly seeking a capacity to make nuclear weapons. The Times cited the CIA as believing the Islamic Republic may be within one to three years of possessing everything required to make a nuclear bomb.
In recent interviews, current and former intel officials have said U.S. knowledge of Iran is limited, despite the CIA and other agencies having devoted an immense amount of resources to seeking information about the country in the quarter-century since its anti-American, theocratic regime came to power.
In a report last summer, the Senate committee was scathing in its conclusions about American intelligence on Iraq, saying that prewar assertions that Baghdad possessed chemical and biological weapons had not been supported by information available at the time.
The committee's oversight efforts were also being focused on such high-priority threats as terrorism, weapons proliferation and North Korea. (DKR)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION III -- CYBER INTELLIGENCE
RUSSIA CENSORS POETRY ON INTERNET SITE - The Russian national poetry server has instructed its contributors to observe censorship requirements, the BBC Monitoring Service reported on 27 January.
A poet, Yuri Metelkin, reported that the server, Stikhi.ru, has listed as banned topics the war in Chechnya, protests against changes in the state welfare system and negative comments on President Vladimir Putin, government ministers, and members of the One Russia party and the Marching Together movement that support Putin.
The ban followed a call by Russia's Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications for the creation of content filters to limit Russians� access to certain Internet resources.
DmitrI Kravchuk, described as project manager and coordinator of the Russian national literary network, said that in his opinion limitations would be eventually introduced throughout the Russian Internet. Politicians have been speaking about the lack of control over the web for a long time.
The restrictions on poetry came into force on 1 February. The authors were asked to take their critical publications off the site before then. (DKR)
FBI SHUTS DOWN PUBLIC E-MAIL - The FBI has shut down an e-mail system it used to communicate with the public because of a possible security breach, the Washington Post reported on 5 February.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21-2005Feb4.html
The bureau was investigating whether someone hacked into the fbi.gov e-mail system. The system is run by a private company.
The system was used to conduct non-sensitive business, including distributing press releases, according to Special Agent Steve Lazarus, the bureau's media coordinator in Atlanta. The system used for case files, classified and sensitive information and internal communications was unaffected, he said.
The bureau is in the process of switching its e-mail accounts, officials said. The close down of the public e-mail system came amid criticism of the bureau for delays and excessive expenditure in upgrading its computer systems. Director Mueller told Congress last week that the $170 million computer project, Virtual Case File, may have to be scrapped because it is outdated and inadequate. (DKR)
$5 MILLION FINE FOR EXPORT CONTROL VIOLATIONS - DirecTV Group Inc. has agreed to pay a $5 million fine for violating export control regulations and a 2003 agreement restricting its sales of commercial technology to military services in China and four other countries, the Washington Post reported on 2 February.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55821-2005Feb1.html
DirecTV's subsidiary Hughes Network Systems Inc. sold equipment that can be used for voice and data transmission systems to China, India, South Korea, Turkey and South Africa, according to a settlement with the State Department. The company modified the equipment and provided services related to the sales without State Department approval and in violation of a 2003 settlement. This followed an investigation by State that led DirecTV, then known as Hughes Electronics Corp., and Boeing Co. agreed to pay $32 million for illegally transferring sensitive U.S. space technology to China during the 1990s.
The latest violations, which occurred between 1993 and 2003, provided the foreign recipients with a new capability to enhance secure satellite communications, according to the State Department. Chicago-based Boeing was not named in the latest violations. (DKR)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SECTION IV -- BOOKS, SOURCES, AND ISSUES
WINS BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS & REVIEWS NOW ONLINE - AFIO has placed online all book reviews and book mentions in WINs. They be found at
The Varieties of Political Islam - Graham E. Fuller, The Future of Political Islam (Palgrave MacMillan, 272 pp.$29.95)
Fuller, a former NIC vice-chairman with a lifelong familiarity with the Muslim world, stresses the varieties of politicized Islam. As he says, "Islamism is really a variety of political movements, principles and philosophies that draw general inspiration from Islam but produce different agendas and programs at different times."
Fuller sets out to make us aware of the existence of liberal Islamic political movements that advocate human rights and democracy, tolerance and cooperation and that deserve U.S. support. These kind of Muslims, such as Laith Kubba and Muhammed Shahrur among others, face an uphill struggle against oppressive regimes that invoke Islam to justify their undemocratic rule.
Other enemies of such liberal Muslims are Islamists whose mix of religion and radical politics is too often seen within the Muslim world as the more effective alternative to repressive, corrupt and economically incompetent regimes.
Fuller has little sympathy with the radical Islamists and draws on a much noted United Nations study, published in 2002. Conducted by Muslims, it analyzed three major impediments to progress in the Arab world: lack of political freedom, low level of education, and the low social status of women. The challenge to Islam and the West is to help ensure that the Muslim world accepts to the need to eliminate these disorders, not confirm them.
Fuller sees the globalization now underway as destroying the traditional social, political and economic orders that characterize the Muslim world. This leaves the Muslim peoples profoundly dislocated, a condition that has given rise to the mix of religious and radical political doctrines not dissimilar to what occurred in Latin America in the 1970s with the enlistment of Christianity in an ideology of a revolutionary politics.
In Fuller�s view, U.S. policy in the Middle East and its perceived hostility to Islam, despite U.S. action in support of Muslim societies as in Bosnia, feeds this radical ideology. (DKR)
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS� AND DANGER ON THE HOME FRONT - Harvey Kushner with Bart Davis, Holy War on the Home Front: The Secret Islamic Terror Network in the United States (Sentinel, 288 pp. $24.95)
Kushner, a professor of Criminal Justice and Security Administration at Long Island University, holds the Clinton administration, the liberal media and political correctness responsible for creating conditions that have allowed the growth of a secret network of Islamist terrorists inside the United States. He targets opposition to the Patriot Act and the use of racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.
"The only explanation as to why we continue to ignore the secret Islamic terror network in America is that the demands of political correctness have made us so afraid of being branded racists that we force ourselves to be color blind, identity blind and gender blind till we end up, quite simply, totally blind," Kushner says. (DKR)
ART AS THE MIRROR OF TYRANNY - Kenan Makiya, The Monument: Art and Vulgarity in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. (Tauris, paperback, 153 pp. $18.95)
Makiya, an outstanding Iraqi public intellectual, became known internationally with the publication of Republic of Fear, his chronicle of the horrors of Saddam�s regime that first appeared in 1989 and was updated in 1998.
In this reprint of a 1991 work, he recounts the appalling effect of the Iraqi tyrant. Trained as an architect and the son of a leading one, Makiya brings a trained eye and moral acuity to his task.
Makiya shows how Saddam�s swelling megalomania commandeered artists to represent him as a mythic being, whether an Arab hero bestride a white horse or in the costume and setting of any cultural or historical resonance.
Best known internationally of his commissions, other than the extravagant palaces, is probably the victory arch erected to commemorate the eight-year war with Iran but ordered in the early years of the conflict, appearance to be employed to master whatever reality might be.
The arch consists of crossed Arab sabers held by hands and arms derived from plaster casts of Saddam�s own. The swords are made from the melted down steel of the weapons of Iraqi soldiers killed in the war. Around the base of the two arms were piled 5,000 Iranian helmets, collected on the battlefield.
No question, it was a bold concept, far more imaginative than Bonaparte having his statute put atop the victory column (made from melted down cannons) in the Place Vendome and possibly surpassed only by the gilded statue on its high pediment of Turkmenistan�s dictator, Saparmurat Niyazov. The statue turns with the sun.
In material terms, Saddam was a benefactor of the arts, if the artists in concerned were accommodating. Quite a number of them were and gladly put his portrait on everything from paintings to hang on your wall to wristwatches. Not to mention those palaces.
Makiya sees Saddam's monuments as the product of a wholesale breakdown in the ability to judge right from wrong. Certainly they are distant from the ethos of those Iraqi artists who flowered from the 1958 revolution and into the 1970s. During those years, Baghdad was arguably the most lively and talented center of the Arab world�s engagement with contemporary art. (DKR)
Issues
GATES SAYS HE TURNED DOWN DNI POST - Robert M. Gates, DCI under the first President Bush and currently president of Texas A&M University, says he turned down a request from the White House to serve as the first DNI, the New York Times reported on 1 February.
Six weeks have passed since President Bush signed legislation establishing the DNI post and current and former intel officials have said they were told the White House was having difficulties finding a suitable nominee for the job.
"I was deeply honored to be asked and would have been honored to serve," Gates said in an announcement posted on the university's Web site. But, he said, he had agreed to a request from the university's Board of Regents to remain as president at least through summer 2008.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan told the Times that Gates had been asked if he was interested in being considered, but had not been offered the job.
Others mentioned as possible candidates include former DDCI and NSA chief William O. Studeman; Laurence Silberman, a retired federal judge now co-chairman of the presidential WMD commission; and Stephen Friedman, a former investment banker, recently named chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. (DKR)
DOD STUDY CALLS FOR CIA TO KEEP PARAMILITARY FUNCTIONS - A preliminary study contracted by DoD has concluded it should not take charge of the CIA's paramilitary functions, according to the Washington Post on 5 February, citing senior defense officials.
The study, carried out by Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, brought together CIA and Special Operations veterans for a series of tabletop war games. The games explored how each agency's paramilitary units would respond to different contingencies, including threats involving terrorists and weapons of mass destruction and missions to train indigenous fighters or gain control of ungoverned territory.
The study was made in response to a request from President Bush that DoD, CIA and other agencies consider how to act on a recommendation by the 9/11 commission that lead responsibility for covert and clandestine paramilitary operations be shifted from the agency to the Pentagon. The commission's report found the CIA lacked a robust paramilitary operation and relied too heavily on proxies.
As the United States could not afford to build two paramilitary arms, the commission said, paramilitary operations should be consolidated under the military's Special Operations Command. The DoD study's conclusion reflected a growing view among current and former defense, military and intelligence officials that it is more logical for the CIA to retain its relatively modest paramilitary force.
A former senior DoD official involved in the early stages of the study told the Times, "Nobody in DoD wanted to take it over, and no one in CIA wanted to give it up." (DKR)
SAUDIS HOST COUNTERTERRORISM CONFERENCE, CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL INTEL CENTER - Saudi Arabia, at an international conference on counterterrorism it convened in Riyadh, has proposed an international center to exchange intelligence on potential attacks, money laundering and arms smuggling, the Washington Times reported on 8 February.
Crown Prince Abdullah, de facto ruler of a country that has seen at least a dozen attacks by Islamist terrorists in the past two years, made the proposal before some 200 delegates from 50 countries at the opening of the four-day conference on 5 February.
U.S. chief delegate Frances Townsend, a DHS adviser, welcomed the proposal, but cautioned, "The center would not end the need for bilateral exchange of information. Nothing would."
According to the Times, the United States says intelligence sharing with Saudi Arabia has vastly improved over the last year and a half, but many analysts still say that the kingdom could improve its information-sharing with foreign governments and between its own agencies.
Other reports were even more skeptical about Saudi anti-terrorist operations. The Daily Telegraph (London) noted that holding the seminar in the country that spawned the majority of the 9/11 terrorists was of far greater value as a symbol of public absolution for Saudi Arabia than any initiatives that might emerge at the event.
Saudi efforts in the fight against Islamist terrorism are widely seen as lacking credibility, according to the conservative London daily. It quoted Kevin Rosser of the London-based Control Risks Group as saying that when the Saudis speak about internal security, nobody believes them.
The Washington Times quoted Rosser as speaking in a very different tone: "The kingdom has been putting down a first-class infrastructure to deal with terrorism financing and they've demonstrated both symbolically and practically that they will deal with terrorism by talking about extremism and its causes. A dialogue has begun."
To help close the credibility gap, even the Bin Ladin construction conglomerate, owned by the family of UBL, took out a full-page advertisement in Saturday's newspapers strongly condemning all kinds of terror.
The meeting took place in the Prince Abdullah Conference Center, a marble-floored, gold-tapped extravaganza that one veteran diplomat described as the most fantastic palace he had ever entered.
Built at an estimated cost of some $300 million, it was at first intended for the use of one of the Crown Prince's grandsons. It was turned into a conference center just over a year ago among reports that al-Qa'ida was gaining support through its accusations of royal corruption. Delegates dined on gold platters beneath crystal chandeliers, each the size of a small car. (DKR)
SECTION V -- CAREERS, NOTES, LETTERS, QUERIES AND AUTHORS SEEKING ASSISTANCE, CORRECTIONS, OBITUARIES, COMING EVENTS
[IMPORTANT: AFIO does not "vet" or endorse these inquiries or offers. Reasonable-sounding inquiries and career offerings are published as a service to our members, and for researchers, educators, and subscribers. You are urged to exercise your usual caution and good judgment when responding or supplying any information.]
DHS HAS MANY NEW OPENINGS: 5 vacancy announcements for positions at DHS-headquarters follow. All open positions are also posted on www.usajobs.opm.gov. For vacancies with DHS components including FEMA, Coast Guard, etc., check their postings on www.usajobs.opm.gov.
Supervisory Information Technology Specialist (Director, Wireless Managment Office) GS-2210-15
Veterinary Medical Officer GS-0701-12/13
International Program Coordinator GS-0301-14
Chemist GS-1320-14
Operations Analyst (Knowledge Mgmt Officer) Gs-0301-11/12
Queries and Authors Seeking Assistance
[IMPORTANT: AFIO does not "vet" or endorse these inquiries or offers. Reasonable-sounding inquiries and career offerings are published as a service to our members, and for researchers, educators, and subscribers. You are urged to exercise your usual caution and good judgment when responding or supplying any information.]
AUTHOR SEEKS INFORMATION ABOUT FATHER'S WWII ACTIVITIES - I am writing a book that focuses on my father, Lt. Thomas E. Franks (USN). It centers on our relationship and his redemption in my eyes when I found out what he had kept secret all his life -- that he was a spy during World War II.
He did tell me he had been behind the lines in Germany and France, quick in and out trips, and something like a courier in either Sweden or Denmark. By the time he told me these things, three years before he died (I found out about it accidentally and hounded him like the NYT reporter I am) he wouldn't or couldn't remember the details - dates, times, exact places. He emphasized that he had been told never to tell anything about what he had done or seen.
I know for sure he was with a small group of officers who went to Ohdruf concentration camp, the first camp the Americans liberated, to make a report just after the Americans came in.
I have reason to believe that he was attached to the OSS for some of his missions and that he might have been part of the T Forces, who followed the allied armies through Europe to mine safes, offices etc. for information. Also, I think he may have been involved in Operation Paperclip and Operation Dustbin. He also analyzed and tested guns that were retrieved from the European and "eastern" battlefields.
He was an expert marksman, spoke German, had a photographic memory, and had a deadpan face which never betrayed any emotion he didn't want it to. I once considered him somewhat of a failure (failed marriage, failed business) but now I know that he was a hero who was haunted all his life by the things that he could never talk about.
I would so appreciate it if someone might be able to help me -- anyone who had any experience with the above operations or even unrelated exploits behind enemy lines. I am so anxious to learn, if not what my father did, what he might have done. -- Lucinda Franks at LFM452@aol.com (DKR)
23 February � Washington, D.C. - NSLS CAREER FAIR - The National Security and Law Society strives to create an effective, non-partisan forum for informed discourse on U.S. national security policy and foreign affairs. The career fair is a component in our effort to provide access for our members to recruiters from law firms, government agencies, think tanks, non-profit organizations, and other such companies with focuses on national security. We are seeking recruiters from this wide array of organizations so as to provide alternative career avenues for our members other than the traditional law firm route. The role of the recruiters is 1) to provide information on what is involved in working at the particular office, what kind of work is generally done, and what kind of security clearance measures might be required; and 2) details for interested individuals what they can do to best effectuate their candidacy for a position in the particular office. Additional information about NSLS can also be found at http://wcl.american.edu/org/nsls. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me at nsls@wcl.american.edu or (202) 907-7945. - Brad Moss, Vice-President, National Security and Law Society, Washington College of Law, American University http://wcl.american.edu/org/nsls (DKR)
24 February 05 - Washington, DC - Spies of the Kaiser - Lunchtime Author Debriefing and Book Signing - International Spy Museum - In the early twentieth century, the British were obsessed with the possibility of German spies operating in their midst � so much so that all Germans in the United Kingdom were catalogued and eventually interned. Was the German spy threat real? What was German intelligence really up to? Armed with information from untapped German sources and recently declassified British documents, International Spy Museum historian and AFIO member Thomas Boghardt will reveal the true scope of German covert operations, their objectives, and the dramatic British response. Join this author for an informal chat and book signing from 12PM to 1PM. No registration required!
1 March & 15 March 05 - Washington, DC - Sisterhood of Spies: Shady Ladies in Espionage (2 Part Series) - International Spy Museum - Spies come in all shapes and sizes� sometimes the shapelier the better. Using their often under-estimated intellect and feminine wiles, women have influenced events and gathered critical intelligence throughout history. Who better to blow the cover of the sisterhood of spies than two charter members? Retired Senior U.S. Army Counterintelligence Special Agent Connie Allen and former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez will brief you on these shady ladies, exploring the roles held and progress made by women in the world of espionage. Whether you�re interested in Mata Hari�s tactics of seduction, wives with secret lives, Cold War-era operations in Moscow, or the recent �outing� of Valerie Plame, this session is sure to redefine your interpretation of feminine persuasion. Tickets: $40. Members of The Spy Ring: $35. Space is limited � advance registration required! To register, please email: membership@spymuseum.org or call (202) 654-0942
4-5 March 2005 - College Station, TX - The Bush School/ONCIX, Counterintelligence for the 21st Century Conference http://bush.tamu.edu/counterintelligence/
10 March 05 - Washington, DC - Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage - International Spy Museum - From �Angels� to �Z priorities,� the second edition of the definitive reference to the world of espionage features over 2,500 entries. Spies, agencies, organizations, and operations, are carefully uncovered and detailed in this accurate and accessible resource for aficionado and layman alike. Join authors Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen as they discuss intelligence successes and failures throughout history. Join this author for an informal chat and book signing from 12PM to 1PM. No registration required!
11 March 05 [Friday Evening] - New York, NY - AFIO New York Metropolitan Chapter hosts Andrew McCarthy, the Federal Prosecutor for the Southern District of New York (1986 � 2003) who led the successful prosecution against the jihad organization of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and is an attorney in private practice and a Senior Counterterrorism Consultant at the �Invest Project� in Washington, D.C., a foundation that specializes in the analysis of militant Islamic groups, will give the keynote speech on counterterrorism. Irene Halligan, Former Chief of Protocol for the City of New York under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, will lead Pledge of Allegiance; S. Gene Poteat, AFIO President, will speak on �The Current State of American Intelligence and Counterintelligence�; and Julie Anderson, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, CUNY, AFIO Award Winner, and Acting AFIO New York Metropolitan Chapter VP/Treasurer, will briefly comment on her ground-breaking Ph.D. Dissertation on the Russian Intelligence Services.
TIME: 5:30 � 6:00 pm: Registration; 6:00 � 7:00 pm: Speakers; 7:00 � 8:00 pm: Cocktails
WHERE: SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS BUILDING, 128 E 63rd St, (Between Park and Lexington Aves), New York, NY 10021.
COST: $45. Per Person Checks: Make Payable to Jerry Goodwin, 530 Park Ave., 15B, New York, NY 10021; Checks/Cash Accepted at the Door: RESERVE NOW: Email/Call/Write for Advance Reservations. afiometro@yahoo.com or call 212-308-1450 They look forward to seeing you at this exciting, speaker-packed meeting. Jerry Goodwin, Acting Organizer, AFIO � New York Metropolitan Chapter
14-16 March 2005 - Arlington, VA - ASIS, 23rd Annual Government/Industry Conference on Global Terrorism http://www.asisonline.org/
15-16 March 2005 - Irvine, CA - ISAC/ONCIX, ISAC/ONCIX Regional Seminar
19 March - Arlington - Amb. James Lilley to speak at OSSS Luncheon - Please join us at American Legion Post 24 in Alexandria, VA to welcome Ambassador Lilley, author of China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia. Amb. Lilley was U.S. ambassador at Beijing from 1989 to1991 and at Seoul from 1986 to 1989. He will sign copies of his recently published memoir described by Publishers Weekly as a �must-read for students of Asia and intelligence work. Foreign Affairs reported that �his insider account...adds considerably to our understanding of four critical decades in East Asia..." The New York Times described Amb. Lilley�s memoir as an "...adventure story that will have many grown-ups staying up past their bedtimes...filled with gripping anecdotes skillfully rendered." Location: American Legion Post 24, 400 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA, (703) 683-5564. TIME: 12 Noon. Cost: $32/person. Payment must be made in advance by check to The OSS Society, Inc. and mailed to 6723 Whittier Ave., 303A, McLean, VA 22101. Payment must be received by March 14, 2005. Questions: 703-356-6667 or via email to osssociety@aol.com. -- Charles T. Pinck, President, The OSS Society. (DKR)
21 - 22 March 05 - Washington, DC - EMININT 2005 - The National Security and Law Society of the American University Washington College of Law is hosting a two-day professional symposium on Emerging Issues in National and International Security. The meeting will address the pressing issues of the day in the fields of national and international security. The symposium will consist of expert panels equally distributed between the fields of foreign policy, intelligence, and law, discussing such topics as: The Risks of Cross-Cultural Profiling; The Emergence of a New Intelligence Mindset; Climate Change, Infectious Disease, and Resource Shortages as Threats to International Security; The Fourth Estate and National Security Policy: Reporters or Watchdogs?; Comparative Counter-Terrorism Policies; Personal Information Privacy in the Post-9/11 World; Homeland Security Law and Private Industry; Whistle-blowing and the Intelligence Community; Torture, Interrogation, and Human Rights in the Global War on Terror; and Reconciling an Active Role for First Responders in Homeland Security with Budgetary Appropriations. The speakers represent the pinnacles of their respective fields, coming from five countries and across the United States. They represent academic experts, senior U.S. government policymakers, and corporate leaders. They have written books, made laws, established companies, and otherwise shaped the field of National Security. There is something for everyone in this symposium, and few attendees will fail to take something away from it. Note: This event requires paid registration for non-students. For registration or further information, visit http://wcl.american.edu/org/nsls or email nsls@wcl.american.edu CLE credit is available.
23 - 24 March 05 - Fairfax, VA - NMIA National Intelligence Symposium - NMIA will hold its annual symposium on 23 Wed - 24 Thurs 2005 at Northrop Grumman Corporation, 12900 Federal Systems Park Drive, Fairfax, VA 22033. For more information, please visit http://www.nmia.org
6 - 9 April 05 - Chicago, IL - SCIP 20th Annual International Conference & Exhibition - At the Hyatt Regency Chicago, an event not to miss. Business intelligence, business planning and analysis, competitive intelligence, forecasting, market research, mergers and acquisitions, new product development, opposition research, proposal management, sales, strategic planning and analysis, technical intelligence. If you, or your company, are 'going places,' this is one of the places to go to make it happen. A total education and training event with following tracks: Academic; Global, Government & Security; innovation in Practice; Leadership & Management; and Tools, Techniques, and Networks. Keynote presentation by Bob Galvin, former Chairman, Motorola; Modest fee for full event. Info and registration at: http://www.scip.org/chicago . SCIP is at 1700 Diagonal Rd Ste 600, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 739-0696.
14 April 2005 - Huntsville, AL - NCMS/ONCIX, NCMS/ONCIX Regional Seminar
15 - 16 April 05 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Cryptologic Veterans Reunion - The reunion is being organized by the New England Chapter, Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association. Contact Bob Marois, Tel: (518) 237-0015; E-mail: marois@acp.edu; Website: http://www.ncva-ne.org
17-20 April 2005 - Copenhagen, Denmark - ASIS, ASIS European Security Conference http://www.asisonline.org/
18 - 21 April 05 - SFSAFBI Western Regional Conference - For more information, please visit http://www.socxfbi.org/Conference/Conferences.htm
20 - 21 April 05 - Langley, VA - AFCEA Spring Intelligence Symposium - For more information, please visit http://www.afcea.org/calendar/eventdetails.asp?offset=10&EventID=227
21 April - Washington, DC - 2005 MOAA Career Fair - DC Convention Center � The Military Officers Association of America is holding their annual Career Fair, to be held at the Washington, DC Convention Center on Thursday April 21, 2005. Join local, national, and international employers -- including Lockheed Martin, AT&T Government Services, Anheuser Busch Companies, Inc., Raytheon, the State Department, and the FBI -- who are there to meet and recruit qualified and proven leaders, and their spouses, to fill a wide variety of key positions. Others seeking to recruit at this event are asked to register before January 14, 2005 for lower fees. The rate of $1,500.00 includes a carpeted 10' x 10' pipe-and-drape booth, company sign, skirted table, two chairs, employer lounge, two lunches, and all-day beverage service. In addition, they receive a link from their website and 60 days of electronic resume access. Booths will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. At last year's event, the MOAA reports that over 2,100 candidates (most with security clearances) with leadership, management, and operational experience attended.
Click on the following link for the 2005 MOAA Career Fair Registration Form: https://www.moaa.org/TOPS/CareerFair2005/registration If you have any questions, contact their Career Fair Manager - toll free 877-553-8677 or by email at: moaacareerfair@aol.com
22 - 24 April 05 - Grapevine, TX - SFSAFBI South Central Regional Meeting - For more information, please visit http://www.socxfbi.org/Conference/Conferences.htm
25 - 28 April 05 - Philadelphia, PA - 2005 DoDIIS Worldwide Conference, For further details visit http://www.federalevents.com or contact: Howard Blumberg, Government Relations Manager, National Conference Services, Inc. (NCSI), 6440 Dobbin Road Suite C, Columbia, MD. 21045; 888-603-8899, ext. 224 (toll-free) blumberg@ncsi.com, http://www.ncsi.com
2-4 May 2005 - Falls Church, VA - NSI, NSI IMPACT 2005! 20th Annual Conference & Expo http://nsi.org/Impact05.html
23-27 May 2005 - San Diego, CA - IOSS, National OPSEC Conference and Exhibition http://www.iaevents.com/NATOPSEC05/index.cfm
25-26 May 2005 - Washington, D.C. - GOVSEC, GovSec/US Law Enforcement/READY Expo & Conferences http://www.govsecinfo.com/
12-15 September 2005 - Orlando, FL - ASIS, 51st Annual Seminar & Exhibits http://www.asisonline.org/
**** 27 - 30 October 2005 - AFIO 30th Anniversary Symposium Celebration - Sheraton Premiere Hotel, McLean, Tyson's Corner, VA and at other secured venues. PUT THIS DATE ON YOUR CALENDARS. ****
FOR OTHER DATES, SEE THE FULL LIST ON THE AFIO WEBSITE BULLETIN BOARD at
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not wish to add clutter to your inbox. IF YOU ARE AN AFIO MEMBER WHO RECEIVES THIS DIRECTLY FROM afio@afio.com , then TO DISCONTINUE RECEIVING WINs -- click on the following link: UNSUBSCRIBE and supply your full name in body of message, click SEND, we will remove you from WINs. If someone else forwarded this to you [contrary to our policies] and you do not want them, forward to us the full WIN you received and we will be able to identify who sent it to you and remove that person from our membership and distribution lists. Your problem will be solved and you will be doing both of us a favor. Otherwise, we will be unable to remove you from our list. If this link doesn't open an email on your system, just send a message to afio@afio.com letting us know you wish to be removed from WINs mailings. Provide your name and email address where you are receiving them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WINs are protected by copyright laws and intellectual property laws, and may not be reproduced or re-sent without specific permission from the Producer. Opinions expressed in the WINs are solely those of the editor(s) or author(s) listed with each article. AFIO Members Support the AFIO Mission - sponsor new members! CHECK THE AFIO WEBSITE at https://www.afio.com for back issues of the WINs, information about AFIO, conference agenda and registrations materials, and membership applications and much more!
(c) 2005, AFIO, 6723 Whittier Ave, Suite 303A, McLean, VA 22101. Voice: (703) 790-0320; Fax: (703) 991-1278; Email: afio@afio.com