AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #08-08 dated 25 February 2008

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CONTENTS

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Section II - TERRORISM

Section III - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Section IV - CAREERS, BOOK REVIEWS, RESEARCH REQUESTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COMING EVENTS

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Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Korean Spy Agency to Strengthen Anti-Espionage Activities. President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition team is pushing ahead with overhauling the roles and missions of the nation's spy agency to help its strengthen activities in collecting intelligence on North Korea, according to officials.

The incoming government will also streamline the agency drastically, replacing some 30 senior members, they said.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has often been criticized by conservatives for putting more emphasis on supporting the "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea than traditional anti-communism activities.

The top post of the agency is now vacant, as former NIS director Kim Man-bok resigned last month over his leaking of secret NIS documents of his private talks with his North Korean counterpart during his visit to Pyongyang Dec. 18, one day before South Korea's presidential election.

Kim was suspected of intentionally making his remarks in Pyongyang public in an effort to seek political favors from the President-elect. The prosecution is to investigate Kim for leaking confidential documents.

The number of the agency's divisions will fall from three to two by integrating the first and third divisions whose roles were gathering intelligence overseas and about North Korea, respectively.

The new government will also revive human intelligence (HUMINT) missions in China to help collect intelligence on North Korea, the official said.

The move is construed as the new administration's intention to have the agency focus more on anti-espionage operations rather than negotiations with the North. [Jung/KoreaTimes/18February2008 

South Korea, U.S. to Boost Cooperation in Military Intelligence Exchange. Choi Kwang-sup, head of South Korean Defense Ministry's resource management headquarters, and John G. Grimes, assistant secretary of U.S. defense ministry, signed an agreement expanding cooperation between the countries' militaries in the information technology sector, the ministry said.

The agreement is to hold a forum once a year, but various working-level consultations will be held throughout the year, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency quoted a defense ministry official as saying.

One of the purposes for establishing the forum is to secure close cooperation between South Korea and the United States in their command system before the transfer of the wartime operational control of South Korean troops from the U.S. side to the South Korean side, so they can effectively support joint missions of their militaries, said a statement by the ministry. [PeoplesDaily/15February2008] 

CIA a Murder Suspect in Uruguay. The major Uruguayan opposition force PN (National Party) resolved to urge President Tabare Vazquez to demand the US government clarify a politically motivated murder committed in 1978.

At the end of a PN leadership meeting, leader Carlos Julio Pereyra said they plan to ask Vazquez to request that Washington to declassify new documents about the poisoning death of Cecilia Fontana de Heber.

On September 5 1978, the wife of nationalist leader Mario Heber died after drinking wine from one of three bottles sent anonymously to her husband and his fellow party members Luis Alberto Lacalle and Carlos Julio Pereyra.

The bottles arrived with a card reading "on Thursday 31 at noon we will drink a toast to our homeland in its new phase," and signed with the initials MDN. The only person who drank from one of the bottles was Cecilia Fontana.

An investigation by La Republic daily pointed to involvement of the DNII (National Information and Intelligence Office) and ultra right groups, supported by the CIA and the US Embassy, in the homicide.

Recently the US State Department, at the request of Heber's attorney, declassified information relative to the case, but the document was so full of erasures that nothing could be clarified. [PLEnglish/18February2008] 

Lebanese Intelligence Meeting over Security Concerns Ends Militants' Immunity. Senior Lebanese intelligence officials, as well as representatives from Hizbullah, Amal and Mustaqbal movements, agreed during an overnight meeting to lift the immunity of militants after Beirut clashes left more than 30 people wounded.

The meeting comprised of Brig. Gen. George Khoury, head of the army's intelligence service, Brig. Ghassan Salem, police chief Brig. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, Brig. Ghassan Salem, director general of the Internal Security Forces as well as representatives from Hizbullah, Amal and Mustaqbal movements, Wafiq Safa, Ahmed Baalbaki and Khaled Shehab respectively.

The conferees agreed to establish contacts "on the ground" to prevent renewal of clashes that pitted Amal activists against MP Saad Hariri's followers in several neighborhoods of West Beirut.

Representatives of Hizbullah, Amal and Mustaqbal also agreed to lift the immunity of "any violator" and vowed to maintain contact with one another in an effort to ease the tense situation.

Unknown assailants tossed a concussion grenade at the offices of Druze leader Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party in Beirut's Musaitbeh neighborhood late Sunday. No casualties were reported.

Also Sunday night, a Lebanese army soldier was wounded when a military checkpoint at the entrance to the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared came under fire.

Security sources said unknown attackers opened fire from automatic weapons around 10 pm. Exchanges of gunfire followed the attack which prompted army troops to launch house raids in the area where the shooting took place.

Earlier Sunday, two people were wounded in a shootout near the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.

It was not immediately clear who fired or what caused the clash, but a police official said two people - a Palestinian and a Lebanese - were lightly wounded and taken to the nearby Makassed hospital for treatment.

The official National News Agency reported a shootout between a group of Palestinians and Lebanese.

NNA said army troops stepped in to restore order. No further details were given on the cause of the clash, but NNA said the gunmen fled to an unknown location.

Clashes have become common in recent weeks as tensions escalate between warring Lebanese factions and Lebanon's 15-month-old political crisis deepens.

On Saturday night, at least 20 people were wounded in clashes between supporters of Hariri's Mustaqbal Movement and followers of Hizbullah and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's AMAL movement in west Beirut's districts of Ras al-Nabaa, Bechara al-Khoury, Barbour, Nweiri and Tariq Jedideh.

The area in the past week has been the scene of sporadic clashes between pro-government supporters and activists of the Hizbullah-led opposition, backed by Syria and Iran.

After the Sunday violence, the military command warned against further clashes and pledged firm action.

"The army command warns of the dangerous situation and will act firmly against anyone who tries to destabilize security," a military communiqu� said.

Seven people were killed last month when protests against power cuts in south Beirut's Mar Mikhael-Shiyah district degenerated into violent riots, prompting Lebanese troops to open fire. [Naharnet/18February2008] 

U.S. Says Missed Intelligence After Spy Act Expired. U.S. spy agencies have missed intelligence in the days since terrorism surveillance legislation expired, the Bush administration said on Friday, but Democrats accused it of fear mongering and blamed it for any gaps.

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell fired the latest shot in the administration's battle with Congress to obtain new legislation to wiretap terrorism suspects.

The officials told Congress telecommunications firms have been reluctant to cooperate with new wiretaps since six-month temporary legislation expired last weekend.

"We have lost intelligence information this past week as a direct result of the uncertainty created by Congress' failure to act," the two officials told House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes in a letter.

They urged Reyes, a Texas Democrat, to reconsider his opposition to legislation passed last week by the Senate.

But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Republican lawmakers and the administration had failed to participate on Friday in congressional staff negotiations over the bill, and noted President George W. Bush opposed extending the temporary act.

"The president and congressional Republicans have only themselves to blame," for any missed intelligence, said Pelosi, a California Democrat.

The measure passed by the Senate would provide retroactive lawsuit immunity to firms which cooperated with warrantless wiretaps that Bush authorized after the September 11 attacks. Civil-liberties advocates oppose the immunity provision, and disagreement over the issue led to the collapse of efforts to pass a permanent overhaul of a 1978 surveillance bill that the administration says is obsolete.

Congress passed the temporary law last August in response to urgent administration warnings of gaps in U.S. intelligence capabilities.

The 1978 bill remains in effect, as do one-year wiretap authorizations made under the temporary law. But administration officials say the old bill is dangerously obsolete and their ability to collect new intelligence is hampered.

Mukasey and McConnell gave no details of the missed intelligence. They told Reyes, however, that some communications firms have balked at cooperating out of uncertainty over their legal exposure.

"In particular, they have delayed or refused compliance with our requests to initiate new surveillance of foreign intelligence targets," they said.

Democratic leaders of congressional intelligence and judiciary committees issued a statement that they were committed to passing new legislation and they urged Bush to support an extension of the temporary law.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said Bush was "crying wolf."

"No amount of fear mongering will change the fact that our intelligence collection capabilities have not been weakened since last week," Reid said. [Mikkelsen/Reuters/22February2008]

CIA Families Face Burdens Like the Military. When Central Intelligence Agency officials began publishing an unclassified, informational newsletter for families last year, they found it "gets tricky," said Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, the Director of Central Intelligence.

The idea is to inform families about changes to programs such as insurance, relocation and other benefits. "But we have to publish it in a way so that it doesn't reveal the affiliation of the newsletter with the CIA, so officers can actually bring it home," said Hayden, who spoke Feb. 21 at the National Military Family Association's Leadership Luncheon.

He drew parallels between the challenges of military families and families of CIA officers who are often serving next to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and other unnamed hot spots.

CIA families are important to the agency's success just as military families are important to the Defense Department mission, he said. But Hayden said he has seen that CIA officers' families carry some unique burdens.

Like military families, CIA families are bearing the brunt of the increased operational tempo since Sept. 11, 2001. But CIA families just can't talk about it - at least, to most people.

The biggest challenge for CIA families "is the need for many of our officers and their families to shield the officer's affiliation with the agency - to protect the reality that the officer is working undercover," he said, adding that "family members play an incredibly important role" in that secrecy.

One issue families deal with is deciding when to tell their children that their parent works for the CIA, not for the State Department - when the child is responsible enough to protect that information.

The need for secrecy pervades every aspect of family life, he said. "Think of how often you're asked what you do, or what does your spouse do, or your child do? The instinct is to proudly blurt out the achievements of that loved one. And how many times do you fill out forms that ask about your employer or your work or contact phone numbers? Think about the special challenges that presents to officers under cover."

CIA families must have the mental discipline not to give information to people who are not entitled to know it, he said.

Military families may get support from their communities while the service member is deployed. When an Air Force squadron deploys, Hayden said, members and families from the other squadrons make sure the grass gets mowed, help get the kids to soccer practice and check in on the families.

But think of living in northern Virginia, he said, where most of the population is not allowed to know that the CIA officer is deployed, or what he is doing.

Just as military commanders often bring families in to show them what service members do, the CIA has special days for its families, giving them clearance to spend the day in tours at headquarters - except for secret areas. Welcome receptions also are held quarterly for new employees and their spouses or domestic partners.

CIA officials know their officers' children have special concerns, too, and try to make sure their needs are met in overseas areas where there are no Defense Department schools. At one location, they helped established an American curriculum in a school.

He said CIA officials are working to build more networks and more support services for families. "This is mission-essential work. We do this because it makes us more effective," he said. [Jowers/ArmyTimes/22February2008] 

Beijing Arrests Former Official for Spying for Taiwan. A former Chinese transport official in charge of Taiwanese affairs has been arrested for allegedly spying for Taiwan, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported.

Li Jian, who was deputy head of the Taiwan office under China's transport ministry, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly collecting information, the newspaper reported.

Authorities began investigating Li in 2000, a year after he left the ministry following a decade of service, due to his "complicated ties with Taiwan," the report said.

An official with the transport ministry in Beijing confirmed that Li had worked with the ministry and had left "several years ago." The official would not comment further.

Mainland Affairs Council Spokesman Liu Te-shun confirmed that Li visited Taiwan several times during his time in office, but stressed that he had been invited each time by professional groups for professional and technical exchanges. [Hsu/Taipeitimes/23February2008] 

Spy Claims Strain Ties Between Bolivia and U.S.  Bolivia's leftist government has sharply cut back security cooperation with the United States following espionage claims that led to the expulsion of a U.S. diplomat last week.

The Bolivian government announced that it will no longer send Bolivian officers for military training in the U.S. A colonel who was supposed to join the staff of the U.S.-based Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation was ordered to stay home.

Days earlier, Interior Minister Alfonso Rada announced that he has decided to dissolve the Organization for Development of Police Research (ODEP), an intelligence unit funded by the U.S. State Department to investigate narcotrafficking and terrorism.

"This unit has completed its cycle," Mr. Rada told reporters when he arrived at ODEP's offices to shut them down on Friday. "We don't want the unit to be used for other work," he said in a clear reference to recent charges of U.S. espionage made by Bolivian officials and an American student.

The commander of ODEP, Maj. Miguel Rivera, has denied that his group was used for any improper activities.

"The unit worked in the struggle against international narcotrafficking and terrorism. We received support from the embassy of the United States to combat that threat," he said.

Another Bolivian security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the government had already been progressively dismantling parts of the security services controlled by the U.S. and had simply used the "atmosphere" generated by the spying charges to close ODEP.

That atmosphere was established when John Alexander van Schaick, an American Fulbright scholar, said earlier this month that a U.S. security officer had asked him to report back on any suspicious activity by Cuban and Venezuelan officials that he came across during his research into local peasant organizations.

Vincent Cooper, a U.S. assistant regional security officer, was subsequently declared an "undesirable person" by the government and forced to leave Bolivia.

Mr. van Schaick, who has expressed sympathy for the Evo Morales government, said in a television interview that he was "shocked" when Mr. Cooper asked him during a routine briefing at the embassy to pass on information about Cuban doctors and Venezuelan aid workers whom he might encounter in the countryside.

"I'm here in solidarity with the Bolivian people. I'm not paid to spy for the government," declared Mr. van Schaick who decided to make the accusation public after discussing it privately with Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca.

In a series of interviews, Mr. van Schaick has also charged that U.S. spy agencies have "infiltrated" Bolivian security services.

U.S. relations with Bolivia have been badly strained since Mr. Morales assumed office more than two years ago. U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg openly opposed Mr. Morales' initiatives to legalize the cultivation of coca - which is the main ingredient for cocaine - and criticized his government's alignment with Cuba, Venezuela and Iran.

"They seem to blame the U.S. for everything," said one U.S. government official. [Arostegui/WashingtonTimes/20February2008] 

Fake CIA Firms for Spies Failed. The CIA set up a network of front companies in Europe and elsewhere after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as part of a constellation of "black stations" for a new generation of spies, according to current and former agency officials.

But after spending hundreds of millions of dollars setting up as many as 12 of the companies, the agency shut down all but two after concluding that they were ill-conceived and poorly positioned for gathering intelligence on the CIA's principal targets: terrorist groups and proliferation networks for unconventional weapons.

The closures were a blow to two of the CIA's most pressing priorities after Sept. 11 - expanding its overseas presence and changing the way it deploys spies.

The companies were the centerpiece of an ambitious plan to increase the number of case officers sent overseas under what is known as "nonofficial cover," meaning they would pose as employees of investment banks, consulting firms or other fictitious enterprises with no apparent ties to the U.S. government.

But the plan became the source of significant dispute within the agency and was afflicted with problems, officials said. The bogus companies were far from Muslim enclaves in Europe and other targets. Their size raised concern that one mistake would blow the cover of many agents. And because business travelers don't ordinarily come into contact with al-Qaida or other high-priority adversaries, officials said, the cover did not work.

Officials said the experience reflects a struggle at the CIA to adapt to a new environment in espionage. The agency has sought to regroup by designing covers that would provide pretexts for spies to get close to radical Muslim groups, nuclear equipment manufacturers and other high-priority targets.

But current and former officials said that progress has been painfully slow and that the agency's efforts to alter its use of personal and corporate disguises have yet to produce a significant penetration of a terrorist or weapons proliferation network.

"I don't believe the intelligence community has made the fundamental shift in how it operates to adapt to the different targets that are out there," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. The cover arrangements most commonly employed by the CIA "don't get you near radical Islam," Hoekstra said, adding that six years after the Sept. 11 attacks, "We don't have nearly the kind of penetrations I would have expected against hard targets."

The front companies were created between 2002 and 2004, officials said, and most were set up to look like consulting firms or other businesses designed to escape attention.

About half were set up in Europe, officials said - in part to put the agency in better position to track radical Muslim groups there, but also because of the ease of travel and comfortable living conditions. That consideration vexed some CIA veterans.

"How do you let someone have a white-collar lifestyle and be part of the blue-collar terrorist infrastructure?" said one high-ranking official who was critical of the program.

But the plan was to use the companies solely as bases. Case officers were expected to adopt second and sometimes third aliases before traveling to their targets. The companies, known as "platforms," would then remain intact to serve as vessels for the next crop of case officers who would have different targets.

The concept triggered fierce debate within the agency, officials said.

The CIA is in the midst of rolling out a series of new platforms that are more narrowly targeted, officials said.

But the agency is still struggling to overcome obstacles, including resistance from many of the agency's station chiefs overseas, most of whom rose through the ranks under traditional cover assignments and regard the nonofficial cover program with suspicion and distrust. [Miller/BaltimoreSun/17February2008] 

Section II - TERRORISM

Accused Terrorist Denies CSIS Allegations He May Have Been Planning Airline Attack. A Montreal man accused of terrorist ties displayed secretive and violent behavior and once discussed commandeering a commercial aircraft for "aggressive ends," Canada's spy service alleges.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service charges against Moroccan-born Adil Charkaoui came late Friday as the federal government renewed its efforts to deport five Muslim men with alleged terrorist links.

Charkaoui swiftly denied the latest accusations, calling them unproven fragments of information based on hearsay.

In a statement, a coalition of Charkaoui's supporters said he wants "a meaningful opportunity to clear his name of precise and defined charges in the context of a fair and open trial."

Ottawa filed updated national security certificates against Charkaoui and four other men - including some fresh assertions - following recent passage of new legislation.

The reworked law creates special advocates to defend the interests of suspected terrorists and spies tagged for deportation under the controversial security certificate process.

The change is intended to bring the process for dealing with foreign-born people deemed to be threats to national security in line with the Charter of Rights, after the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional last year.

Facing removal from Canada are Charkaoui, Mohamed Harkat, Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohamed Zeki Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei, all five of whom have been fighting to remain in the country.

The government did not file a new certificate against a sixth man, Manickavasagam Suresh, accused of membership in the Tamil Tigers. It was not immediately clear what would become of his case.

Charkaoui, a landed immigrant from coastal town near Casablanca, was arrested in Montreal in May 2003, accused of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent prepared to wage terror attacks against western targets.

He denies involvement in terrorism.

CSIS claims convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam has identified Charkaoui as being present at an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan.

The newly filed documents say that in November 2001, Charkaoui described the war in Afghanistan as a battle against Islam "led by the wicked and the Crusaders."

In June 2000, Charkaoui allegedly had a conversation with two others about their apparent desire to take control of a commercial plane for aggressive purposes.

The CSIS papers say he once applied to work in the air traffic control operations at Air Canada and, later, had an interest in working in the baggage section of Mirabel airport near Montreal.

The spy service suggests the job search, taken in connection with the earlier conversation, may have been part of the "planning of an attack."

The documents allege Charkaoui has shown violent and impulsive behaviour, once beating up a delivery man. And they say in 1999 he discussed car theft, namely that he had contacts in Morocco interested in luxury vehicles.

CSIS also says that on several occasions Charkaoui stressed the need for secrecy, once cautioning an associate to "speak only in generalities."

The accusations related to hijacking were previously leaked to the media and are now the subject of court proceedings in which journalists are being pressed to reveal the source of the information.

Charkaoui's coalition of supporters said the new public summary "contains no proof, simply allegations, hearsay, and fragments of alleged conversations and incidents involving Mr. Charkaoui."

It expressed concern the allegations from Ressam remain part of the file despite a retraction from the jailed convict, who was caught trying to smuggle explosives into the United States on the eve of the millennium.

"Charkaoui and his lawyers have asked to cross-examine Ressam numerous times. This opportunity has always been denied, and it was finally admitted by the government that no sworn testimony existed, and that the information was based on hearsay," the statement says.

The coalition also objected to the "crude profiling" in the summary. "The profiling relies on a picture - a very distorted picture - of who Mr. Charkaoui is, rather than anything he has done."

The newly filed papers reveal CSIS's reliance on close physical surveillance, wiretap information and material supplied by confidential informants.

The disclosure of additional details seems to be a conscious effort to counter critics who consider the certificate process unfair because little evidence against the men has been made public over the years. The government insists revealing too much would betray secret sources and methods.

The secrecy of the process has drawn vocal criticism from lawyers, civil libertarians and human-rights advocates in recent years. Opponents also stress that many certificate deportees face the risk of torture if returned to their home countries.

Under the new law, the special advocate will serve as a check on the state by being able to challenge the government's claims of secrecy over evidence, as well the relevance and weight of the facts.

The five men facing deportation under the refiled certificates will each be granted a new court hearing to determine the validity of their case.

The new law is also expected to face another round of constitutional challenges, which could further delay the outcome of the longstanding cases. [CanadianPress/23February2008] 

Calm Tale by 9/11's Top Goon. In a tiny room at the Guantanamo Bay terror prison a year ago, two U.S. senators watched as the 9/11 mastermind calmly confessed to the murder of the nearly 3,000 innocents. In an orange jumpsuit and bound by steel shackles, Al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed spoke respectfully in his Kuwaiti-accented English, never raising his voice. He confirmed that he cooked up the 9/11 attacks, sawed off journalist Daniel Pearl's head with his own "blessed right hand" and tried to kill the Pope and two American Presidents.

Hearing the confession "was one of the most chilling experiences of my life," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who watched it on video in an adjoining room, told the Daily News.

Last week, the Pentagon finally charged Mohammed - known in intelligence records as KSM - and six other top Al Qaeda thugs with murder, conspiracy, terrorism and violating the laws of war by attacking the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001.

No trial date has been set for the defendants - and legal challenges to the military commissions system have delayed prosecutions for six years.

But KSM's boasts at the March 10, 2007, Gitmo hearing could damn him to the death house. He was so calm in cataloguing his horrors, he could have been reading aloud a grocery list. "I didn't sleep well that night, because I remembered what he said," Graham recalled in the interview on John McCain's campaign plane. "It was haunting, the matter of fact way he said it."

Graham has rarely spoken of the 2007 tribunal he witnessed with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), in which KSM the butcher politely explained that his 9/11 role was "from A to Z."

The senator, who also serves as an Air Force Reserve colonel and judge advocate, said it was like "hearing a Nazi death camp commander in a cold, calculated way saying, 'This was my job.'" 

"It was an unbelievably emotional experience," Graham said. "Like every American, I'll never forget where I was on 9/11. And here in the next room, in shackles, in military control, is the mastermind of 9/11." 

The two lawmakers are the only people publicly identified as having seen KSM since his capture in Pakistan five years ago. His ego undiminished by CIA waterboarding, KSM offered "a chilling rendition of a life dedicated to terrorism," Graham said. He looked well fed. He had a neatly trimmed beard and was smaller than Graham had assumed this "warrior" would be. 

The senators were never face to face with him, but Graham said they "heard him walk by in shackles, as he kind of shuffled by the room into the court."

Standing among three U.S. military officers in a tribunal considering whether he was an "enemy combatant," KSM retained a hint of flair. Before 9/11, he posed as a flashy Arab big shot in Asia and once rented a helicopter to impress a girl, according to legend. "He was very erudite and sophisticated," Graham said. "He was very respectful." [Meek/NewYorkDailyNews/18February2008] 

Section III - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Intel Director: 'All They Have to Do is Put the Pieces Together.'  "The proliferation of knowledge and technology that is required to produce weapons of mass destruction" is a threat to the United States, says Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

In his first broadcast interview, Maples says sensitive information is "more readily available to groups or individuals, who would like to acquire that technology" than ever before.

The wealth of do-it-yourself information on the Web is leaving the U.S. in a troubling posture, Maples says.

"All they need to do is put the pieces together in order to have capabilities that could seriously threaten the security of our nation."

Organizations such as al-Qaida, the Taliban, Hezbollah and other terror outfits, have long wanted to get their hands on plans to build chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. There is some evidence they may already have limited knowledge in some of these areas. But countries, such as Iran, North Korea and rogue elements in Pakistan and former Soviet-bloc countries, may be helping them.

On Feb. 7, Maples, along with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller and Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Randall Fort presented their annual threat assessments to Congress.

"There are several global military trends that we certainly have to pay attention to. The first is the threat of terrorism and that is our No. 1 priority and probably the greatest threat to our nation that the military has to deal with," Maples told Congress.

His remarks, neatly tucked between his FBI and State Department counterparts were not lost, however. In addition to the terror threats from al-Qaida and enemies of the U.S., Maples discussed threats from countries, such as China, that are supposed to be "friends" of the U.S.

"China is fielding sophisticated weapons systems and testing new doctrines that it believes will strengthen its ability to prevail in regional conflicts and counter traditional U.S. military advantages. Military modernization includes anti-ship cruise and ballistic missiles, submarines, a cruise-missile-capable bomber and modern surface-to-air missile systems," Maples told Congress.

It's those missiles produced in China, North Korea and Iran that seem most troubling to him.

"There are a number of countries that are investing very heavily in the development of long-range ballistic missiles that launched from mobile platforms, which means they're very difficult to locate pre-launch, but they have longer range, greater accuracy and certainly there are capabilities being developed that would enable nations to deliver weapons of mass destruction at longer ranges. That is something that we should absolutely should be concerned about," Maples says.

Cyber warfare may soon be the No. 1 threat facing the nation. U.S. intelligence sources have revealed that China is aggressively trying to break into U.S. military computers and - according to some sources - have already had some success, but redundancies in the system prevented them from damaging the systems.

There are also concerns about the Chinese military and intelligence services gaining unauthorized access to personal communications devices of tourists and people visiting on business.

"The Chinese military and intelligence services at all levels have this as their No. 1 priority, so we have to assume they're putting money, people and time against the commercial and military communications and computer networks," Maples says.

Those are not the only problems on the horizon.

Irregular warfare, the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide weapons, and cyber warfare round out the top five issues facing DIA.

America does have a problem. People around the globe are learning about bombs, poisons, missiles, and cyber-terrorism at a faster and faster pace.

But, Maples says the nation is ready, for now, thanks in large part to the "dedication of the men and women who serve in the Defense Intelligence Agency deployed around the world."

However, "the biggest challenge for the organization is the fact that we are deeply engaged in conflict today in the global war on terror. And, our priority is to ensure the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and civilians who are conducting the efforts of foreign nations have the intelligence they need to be successful.

"At the same time, we are undergoing a transformation of the intelligence community, trying to develop the kinds of integrated approaches to intelligence both within our national intelligence community and within defense intelligence... Those efforts have to happen simultaneously - a focus on ongoing operations at the same time we are changing our organizations and our processes - and both of them have to be successful," Maples says.

Maples was still a boy when his destiny began to unfold. In 1963, his father, Gen. Herron Nichols Maples directed the organization of the Intelligence Production Center for a newly-established military organization called the Defense Intelligence Agency. His task was to relocate, consolidate and integrate service personnel from all branches of the military into one unit to produce military intelligence for all of the armed forces.

Forty-two years later, Lt. Gen. Michael Maples became the 16th director of that organization. [Green/WTOPRadio/19February2008] 

An Intelligence Reform Reality Check, by Jack Devine.  It's time to take another look at the intelligence changes made after Sept. 11, 2001, and their impact on our intelligence capabilities and leadership at home and abroad.

It has been three years since the intelligence community was reorganized with passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act in December 2004, and the results are not encouraging. In fact, the leadership issue has become even more muddled.

The big problem with the new, two-headed intelligence structure surfaced again last month when Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence (DNI), and CIA Director Michael Hayden traveled to Islamabad to try to persuade Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to authorize an increased CIA presence and operational activity in the unruly Northwest Frontier, a safe haven for the Taliban and the presumed home of Osama bin Laden. They reportedly returned empty-handed.

It's hard to imagine that this important initiative benefited from having a tandem presentation by two directors of intelligence organizations. A strong intelligence message in a foreign setting is best delivered by an unequivocal, single voice of authority. This leadership dilemma was brought about by the "reform" legislation that grew out of Sept. 11. It needs to be fully reassessed - and soon.

As we approach a change at the White House, it would seem an opportune time for Congress to authorize an independent, bipartisan audit of the progress of intelligence reform. In the aftermath of the al-Qaeda attacks on U.S. soil, the Sept. 11 commission released its formal report along with a hastily put together list of recommendations for reforming the intelligence community. Unfortunately, it was too quickly seized upon and endorsed by presidential candidate John Kerry and seconded, apparently without serious reflection, by the Bush administration. The proposed reforms were only briefly debated in Congress and were adopted without any serious public discussion of their merits.

Professionals who had spent their careers in the trenches tackling the complexity of the intelligence business were largely sidelined from the decision process. Regrettably, the commission's report was viewed as sacrosanct, and nobody dared challenge its recommendations, despite the fact that many intelligence professionals believed creation of a director of national intelligence would only lead to additional layers of bureaucracy and lack the teeth to bring all the diverse intelligence entities into line.

Nonetheless, Congress easily passed the measure, which afforded the DNI only limited authority over the 16 agencies in the intelligence community. The legislation simply didn't give the DNI the budgetary muscle needed to lead the intelligence community, and it created a troublesome confusion here and abroad regarding precisely who is in charge.

Today, the DNI has become what intelligence professionals feared it would: an unnecessary bureaucratic contraption with an amazingly large staff. It certainly had to be taken as a lack of confidence in the DNI's viability when its first occupant, John Negroponte, stepped down to become second in command at the State Department.

The passage of time has not significantly enhanced the power of the DNI, but it has diminished the role of the CIA, our nation's preeminent human intelligence agency - much to the detriment of our national security. Despite this situation, McConnell has, to his credit, agreed to take on the monumental task of trying to reform the intelligence process in what must by now be largely a thankless task.

The good news is that since 9/11 the intelligence budget has grown significantly, to approximately $43 billion, and there has been a sizable infusion of operational and analytical positions.

But are we getting full bang for the buck? How much has it really improved our intelligence capabilities, and has it helped to overcome the information-sharing obstacles that were so frequently discussed after Sept. 11? An amount on the order of $43 billion ought to buy a great deal of intelligence firepower and operational influence.

Most important, are we anywhere near where we need to be in penetrating the terrorist organizations that threaten us, as well as the nation-states that represent serious national security challenges: Iran, North Korea, Russia, China and an increasingly unstable Pakistan? Enough time has elapsed since Congress legislated these changes in 2004 to merit an evaluation of the new bureaucracy. Has this bureaucratic superstructure enhanced our intelligence capabilities? Does it deserve a passing grade for its efforts?

Moreover, the intelligence shortcomings that surfaced in the run-up to the Iraq war, as well as the misreading of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities, also speak to the value of conducting a fresh and in-depth evaluation of precisely how well the issues of politicization, collection and analysis are being addressed by the intelligence community. This review can be expected to recommend adjustments that surely are needed - including dismantling the DNI if necessary and reinvigorating an authentic CIA.

Admittedly, the CIA has suffered greatly in recent years primarily because of policy shortfalls and leadership issues. But no one should underestimate the quality of its staff, its foreign ties and its unique capabilities, which are the cornerstone of the intelligence community. These strengths remain the base for building a robust intelligence agency.

Because Congress was instrumental in setting up the DNI, there may be an inclination there to avoid the issue and the embarrassment that its poor performance could cause to those who supported its creation and who still mistakenly point to it as the reason there has not been another terrorist attack in the United States. But our ability to tackle the national security challenges of this decade is central to our survival and should trump any hesitation to confront this issue head-on, even if it means scrapping the ill-conceived notion of the DNI and its super-bureaucracy.

If Congress is reluctant to initiate the review, a broad-based private-sector initiative should be undertaken to jump-start public debate about the state of U.S. intelligence - a debate that never took place in 2004. The key issues that unfold from this debate should be high on the new president's agenda for change. [Devine/WashingtonPost/17February2008] 

Director's Statement on the Past Use of Diego Garcia.  [Following is CIA Director Michael Hayden's statement to employees of the Central Intelligence Agency.] The British Government announced today that the United States recently provided information on rendition flights through Diego Garcia - a UK territory in the Indian Ocean - that contradicted earlier data from us. Our government had told the British that there had been no rendition flights involving their soil or airspace since 9/11. That information, supplied in good faith, turned out to be wrong.

In fact, on two different occasions in 2002, an American plane with a detainee aboard stopped briefly in Diego Garcia for refueling. Neither of those individuals was ever part of CIA's high-value terrorist interrogation program. One was ultimately transferred to Guantanamo, and the other was returned to his home country. These were rendition operations, nothing more. 

There has been speculation in the press over the years that CIA had a holding facility on Diego Garcia. That is false. There have also been allegations that we transport detainees for the purpose of torture. That, too, is false. Torture is against our laws and our values. And, given our mission, CIA could have no interest in a process destined to produce bad intelligence.

In late 2007, CIA itself took a fresh look at records on rendition flights. This time, the examination revealed the two stops in Diego Garcia. The refueling, conducted more than five years ago, lasted just a short time. But it happened. That we found this mistake ourselves, and that we brought it to the attention of the British Government, in no way changes or excuses the reality that we were in the wrong. An important part of intelligence work, inherently urgent, complex, and uncertain, is to take responsibility for errors and to learn from them. In this case, the result of a flawed records search, we have done so. [Hayden/AllAmericanPatriots/17February2008] 

Section IV - CAREERS, BOOK REVIEWS, RESEARCH REQUESTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COMING EVENTS

Careers

CAREERS AT DHS - Below are links to vacancy announcements for positions at DHS Headquarters and the Preparedness Directorate. These positions are posted on www.usajobs.opm.gov.

Positions located within Headquarters DHS
Position located within National Protection and Programs Directorate
Positions located within the Office of Inspector General
Positions located within US-Visit of the National Protection and Programs Directorate

Book Reviews

CIA in Chile, Spies in Vichy - reviews of Hostile Intent: US Covert Operations in Chile 1964-1974 and The Hunt For Nazi Spies: Fighting Espionage in Vichy France, by Joe Goulden. One of the more enduring bits of demonology about the CIA concerns the ouster of President Salvador Allende of Chile in 1973, his death and the ascension to power of strongman Augusto Pinochet. That CIA bears total responsibility is a matter of ideological dogma for the political left. To be sure, the CIA was up to its elbows in the affair, by order of three U.S. presidents. But do cause and effect match up?

Refreshingly, we now have a dispassionate study of the period with Kristian Gustafson's Hostile Intent: US Covert Operations in Chile 1964-1974 (Potomac Books, $29.95, 316 pages). A former Canadian army officer, Mr. Gustafson lectures at Brunei University's Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies in England.

Mr. Gustafson's account, based on CIA and White House documents released in recent years, and interviews with some principals, tells a far more complex story than anti-CIA zealots would have us believe.

Presidents Kennedy and Johnson saw Allende as a budding Castro, and hence a man who should be stopped. CIA's effort, on White House orders, began as a massive propaganda project, bolstered by hefty cash donations to opposition political parties. It initially worked. Allende lost two elections, then gained a plurality among three candidates in 1972, meaning the winner would be determined by the National Assembly.

Enter now President Nixon and Henry Kissinger, his national security adviser, who ordered the full resources of CIA to be unleashed. If Allende's election could not be averted, CIA should organize a military coup. The director of central intelligence, Richard Helms, is famously quoted as saying after leaving a White House meeting where Nixon and Mr. Kissinger barked orders at him, "If I ever carried a marshal's baton in my knapsack out of the Oval Office, it was that day. My heart sank . . . "

As Helms wrote in his memoir, "President Nixon had ordered me to instigate a military coup in Chile, a heretofore democratic country."

To the White House's dismay, the Chilean military initially rebuffed CIA attempts to bring them into a coup. To their credit, the generals were firm about maintaining a constitutional government, regardless of their thoughts about Allende. To be sure, some CIA officers overstepped in their dealings with the military. They provided arms to officers who wished to kidnap a recalcitrant general who refused to aid a coup. The attempt was bungled, and the general was shot to death. In the messy aftermath, Allende assumed office, and the CIA operation ceased.

What happened thereafter is the strength of Mr. Gustafson's narrative. In the end, it was Chileans themselves who rid their country of Allende, not the CIA. Mr. Gustafson makes plain that despite his deliberately bland public pronouncements, Allende was a "devoted Marxist working... to convert Chile into a Marxist people's republic, which even if pursued through the ballot box would ultimately spell the end to liberal democracy in that country."

Further, in his three years in office, Allende so alienated and split his own people to the point that the country was driven "'into a cauldron of hatreds and tensions,' to the point where the staunchly republican Chilean army took up arms against the president with the support of both the political right and the political center." Allende shot himself (with a pistol gifted by Castro) as troops stormed into the presidential offices.

What Mr. Gustafson calls the "most notable example" of heaping blame on the CIA came in Seymour Hersh's book, "The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House," "which propagates the common belief that the CIA aimed to assassinate Allende and was successful in overthrowing him."

In an assertion that what Mr. Gustafson charges "tends towards conspiracy theory," Mr. Hersh "alleges, based on the evidence of a clerk who handled some of the White House [cable] traffic on the matter, that 'murder was one of the ways' that the CIA was directed to use to overthrow Allende."

Mr. Hersh further wrote that "a senior member of the intelligence community" - not named, of course - told him that the United States planned to assassinate Allende. Given Mr. Hersh's reputation, at least in some quarters, "Hersh's book has become a machine to sustain misperceptions of American action in Chile." The documentary evidence Mr. Gustafson cites does not support Mr. Hersh's assertions.

Why the current significance of events that occurred three decades ago? Persons such as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela harp upon Chile as a nasty example of American imperialism. As Mr. Gustafson writes, "There are enough mistakes and errors in the history of U.S. foreign politics that one does not need to invent them to make a point, and so with Chile there is no need to invent greater errors where great errors already exist."

To paraphrase the late William Colby, it is dangerous to make the CIA a scapegoat for all the evils of the world. "Doing so deprives the American nation of a useful and necessary tool in the international arena," that is, covert action.

Mr. Gustafson acknowledges that his book is unlikely to change deeply-ingrained feelings about Chile, either on the left or the right. But, if one cares to look beyond polemics, here is a good starting point. If you'd care to browse the documents that are his basic source material, send me an e-mail and I will guide you to the relevant web site.

=====

A glance at the title of Simon Kitson's new book made me blink: The Hunt For Nazi Spies: Fighting Espionage in Vichy France (University of Chicago Press, $25, 208 pages).

Now wait a moment: The French capitulated to German invaders in 1940 and set up a puppet government, based in Vichy, under Marshal Philippe Petain. Thus how and why was the French security service able to ferret out German spies and arrest them? Mr. Kitson, a British professor, put his hands on 1,400 boxes of Vichy counterespionage records that the Soviets seized and took back to Moscow at war's end. What he found, in these three tons of papers, certainly bears out his claim to have unfolded "a previously unknown chapter of World War II."

The story is at once confusing and fascinating. The Vichy regime tracked down left wing resistants and supporters of Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces. It deported slave workers and Jews to Germany. Yet concurrently, it tracked down and arrested hundreds of German agents who sought to further undermine France militarily.

More than 100 of them were sentenced to death, and Mr. Kitson writes that he found "formal proof" that eight were actually executed. A ranking French counterintelligence officer, Paul Paillole, puts the number at 42, which to Mr. Kitson "seems credible."

Other efforts were directed against British officers seeking to organize resistance groups preparing for the inevitable invasion. As the papers make plain, the French military harbored a keen sense that it was "betrayed" by England in the opening months of the war.

To understate, French internal politics of the era were devilishly confused. Curiosity directed me to a book remainder house, where I found a 2005 biography of Petain by Charles Williams, a former Labour member of the British House of Lords. As I frequently discover as I age, the "full story" is often more complex than we were taught in school. So be it with Petain's Vichy government.

Mr. Kitson's book is a highly-recommended read for anyone interested in the intricacies of counterintelligence. [Goulden/WashingtonTimes/24February2008] 

Al-Qaeda's Nest Attack on America: Osama Bin-Ladan and Nuclear Terrorism, by Sheldon Filger.  More than six years has elapsed since the traumatic day of September 11, 2001, when Al-Qaeda attacked America with devastating ruthlessness. Has the war on terror and invasion of Iraq made the U.S. safer, or has Al-Qaeda taken advantage of America's diversion with Iraq to plan and prepare its next attack on the homeland? Al-Qaeda's Nest Attack on America: Osama Bin-Ladan and Nuclear Terrorism explores this vital question, basing its conclusions on the most recent National Intelligence Estimate on Al-Qaeda and its future intentions regarding a post-9/11 attack on the United States. A short literary work available by Amazon. [14pages/Filger/Amazon]

Research Requests

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. From Richard Sullivan: My sister's grandson is a high school student in Allentown, PA, doing a research project for course credit and he is seeking sources who may be knowledgeable of the events surrounding the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He would be grateful to correspond with any AFIO members who would be willing to speak about their recollections, observations or perhaps even experiences. If anyone would be willing to answer questions for this young scholar, I will put both sides in touch. REPLIES to Richard Sullivan at: richsullivan@comcast.net.

OMS in Okinawa.  I am researching a history of the CIA Office of Medical Services. I would like to know if there is anyone who served in either the First Research Unit (FRU) or with the 21st Composite Service Support Group at Camp Chinen Okinawa circa 1955-59 who might have known the medical officers or medical technicians assigned to the Group, or be able to identify them from photos? REPLIES to Jonathan D. Clemente, MD, jonathan_clemente@yahoo.com

Announcements

The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies is pleased to announce our newest professor, Dr. Tawfik Hamid. 
Dr. Hamid was formerly a member of the extremist Islamic organization Jamaa Islamia in Egypt and knew Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri (now bin Laden's deputy). On his bio webpage, Dr. Hamid describes the steps that turn people into jihadists. For the past 20 years, he has been an Islamic thinker and reformer who has spoken out against Islamic jihadism. He has written two books about the jihadist mindset. Dr. Hamid is an energetic, fascinating speaker and will teach in our CT courses.
You can read more about him at http://cicentre.com/intelligencespeakers/ISB_A-K/SP_HAMID_Tawfik.htm.

Speaking of our CT courses, we've been enhancing and adding new lectures and speakers to our extremely highly-rated "361: The War on Terrorism" course and we're excited about our new course for law enforcement, "362: Informant Development to Fight the War on Terrorism." These are top-notch, high-quality courses that have very important information that you need to know! Call Kristina Scholze at 703-642-7453 to find out how you can schedule one of these courses.

One of our government clients scheduled our new course, "518: Espionage Investigations and Interviewing Techniques" for a certain number of its employees and has opened up the rest of the seats in the class to anyone who holds a current US Secret security clearance. This special running will be held at the CI Centre in Alexandria, VA the week of 24-28 March 2008. For a description of the course, costs and to register, go to: http://cicentre.com/counterintelligenceacademy/course/518.htm.

COMING EVENTS

EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

2 March 2008 - Highland Heights, OH - AFIO Northern Ohio Chapter hosts Sunday Brunch and second in the two-part film series by Frank Gaffney. “Islam vs. Islamists: Muslims Against Jihad” is that second Gaffney-Burke film as part of a Corporation for Public Broadcasting competition that CPB/PBS refused to air after the film won an award. Following the film, there will be a discussion led by Beverly A. Goldstein Ph.D. Gaffney is the Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, a resource for timely, informed and penetrating analyses of foreign and defense policy matters.
Mr. Gaffney is lead-author of War Footing: Ten Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World (Naval Institute Press, 2005).
The chapter is reaching out to explain to those who want to learn about the dangers to our nation and to our civilization, and, more particularly, about what the U.S. intelligence community is doing to protect us.
Event location is Wellington’s Restaurant, 777 Alpha Dr, Highland Heights, OH I -271 at Wilson Mills Rd. 440.461.9211 or 440.442.0055
RSVP’s for this event are required. Send them or inquiries to Veronica Flint at (440) 338-4720 or vbf@windstream.net

4 March 2008 - Arlington, VA - CAREER FAIR - TECH EXPO - 11am-7pm - IBM Expo - www.IBMexpo.com

6 March 2008 – San Francisco, CA – The AFIO Jim Quesada Chapter hosts Joe P. Russoniello, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of California. Mr. Russoniello will speak on how the U.S. government prosecutes terrorism cases. The meeting will be held at United Irish Cultural Center, 2700 45th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94116 (between Sloat and Wawona). 11:30 AM no host cocktails; noon - luncheon. $25 member rate with advance reservation; $35 non-member rate or at door. RSVP to Mariko Kawaguchi (please indicate meat or fish) no later than 5PM 2/27/08: mariko@cataphora.com, (650) 622-9840 X608 or send a check to P.O. Box 117578 Burlingame, CA 94011.

10 -11 March 2008 - Laurel, MD - 2008 Unrestricted Warfare Symposium at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) is jointly sponsored by JHU/APL and the University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). It is also co-sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Policy), the Department of State, and the National Intelligence Council. For 2008, the theme of integrating strategy, analysis, and technology to counter adversaries utilizing unrestricted warfare approaches. The focus will be on the DoD Campaign Plan for the War on Terrorism: Integrating Strategy, Analysis, and Technology in Support of the U.S. War on Terror Campaign. I am thrilled that Admiral Eric Olson, USSOCOM, has agreed to give the keynote address. Over the two days we will have four other featured speakers [Dr. Thomas Mahnken, ODUSD(Policy); Prof. Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University; Dr. Stephen Flynn, Council on Foreign Relations; and Prof. Peter Feaver, Duke University], five roundtable panels, and a panel of senior-level government representatives responsible for various aspects of the War on Terror Campaign.
2008 registration details can be found at the symposium website: http://www.jhuapl.edu/urw_symposium/.

13 March 2008 - Baltimore, MD - 10am-4pm - CAREER FAIR - TECH EXPO Top Secret - www.TechExpoUSA.com - Active Security Clearance Required.

Thursday, 13 March 2008, 3:00 PM - Reston, VA - The Washington Area Chapter of the International Association for Intelligence Education hosts a speaker on Intelligence Analysis. This first in a series of interviews by this group will be with Robert Clark (author of “Intelligence Analysis: A Target-Centric Approach”) interviewed by Marilyn B. Peterson. Location: The Forum, 1892 Preston White Drive, Reston, VA 20191. To register: Bill Spracher at 202-231-4193 or William.Spracher@dia.mil. Non-members are welcome and refreshments will be provided by i2, Inc.

18 March 2008 - Reston, VA - 11am-7pm - CAREER FAIR - TECH EXPO Top Secret - www.TechExpoUSA.com - Active Security Clearance Required.

20 March 2008 at 11:30 a.m. - Colorado Springs, CO - "Airport Security" is the topic for the Rocky Mountain AFIO Chapter luncheon. The chapter meets in the Air Force Academy Officers Club, Falcon Room. The speaker will beRobert Olislagers who has 25 years experience in airport management. He serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Airport Executives and chairs its General Aviation Committee. He is a nationally known expert on airport security. Reservations must be made by March 17, 2008 to Tom Ward, 719-487-0957, or by e-mail to: wardplapp@msn.com

Thursday, 20 March 2008, 6:30 pm – Washington, DC -“The Bomber Behind the Veil: Muslim Women and Violent Jihad”– Farhana Ali, Rand Corp. policy analyst, at the Spy Museum. Beware the mujahidaat. Farhana Ali, an international policy analyst with the Rand Corporation, is one of the few researchers focused on these Muslin female fighters. She has charted an increase in suicide attacks by Muslim women since at least 2000, in new theaters of operation, including Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Iraq. These attacks are arguably more deadly than those conducted by male jihadists, in part due to the perception that women are unlikely to commit such acts of horror, and when they do, the shock or “CNN factor” of their attacks draws far greater media attention. She discusses their place in Islamic history, their psychological profile, and the likely shelf-life of this disturbing trend. Tickets: $20. Visit http://www.spymuseum.org for tickets.

Thursday, 20 March 2008 - Phoenix, AZ - The AFIO Arizona Chapter luncheon features a religious evangelical 'humanitarian' on the supposed poverty of Western secularism and the common concerns facing all mankind. The unusual speaker is Leonard Rodgers, President/Founder of Venture International -- a evangelical group which opposes Western secularism. "Secularism is the new God in the Western world and missionaries are now coming to us from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Empire strikes back." Some of those missionaries, of course, are Muslims. Rodgers espouses the goal of his group to bring religiosity back to those countries [e.g. U.S.] that shed it for the era of science and reason. Come and make your opinions heard. Time: 11:30 am. Location: Hilton Garden Inn in Phoenix RSVPs – are necessary preferably by email PLEASE!
For reservations or concerns, please call Simone Lopes at 480.368.0374; preferably email her at sl@4smartphone.net

26-28 March 2008 - Raleigh, NC - The Fifth Raleigh Spy Conference at the NC Museum of History - Not to miss. Topic: CIA’s Unsolved Mysteries: The NOSENKO Case, Double Agents and Angleton’s Wilderness of Mirrors features top experts in counterintelligence to discuss unresolved issues from the Cold War: 

“Wilderness of Mirrors” is the theme for the fifth annual Raleigh Spy Conference, an internationally acclaimed event that draws top experts in the field of intelligence to Raleigh each year. The 2008 conference will be held March 26-28 at the North Carolina Museum of History in downtown Raleigh.

Association of Former Intelligence Officers president Gene Poteat says of the Raleigh conference:

“In Washington, it's difficult for the public to comprehend important intelligence and terrorism issues since everything is partisan and politically charged. Outside Washington, there are few voices for the public to hear, and those heard are often wrong or media-driven. Few are able to explain to the public what really has happened, and is happening, in intelligence, counterterrorism and national security - important issues, which, throughout history, have spelled the survival or loss of this or other nations.

“The annual Raleigh Spy Conference is a rare opportunity to hear it straight, with an unusual ‘insider's’ perspective and knowledge. Each year this conference opens that door to share remarkable insights and stellar speakers with the public. If one claims a scintilla of world-affairs knowledge, it cannot be true unless the annual Raleigh Spy Conference is on your calendar.”

Conference founder and Raleigh Metro Magazine editor and publisher Bernie Reeves says of the event: “This year’s conference will present intelligence operatives and experts to discuss the effect of moles, double agents and deception operations during the Cold War and the unsolved questions that continue today to cause disagreement and dissension.”

“Many of these questions remain from the monumental battle between the Soviet Union and the United States,” he adds, “when the wheel of history often turned to the will of moles burrowed inside intelligence and other government agencies. It was indeed a ‘wilderness of mirrors’ that continues today to cast a confused image of history.”

Pete Bagley, the former chief of CIA's Soviet bloc counterintelligence division, will appear at the 2008 conference. According to Reeves, Bagley will discuss his controversial new book on KGB defector Yuri Nosenko entitled Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries and Deadly Games. Nosenko’s mysterious references to Lee Harvey Oswald, his inconsistent recall and the suspicion he was a KGB plant sent to discredit other defectors kicked off 40 years of unresolved internal strife at CIA.

Other speakers include:

-- David Robarge, Chief Historian for CIA and expert on controversial counterintelligence chief James Angleton, will discuss the dissension created at CIA by the former chief of counterintelligence due to his obsessive hunt for a Soviet mole.

-- Brian Kelley, the wrong man in the Robert Hanssen spy case, and former counterintelligence officer for CIA, will use examples of defectors and double agents he draws on as case models for courses he teaches to train espionage agents.

-- Jerry Schecter, former bureau chief for Time magazine in Moscow during the Cold War, later a spokesman for the National Security Council, and a respected expert and author of books on Cold War espionage, will discuss important cases of defectors and double agents in the heat of the Cold War.

-- David Ignatius, former foreign editor - now columnist for the Washington Post – and author of espionage fiction, is respected in the "community" for his insights on the impact of defectors and double agents on the craft of espionage.

Special Guest M. Stanton Evans, columnist, editor and author of the new book Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies is a surprise addition to this year’s conference. According to Reeves, Evans used previously classified FBI and governmental files to “upend the McCarthy myth and turn the tables on the real guilty parties. “The Evans book is new and is causing comment”, says Reeves. “Although the McCarthy Era is not part of the conference subject matter, we feel the new book is of great interest to our audience as it deals with penetration of the US government by Soviet operatives.”

The Raleigh Spy Conference was founded “to bridge the gap between intelligence and current history,” according to Reeves. “The calculus of modern events is intelligence. We don’t really know what happened until someone declassifies something”.

Reeves first conceived the Raleigh Spy Conference after it was revealed in the late 1970s that the British were reading the German code during World War II, altering the accepted history of the most dramatic event in human history. 

Today, says Reeves, “after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992 and the brief opening of the Comintern Archives, the CIA and NSA announced that the US had been decrypting and reading messages from Moscow to Soviet agents in the US government.  Add to these revelations the proliferation of books and articles by former intelligence officers from both sides of the Cold War, and you realize the actual history of the era requires a fresh examination”.

The first Raleigh Spy Conference in 2003 featured speakers on Cold War politics and included KGB major general Oleg Kalugin and Cambridge intelligence scholar Chris Andrew. In year two, speakers presented information on the connection of intelligence and terrorism, featuring experts on al-Qaeda and Hamas. The third year, top Cold War experts offered sessions on the fast-moving topic of Cold War scholarship, featuring Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes. Last year, the conference focused on Fidel Castro and the future of Cuba at the moment Castro fell ill and turned the reins of government over to his brother Raul.

C-SPAN-TV has broadcast several sessions and C-SPAN Radio has broadcast the entire Raleigh Spy Conference. BBC, CBS radio, other national and area media have covered the conference extensively. Recaps of previous conferences are available at http://www.raleighspyconference.com. The website also contains the 2008 schedule, speaker biographies, registration forms and other events and information.

Tickets to the three-day event are $250 for the general public, $175 for seniors, and $145 for teachers, students and members of the military and intelligence community. Early registration is available by calling Jennifer Hadra or Dan Reeves at 919-831-0999. For more information, go to http://www.raleighspyconference.com

Friday 4 April 2008, 5:30 PM - New York, NY - AFIO Metro New York Chapter Spring meeting features exclusive report by Lt. General Robert J. Elder, Jr. Commanding General of the 8th Air Force, the U. S. Cyber Command on "What we're doing about these cyber attacks on our country – Defending the nation TODAY."
In May 2001, Chinese hackers took down the White House Web Site for almost three hours. According to AIR FORCE Magazine, since then, the attacks originating from servers in China have grown in sophistication and intensity.
Just a year ago, the Naval Network Warfare Command acknowledged that Chinese attacks had reached the level of a campaign-style force-on-force engagement.
Last April 26th came the first full-blown cyber assault resembling an act of war. A controversy over moving a bronze statue of a Russian soldier from the center of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, ended with a massive, coordinated assault on Estonia's cyber institutions. Many commercial and government web sites were shut down.
On Friday, April 4th, General Elder will reveal the remarkable story of how the newly-established U.S. 8th Air Force is using the electromagnetic spectrum first, as cyber defense, then to conduct cyber missions such as defeating remotely triggered IED's in Iraq, conducting electronic warfare, halting terrorist use of the Global Positioning System and satellite communications and preventing jamming.
Location: The University Club, Fifth Ave at 54th St. Reservations are required and are limited by available space. They will be accepted in the order they are received until room capacity is reached. Admission is $45 to cover meeting costs. Meeting begins at 6:00 PM
TO RESERVE: Jerry Goodwin, 646-696-1828 or by email: afiometro@yahoo.com

7 - 11 April 2008 - Boston, MA - The International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts (IALEIA), and the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit (LEIU), will be co-hosting the 2008 Annual Conference in Boston. The conference takes place at the Park Plaza Hotel. This is the only event of its kind for law enforcement intelligence, serving an international audience, and is a "must attend" conference. The training will be first-rate and the opportunities to foster professional relationships with colleagues and peers from around the world will be extraordinary. To register on line, or for more information about the conference, please go to
http://leiu-homepage.org/events/index.php For hotel information and registration, please go to:
http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/booking/reservation?id=0707030645&key=5C3A5

Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 6:30 PM - Washington, DC - Spy vs. Spy: FBI and KGB Secrets from the Cold War - Event held at International Spy Museum."I was beginning to like these guys."-Oleg Kalugin on the FBI surveillance team observing him in Miami, December 1968. Once they worked against each other. Now Oleg Kalugin and David Major are colleagues and friends. In this unique evening the former KGB acting Washington station chief and FBI director of counter-intelligence retrace their exciting careers and how they intersected. They book-ended the espionage career of John Walker-Kalugin supervised the notorious spy and it was to Major's office that the traitor was brought after his arrest. From surveillance to recruitment, all will be shared. As columnist Jack Anderson once wrote, Kalugin's "undercover activities were known to the FBI, but only the State Department knows the reason he is still here." Now that the dust has somewhat settled on their overlapping cases, this is your chance to hear both sides of the story from FBI successes and snafus to KGB plots and procedures.
Location: International Spy Museum, 800 F St NW, Washington, DC, Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station. Tickets: $20; Advance Registration required. Tickets are non-refundable and do not include admission to the International Spy Museum. To register, call Ticketmaster at 800.551.SEAT or the Museum at 202.393.7798; order online at ticketmaster.com; or purchase tickets in person at the International Spy Museum.

Thursday, 17 April 2008, 12 Noon - 1 pm - Washington, DC - The Terrorist Recognition Handbook - A Manual for Predicting and Identifying Terrorist Activities - event held at the International Spy Museum. Terrorists can come from any background, any age group, either gender, and yet somehow they must be identified and neutralized. As an internationally recognized expert, author, and educator on the Iraq insurgency, Jihadist tactics and Al Qaeda's global organization, Malcolm Nance has studied the telltale characteristics of terrorist operations and developed an intelligence-based approach to observing and analyzing behavior for warning signs. In The Terrorist Recognition Handbook he uncovers the terrorists' means, methods, organization, and motivations. He identifies the key steps that every terrorist group will always follow, and how and why groups use and choose their weapons. Join Nance for an eye-opening look at terrorism as the sum of its parts rather than as an incomprehensible force.
Location: International Spy Museum, 800 F St NW, Washington, DC, Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station. Tickets: Free. No registration required

17-19 April 2008 - London, UK - The German Historical Institute in London hosts "Keeping Secrets" conference. The German Historical Institute in London is hosting a conference entitled "Keeping Secrets:  How Important was intelligence to the conduct of international relations from 1914 to 1939." Among the scholars expected to speak are Zara Steiner, General William Odom, Christopher Andrew, Ernest May, Paul Kennedy, Gerhard Weinberg, Mark Lowenthal, Richard Aldrich, Georges-Henri Soutou, and David Kahn. The conference will take place at the institute in central London from 17 to 19 April. For further information write Karina Kurbach at <kurbach@ghil.ac.uk>

Thursday, 1 May 2008, 12 Noon - 1 PM - Washington, DC - Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA. Mexico City in the 1960s was a hotbed of spies, revolutionaries, and assassins. In the thick of this Cold War Casablanca was spymaster Winston Mackinley Scott. As chief of CIA's Mexico City station from 1956 to 1969, Scott played a key role in the creation and rise of the Agency. In his new book, Our Man in Mexico, investigative reporter Jefferson Morley traces Scott's career from wartime G-man to consummate intelligence officer with three Mexican presidents on his payroll. But it was Scott's role in the surveillance of Lee Harvey Oswald just prior to President John F. Kennedy's assassination that led to the spymaster's disillusionment. Join Morley for a revealing look at Scott's life and his startling rebuttal of a key finding in the Warren Report.
Where: International Spy Museum, 800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC, Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
Tickets: Free. No registration required.

16 - 18 May 2008 - Bar Harbor, ME - The Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association hosts mini-reunion. The NCVA of New England will hold a mini-reunion at the Bar Harbor Regency, Bar Harbor, Maine.  The reunion is open to all personnel that worked for the US NAVSECGRU or its successor organization in NETWARCOM. Contact Vic Knorowski at 518-664-8032 or visit http://ncva-ne.org for information.

For Additional Events two+ months or greater....view our online Calendar of Events

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