AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #12-09 dated 31 March 2009

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Plea Bargain Was Weighed for Guant�namo Detainee. According to newly released documents, the United States offered a plea bargain to Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed. The deal reportedly included a prison term of at least three years more than the seven he had already been detained, a gag order, an end to his efforts to obtain documents that might bolster his claims that he was tortured while in C.I.A. custody, and an agreement not to file lawsuits against the United States government or any of its officials.

Binyam Mohamed rejected the offer, and eventually all charges against him were dropped. He was released to Britain last month and is now free.

At one point, Mr. Mohamed had agreed to plead "no defense" to charges of support for terrorism in exchange for a sentence not to exceed three years, which he would be allowed to serve in Britain. The prosecutors rejected that offer.

In a statement released Monday, a lawyer for Mr. Mohamed, Clive Stafford Smith, said his client would have pleaded guilty "to being the pope himself" if it would have ended his ordeal.

Mr. Mohamed, who was born in Ethiopia and moved to Britain as a teenager, was apprehended in Pakistan in April 2002 as he was trying to leave the country with a falsified British passport. He had been in Afghanistan and had undergone military training, which he said was to prepare him to fight in Chechnya.

But American officials initially said that he was preparing to carry out terrorist attacks in the United States.

At one point, American officials said he had been part of a plot to detonate a "dirty bomb" in the United States.

He was held at the United States� Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where Mr. Mohamed says his torture began.

A few months after his capture, he was secretly flown by the C.I.A. to Morocco, according to American and British officials.

As part of the Bush administration�s rendition program, some terrorism suspects were transferred to countries where torture is known to be used.

The C.I.A. has declined to say publicly where Mr. Mohamed was held and has denied that it ever engaged in or condoned torture.

Mr. Mohamed has said that he was in Morocco for 18 months, during which time his captors used scalpels to cut his chest and genitals.

On the day Mr. Mohamed left Morocco, in the custody, he said, of American soldiers in black masks, his guards first cut off all his clothes, according to the diary. Then a "white female with glasses" took pictures of his injuries, the diary says.

"She was one of the few Americans who ever showed me any sympathy," Mr. Mohamed is quoted as having told Mr. Stafford Smith. "When she saw the injuries I had, she gasped. I could see the shock and horror in her eyes."

His lawyers have filed lawsuits to obtain these photographs, as well as 42 other classified documents, which the British court said lent credence to Mr. Mohamed�s allegations. [Bonner/NewYorkTimes/23March2009] 

Pak Spy Agency Funnels Cash to Afghan Militants. Operatives in Pakistan's military intelligence agency provide cash, supplies and strategic advice to militants in Afghanistan where the United States is fighting a resurgent Taliban, the New York Times said. 

The assistance extends to Taliban militants and other insurgents, and is coordinated by the S Wing of Pakistan's spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the report said.

The reported cited US officials as saying they had gleaned evidence of the ties between militants and Pakistani spies through "electronic surveillance and trusted informants."

The Pakistani officials who were interviewed for the report cited "firsthand knowledge of the connections, though they denied that the ties were strengthening the insurgency."

Even though the United States has protested alleged links between Pakistan's spy agency and militants for more than one year, the latest details "reveal that the spy agency is aiding a broader array of militant networks with more diverse types of support than was previously known," the Times said.

Pakistan's leaders have denied any militant links. [AFP/23March2009] 

Germany to Tighten Control of Spy Agencies. Germany plans to tighten parliamentary control of its intelligence services.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, the Social Democrats of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Free Democrats, Germany's largest opposition group, back such a move, Der Spiegel reports. The three parties may file the draft as early as this Friday, the magazine said.

The draft would expand the authorities of a parliamentary commission established to control the moves of the German intelligence services operating inside and outside of the country.

It would abolish a provision that requires witnesses from inside the services to first inform their superiors before filing a complaint with the commission; it would also enable the release of official statements connected to the proceedings of the commission, which meets behind closed doors. [UPI/24March2009] 

Intel Official: More Afghanistan Violence Coming. U.S. intelligence suggests that violence in Afghanistan will rise through 2009, according to a top intelligence official.

Violence in Afghanistan has steadily risen for the past three years as the ousted Taliban has staged a comeback.

The Taliban has re-established control in southern and eastern Afghanistan by providing crude government services and basic security, along with a strong dose of violence to intimidate the population, the official said. It has been able to do so because of insufficient numbers of Afghan, U.S. or NATO forces to counter them, according to U.S. intelligence.

President Obama has approved an additional 17,000 American troops for Afghanistan so far this year. On Friday, he announced a plan to send more U.S. troops to train Afghan forces, starting with an additional 4,000, and to increase civilian aid to Pakistan. It is the beginning of a multiyear effort to help stabilize Afghanistan and oust al-Qaida from Pakistan.

The official said the Obama administration wants Pakistan to stop both its active and passive support for the Taliban, which uses the rugged and lawless tribal region on Pakistan's western frontier to train foot soldiers and launch attacks into Afghanistan. He said U.S. intelligence that was shared with the Pakistani government has made its way into the Taliban's hands.

Pakistan has little influence over the tribal area, a result of decades of neglect from the government and the influx of al-Qaida and Taliban militants since the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The official said the U.S. wants Pakistan to give more assistance in locating and killing al-Qaida leaders believed to be in its western border area and to increase operations against Taliban there as well. [AP/27March2009] 

Canadians Find Vast Computer Spy Network. Canadian researchers have uncovered a vast electronic spying operation that infiltrated computers and stole documents from government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

In a report provided to the newspaper, a team from the Munk Center for International Studies in Toronto said at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries had been breached in less than two years by the spy system, which it dubbed GhostNet.

Embassies, foreign ministries, government offices and the Dalai Lama's Tibetan exile centers in India, Brussels, London and New York were among those infiltrated, said the researchers, who have detected computer espionage in the past.

They found no evidence U.S. government offices were breached.

The researchers concluded that computers based almost exclusively in China were responsible for the intrusions, although they stopped short of saying the Chinese government was involved in the system, which they described as still active.

A spokesman for the Chinese Consulate in New York dismissed the idea China was involved, and stated that the Chinese government opposes - "and strictly forbids" - cybercrime.

The Toronto researchers began their sleuthing after a request from the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, to examine its computers for signs of malicious software, or malware.

The network they found possessed remarkable "Big Brother-style" capabilities, allowing it, among other things, to turn on the camera and audio-recording functions of infected computers for potential in-room monitoring, the report said.

The system was focused on the governments of South Asian and Southeast Asian nations as well as on the Dalai Lama, the researchers said, adding that computers at the Indian Embassy in Washington were infiltrated and a NATO computer monitored. [Simao/Reuters/28March2009] 

Iranian Defector Reportedly Tipped Off U.S. on Syria Nuke Plant. An Iranian defector told the West that Iran was financing North Korean moves to transform Syria into a nuclear weapons power, leading to the Israeli airstrike that destroyed a secret reactor.

The information was published in a report written by Hans Ruehle, former chief of the planning staff of the German Defense Ministry. It details an Iranian connection and fills in gaps about Israel's Sept. 6, 2007 raid that knocked out Syria's nearly completed Al Kibar reactor.

Ali Reza Asghari, a retired general in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and a former deputy defense minister, "changed sides" in February 2007 and provided considerable information to the West on Iran's own nuclear program, Ruehle said in his article in the Swiss daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

"The biggest surprise, however, was his assertion that Iran was financing a secret nuclear project of Syria and North Korea," he said. "No one in the American intelligence scene had heard anything of it. And the Israelis who were immediately informed also were completely unaware."

In Washington, however, a U.S. counterproliferation official denied that Iran funded the Syrian site.

"There is strong reason to believe that only two countries were involved in building the Syrian covert nuclear reactor at Al Kibar - Syria and North Korea," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ruehle, who did not identify the sources of his information, regularly publishes and comments on security and nuclear proliferation in different European newspapers and broadcasts, and he has held prominent roles in German and NATO institutions.

He said U.S. and Israeli intelligence had detected North Korean ship deliveries of construction supplies to Syria that started in 2002, and American satellites spotted the construction as early as 2003.

But they regarded the work as nothing unusual, in part because the Syrians had banned radio and telephones from the site and handled communications solely by messengers - "medieval but effective," Ruehle said.

Intensive investigation followed by U.S. and Israeli intelligence services until Israel sent a 12-man commando unit in two helicopters to the site in August 2007 to take photographs and soil samples, he said.

Other sources have suggested that the reactor might have been large enough to make about one nuclear weapon's worth of plutonium a year.

Just before the Israeli commando raid, a North Korean ship was intercepted en route to Syria with nuclear fuel rods, underscoring the need for fast action, he said.

Israel estimates that Iran had paid North Korea between $1 billion and $2 billion for the project, Ruehle said.

Israel has refused from the beginning to comment on, confirm or deny the strike, but after a delay of several months Washington presented intelligence purporting to show the target was a reactor being built with North Korean help.

Iranian officials were not available for comment Thursday because of a national holiday. In general, Iran has been silent about the Syrian facility bombed by Israel.

Syrian officials could not be reached for comment. But Syria has denied the facility was a nuclear plant, saying it was an unused military building. It also has denied any nuclear cooperation with North Korea or Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this year said U.N. inspectors had found processed uranium traces in samples taken from the site.

Syria has suggested the traces came from Israel ordnance used to hit the site, but the IAEA said the composition of the uranium made that unlikely. Israel has denied it was the source of the uranium.

Syria has told diplomats that it built a missile facility over the ruins of the site. [FoxNews/19March2009]

Ex-CIA Contractor Passaro Appealing Sentence. The first American civilian convicted of mistreating a detainee during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is appealing his more than eight-year federal prison sentence.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., heard oral arguments Friday from the government and lawyers for David Passaro, a former CIA employee who was arrested at Fort Bragg.

Passaro is a former Special Forces medic who was convicted in August 2006 of hitting detainee Abdul Wali with a flashlight and kicking him in the groin.

Prosecutors said the assault took place during a two-day interrogation at a remote military base in Afghanistan in July 2003. Wali later died.

Lawyers for Passaro are trying to win a new trial for their client. [FayettObserver/20March2009] 

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Section III - COMMENTARY

The CIA's Declassified Records, by Steve Aftergood. The Central Intelligence Agency maintains a regularly updated electronic archive of declassified historical records that have been publicly disclosed, but it has effectively squandered the utility of digitizing these records by refusing to make them available online.

The CIA, to its credit, has done more than any other agency to scan declassified records into digital format and to make them word-searchable. Millions of pages of records have been archived in the CIA Records Search Tool (CREST). But those electronic records are maintained in a single geographical location as if they were old-fashioned paper files.

In order to access the declassified records, users must physically go to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. 

The CIA claims that withholding the database from unrestricted release is necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods..

In fact, the CIA CREST database suggests one of the most dramatic and effective enhancements that could be made to the declassification system: Digitize government records as they are declassified and then make them publicly available online.

In 1995, President Clinton ordered agencies that classify information to "establish a Governmentwide database of information that has been declassified." That never happened, and in 2003 President Bush deleted the requirement. Restoring such a requirement, and fulfilling it, would be an appealing feature of a new executive order on classification. [SecrecyNews/26March2009] 

State Secrets Privilege Invoked Again, by Marc Ambinder. For the second time in his short presidency, Barack Obama's lawyers have invoked the 'state secrets privilege' to contain the disclosure of information in a case about U.S. intelligence activities. 

You'll remember the case - the al-Haramain Charity Foundation was accused by the government of aiding terrorists. The government blundered in the discovery phase of the case, sending the charity's lawyers a document that seemed to indicate that the FBI derived some of its evidence from the National Security Agency's domestic wiretapping program. The charity is now suing the government. The government wants a judge to throw out the case on the grounds that the government shouldn't be forced to divulge classified information in a civil case and argued that the judge has no authority to force the government to disclose such information to defense attorneys. 

As the Washington Post points out, the State Secrets Privilege Act - a version of which Vice President Joe Biden supported as a senator - would obviate the need for legal wrangling in this case, as specially-cleared federal judges would be granted the power to examine the classified evidence and determine independently whether the material justifies the privilege claim. 

At issue here is not the classified information itself. Multiple published accounts of the NSA program strongly suggest that the NSA information was given regularly to the FBI - the wheat and the chaff - and that domestic phone calls between American citizens with only a tangential connection to terrorism were routinely monitored. 

I've written before that civil libertarians overread Obama's campaign promises, and I still think that's true, to some extent. Abstract or concrete justice for those wronged by the Bush Administration's legal errors/sins of commissions is much less important to the Obama administration than the correct application of the rule of law in the present. They seem to be worried that any concession to the principle of disclosure in these cases would jeopardize information that is and ought to be properly protected. This isn't an easy explanation to swallow, but it's the one the administration has settled on. [Ambinder/TheAtlantic/25March2009] 

Let's Put Bylines on Our 'National' Intelligence Estimates: Anonymity Leads to Mediocrity and Politicization, by Reuel Marc Gerecht. Charles Freeman's withdrawal from his appointment as the chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) offers an opportunity to assess whether personal views should have any role in intelligence analysis. Mr. Freeman's opinions on Israel, the Middle East and China proved too strong for critics. Yet the NIC's National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) are often politicized and debased precisely because their anonymous authors need take no personal responsibility for their opinions.

No one knows if the upcoming new Iran estimate will be as politicized as was its 2007 predecessor, which damaged the diplomacy of both the U.S. and our European allies. In any case, the Obama administration likely will have one day a politically convulsive NIE that will make the president wonder why these estimates are ever drafted.

Anonymity is the byword of the intelligence profession. In operations, it is usually mandatory. In analysis, however, a collective effort that hides individual authorship is a dubious approach.

In theory, anonymity gives analysts protection from political pressure. And a collective judgment - NIEs are the most consensual intelligence products that the executive branch puts out - is supposed to be more reliable and convincing than the views of a particular analyst or agency.

In practice, however, this anonymous, collective approach has guaranteed that mediocre analysis goes unchallenged, and that analysts and senior officials within the NIC go unscarred when they're wrong. No one would want to invest money with a stockbroker who consistently gives bad advice. No one would want to retain a coach who loses more than he wins. Yet obtaining an analytical score card on analysts and their managers within the NIC, the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence or the office of the Director of National Intelligence is nearly impossible.

NIEs rarely offer insights not available elsewhere at far less cost. They have often been egregiously wrong - my personal favorites were the NIEs written before Iran's Islamic Revolution that predicted the Pahlavi dynasty's survival into the 21st century - and when right, often unspectacularly so (seeing enmity among the Serbs, Croats and Muslim Bosnians in post-Cold War Yugoslavia wasn't particularly perspicacious). Yet where once NIEs attracted little attention, they now can become political footballs even before they are finished.

In part, this is because the nature of Washington has changed. Estimates were once either closely guarded or easily forgotten - the secrecy of estimates was better kept and no one expected presidents or members of Congress to accept them as guides for foreign policy. Today, Americans have unprecedented access to secret information. And within the State Department and Congress, where partisan policy battles are fierce, members feel no hesitation in using NIEs as political battering rams. At dizzying speeds, politicians and their allied journalists can denigrate an NIE for its "group think," as was the case with the 2003 report on Iraqi WMD. Or they can applaud another for its supposed willingness to speak truth to power - as we heard with the Iran "no-nuke" NIE of 2007. With the system we have, this isn't going to change.

President George W. Bush missed an enormous opportunity to reassess the CIA's operational and analytical branches - the vital center of the American intelligence community - after 9/11. He embraced the status quo, putting it on steroids by increasing its funding, adding more personnel, and canning no one.

Identifying the primary drafters of NIEs - or any major analytical report requested by Congress - could significantly improve the quality of these analyses and diminish the potential for politicians, the media and the intelligence community to politically exploit the reports. Senior managers at the CIA, the NIC or in any of America's other intelligence agencies should have their names appended to an assessment if they've had any substantive role in writing its conclusions. Although everyone in the intelligence community likes to get their fingers into an NIE, there are usually just a small number of individuals who do the lion's share of the work. They should all be known, and should be expected to defend their conclusions in front of Congress and senior executive-branch officials.

Contrary to what some journalists suggested about the prelude to the Iraq war, good analysts live to be questioned by senior officials. Intrepid analysts want to get out of their cubicles.

Think tankers can generally run circles around government analysts and managers on substance, and especially in "strategic" vision, because they operate in more open, competitive and intellectually rigorous environments. Anonymous collective official analysis tends to smother talent and parrot the current zeitgeist in Washington. Liberating first-rate analysts from the bureaucratic disciplining and expectations of their own agencies by allowing them to build public reputations is probably the most efficient and inexpensive way to introduce "contrarian views," an oft-stated reason for Mr. Freeman's appointment.

Mr. Freeman's strongly held personal views proved to be his appointment's stumbling block. If Dennis Blair, the director of National Intelligence, believes that views such as those held by Mr. Freeman would help the intellectual mix at the NIC, then he should allow these views to be heard and argued in an open environment.

In an environment where analysts have publicly tracked reputations, we are likely to see people take their tasks more seriously instead of hiding behind their agencies. Those who are confident in their assessments won't fear change. But those who are fence-sitters, more concerned about melding their views into what is bureaucratically palatable and politically acceptable, will likely drift to the rear as they grope for what is accepted orthodoxy.

A more open system still may not make the intelligence community's product competitive with the best from the outside on the big issues ("Whither China, Russia and Iran?"). But it will certainly make estimates more interesting to read than what we have now. Denied the imprimatur of saying "the intelligence community believes," estimates will come down to earth. And from that angle, it will be much harder for anyone again to use an NIE to damage their political opponents.

Mr. Gerecht, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. [Gerecht/WallStreetJournal/27March2009] 

Section IV - RESEARCH REQUESTS AND COMING EVENTS

Research Requests

Searching for Collaborators in La Belle Disco Bombing. An attorney friend in Berlin who was one of the lead investigators in the Libyan bombing of La Belle discoteque in April, 1986, has re-opened the case. The bombing killed three US GIs and injured 234 persons, including 41 Americans. The attorney, Andreas Schulz, is concentrating on the provider of the Semtex explosive and has asked where he could locate information on the case in US archives. He apparently is concentrating on finding collaborators still unidentified and at large, possibly former members of the East German Ministry for State Security, the STASI. I would appreciate a contact from anyone who can provide pertinent information. Please reply to John Koehler at: johnokoehler@yahoo.com.

COMING EVENTS

EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

Wednesday, 1 April 2009, noon – 1 pm - Deceiving Hitler: The Masterman Memorandum: A Special Briefing at the International Spy Museum
As Britain entered its second winter of World War II, nightly German Blitzes rained fire on its cities and the threat of invasion had not yet passed. Yet wartime recruit and Oxford University Professor, J.C. Masterman, had the confidence and foresight to predict a time when the tables could be turned against the Nazis. Since the outbreak of war, the British Security Service MI5 had been collecting a group of double agents. The Germans appeared to trust these spies and pressed them for more information. This presented an enormous challenge for MI5—how to preserve the credibility of the double agents without giving away vital war secrets? In a secret memorandum of 1940, Masterman presented an amazing solution. Author of Deceiving Hitler, Terry Crowdy will reveal the content of the now declassified memorandum and explore to what extent the Allies were able to realize Masterman's plan to pull off an elaborate hoax on Hitler.
Free; No registration required! International Spy Museum, 800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC, Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station

Thursday, 2 April 2009, 8:00 p.m. - Coral Gables, FL - AFIO Miami Chapter will be having dinner and speaker: Neal Bascomb's, Hunting Eichmann, with his presentation at Books and Books in Coral Gables, 265 Aragon Avenue Coral Gables 305.442.4408 www.booksandbooks.com
The first complete narrative of the pursuit and capture of Adolf Eichmann, based on groundbreaking new information and interviews and featuring rare, never published Mossad surveillance photographs When the Allies stormed Berlin in the last days of the Third Reich, the operational manager of the mass murder of Europe's Jews shed his SS uniform and vanished.
Bringing Adolf Eichmann to justice would require a harrowing fifteen-year chase stretching from war-ravaged Europe to the shores of Argentina.
Alternating from a criminal on the run to his pursuers closing in on his trail, Neal Bascomb's, Hunting Eichmann (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26.00) follows the Nazi as he escapes two American POW camps, hides in the mountains, slips out of Europe on the ratlines, and builds an anonymous life in Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, a persistent search for Eichmann gradually evolves into an international manhunt that includes a bulldog West German prosecutor, a blind Argentinean Jew and his beautiful daughter, and a budding, ragtag spy agency called the Mossad, whose operatives have their own scores to settle. Presented in a pulse-pounding, hour-by-hour account, the capture of Eichmann and the efforts by Israeli agents to secret him out of Argentina and fly him to Israel to stand trial bring the narrative to a stunning conclusion.
Hunting Eichmann is a fully documented, finely nuanced history that offers the intrigue of a detective story and the thrill of great spy fiction.
DINNER: A dutch treat dinner in the Gables at 6:00 pm is available for interested chapter members and visitors. All will then go to the Bascomb presentation--- coffee afterwards. If you wish to join us, please email TRSMiami@aol.com

Thursday, 2 April 2009, 6:00 p.m. - Las Vegas, NV - AFIO Las Vegas Chapter meets at Nellis Air Force Base Officers' Club. (Guest names must be submitted to me by 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 25th) Please join us at 5 p.m. in the "Check Six" bar area for Liaison, beverages and snacks/dinner
Our featured speaker for the evening will be: Rod Swanson, Supervisory Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice
Topic: "Las Vegas Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) Overview"
Supervisory Special Agent Swanson will discuss the JTTF organization, legal guidelines, and interagency coordination.
If you plan to bring a guest(s), please RSVP to me with name(s) by 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 25th. Entrance to the Base for your guest(s) cannot be guaranteed if I don't have their names.
Dinner: The Officers' Club has an excellent, informal dinner venue along with a selection of snacks. You are welcome to arrive early and join us in the "Check Six" bar area. Water will be provided during the meeting, but you may also purchase beverages and food at the bar and bring them to the meeting. Once again, please feel free to bring your spouse and/or guest(s) to dinner as well as our meeting.
You may email or call me anytime at 702-295-0073 if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you!
Christine J. Eppley, Chapter Corresponding Secretary

Thursday, 2 April 2009, 1130 - 1300hrs - Washington, DC - The Foreign Area Officers Association (FAOA) Policy-Luncheon
The speaker will be LTG Patrick Hughes, USA, Ret., former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The luncheon is open to all FAOs so please spread the word. Dress will be uniform of the day.
The cost is $24. Deadline for sign-up is 28 March, so hurry and make your reservations. Please RSVP either online or by sending a check to:
FAOA, Attn: April 2009 Lunch, PO Box 295, Mt Vernon, VA 22121

Sunday, 5 April 2009, 11:30 – 1:30 - Highland Heights, OH - AFIO Northern Ohio Chapter features Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Cleveland Field Office, on "The Cyber Threat" Location: Wellington’s Restaurant, 777 Alpha Dr, Highland Heights at I -271 at Wilson Mills Rd. 440.461.9211 or 440.442.0055 Fax 440.442.8135
DRIVING DIRECTIONS: West on Wilson Mills to Alpha Drive (about � mile); right onto alpha Drive (if you see Kohl’s, you’ve made the correct turn); immediate right into parking lot at strip mall; Wellington’s is in front of you. We’re in the alcove in the restaurant. Cost: $20 per person; Mail check with written RSVP, or pay at the door
RSVP: By mail (with check), email, or phone: to Michael S. Goldstein, Esq., 31300 Solon Rd Ste 6, Solon, OH 44139 (440) 424-4071 mgoldstein@msglpa.com

8 April 2009, 1130 - Albuquerque, NM - The AFIO New Mexico Chapter meets at the Calico Café/Vernon’s Steak House, located about ½ mile north of Osuna on the west side of 4th Street, immediately adjacent to the old El Camino Motel. The meeting place is in the “back room” behind the package store.
The speaker TBA.. Tentativelplans are to have a ceremony for the four University of New Mexico students selected to receive a scholarship sponsored by the Chapter and AFIO National. The four students – all ROTC cadets – are considering intelligence careers and were selected for their high achievement at UNM.

14 April 2009 - Tampa, FL - The AFIO Suncoast Chapter meets at the MacDill AFB Officers’ Club to hear "what the DHS/ICE does as it relates to Intelligence gathering and analysis".
Social hour starts at 11:00 am with lunch at 12:00 and our speaker will begin at 12:30.
The guest speaker is from the Department of Homeland Security / Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Tampa Bureau and is the Special Agent in Charge (SAC), so mark your calendars now. He will be speaking on what the DHS/ICE does as it relates to Intelligence gathering and analysis, working with other intelligence agencies, the current threats and counter-activities, and how this affects citizens in Florida and the Tampa Bay area.
Our April luncheon entrée will be Sweet Onion Crusted Grouper with Madeira Sauce and Chocolate Mousse for dessert, for $15.00 with gratuity inclusive. Complete and return your reservation form to arrive at the chapter post office box no later than COB Thursday, April 9th. Based on current security procedures, it is important that your reservation be received on time; we request special attention to this matter as exceptions are not possible. Replies or RSVPs to Gary at garyg@suncoastafio.org

Tuesday, 14 April 2009, 6:30 pm - Washington, DC - "America on a Need to Know Basis: Secrecy in a Free Society" at the International Spy Museum.
Some Americans wrestle with the concept of government secrecy, but the less vocal majority (and less litigious) quickly recognize that some loss of privacy outweighs living lives of fear of terror, rampant criminal acts, and constant public danger: safety afforded by good surveillance and secrecy. How much secrecy is too much and when does classification become control without bounds? Moderator Shelby Coffey III, senior fellow of the Freedom Forum and former editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times, engages a panel of experts in an exploration of these crucial questions. Join Thomas S. Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive; Peter Earnest, former chief of the CIA office responsible for FOIA, privacy, and litigation issues in the clandestine service; Ronald Goldfarb, author of In Confidence: When to Protect Secrecy and When to Require Disclosure: and Mike Levin, former chief of information policy at the National Security Agency; for a lively exchange of views on the inherent tension between the public’s right to knowledge and the government’s duty to safeguard vital national security information. Tickets: $15. www.spymuseum.org International Spy Museum, 800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC, Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station.

Thursday, 16 April 2009, 11:30AM - Scottsdale, AZ - The AFIO Arizona Chapter meetings to hear "A Strategy to Defeat Radical Islam"
The Chapter meets at the McCORMICK RANCH GOLF COURSE, 7505 E. McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale AZ 85258 ~ Phone 480.948.0260, to hear Dr. Zuhdi Jasser (www.aifdemocracy.org) discuss "A Strategy to Defeat Radical Islam: A Muslim Perspective on the Only Way to Eradicate the Threat of Terrorism." Dr. Jasser will discuss how terrorism is just a tactic of Islamists. Their real fuel is their goals. Without defeating the state dreams of Islamists (political Islam) radical Islamists will continue to virally regenerate.
The best antidote to political Islam is a pluralistic Islam which separates religion and state and brings Muslims through an enlightenment similar to that which founded the United States.
Only devotional Muslims can lead this effort and do the reform work necessary to separate spiritual, moral teachings of Islam from the global transnational political agenda of Islamists.
Dr. Jasser will also be discussing the need to develop a domestic and foreign policy strategy based in the critical engagement of Muslim organizations, governments and political entities over the threat of political Islam.
WE WILL NEED FOR EVERY MEETING an RSVP no later than 72 hours ahead of time; in the past, not reserving or cancelling without prior notice (72 hours prior to the meeting) created much grief for those of us organizing the meeting and dealing with the personnel! At this new location, we can also be charged for the no-shows and please remember, we are a small organization with a humble coffer! We would therefore APPRECIATE that you all respond to this email to confirm your presence (or not).
Our meeting fees will be as follows: • $20.00 for AFIO members • $22.00 for guests
For reservations or questions, please email Simone sl@4smartphone.net or simone@afioaz.org or call and leave a message on 602.570.6016

18 April 2009 - Kennebunk, ME. "Economic Espionage" will be the subject of the April 18 meeting of the AFIO Maine Chapter, with special guest Brian Mackenzie. Mackenzie, a U. S. citizen ,has resided in Shanghai, China for 20 years where he has a company producing leather goods for companies such as Coach. During that time he has seen Shanghai become China's largest city with a population of 20 million and the world's busiest cargo port following the 1990 economic reforms under Chinese "capitalism." Mackenzie will also discuss the China-Taiwan relationship which he indicates has not been accurately covered in the media. This speaker will bring a rare first-hand look at China, U.S.-Chinese competition, and special aspects of U.S.- China relations. The meeting, which will be held at 2:00 p.m. at the Kennebunk Free Library, 112 Main St., Kennebunk, is open to the public. For further information call 207-364-8964

Saturday, 18 April 2009 - Richardson, Texas - CIA - University of Texas at Dallas hosts special conference on "Air America." AFIO Members are invited to the CIA- UTD Conference on AIR AMERICA No charge for you to attend. Saturday, 18 April 2009: Air America:  Upholding the Airmen’s BondA symposium acknowledging and commemorating Air America’s rescue efforts during the Vietnam War April 18, 2009, 1 pm – 5:30 pm, The University of Texas at Dallas Conference Center Auditorium, Reception and viewing of CIA and UT Dallas exhibits to follow. This event is free and unclassified.  Event check-in is from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m.  Seating is limited so RSVPs are strongly encouraged.  If you do RSVP, a seat will be held for you until 12:50. To RSVP, go to http://www.utdallas.edu/airamerica/

Quietly and courageously throughout the long and difficult Vietnam War, Air America, a secretly-owned air proprietary of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), remained the indispensable instrument of CIA’s clandestine mission.  This legacy is captured in a recent CIA Director’s statement that the Agency’s mission is to “accomplish what others cannot accomplish and go where others cannot go.”  While some of Air America’s work may never be publicly acknowledged, much of the company’s critical role in wartime rescue missions can now be revealed.  This joint symposium with the CIA and The University of Texas at Dallas provides a forum for the release of thousands of pages of heretofore unavailable documents on Air America’s relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency.  Moreover, the symposium brings together many Air America veterans, a number of men rescued by Air America, and the CIA “customers” who often placed their lives and missions in the hands of this once-secret air proprietary.

Air America crews were not required to monitor military emergency radio calls, fly to the location of military personnel in distress, or place their lives at risk of enemy ground-fire and possible capture.  They received no extra compensation for rescue work and sometimes lost wages for their efforts.  However, in their flying community it was enough to know that a downed aviator was in trouble and that airmen should always come to the aid of other airmen.  It was simply the Airmen’s Bond.

Speakers/Panelists: To help commemorate Air America’s rescue efforts during the Vietnam War, the symposium will include the following speakers and panel members:

Mr. Jim Glerum - Senior Operations Officer, CIA, Retired
Dr. Timothy Castle - Noted historian and author, CIA

Panel Discussion: Laos Rescues – Lima Site 85 and other Military Rescues

John Daniel - USAF Retired, Site 85 survivor, rescued by Air America
Loy “Rusty” Irons - Air America flight mechanic on Site 85 rescue helicopter
John “Woody” Spence - Paramilitary Officer, CIA Retired, Site 85 survivor, rescued by Air America
Admiral Donald Boecker USN Retired - A6 pilot, shot-down July 1965, rescued by Air America
Sam Jordan - Air America Pilot, Participated in rescue of Admiral Boecker

Panel Discussion: The Final Days: 1975 – Rescue Efforts during the fall of South Vietnam

Dr. John F. "Joe" Guilmartin - Professor, Ohio State University.  Former USAF “Jolly Green” combat rescue pilot
Ed Adams - Air America Pilot.  Conducted rescue operations in Laos and South Vietnam.
Marius Burke - Air America Pilot.  Conducted rescue operations in Laos and South Vietnam.

Additional speakers planned include senior CIA officials speaking on the importance of openness and the release of declassified documents, senior military officers, pilots, and aviation historians.

Reception: The reception will include an opportunity to personally meet and talk to many Air America pilots and employees, those who worked with Air America, and those rescued by them, as well as the opportunity to view Air America exhibits from CIA and UT Dallas. This reception is being sponsored by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers.

Booklet and DVD: Each attendee will receive a commemorative booklet highlighting the symposium.  The booklet will include articles on Air America, photos, and a selection of recently declassified documents that include first-hand accounts of rescues and evacuations, letters of thanks from President Nixon and others, The Airmen’s Bond, and the article Why We Care by L. Michael Kandt, chaplain and general secretary of the Air America Association, Inc.

Each attendee will also receive a DVD containing electronic copies of the entire collection of newly declassified and heretofore unavailable documents.  The DVD will also contain video interviews of Air America pilots, rare footage of Lima Site 85, and photos from the CIA and McDermott Library collections.

Declassified Research Documents: In conjunction with the symposium, The UT Dallas McDermott Library will receive copies of approximately 10,000 of the recently declassified CIA documents on Air America, which will be added to the University’s History of Aviation Collection.  These government papers augment existing Air America archives given to the University by the Air America Alumni Association.  Now with the addition of the CIA materials, this collection is destined to become one of the finest sources in the nation to study this fascinating period of Cold War history.

RSVP NOW for this FREE conference,
RSVP directly to the University of Texas
at http://www.utdallas.edu/airamerica/

Hotel reservations are not available online
at the special conference rate.
By phone, only. Call to make your Hotel Reservations:
1-972-231-9600, or try 1-866-593-6300
Ask for the "CIA-UTD Air-America" rate of $85.00 valid to March 27. Register now.

Hyatt Regency – North Dallas [formerly known as the Richardson Hotel]
701 West Campbell Rd, Richardson, TX 75081

20 - 24 April 2009 - Las Vegas, NV - The International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts Annual Conference. The International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts and the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit, host their Annual Conference at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. The theme will be “Criminal Intelligence: Improving the Odds”. Internationally recognized speakers who are at the forefront of the war on crime and terrorism and those who are leaders in the intelligence community will be on hand to provide up-to-date information. Private security personnel are invited to attend non-law enforcement sensitive training at the nonmember rate. Speakers and workshops will involve training related to: criminal intelligence; international and domestic terrorism; legal issues in criminal intelligence; organized crime and gangs; and information sharing among law enforcement. See the LEIU website for updated confirmed speaker information. Seminar-related Activities: • Hosted Banquet – April 23, 2009; • Additional Activities TBA. For more information, please visit the LEIU website at http://leiu-homepage.org/events/index.php

Tuesday, 21 April 2009, noon - Newport News, VA - The new AFIO Norman Forde Hampton Roads Chapter meets in Room 207 of the Trible Library on CNU campus, Newport News with representatives of CNU's Center for American Studies and Civic Leadership (CASCL). Drs. Nathan E. Busch, co-director of the Center; Tatiana Rizova from the Department of Government and Andrew Falk from the History Department. The first hour of the meeting with be discussion about a possible partnership between AFIO Hampton Roads and CASCL; some proposed activities of the partnership include an annual regional workshop on a national security/ intelligence topic, speakers' forums, etc. The last 30 minutes of the meeting will be discussion of AFIO chapter matters -- next meetings, update on bylaws, etc. Questions to Melissa at MWSaunders@cox.net.or call her at 757-897-6268

21 - 24 April 2009 - Chicago, IL - the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals host their annual conference in Chicago.
The SCIP Annual Conference and Exhibition provides unique opportunities for education and networking, as well as showcasing the newest in products and services. See everything that SCIP09 has to offer and join us in Chicago!
Visit http://www.scip.org/content.cfm?itemnumber=5782 for more information and easy registration. $100 discount on main conference on registrations received by March 31, 2009. Special room rates and travel discounts are offered. http://www.scip.org/content.cfm?itemnumber=5782
Learn - SCIP09 has more than 60 CI sessions in five key tracks of critical and pertinent education topics, and provides access to pre-conference workshops with themes crucial to your professional development, delivered by thought leaders in the field.
Network - SCIP09 is the premiere venue for expanding your professional and personal network of CI peers from around the globe.
Shop Around - Gather information about CI vendors and consultants. SCIP09 provides the world’s most comprehensive gathering of experienced CI vendors and consultants.
Keynote speaker Michael Treacy is a world-renowned author and expert in the field, on tap to excite the audience with his CI-focused address.
Stock Up - Access to the largest collection of CI publications available, at greatly reduced prices - including the “Topics of CI” series published by the CI Foundation.
For information on the event and/or to register visit: http://www.scip.org/content.cfm?itemnumber=5782
Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, 1700 Diagonal Rd Ste 600, Alexandria, VA 22314 www.scip.org

Wednesday, 22 April 2009, 7 pm - Miami, FL - The Ted Shackley AFIO Miami Chapter invites members to hear Victor D. Comras, Esq., on "Monitoring Terrorism Abroad." He speaks at their dinner meeting at the 94th Aero Squadron , 1395 NW 57th Avenue , Miami. (305) 261 4220 ( near the Miami International Airport off Perimeter Road)
PARKING: Free/ be careful of low flying aircraft landing at Miami International Airport. Dinner is choice of Salmon or Steak, $30.00 prepaid by mail. Mail check to Tom Spencer, 999 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Suite 510, Coral Gables Florida 33134. HOSTS: The Board of Directors of the Miami Chapter.; Robert Heber;
and Tom Spencer at TRSMiami@aol.com; Carlos Melendez. RSVP: to Tom Spencer
Victor D. Comras, a retired career diplomat of the United States, is special counsel to The Eren Law Firm. Mr. Comras joined the firm from the United Nations, where he served, under appointment by Secretary General Kofi Annan, as one of five international monitors to oversee the implementation of Security Council measures against terrorism (al-Qaeda) and terrorism financing.

Wednesday, 22 April 2009 - Arlington, VA - The Defense Intelligence Forum Meets on "Cuba Wars: Castro, the U.S., and the Next Revolution." The group will meet at the Alpine Restaurant, 4770 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207. The speaker will be Daniel P Erikson, who will speak on his recent book, The Cuba Wars: Fidel Castro, the United States, and the Next Revolution. Mr. Erikson is a senior associate for U.S. Policy and director of Caribbean programs at the Inter-American Dialogue, where his work focuses on U.S. foreign policy in the region. His articles have appeared in Current History, the Miami Herald, SAIS Review, the Washington Post, and World Policy Journal. He frequently speaks on radio and television and is often cited by the U.S. and international press. His past positions include research associate at Harvard Business School and Fulbright scholar in U.S.-Mexican business relations. Pay at the door with a check for $29 made payable to DIAA, Inc. Copies of his latest book will be for sale at this event. Social hour starts at 1130, lunch at 1200. Make reservations for you and your guests by 13 April by email to diforum@verizon.net. Give names, telephone numbers, email addresses, and choices of chicken, veal, or salmon. Pay at with a check. WE DON’T TAKE CASH!

23-26 April 2009 - Great Lakes, IL - The Midwest Chapter of AFIO will host its annual conference at the Great Lakes Naval Station. Registration is $10 per person. Hotel reservations ($65 per night) can be made through April 10th by calling the Navy Lodge at 1-847-689-1485. Mention that you are with the Midwest AFIO Chapter. For more information and to confirm your attendance, please contact Angelo Di Liberti ASAP at 847-931-4184.

24 - 26 April 2009 - Nashua, NH - The Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association New England Chapter (NCVA-NE) will hold its Spring Mini-Reunion at the Radisson Hotel Nashua.
The hotel is located at 11 Tara Boulevard, Nashua, New Hampshire 03062. For information, please call (518) 664-8032 or visit their website at http://ncva-ne.org. Local individuals who served with the U.S. Naval Security Group or with its counterpart in NETWARCOM are eligible and welcome to attend the mini-reunion. New members are welcome.
Point of Contact: Vic Knorowski, NCVA-NE Publicity Chair. 8 Eagle Lane, Mechanicville, New York 12118 (518) 664-8032

Saturday, 25 April 2009, 1100 - 1430 - North Andover, MA - AFIO New England Chapter meets to hear: Problems and Prospects on U.S. Intelligence. Guest speaker: Joseph Wippl, a retired CIA Senior Officer who served as Chief of the European Division in the National Clandestine Service and as Chief of Station in key posts throughout Europe. He is now teaching at Boston University. Mr. Wippl will address the Problems and Prospects for US Espionage. Where: In the Murry Lounge located in the Sakowich Campus Center on the campus of Merrimac College, 315 Turnpike St, North Andover, MA 01845. A map of the campus can be found here http://kahuna.merrimack.edu/map/map_new.html and on a separate page, directions here http://www.merrimack.edu/maps_directions/Pages/default.aspx or on the map page.
Local hotels can be found here http://www.merrimack.edu/about/visiting/Pages/Hotels.aspx
Schedule: Registration & gathering, 11:00 - 1200, Luncheon at 1200 followed by our speaker, with adjournment at 2:30PM.
Note, as this meeting is a one day event we have not made any hotel arrangements.
For additional information contact us at afionechapter@gmail.com
Advance reservations are $20.00, $25.00 at the door - per person.
Luncheon reservations must be made by 15 April 2009.
Mail your check and the reservation form to:
Mr. Arthur Hulnick 216 Summit Avenue # E102 Brookline, MA 02446 617-739-7074 or hlnk@aol.com

30 April 2009, 8 am–6:30 pm - Gettysburg, PA - Spy City Tours™ Special - Intelligence in the Civil War: Gettysburg as a Case Study [International Spy Museum Special Event]
Why was Lee surprised at Gettysburg?  Why did Meade stand and fight on 3 July?  How did Lee describe his defeat?  Explore the dawn of modern American military intelligence with distinguished former CIA officers, Frans Bax and Barry Stevenson on this thought-provoking bus and walking tour of the Gettysburg battlefield.  Developed for new and senior U.S. intelligence officers to illustrate the essentials of their craft through in-depth analysis of the three-day battle, participants will explore the use of intelligence for decision-making by Union General Meade and how a lack of timely, accurate intelligence undermined Confederate General Lee’s capabilities.  Key decisions and choices made by the military leaders on the battlefield will be explored in depth.  The tour includes information on the development and use of intelligence in the American Civil War and will be of interest to students of the battle and lay people alike.  Lunch at the historic Cashtown Inn is included.
Tickets: $180  To register:  call 1-800-454-5768 and mention program #18181 or visit www.elderhostel.org/dayofdiscovery.

2 May 2009 - Washington, DC - The OSS Society William J. Donovan Award Dinner Honors General David H. Petraeus, USA, Commander, United States Central Command at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC. Black Tie/Dress Mess. Cocktails, $150 pp. 6:30 p.m., Dinner 7:30 p.m. For further information or to register call 703-356-6667 or visit oss@osssociety.org

20-21 May 2009 - Washington, DC - Alexander Vassiliev’s Notebooks and the Documentation of KGB Operations in the United States, 1930-1950 - a special program by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Cold War International History Project

Tentative program:
20 May 2009, 3 p.m.  - Welcome by Christian F. Ostermann, director, History & Public Policy Program, Woodrow
Wilson Center; 3:30 - 5 - Speaker TBA; 5:30 p.m. Panel 1 Provenance of the Notebooks and their use in Spies: the Rise and Fall of the KGB in America - Chair: James G. Hershberg
Alexander Vassiliev: “How I came to Write the Notebooks”; John Earl Haynes: “Digesting the Notebooks: Transcription, Translation, and Concordance Preparation”; Harvey Klehr: “Highlights and Findings (Expected and Unexpected) in Spies”. Comments by Mark Kramer (Harvard U), Katherine Sibley (St. Josephs) and James G. Hershberg (George Washington)
Discussion
5:30 p.m. Reception in Moynihan Board Room

21 May 2009, 10 a.m. - Speaker TBA; 12:00 p.m. Panel 2: Hiss, Stone, and Counterintelligence Chair: G. Edward White; Eduard Mark: “In Re Alger Hiss: A Final Verdict from the Archive of the KGB.”; Max Holland: “Three Tales of I.F. Stone and the KGB: Kalugin, Venona, and the Notebooks”; John Fox: “What the Spiders Did: U.S. and Soviet Counterintelligence before the Cold War”; Comments by G. Edward White (U. VA Law), Bruce Craig (independent scholar)
Discussion
2:00 p.m. Panel 3: “Atomic and Technical Espionage”; Chair: Ronald Radosh; Steve Usdin: “The Rosenberg Ring: Industrial-Scale Technical and Atomic Espionage”; Greg Herken: “Target Enormoz: Soviet Atomic Espionage on the West Coast, 1942-1950”; Robert S. Norris: “George Koval, A New and Unusual Manhattan Project Spy”; Comments by Ronald Radosh (CUNY, emeritus), Barton Bernstein (Stanford U)
Discussion
4:00 – Speaker TBA
4:30 p.m. Concluding Panel
Chair: Mark Kramer - Panelists and Audience Discussion

TO ATTEND or FOR MORE INFORMATION: visit Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson Center, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20004-3027; Email: coldwar@wilsoncenter.org, Tel: 202/691-4110.
Reservations are not required. All meetings take place at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC. Please see the map and directions here. Allow time for routine security procedures. A photo ID is required for entry. To confirm time and place, contact Maria-Stella Gatzoulis on the day of the event: tel. (202) 691-4188. Check this page for the latest updates and notices.

26 - 28 May 2009 - Adelphi, MD - International Association for Intelligence Education hosts annual meeting and Conference at University of Maryland. Conference features series of concurrent workshops on "Teaching Intelligence” from teaching intelligence culture, law enforcement analysis, to competitive intelligence. An impressive program of proposed speakers and topics. Confirmed speakers to be announced. The conference features presentations by the winners of the Outstanding Teacher of the Year and winning intelligence essays by a variety of students.
LOCATION: University of Maryland University College Inn and Conference Center
FEES:  $20,000 for conference sponsorship to serve as conference co-host. $10,000 for dinner sponsorship for a May 27 dinner; $5,000 Sponsor for Luncheon either Wednesday, May 27 —or— Thursday, May 28 OR Tuesday, May 26 Opening Reception; $1,000 for For-Profit members of IAFIE: $1,000 EXHIBIT Booth/Display fees. Other prices available. For individuals: $400 for both days of conference; $200 for one day only. To register, call (814) 824-2131 or email iafieconfreg@gmail.com

Wednesday, 27 May 2009, 6:30 pm - International Spy Museum presents Hot Topic: INTEL IN CYBERSPACE. WHAT: "Now, counterintelligence is a problem for everyone who has secrets to keep and … lives on a network…And that's all of us."— Joel Brenner, national counterintelligence executive for the Director of National Intelligence, 2008
In the past, spycraft depended on trained operatives, cutting-edge technologies, expensive systems, and highly specialized devices to conduct operations and collect intelligence. The “enemy” in today’s society is able to carry out their intelligence gathering and attacks from any cyber-caf� in the world. The Internet contains a vast pool of information about every government agency, private company, major corporation – and many individuals. The average user with no advanced skills can purchase just about anything online, communicate in a dozen ways – from anywhere, and for the most part, remain anonymous. Terry Gudaitis, as cyber intelligence director at Cyveillance, a firm responsible for the protection of a majority of Fortune 500 companies and 30 million global consumers, knows firsthand the enormous threat of this explosive growth in internet accessibility. Drawing on her background as a former operations officer and behavioral profiler at the CIA’s Counter Terrorist Center, Guidaitis will explore how the “enemy” is collecting information from the internet – and how they are using it to communicate, target people, case government facilities, and exploit assets. You may never log on as blithely again!
WHERE: International Spy Museum, 800 F St NW, Washington, DC, Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
TICKETS: $12.50; Advance Registration required. Tickets are non-refundable and do not include admission to the International Spy Museum. To register: order online at www.spymuseum.org; or purchase tickets in person at the International Spy Museum.

Wednesday, 3 June 2009, 6:30 p.m. - Washington, DC - Pakistan Today: The ISI, India, and What The Future Holds.
“We know full well that terror is our enemy, not India.”—Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Pakistan’s intelligence chief, December 2008
With the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, the ever-tense relationship between Pakistan and its eastern neighbor was again headline news. The Pakistani government officials condemned the attack, but the incident raised questions again about links between the Pakistani Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Islamic terror networks. How does the history of the ISI—and its partnership with the CIA during the 1980s—affect its actions and worldview? How do the United States and Pakistan look on their partnership in today’s circumstances? These pressing questions will be considered by: Shuja Nawaz, director, South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council of the United States, author of Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within; Bruce Riedel, senior fellow, foreign policy, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution, former CIA officer and senior advisor to three U.S. presidents on Middle East and South Asian issues; and Ambassador Teresita Schaffer, the director of the South Asia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, who has written extensively and testified before Congress on Pakistani issues.
WHERE: International Spy Museum, 800 F St NW, Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
TICKETS: $15; Advance Registration required. Tickets are non-refundable and do not include admission to the International Spy Museum. To register: order online at www.spymuseum.org; or purchase tickets in person at the International Spy Museum.

9 June 2009 - Newport News, VA - The AFIO Norman Forde Hampton Roads Chapter is planning a meeting and address by member Dr. Larry Wortzel on U.S.-China relations.... details TBA. Questions to Melissa at MWSaunders@cox.net or call her at 757-897-6268

13 June 2009 - Boston, MA - AFIO Boston Pops Committee commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. Join AFIO Boston-based members at Symphony Hall for a special Boston Pops Concert celebrating our nation’s triumphant achievement. Historic footage of the lunar landing provided by NASA will accompany a program of stirring patriotic music including Holst’s The Planets. Honor one of America’s proudest moments in space exploration with a spectacular Pops concert.  The AFIO Pops Committee has relocated the event back to Boston for our seventh annual Pops social event. Conductor Keith Lockhart will lead the Pops at Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, MA 02115. Join other AFIO members and friends in the Hatch Room lounge located behind the orchestra level for a social hour before the performance begins. For tickets, call Symphony Hall Charge at 888-266-1200 or online at www.bso.org. Tickets sell from $18.00 to $85.00 and are now on sale.  After purchasing your tickets, please contact Gary at wassinmaryland@aol.com  so I can add your name to the list to look for at the 1 hour social prior to the concert. Ticket prices for attending this concert does not include a gift to AFIO however the Association of Former Intelligence Officers relies greatly upon the generosity of members, corporations, foundations, and the general public who understand and wish to encourage sound intelligence policy and education in the United States.  These gifts allow AFIO and its chapters to carry out important activities in the areas of education, advocacy, seminars, publications, and conferences. Please help by making a financial donation to AFIO. Tax receipts will be issued for donations of $100 or more (does not include Pops ticket cost).  All gifts to AFIO are tax deductible.  AFIO is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) charity. We request this be done separately if you are able to contribute to AFIO. Gifts may be made here.

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

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