Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit in Italian Kidnapping Case. A judge on Thursday threw out a former State Department official's lawsuit demanding diplomatic immunity against charges she helped kidnap a terrorism suspect in Italy but said the U.S. government's handling of the case sends a "potentially demoralizing" message to American civilians serving overseas.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said the facts of the case brought by Sabrina De Sousa were troubling, but she's bound by the law to dismiss the lawsuit.

De Sousa was one of 26 U.S. officials tried in absentia in 2009 for the alleged kidnapping of Muslim cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar. It was the first trial in any country stemming from the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program, which involved moving terrorist suspects from one country to another for interrogation outside the bounds of the criminal justice system.

Italian prosecutors said De Sousa, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in India, was a CIA officer working under diplomatic cover and was one of four main U.S. officials responsible for coordinating Nasr's capture from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003. Prosecutors said he was taken to his home country of Egypt, where he was held and allegedly tortured before eventually being released.

De Sousa said she was a foreign service officer at the U.S. consulate in Milan and denied that she worked for the CIA. She said that at the time of Nasr's capture she was vacationing at a ski resort nearly 130 miles away and was not involved.

But an Italian court convicted De Sousa and sentenced her to five years in prison. She has complained that the case makes it impossible for her to see her family in India because she risks extradition to Italy if she leaves the United States.

She resigned her job over the State Department's refusal to give her immunity and sued to try to force the department to provide it. [Read more: AP/5January2012]

Spec-Ops Troops Learn to be Gumshoes. U.S. special operations forces and CIA officers once clashed over who should gather intelligence to hunt terrorists.

But a decade after the attacks of Sept. 11th, the Associated Press was given a rare look at a school at Ft. Bragg vetted by the CIA, where special operations people learn to do everything from gathering evidence to running their own spy network. The school reflects the evolution of cooperation between the two groups, best demonstrated in the CIA-run Navy SEAL raid that got Osama bin Laden last year.

The CIA still goes after the top terrorists, and gathers intelligence on areas like governments, while the military concentrates on working with foreign troops on counterterrorism. [Read more: Dozier/AP/3January2012]

Are Syrian Spies on U.S. Soil? Syrian spies are operating in the United States, keeping tabs on Syrian-Americans who oppose President Bashar al-Assad, according to a federal indictment filed in October and PBS NewsHour interviews with Syrian-Americans. 

Anti-Assad protesters in the United States have long suspected they were being watched by Syria's spy agency, the Mukhabarat. When Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid of Leesburg, Va., was indicted in October of gathering intelligence on those who oppose the Syrian government, those fears were further documented.

The indictment below alleges that Soueid "would collect video and audio recordings" of people who "protested against the government of Syria and President al-Assad and provide those recordings and information to the government of Syria ... all at the direction and control of the government of Syria and Syrian officials." It also alleges that others were acting at Soueid's direction.

Soueid's original defense team, who resigned in November after their client became indigent, filed this motion after he was denied bail. They claimed that the U.S. Attorney "engaged in deception" in arguing before a federal judge in an Alexandria, Va., courtroom. [Read more: Tobia/PBS/3January/2012]

US 'Space Warplane' May be Spying on Chinese Spacelab. The US Air Force's second mysterious mini-space shuttle, the X-37B, could be spying on China's space laboratory and the first piece of its space station, Tiangong-1.

Amateur space trackers told the British Interplanetary Society publication Spaceflight that the black-funded spaceplane seemed to be orbiting the Earth in tandem with Tiangong_1, or the Heavenly Palace, leading the magazine to speculate that its unknown mission is to spy on it.

"Space-to-space surveillance is a whole new ball game made possible by a finessed group of sensors and sensor suites, which we think the X-37B may be using to maintain a close watch on China's nascent space station," Spaceflight editor Dr David Baker told the BBC.

America has refused to come clean on exactly what the X-37Bs are meant to be doing up there, but the line on the plane has always been that it's a test prototype of a reusable spacecraft that can carry experiments into and back from space. [Read more: Parnell/TheRegister/6January2012]

Cyber Spies Try Probing U.S. Drone Plans. China-based hackers for months have been targeting federal agencies and contractors through infected emails apparently to spy on the Pentagon's drone strategy and other intelligence matters, according to Internet security researchers.

The reported espionage employed a tactic known as spear-phishing where infiltrators, operating under the guise of a legitimate sender, email specific victims a virus-laden file or link. In this case, the hackers used email addresses from military and other government organizations, Jaime Blasco, manager of AlienVault Labs, said Tuesday.

Some emails went to employees at U.S. military contractors, he said, but declined to discuss any information related to specific victims.

The lab traced samples of the malicious software to network addresses in China, AlienVault disclosed last month.

Blasco has since discovered from the same spies separate malware that is capable of overriding Pentagon smart card credentials, known as the Common Access Card, to get into protected resources, he said Tuesday. In addition, the intruders have been pursuing other government organizations with information of interest to Chinese intelligence operations -- including the General Services Administration, the U.S. government's buying arm, and the Central Tibetan Administration.

"After studying all these attacks and all the methods used, we can conclude that they are likely the same group behind all these attacks," Blasco said. [Read more: Sternstein/NextGov/3January2012]

Iran Sentences US Man to Death for Spying. An American ex-Marine, who also holds Iranian citizenship, has been sentenced to death by an Iran judge after he was found guilty of spying for the CIA, the Fars news agency reports.

"Amir Mirza Hekmati was sentenced to death... for cooperating with the hostile country America and spying for the CIA," the Iranian Student's News Agency (ISNA) quoted judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei as saying.

"The court found him corrupt on the earth and mohareb [one who wages war on God]. Hekmati can appeal to the Supreme Court."

Iran's highest court must confirm all death sentences. It is not known when it will rule in Hekmati's case.

Hekmati, 28, was born in the south-western US state of Arizona to an Iranian immigrant family and graduated from a high school in Michigan. His father Ali is a professor at a community college in Flint, Michigan.

He was arrested in December and Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused him of receiving training at US bases in neighbouring Afghanistan and Iraq.

Iran's judiciary said Hekmati admitted to having links with the CIA but denied any intention of harming Iran. [Read more: Reuters/9January2012]

Graduating 4,000 from ODNI's Analysis 101

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI's) Analysis 101 program reached a milestone with the graduation of its 4,000th student Dec. 16. The course, for which DIA is the executive agent, provides an introduction to analytical techniques and a basic foundation for new intelligence analysts across the intelligence community (IC).
ODNI Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration Robert Cardillo attended the ceremony and presented a special certificate to the symbolic 4,000th graduate.
"What you are about to do is critically important, and it's not always easy to see that. You need to continually challenge yourself," Cardillo said to the graduating class. He encouraged students to build on this foundation and be true to their tradecraft of analysis -constantly asking why, and for whom, they are writing their product. He also promoted the value in being comfortable enough to seek different perspectives.
Created in response to 9/11, Analysis 101 is the IC's entry-level course that ensures analytical tradecraft consistency across the IC. The two-week program enhances the ability of each analyst to think critically when examining intelligence information and underscores the importance of jointness while working as a member of the IC
By working closely with peers from other agencies, new analysts acquire an interagency mindset regarding the intelligence enterprise. To date, the program has trained analysts from 40 different intelligence agencies and organizations, and each class has representatives from roughly seven to 18 organizations.
For employees at DIA Analysis 101 is followed by a four-week Fundamentals of Intelligence Analysis course that reinforces the lessons of critical thinking; goes into greater depth on structured analytical techniques; and focuses on DIA systems, writing and briefing techniques. Thereafter, new analysts can go on to specialty training in fields such as counterterrorism, counternarcotics or counterintelligence.
The course continues to have outstanding IC support, and each iteration operates near full capacity. During its three year existence, course attendees have included analysts from DIA, CIA, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and Office of Naval Intelligence, among others. Overall, the program is changing the way IC analysts begin their careers and learn the value of collaboration.
Cardillo left the graduating class with one final piece of advice: "Don't lose your class roster. It's a network you'll use the rest of your career." [DIA PubAffrs]

Intelligence Bill makes DHS I&A Officially Part of Spook Group.  The fiscal 2012 intelligence community authorization bill signed into law Jan. 3 by President Obama officially codifies the Homeland Security Department's Office of Intelligence and Analysis as part of that community.

The bill also calls on DHS to report back to Congress on whether airspace restrictions hamper the use of unmanned aerial vehicles along the southwestern border. Customs and Border Protection has increasingly turned to UAVs as a surveillance tool along the Mexican-U.S. border, announcing in December that it received its fourth Predator-B drone for use there.

In addition, the director of national intelligence should produce a report every 6 months--and make an unclassified summary of it available--regarding to recidivism rate of detainees formerly held at Guantanamo Bay and an assessment of the likelihood that current or former detainees will engage in terrorism. [Read more: Perera/FierceHomelandSecurity/9January2012]

Defense, CIA to Investigate Access for Filmmakers to Info on Bin Laden Kill Mission. The Defense Department and CIA have agreed to investigate access to and possible release of classified information to Hollywood filmmakers on the killing of Usama bin Laden after a Republican lawmaker questioned the release of information into the May 1 raid in Pakistan.

Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, asked for a review in August as to whether "Hurt Locker" director Kathryn Bigelow was given access that King suggested could leave U.S. military secrets and personnel open either to leaks or worse. Bigelow and executive Mark Boal are working on a movie about the hunt for Bin Laden.

King said in a statement Thursday he was gratified that the two agencies had agreed to look into Bigelow's and Boal's access.

"Following a shockingly dismissive response to my request from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, I am pleased that the inspectors general at DoD and the CIA agree with me that potential leaks to filmmakers are something worth investigating and taking action to address," King said. 

"The leaks that followed the successful bin Laden mission led to the arrests of Pakistanis and put in danger the mission's heroes and their families," he said.

In her Dec. 23 letter to King, CIA Deputy Inspector General Patricia A. Lewis wrote that "the CIA's Office of Public Affairs handles requests for information from the entertainment industry."

"According to a senior official from that office, the protection of national security equities - including the preservation of our ability to conduct effective counterterrorism operation - is the decisive factor in determining how the CIA engages with filmmakers and the media as a whole," she wrote.

The office also is "developing a written policy to create a single point of reference that will govern future interactions with the entertainment industry," she added.

Citing a New York Times report, King wrote in his Aug. 9 letter that Bigelow and Boal were granted "'top-level access to the most classified mission in history' to produce a move about the raid, due for release in October 2012. Reportedly, a Hollywood filmmaker also attended a CIA ceremony in honor of the team that carried out the raid." 

King asked whether the White House was involved in consultations on the "advisability" of providing Hollywood executives with access to covert military operators and clandestine CIA officers; whether the Defense Department or CIA will get an advance copy of the film to review to determine if special operations tactics or techniques were revealed and how compromised undercover agents may be by the presence of filmmakers at CIA meetings about the raid. 

The White House has denied discussing classified information and in August dismissed King's concern. [Read more: FoxNews/5January2012]

New U.S. Strategy to Keep up Spy Technology Funding. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the Pentagon's leaner military strategy will keep up funding in surveillance and intelligence technologies, including unmanned vehicles and cyber warfare, even as the overall defense budget declines.

"We will protect, and in some cases increase our investments in special operations forces, in new technologies like (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), and unmanned systems, in space and particularly in cyberspace capabilities, and also capacity to quickly mobilize," Panetta told reporters at the Pentagon.

President Barack Obama unveiled a new defense strategy on Thursday that will shrink the U.S. armed forces at a time of tight budgets at home, but he pledged to maintain the United States as the world's dominant military power.

The new military strategy unveiled on said the Pentagon would "make every effort to maintain an adequate industrial base and our investment in science and technology." [Read more: Reuters/5January2012]

US Military Dedicates New Facility for Code Work. U.S. military personnel who specialize in deciphering foreign intelligence have a new home at Pearl Harbor.

Federal officials held a dedication ceremony Friday for a new building for soldiers who work in breaking codes of foreign adversaries.

Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser military cryptography work has continued today to help the U.S. in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

The facility will be named for Joseph J. Rochefort, a U.S. Navy captain who led a team that deciphered Japanese military messages during World War II. [Read more: AP/7January2012]

Contractors Waste Billions Awaiting Clearances. Federal delays in granting security clearances keep 10 percent to 20 percent of federal intelligence contractors from doing their intended work, wasting billions of dollars, a new report says.

Contractors - many of whom are former federal employees who held clearances in the past - can wait weeks to months for a security clearance when they take on a new assignment with a different federal agency, according to the report by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), a nonprofit group representing federal intelligence and military officials, as well as federal contractors.

Agencies typically do not honor security clearances granted by other federal agencies, even though they are supposed to.

"If the person holds the clearances ... you shouldn't have to go through a lot of process," said Charlie Allen, former Homeland Security undersecretary for intelligence and analysis, who led the INSA Security Clearance Reform task force. "We think the processes could be greatly improved. Significant savings can be incurred."

While new employees wait, they still draw the plum salaries reserved for those with security clearances - doing nothing or work that doesn't require special access.

"They can always do business development. Businesses are always looking at other contracts. I'm sure they're keeping them busy from the point of the contractor," Allen said. "And sometimes they really don't have work. They're simply in a waiting pool, frustrated and waiting to get on the contract." [Read more: Chacko/FederalTimes/8January2012]

GCHQ Turns to Bonuses to Retain Cyber Spooks. British intelligence agency GCHQ has been given the go-ahead to offer bonuses to staff with cyber expertise in a bid to dissuade them from taking up higher paid private sector jobs, it has been reported.

The agency's director Iain Lobban admitted months ago that he was unable to compete with the likes of Microsoft and Google, meaning the agency was losing people with the skills needed to address cyber security.

According to the Gloucestershire Echo, the government has now approved bonuses for key staff to help the agency address the problem.

But a spokesman for GCHQ denied reports that that incentives would run into "tens of thousands of pounds" for some individuals.

"We are never likely to be able to compete with high-tech companies on salary alone," he told Guardian Government Computing. "We clearly value our staff and their contribution to our unique mission in support of the UK's national security and economic wellbeing." [Read more: PSUK/5January2012]

U.S. Expels Venezuelan Consul as Spy. The State Department booted a Venezuelan consul general over an alleged plot among Venezuela Iran and Cuba diplomats to start a cyberattack against Washington.

The department said it gave Livia Acosta Noguera, Venezuela's consul general in Miami, until Tuesday to leave the United States after declaring her "persona non grata," the most serious form of censure a country can apply to a foreign diplomat, who is otherwise protected by diplomatic immunity from arrest and other normal kinds of prosecution.

Caracas was notified of the expulsion Friday, department spokesman Mark Toner said Sunday.

Acosta was allegedly involved in plans, with a group of Venezuelan, Iranian and Cuban diplomats, then based in Mexico, to attack the computer systems of the White House, FBI, CIA, Pentagon, National Security Agency and several nuclear power plants, the U.S.-based Spanish-language TV network Univision reported.

Iran's former ambassador to Mexico, Mohammad Hassan Ghadir, appeared in the documentary report last month and denied the accusations, which date from 2008.

The program and Miami's Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald tied Acosta to Venezuela's spy agency, the Bolivarian Intelligence Service.

Acosta's whereabouts where unclear Sunday. The Venezuelan consulate in Miami was closed, the Herald reported, and the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington said any statement about the expulsion would come from Caracas.

Caracas had no immediate comment. [Read more: UPI/9January2012]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Gun Glove? These Are Some of the Sneaky Spy Weapons Used By the KGB. During the height of the Cold War, the premiere Soviet intelligence service - the KGB - was feared around the globe for its ruthlessness and treachery, and today many of its sinister spy trade tools have come to light.

The site EnglishRussia* has posted a number of these espionage tools for the public to peruse. While they look like something out of a James Bond movie, many of these devices were used for deadly purposes.

1) The Gun Glove. This contraption gives new meaning to the term "firm handshake." Capable of firing a small bullet with the movement of a finger, the KGB gun glove was a low-tech, but highly effective means of concealing gun in public.

It gave the wearer the ability to get within point blank range before firing a lethal shot. Oddjob would be proud. [Read more: TheBlaze/4January2012]

How Jack Kirby's Art Helped the CIA Rescue Diplomats in 1979. I don't think I'm overstating things when I say that I'm a pretty big fan of Jack Kirby, the legendary artist who co-created Captain America, Thor, the Avengers, the Marvel Universe, romance comics, and... well, pretty much everything in modern comic books except the staples. He's my all-time favorite. I've got a ton of Kirby comics, and I've even got a full set of the trading cards they made of his unproduced animation concepts that he worked on in the '80s.

That's why I was so surprised that I'm apparently one of the last people on Earth to find out about Kirby's connection to a CIA operation to extract six diplomats from Iran during the famous hostage crisis of 1979 - and even more so when I found out from my pal Chad Bowers when he found out because Michael Parks, the guy who played the aviator-sporting sheriff in Kill Bill had been cast as Kirby in an upcoming movie directed by Ben Affleck about the whole affair. Either way, I'm glad I did, because it turns out to be one of the strangest and most fascinating real-life stories I've ever heard.

Then again, you may have heard this story before. It made a few headlines back in 2007, when the CIA released a compelling retrospective from one of the men behind the operation, Antonio J. Mendez. It was also covered in an extensive piece in Wired and, of course, The Jack Kirby Collector. There's a good reason for all the attention, and it all starts with Roger Zelazny. [Read more: Sims/ComicsAlliance/5January2012]

Al-Qaeda Members Gripe Over Cash Crunch as U.S. Targets Funding. Few people noticed Saudi Arabia's three-day conference in September on disrupting terrorism financing. For a team at the U.S. Treasury Department, though, it was a long-sought victory in the fight against al-Qaeda.

While drone attacks and covert operations such as the raid that killed Osama bin Laden get headlines, terrorism relies just as much on cash as on car bombs. With that in mind, a cadre of intelligence analysts at the Treasury wage a quiet war to choke off terrorists' money supplies.

"The financial dimension is critical," said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a terrorism researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, in a telephone interview.

The Saudi session brought together regional officials involved in countering money laundering and terrorism. Conducted with the help of officials from the Treasury and other U.S. agencies, the conference provided training in financial investigative techniques.

Like the Saudi meeting, many of the efforts to obstruct terrorist financing draw little public notice, particularly because it is difficult to show that they may have helped prevent attacks. Still, less money has been flowing from wealthy Persian Gulf sympathizers to the terrorist group's remaining leaders in Pakistan since the Saudis got serious about terrorism financing in recent years, said a senior U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because intelligence issues are classified. [Read more: Bloomberg/10January2012]

Section III - COMMENTARY

Brave New World of Weaponry. Despite the ongoing, muffled debate over the use of armed U.S. drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and elsewhere, technological advances allow better-integrated intelligence to go to those who pick targets, guaranteeing a continuation of these types of attacks from afar.

Those same intelligence advances, however, also will enable better protection of American and allied forces fighting on the ground.

From dropping bombs from aircraft high above their targets in Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War to firing Tomahawk cruise missiles from submarines hundreds of miles away at Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, Saddam Hussein in Iraq or Moammar Gaddafi in Libya, the U.S. has specialized in developing weapons that seek out targets with precision.

Such weapons are far from perfect, and almost all of them inevitably kill individuals for which they were not intended. One of the earliest stories I wrote was about the one-kiloton U.S. neutron warhead (explosive power equal to 1,000 tons of TNT) that I was told was developed to be used in Europe, where towns were "two kilotons apart" and therefore would not incur collateral damage.

Who can forget the Cold War rhetoric of possibly using nuclear weapons for "surgical strikes?"

Now we have "precision guided" conventional bombs and missiles, some with programmed guidance systems in their noses, others designed to follow laser beams directed on targets from the air or ground.

In almost all cases, the purpose is to kill an enemy or destroy a target while at the same time protecting our forces from exposure to hostile fire.

The process to find new techniques is unending. [Read more: Pincus/WashingtonPost/4January2012]

Iran's Nuclear Program: What Intelligence Would Suffice? In August 2006, I wrote a piece for the Washington Post, "Share the Evidence on Iran," which called on the George W. Bush administration to declassify the main findings of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. As many aspects of Iran's progress towards nuclear capability had already been selectively leaked to the media, I argued that "declassifying the key judgments and dissents would publicly establish the intelligence community opinion" and clarify erroneous judgments.

My argument, formulated after reading several hundred declassified NIEs for a research project, was that, if President Bush authorized a preemptive attack against Iran's nuclear facilities, his administration should put forth a compelling and qualified rationale for the necessity of such a risky endeavor. This should include the public release of the most accurate U.S. government estimates - in this case, the NIE - sanitized so as not to reveal classified sources or methods. President Bush was certainly aware of this reality when he revealed in 2006: "People will say, if we're trying to make the case on Iran, 'Well, the intelligence failed in Iraq, therefore how can we trust the intelligence in Iran?"

On December 3, 2007, the Bush administration decided to declassify three pages of the NIE entitled, "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities". The opening statement was a shocker:

"We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program; we also assess with moderate-to-high confidence that Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons."

Over the course of seventeen months, counterintelligence analysts carefully drafted and then "red teamed" the 2007 NIE on Iran (in comparison, the infamous 2002 NIE on Iraq was compiled and approved in only twenty days). The authors of the 140-page document - led by Vann Van Diepen, former national intelligence officer for WMD - were told that its content would never be publicized. In addition, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell issued a directive to make declassification of the 2007 NIE impossible. However, according to David Sanger, "when Bush was briefed...he told McConnell that the conclusion was so dramatic that it would have to be made public."

For a document that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence described as the "IC's [Intelligence Community's] most authoritative written assessments on national security issues," a large number of bipartisan policymakers were disappointed by the main judgments of the 2007 NIE on Iran. Senator Mark Kirk called the 2007 NIE "a mistake," and ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Howard Berman said that "neither the administration nor Congress paid it much attention." Greg Schulte, former U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, unequivocally stated: "I never want to see something like the 2007 NIE again. Nothing did more to set back my job [at the IAEA] in terms of how key judgments were drafted."

In late 2009, the IC began to update the 2007 NIE on Iran, with the final version reportedly completed in February 2011. Briefing Congress on the NIE behind closed doors, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified, "We continue to assess Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons." But, "We do not know....if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons."

These discussions are significant because proponents of a preemptive attack on Iran's suspected nuclear program rarely discuss how they are certain Iran will build a bomb, and how the American people should be made aware of this before the president orders military force. [Read more: Zenko/CouncilonForeignRelations/9January2012]

Needed: A National Economic Security Lens. Last October, a U.S. intelligence report to Congress revealed that foreign economic espionage worth billions of dollars is being driven by China and Russia and represents a "significant and growing" threat to the nation's prosperity and security.

The Internet has accelerated and amplified economic vulnerabilities given the ease of digital access to mass amounts of data, low barriers of entry to cyber intrusion, and the useful cloak of online anonymity. But this threat to our national economic security isn't confined to cyberspace.

In the interconnected global environment, economic power, access to resources, and cutting edge technologies are defining both power and vulnerabilities. China and Russia have already demonstrated their willingness to engage in a new geo-economic game. It's one the United States needs to learn to play quickly.

During a diplomatic spat last year with Japan, China suspended its export of rare-earth minerals - necessary for key high-tech manufactured items like hybrid engines and solar panels. China has also used its undervalued currency, subsidies, and the weight of its market - both current and future - to demand local content and partnership concessions from foreign companies.

The resulting transfer of technology and marginalization of multinational companies has allowed Chinese companies to take larger chunks of the global solar, wind turbine, and high-speed rail markets. At the same time, Chinese infrastructure and extraction projects in Africa, Central Asia, and Latin America are facilitating Chinese access to both raw materials and political influence.

Russia hasn't hesitated to play the game either, using its oil and natural gas resources to exert political pressure while padding the Kremlin's coffers. In 2006 and again in 2009, Russia shut off natural gas supplies to Europe through Ukrainian pipelines to extract concessions from the Ukraine and put political pressure on a rival. Russia - through Gazprom - has also followed an acquisition pattern of "plugging the holes" of alternate channels of energy supply to Europe in the Balkans, Poland, and perhaps now in Greece.

The United States is unprepared to play this new geo-economic game. Our current approach to economic security abroad reflects a reticence to meld political and economic interests, something Secretary of State Clinton has begun to highlight. This underscores a long-standing structural divide between national security policies and the role of the U.S. private sector in the international commercial and financial system.

The most egregious examples are in Iraq and Afghanistan. American blood and treasure have been spent to establish security and functioning economies, but American companies and interests are often left on the sidelines as Chinese, Russian, and other countries' companies profit from oil, mineral, and other sectors.

U.S. economic reach and influence has been taken for granted as a function of the free trade paradigm that the United States helped establish and the competitive advantages of U.S. companies against foreign competitors. This is now in jeopardy, with not only economic advantage but international influence at risk.

As the Venn diagram of economic and national security overlaps ever more exactly, the United States should craft a deliberate strategy that aligns economic strength with national security interests.

The intelligence community should prioritize collection and analysis to focus on the global landscape through this national economic security lens. [Read more: Zarate/CBS/5January2012]

Working The Case. In the last decade, the U.S. Army intensified its use of police investigation techniques on the battlefield. It was in Iraq that this first became a common military drill. It took the form of a CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) type effort the troops, along with some civilians, did after every attack on coalition troops. The army did it mainly to find out exactly what happened so they could adjust their tactics to make it harder for the enemy to hit them in the future. But that was just the beginning. In 2003 the U.S. government sent up Tedac (Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center). This organization was secret until testimony in Congress several years later revealed its existence. Tedec drew its staff from the FBI, Defense intelligence Agency, CIA, the National Security Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and other intelligence agencies not named. What Tedec tried to do was identify types of bombs, and how many different bomb makers were out there. To make this work, the army's usual investigations to be, well, more CSI-like. This made it possible to identify who made the bombs.

Making bombs for terrorist attacks is a tricky business, and there were frequent accidents where bomb makers committed errors and blew themselves up. Israeli intelligence has long known that only a handful of "engineers" have been making the bombs used for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. So the Israelis made a major effort to identify the "engineers", and kill or capture them. Once a lot of the engineers were out of the way, there were fewer bombing attempts, and more explosions in Palestinian areas, when less skilled "engineers" screwed up while building bombs.

American intelligence found that the CSI techniques led to more than just the bomb makers. Eventually, troops were being taught to look for specific "intel rich" items like laptops and notebooks, and documents in general, as well as fingerprints and DNA. This use of CSI and police investigation techniques became more common in Iraq, and then Afghanistan, partly because reservists, who were police investigators back home, made it possible to get the troops access to the latest techniques and equipment. This greatly speeded up intelligence collection, analysis and follow-up. One raid would often lead to several more additional within 24 hours. This would often catch the enemy before they were even aware of the initial raid.

For once, it was the regular army that was creating a powerful new technique for SOCOM (Special Operations Command). Eventually, SOCOM began giving their operators the CIS training as well. There was a downside to this, as the CSI training made SOCOM operatives even more attractive to CIA recruiters. [Read more: StrategyPage/8January2012]

Think Again: Intelligence. I served in the CIA for 28 years and I can tell you: America's screw-ups come from bad leaders, not lousy spies. 

From George W. Bush trumpeting WMD reports about Iraq to this year's Republican presidential candidates vowing to set policy in Afghanistan based on the dictates of the intelligence community, Americans often get the sense that their leaders' hands are guided abroad by their all-knowing spying apparatus. After all, the United States spends about $80 billion on intelligence each year, which provides a flood of important guidance every week on matters ranging from hunting terrorists to countering China's growing military capabilities. This analysis informs policymakers' day-to-day decision-making and sometimes gets them to look more closely at problems, such as the rising threat from al Qaeda in the late 1990s, than they otherwise would.

On major foreign-policy decisions, however, whether going to war or broadly rethinking U.S. strategy in the Arab world (as President Barack Obama is likely doing now), intelligence is not the decisive factor. The influences that really matter are the ones that leaders bring with them into office: their own strategic sense, the lessons they have drawn from history or personal experience, the imperatives of domestic politics, and their own neuroses. A memo or briefing emanating from some unfamiliar corner of the bureaucracy hardly stands a chance.

Besides, one should never underestimate the influence of conventional wisdom. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his inner circle received the intelligence community's gloomy assessments of South Vietnam's ability to stand on its own feet, as well as comparably pessimistic reports from U.S. military leaders on the likely cost and time commitment of a U.S. military effort there. But they lost out to the domino theory - the idea that if South Vietnam fell to communism, a succession of other countries in the developing world would as well. President Harry Truman decided to intervene in Korea based on the lessons of the past: the Allies' failure to stand up to the Axis powers before World War II and the West's postwar success in firmly responding to communist aggression in Greece and Berlin. President Richard Nixon's historic opening to China was shaped by his brooding in the political wilderness about great-power strategy and his place in it. The Obama administration's recent drumbeating about Iran is largely a function of domestic politics. Advice from Langley, for better or worse, had little to do with any of this. [Read more: Pillar/ForeignPolicy/4January2012]

Section IV - Careers, Books, Obituaries and Coming Events

Careers
 [IMPORTANT: AFIO does not "vet" or endorse these research inquiries or job offers. Reasonable-sounding inquiries and career offerings are published as a service to our members, and for researchers, educators, and subscribers. You are urged to exercise your usual caution and good judgment when responding or supplying any information.]

Director of Homeland Security Programs:  American Military University/American Public University System.

Synopsis of Role:
The Director of Homeland Security Programs is a key leadership position within the university. The Director provides the resources for a quality learning experience for students by ensuring coherence in the discipline and relevance to the practice. This management position contributes to a range of activities that support student learning outcomes, program quality, and discipline integrity, all of which focus on student learning and retention. The Director facilitates the work with other departments including faculty hiring, institutional research and assessment, instructional design, Library and course materials, and marketing. The Director of Homeland Security Program collaborates with the Director of Faculty to provide the total learning experience for students and a cohesive work environment for faculty.

Required Experience
- Terminal degree in a field related to Homeland Security from a regionally accredited institution is required.
- Five or more years of experience in Homeland Security is required.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite programs required.
- Three or more years of college level teaching experience is required.
- One or more years of online teaching experience is required.

Essential Functions:
Responsible for program curriculum quality and management of discipline leaders to include:
- Program and discipline quality
- Define program and course objectives, review regularly, and revise as needed.
- Update program content and materials and/or delivery methods, based on information such as emerging practice changes in the discipline, instructional effectiveness data, current or future performance requirements, feasibility, and costs.
- Research, evaluate and prepare recommendations on current and future curricula.
- Work with discipline course leads to ensure discipline and program continuity, currency, and relevance.
- Convene regular meetings with course leads so they are aware of how their course(s) fit within the overall program progression, and other APUS requirements.
- Interview and utilize subject matter experts as well as conduct other research to develop relevant and current instructional content and methods of instruction.
- Confer with members of educational committees and advisory groups to obtain knowledge of subject areas, and to relate curriculum materials to specific subjects, individual student needs, occupational areas, and discipline knowledge.
- Analyze various program areas and prepare program and course analysis for program and course reviews, and course and homework contact hours.
- Work with Institutional Research Department to develop course and program assessments that evaluate student learning and effectiveness of instructional strategies and methods to achieve learning outcomes.
- Regularly analyze and report on data to assess student learning and retention.
- Program delivery
- Ensure APUS instructional standards and policies are reflected in course design.
- Research and evaluate emerging instructional technologies or methods and develop instructional materials (e.g., lessons, audio-visual materials, etc.) accordingly.
- Provide analytical support for the design and development of curricula, learning strategies, educational policies, or courseware standards.
- Ensures model courses are developed and maintained according to applicable accreditation, certification, or other requirements.
- External review and validation
- Engage with external expert reviewers to review program content; execute reviewer recommendations as applicable.
- Convene and Chair Industry Advisory Council meetings.
- Discipline communities
- Coach/mentor discipline leaders (e.g., course leads and full-time faculty) in curriculum development, as needed, to ensure standards are maintained.
- Support/promote ongoing professional development and scholarship for course leads and full-time faculty.
- Ensure course leads and full-time faculty are aware of new classroom procedures and instructional materials.
- Recognize course leads and full-time faculty for outstanding performance or accomplishments.
- Provide input for annual performance reviews.
- Regularly advise instructors in curriculum development and use of materials.
- Chair meetings with instructors teaching courses in the discipline (monthly or quarterly) on curriculum/content/development of discipline and practice with those who teach in the program, and to promote community among all in the discipline.
- Maintain discipline knowledge and establish and advance discipline as leader per APUS Strategic Plan and priorities.
- Conduct research and publish, and if applicable, contribute to the practice and in industry.
- Participate in the discipline-related professional communities.
- Teach courses within program (i.e., 150 registrations per year).
- Support APUS initiatives and departments; specifically marketing.

Competencies Critical to this Position:
- Adaptability/Flexibility - Open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
- Attention to Detail - Careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
- Cooperation - Pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
- Discipline Expertise - Willing and able to remain current on discipline development.
- Initiative - Willing and able to take on responsibilities and challenges.
- Innovation - Creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
- Leadership - Willing and able to lead; take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
- Self-Control - Maintain composure, keep emotions in check, control anger, and avoid aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
- Stress Tolerance - Ability to accept criticism and deal calmly and effectively with high stress situations.

Work Environment and Physical Demands:
- This is a remote position.
- Requires attendance at meetings in Charles Town, WV, Virginia, or DC.
- Sitting, walking, climbing stairs, extensive use of keyboard.

To apply: APPLICATION LINK
Questions? Email aclayton@apus.edu

Annette Clayton| Faculty Recruiter
American Public University System
American Military University | American Public University
P.O. Box 947, Charles Town, WV 25414
T 304-724-2855 |F 703-334-4713| aclayton@apus.edu | www.apus.edu

Books

Two New Security Books Ponder: Just How Vulnerable Are We? Two recently-published books, "America the Vulnerable" by Joel Brenner, a former official at the National Security Agency (NSA) and "When Gadgets Betray Us," by writer and security analyst Robert Vamosi, have one theme in common: We've come to depend on modern networks and technology, but the compromise of them by attackers is a serious threat to both individuals and society as a whole.

In "America the Vulnerable," Brenner, formerly inspector general at the NSA and chief of counterintelligence for the director of National Intelligence, says his work over the years gave him "a hair-raising view of the incessant conflicts being waged in cyberspace - conflicts short of war but involving concerted attempts to penetrate our nation's information systems and critical infrastructure. [Read more: Messmer/ComputerWorld/9January2012]

MI5 Tapped Phones of King Edward VIII and His Brother Amid Abdication Crisis, a New Book Claims. MI5 agents tapped the phones of King Edward VIII and his brother the Duke of York at the height of the abdication crisis that changed the course of British history, according to a newly published book.

The claim appears in a biography of Tommy Robertson, who pioneered Britain's wartime counter-intelligence operations.

Edward VIII's infatuation with American divorcee and socialite Wallis Simpson sparked a constitutional crisis.

She had divorced her first husband and was seeking a divorce from her second. In addition she was suspected by many in the Government of having Nazi sympathies. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin said the Government would resign en masse if the marriage went ahead.

After 11 turbulent months, on 11 December 1936, Edward said in a broadcast to the nation and the Empire: "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love." The pair were married in a chateau in France.

Instead the crown passed to his shy, stammering brother Albert, known as "Bertie", who became King George VI and the father of the Queen. He forbade royal family members to attend his brother's wedding.

During the months of turbulence leading up to the abdication, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin called in Sir Vernon Kell, the head of MI5.

According to author Geoffrey Elliott, Robertson tapped into the royal brothers' conversation from a telephone junction box at the edge of Green Park near 145 Piccadilly, the Duke of York's home. 

Robertson's brother, Major General Ian Robertson, sent Elliott a four-page note in which he said his brother had told him that under cover of darkness he had slipped into Green Park and listened into the brothers' conversation via a GPO telephone junction box in the bushes.

Tommy Robertson's daughter, Mrs Belinda McEvoy, told the Daily Express yesterday: "I didn't know the business about him being in the bushes in Green Park but I remember him telling me: 'I was the only person to know he [the king] was going to abdicate." [Read more: DailyMail/7January2012]

Obituaries

Donald A. Kelly. Donald A. Kelly, 74, who retired from the CIA in 1987 after 28 years as a communications officer, died Dec. 22 at the home of his daughter in Laytonsville, Md. He had liver cancer.

The death was confirmed by his son, Derek A. Kelly.

Donald Arthur Kelly was born in Queens. He joined the CIA in 1959 after four years in the Air Force. He was a cryptographic equipment specialist for several agency projects, and he received the Intelligence Commendation Medal.

A former Rockville resident, he relocated to Florida in 1987 and lived in Bradenton until moving to Hilton Head, S.C., seven years ago.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Carol Baer Kelly of Hilton Head; three children, Donna M. Kelly of Belton, Tex., Pamela R. Teague of Laytonsville and Derek A. Kelly of Burke; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandson. [Read more: Barnes/WashingtonPost/3January2012]

Coming Educational Events

EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

MANY Spy Museum Events in January, February and beyond, with full details are listed on the AFIO Website at www.afio.com. The titles for some of these are in detail below and online.

Wednesday, 11 January 2012 - Albuquerque, NM - The AFIO ABQ Chapter features Rich Sullivan, on the John Walker Spy Case

11:15 AM: Arrive, Sign in, Order Lunch 11:45 AM: Call To Order
Location: Marcello's Chophouse, Albuquerque Uptown
Rich Sullivan, one of our members is a retired NCIS Special Agent, and familiar with many of the specifics on the Walker spy case…one in which he was personally involved. That's something to look forward to. Inquiries or reservations to Pete B at foreigndevil@yahoo.com

Wednesday 11 January 2012, 11:30 am - Scottsdale, AZ - CW4 Russ Hamilton addresses AFIO AZ Chapter on "Tactical HUMINT and CI Ops in Iraq."

CW4 Russ Hamilton speaks on "Tactical HUMINT and CI Operations in Iraq: Issues with establishing, conducting and operating US Army Counterintelligence and Tactical HUMINT teams in Iraq during OIF 2 (2004)."
CW4 Hamilton has over 26 years of experience with US Army Counterintelligence operations and has a total of 33 years in the Army. He enlisted at 17 into the Rangers and later served in Mechanized and Airborne Infantry units. In 1984, he reenlisted into a Special Forces Army Reserve intelligence unit and has since been in the intelligence community, becoming a Warrant Officer in 1995.
He has served overseas in several locations to include Alaska, Hawaii, South Korea, Kosovo and Iraq. Additionally, spent 21 years with the AZ Department of Public Safety as a Highway Patrol Officer and a Detective working in the Intelligence and the Licensing Bureaus. He is still in the US Army Reserve and plans to continue until 2021, when he reaches mandatory retirement age.
Location: McCORMICK RANCH GOLF COURSE; 7505 McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale AZ 85258 ~ Phone 480.948.0260.
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!
WE ARE 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; • $25.00 for AFIO Members with NO RSVPs as per the requested date; • All NO SHOWS or last minute cancellations will need to pay for the lunch
For reservations or questions, please email ON OR BEFORE January 9th, 2012 Simone simone@4smartphone.net or simone@afioaz.org or call and leave a message on 602.570.6016

Wednesday, 11 January 2012, 6:30–8:30 pm - Washington, DC 2011 Espionage Debrief: Year in Review at the International Spy Museum

How did 2011 measure up intel-wise? What was 2011 like for intelligence agencies and operatives around the world? Which service was penetrated? Who was caught? Which covert action operations flew under the media's radar? David Major knows. As a retired Supervisory Special Agent and Director of Counterintelligence, Intelligence and Security Programs for the FBI and Spy Museum Board Member, he understands the cases and knows their implications. As the founder of the CI Centre which provides counterintelligence and security studies and training, Major tracks the most important spy cases from around the globe and has the most up-to-date information on their status. Learn about defector on defector violence in North Korea and discover the critical information that was sought by Libya's intelligence mastermind, Abdullah Senussi. You'll learn the hottest targets and who's been attacked by cyberespionage and why. Major will also include key economic espionage cases and their outcome in this essential international update. Tickets: $15 Visit www.spymuseum.org to register or more information

Thursday, 12 January 2012, Noon-1 pm – Washington, DC - SMERSH: Stalin's Secret Weapon: Soviet Military Counterintelligence in WWII at the International Spy Museum

In the early James Bond novels, the hero battled the villainous forces of SMERSH, a shadowy Soviet intelligence organization. While Bond was fictional, SMERSH really existed. Drawing its name from the Russian phrase smert shpionam or "death to spies," it was Stalin's wartime terror apparatus—a collection of torturers and killers unleashed with brutal effect in 1943 to cut a bloody swath across Eastern Europe. Its job was to "filter" the Red Army for spies and, as a result, it was responsible for the arrest, torture, and execution of many thousands of innocent servicemen and citizens of countries occupied by the Red Army. Join historian and human rights activist Vadim J. Birstein as he discusses this ruthless organization and reveals new evidence suggesting that Raoul Wallenberg was one of its victims.
Free! No Registration Required! Visit www.spymuseum.org for more information

17 January 2012, 11:30 am - McLean, VA - Defense Intelligence Forum hears Allen Keiswetter on Arab Spring

Allen Keiswetter, a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer, is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs. His responsibilities included Iraq, Iran, the Arab Peninsula and North Africa. He served in six Arab countries including Iraq and Saudi Arabia. As a Scholar at the Middle East Institute, he made more than 200 media appearances on CNN, BBC, Fox News, and other news outlets. He taught courses on the Persian Gulf, Islam and the Middle East at the National Defense Intelligence College, the National War College, and the University of Maryland.
Other positions he held in the Department of State include Senior Advisor to the UN Security Council and General Assembly on Middle East Issues, Director of Arabian Peninsula Affairs, Director of the Officer of Intelligence Liaison and NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs. He served in Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Tunisia, Iraq, Lebanon and Vietnam.
His most recent publication is "The Arab Spring: Implications for US Interests and Policies," published by the Middle East Institute in December.
His degrees are from Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has fluency in both Arabic and French languages.)
For this forum, you may attribute the speaker's remarks. Everything will be on the record.
Location: Pulcinella Restaurant, 6852 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, VA
Pay at the door with a check for $(29) payable to DIAA, Inc
Make reservations by 13 January by email to diforum@diaalumni.org. Include names, telephone numbers, and email addresses. For each attendee, choose among (chicken cacciatore, tilapia puttanesca, lasagna, sausage with peppers, or fettuccini with portabella).
Pay at the door with a check for $29 per person, payable to DIAA, Inc.
Check is preferred, but will accept cash; however, credit card payments are discouraged

Thursday, 19 January 2012, 11:30 am - Colorado Springs, CO - The Rocky Mountain AFIO Chapter luncheon features former Senior CIA Officer/former Deputy Legal Advisor to Condoleezza Rice

At this meeting, the chapter presents Bryan Cunningham who will provide a recap of current national security policy, and look ahead at the 2012 election year. Bryan is a former senior CIA officer and was deputy legal advisor to Condoleezza Rice when she served as National Security Advisor in President George W. Bush's first administration. To be held at The Inn at Palmer Divide, 443 S. Highway 105 Palmer Lake, CO, Exit 161 westbound off I-25, West on Highway 105. Please RSVP to Tom VanWormer at robsmom@pcisys.net

Thursday, 19 January 2012, 6:30–8:30 pm - Washington, DC – Vienna, City of My Dreams: An Evening with Oleg Kalugin at the International Spy Museum

"More than a century of spying history makes this romantic city a place where…agents and informants still feel at ease."—Sigrun Rottman, BBC News, July 8, 2010
Vienna is famous for waltzing, coffee houses, pastries, and the Prater, but for Spy Museum Board Member Oleg Kalugin, the city is all about intrigue. Kalugin, the youngest Major General in KGB history, operated clandestinely in the Austrian capital throughout the 1970s and 1980s, where he developed a passion for the history of this city of spies. From Alfred Redl, the chief of Austrian-Hungarian Intelligence, who was recruited by the Russian Imperial Secret Service in 1907, to Norwegian diplomat Arne Treholt's KGB meetings caught on film in the 80s, Vienna has served as a legendary setting for espionage. Join General Kalugin for this evocative evening of music, film, history, and his own personal experiences as a spy in this elegant European crossroads. While guests enjoy Austrian delicacies, he'll address unanswered questions such as whether one-time Viennese resident Felix Bloch was truly a spy. Come celebrate Vienna's glorious ball season and the confidential information that can be exchanged…in the course of a waltz.
Tickets: $20 Visit www.spymuseum.org to register or more information

21 January 2012 - Kennebunk, ME - The AFIO Maine Chapter Meeting features David Hunt, CIA, on Turmoil in East Africa

David Hunt's talk will be on "Turmoil in East Africa - Danger to the U.S.?" David P. Hunt will share his knowledge of Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Ethiopia -countries located on the strategic Horn of Africa - and their impact on international instability and terrorism. Hunt is a former senior CIA officer in what was then called the Directorate of Operations. Having served twice as Chief of Station on Mogadishu, Somalia, he will speak from personal knowledge of this important region. Hunt 's 32 year service with CIA included tours in Italy, Saigon, Oslo, Paris, and New York City. His areas of expertise encompass a knowledge of Soviet operations, European affairs, and counterintelligence. He holds the Donovan Award for Excellence as well as the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, CIA's highest award.
Hunt is a graduate of St. Paul's School and also attended school in Switzerland. He holds a B.A. in History/Government from Colby College. He also served in the U. S. Army Counterintelligence Corps with one year in Korea.
Hunt is currently chairman of Charles Pratt and Co., L.L.C. in New York City and the Dosoris Trust Company. He serves on boards of several conservation organizations including The Ocean Conservancy.
The meeting will be held at the Brick Store Program Center, 2 Dane Street, Kennebunk, ME. at 2:00 p.m.on Saturday, January 21, 2012. The meeting is open to the public. The speaker has indicated that, beyond the subject of his talk, he will answer questions on any aspect of intelligence making this an unparalleled opportunity to get the real scoop on some of the things you have always wondered about but never dared ask. For information call 207-967-4298.

26 January 2012, 12:30 pm - Los Angeles, CA - The Los Angeles Area AFIO Chapter will be holding their annual business chapter meeting at the LMU campus in the Hilton Business Building.

They will be discussing their goals and objectives for the 2012 year and review current chapter status. The meeting is open only to current chapter members in good standing. Please RSVP via email to Vince Autiero at afio_la@yahoo.com if you would like to attend. We wish all of you Happy Holidays and a very healthy and prosperous New Year!

1, 8, 15, 22 February 2012 - Washington, DC - "The Greatest Spies of WWII: Garbo, Baker, De Clarens…and Hemingway?" (4-Session Daytime Course) at the International Spy Museum in collaboration with Smithsonian Associates

Imagine operating behind enemy lines using your wits, fame, or seductive powers to fight a ruthless adversary. The spies of World War II knew that they faced death upon discovery, yet they continued to engage in daring and dangerous exploits to thwart the Axis powers. Some were incredibly effective while others, like Hemingway, were just incredibly bold. In this series, a distinguished group of experts and former intelligence officers will introduce you to some of the bravest and most daring spies of the 20th century.

Juan Pujol Garcia
Wednesday, 1 February 1012, 10:15 am – 12:15 pm - Washington, DC - at the International Spy Museum in collaboration with Smithsonian Associates Program

Spaniard Juan Pujol Garcia—codenamed Garbo—was one of the most effective double agents in history. While working for the British, he deceived the Germans into believing he was operating a valuable spy network. It was valuable…for the Allies. International Spy Museum historian and former CIA analyst Mark Stout will reveal how Garbo managed to deceive the Germans so thoroughly that they thought the D-Day invasion of Normandy was a ploy to distract from a real invasion in the Pas-de-Calais.

Josephine Baker
Wednesday, 8 February 2012, 10:15 am – 12:15 pm at the International Spy Museum in collaboration with Smithsonian Associates Program

Night club sensation Josephine Baker escaped racism in the U.S. to live a glamorous life as the toast of European caf� society. As a star in Paris, her affection for France was so great that when World War II broke out, she volunteered to spy for her adopted country. Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chief of Disguise, will reveal Baker's espionage on behalf of the French Resistance and place it in the context of Baker's glamorous and groundbreaking life.

Jeannie de Clarens
Wednesday, 15 February 2012, 10:15 am – 12:15 pm at the International Spy Museum in collaboration with Smithsonian Associates Program

As a member of Georges Lamarque's French Resistance network, Jeannie de Clarens risked her life and was captured twice. Her exact and detailed reports on Germany's secret military plans, especially their development of the V1 flying bombs and V2 rockets, helped persuade Prime Minister Winston Churchill to bomb the German test site at Peenemunde. David Ignatius, Washington Post foreign affairs columnist and spy novelist, will profile his friend de Clarens using selections from his recently filmed interview with the formidable former spy.

Ernest Hemingway
Wednesday, 22 February 2012, 10:15 am – 12:15 pm at the International Spy Museum in collaboration with Smithsonian Associates Program

Ernest Hemingway, true to his macho image, plunged into WWII intelligence work with his brother Leicester and his son Jack. The Hemingways searched for Fascist spies in Cuba, patrolled the Caribbean for Nazi subs, parachuted into occupied France, roamed the battlefields of France after D-Day, and even met secretly with the KGB. Nicholas Reynolds, an intelligence and military historian who has taught at the Naval War College, served as Officer-in-Charge of Field History for USMC, and worked on the history of the OSS for the CIA Museum, will recount the Hemingways' exploits.
Tickets: $112 for the 4 sessions. Register by phone with the Smithsonian Associates at 202-633-3030 or online at http://residentassociates.org

2 February 2012 - San Francisco, CA - The AFIO Jim Quesada Chapter hosts Maj. Gen. J. Michael Myatt, USMC (ret.), on "Reflections on Intelligence Support for Ground Commanders for Gulf War 1.0."

Myatt speakes on "Reflections on Intelligence Support for Ground Commanders for Gulf War 1.0." The meeting will be held at UICC, 2700 45th Avenue, San Francisco (between Sloat/Wawona): 11:30AM no host cocktails; noon - luncheon. $25 member rate with advance reservation and payment; $35 non-member/no reservation. E-mail RSVP to Mariko Kawaguchi (please indicate meat or fish) at afiosf@aol.com and mail a check made out to "AFIO" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, P.O. Box 117578, Burlingame, CA 94011.

4 February 2012 - Melbourne, FL - The AFIO Satellite Florida Chapter luncheon features AFIO National President Gene Poteat on "Evolution of CIA Covert Ops from Beginning to the SEAL Team Raid in Pakistan."

Gene Poteat, AFIO National President, addresses the chapter which meets at Indian River Colony Club, Melbourne FL at noon. For tickets and information, please contact Donna Czarnecki, 321 600-4415 or 321 848 4425

Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Washington, DC - "Terrorists in Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals" at the International Spy Museum

What do you do if the girl of your dreams gets married off to a National Guard general who can pay a bigger dowry than you can? If you are Abdullah al-Gilani, you join al-Qaeda. Later you learn that your true love ran away from her husband to join the jihad in Iraq—where she may have been martyred. This sad story of star-crossed lovers is just one of the true tales Ken Ballen, author of Terrorists in Love, will share in a night devoted to misspent passion. As a former prosecutor and counsel to the House Iran-Contra Committee, and now as President of Terror Free Tomorrow, he has tapped into the inner secrets of the terrorist world that no spy agency could divine. When terrorists opened their hearts to him, he found that the stories of Islamic radicals and terrorists are as much about love as hate: a missed love, a love you cannot have, a love you can only find in God, a love a man can never have with a woman, or in one case with another man. Consider bringing your sweetheart to this eye-opening evening… if you can make the dowry.
Tickets: $9 For more information visit www.spymuseum.org

Wednesday, 8 February 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Washington, DC - "Poison Lecture: A Performance about Magic and Deception" at the International Spy Museum

"Combines the secretive worlds of magic and espionage, entertainment and geopolitics, mass captivation and government, to wittily expose their kindred spirit."--Beatrice Gross, independent curator
Poison Lecture is everything a lecture is not: it is a multi-layered performance piece exploring the seemingly unlikely connections between legendary magician John Mulholland, the CIA, and the science of espionage. This unique event is the creation of Christine Rebet, a French visual artist based in New York. Inspired by the fact that the CIA hired Mulholland, America's most famous magician to write two secret manuals on sleight-of-hand and covert communication techniques in the early days of the Cold War, Rebet developed this thought-provoking performance. Featured at the Phoenix Fringe Festival, X initiative New York, and at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, Poison Lecture melds historic images with a live magician performing key tricks while "Mulholland" explains them. As the piece unfolds, darker aspects of espionage—assassination, mind control, and manipulation—are revealed, all in the context of iconic foreign political situations of the Cold War.
Tickets: $20 To register or For more information visit www.spymuseum.org

15 February 2012, 3 - 4 pm - Washington, DC - "George F. Kennan: An American Life"

As one of the Cold War's most influential foreign policy thinkers, Kennan was the architect of containment and the Marshall Plan. But after leaving government, he went on to become one of the most outspoken critics of American diplomacy, politics, and culture during the last half of the twentieth century. Now the full scope of Kennan's long life and vast influence is revealed by one of today's most important Cold War scholars.
Organized by the Cold War International History Project in collaboration with the Kennan Institute and International Security Studies Drawing upon extensive interviews with George Kennan and exclusive access to his personal archive, former Wilson Center fellow and Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University John Lewis Gaddis, will discuss his revealing new biography, George F. Kennan: An American Life. Event takes place at 6th Floor Flom Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Visit www.CWIHP.org for more information and to RSVP

Thursday, 16 February 2012, noon – 1:00 pm – Washington, DC - "Shadow Commander: The Epic Story of Donald D. Blackburn - Guerrilla Leader and Special Forces Hero" at the International Spy Museum

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army's most secretive unit may have been the Studies and Observations Group (SOG). This unit captured enemy prisoners for interrogation, rescued American POWs, and conducted reconnaissance missions in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It also ran teams of clandestine agents and conducted psychological operations. The leader of this group in the mid-1960s was a legendary Army officer, Donald Blackburn, a man who in 1942 had refused to surrender at Bataan and had gone on to raise a 22,000-man army of Filipinos to fight the Japanese. Author Mike Guardia will describe Blackburn's colorful life, how his SOG mapped out the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and how, after his return to Washington, he was the architect of the famous Son Tay Prison Raid, the largest POW rescue mission of the war.
Free! No Registration Required! For more information visit www.spymuseum.org

Wednesday, 7 March 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Washington, DC - "Intel and the Arab Spring: What Does the Future Hold?" at the International Spy Museum

How could the world have missed the signs that an Arab Spring was coming? Did the U.S. suffer from poor intelligence, compromised relationships, or simply a failure of the imagination? And now how do we prevent the reemergence of blind spots as we build relationships with rapidly emerging regimes and their intelligence services? Join experts Reuel Marc Gerecht, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, author of The Wave: Man, God, and the Ballot Box in the Middle East, and a former Middle East specialist in the CIA's Clandestine Service; and Colonel W. Patrick Lang, former Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism, author of Intelligence: The Human Factor, and expert consultant on intel operations in Muslim countries; for a spirited discussion of how the U.S.'s understanding—or misunderstanding—of the Middle East affects intelligence collection and analysis in the region. Sparks may fly when the speakers share their potentially conflicting ideas about how the U.S. can alter a decades-old paradigm
Ticket: $15. To register or for more information visit www.spymuseum.org

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

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