Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Report: DHS Intelligence Role Must Evolve Beyond Terrorism, Concentrate on the Local. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) role in the nation's intelligence community must evolve beyond terrorism-related threats and concentrate on providing unclassified, creative, and responsive intelligence products to state and local first preventers, according to a report released yesterday by The Aspen Institute Homeland Security Group during a House subcommittee hearing.

Lawmakers were briefed on the contents of the report, "Homeland Security and Intelligence: Next Steps in Evolving the Mission," by three former high-level homeland security and counterterrorist officials - former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, former Deputy Director of the FBI's National Security Branch Philip Mudd, and former Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism Juan Zarate, all of whom now work for the Aspen Institute's Homeland Security Group.

"This approach should serve local partners' requirements, providing intelligence in areas (such as infrastructure) not previously served by federal intelligence agencies, and disseminating information by new means such as smartphones," stated Mudd in prepared testimony.

According to Mudd, the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) should stay away from duplicative intelligence work concentrating on international terrorism. Rather it should help local and state agencies and the private sector protect themselves from multiple threats primarily associated with non-state actors, particularly homegrown terrorists.

In the future, DHS's intelligence mission should concentrate on the department's unique responsibilities that it doesn't share with other agencies, such as border security and critical infrastructure protection, and the data that goes with it, said Mudd. "Analysis that helps private-sector partners understand how to mitigate infrastructure threats, for example, might merit more resources than all-source analysis of general threats," he explained.

Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, HUMINT, Analysis, and Counterintelligence, agreed. "While I certainly can understand the pressure on I&A to spread its arms far and wide, I firmly believe that it will gain relevance, and contribute most effectively to the intelligence mission, by zeroing in on its core mission," she said. [Read more: Harwood/SecurityManagement/19January2012]

NSA Says Classified Information Found on Seized Hard Drives. The National Security Agency says it found top-secret information on hard drives that were seized in a failed espionage probe, and the agency is refusing to release the computers - despite the continued protests of their owners.

In court filings in Baltimore this week, the government says the seized computers "cannot lawfully be returned." NSA's deputy chief of staff for signals intelligence concluded that disclosing the contents of one computer hard drive would "cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security."

The claims come in the aftermath of the prosecution of NSA analyst Thomas Drake, who was accused of felony espionage but convicted only of a single misdemeanor involving inappropriate computer use. As part of the investigation, the FBI seized computers from several ex-NSA employees; they have not been charged with any crime and are suing to get the computers back.

This is the first response from federal prosecutors answering a civil complaint filed in November in U.S. District Court by four former analysts from Maryland and an ex-congressional staffer. Their homes were searched in 2007.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas H. Barnard wrote in court papers that the analysts have been "unwilling to cooperate" in giving agents time to separate classified from unclassified information from files equivalent to 41,000 pages on two computers belonging to one of the analysts. The FBI seized several computers from each of the five plaintiffs.

But Jesselyn Radack of the nonprofit Government Accountability Project said that "if the unreturned property contained such damning information, the Justice Department would have used it against Drake at trial, since most of the 'evidence' the government tried to introduce against him was deemed to be unclassified and caused their case to crumble."

The government's response, which includes affidavits from top officials at the super-secret spy agency at Fort Meade, is limited to one former analyst, John K. Wiebe of Westminster. He is the lead plaintiff in the case; the five filed as a group, but the government appears to be answering each separately.

The filings by prosecutors do not detail the classified information. [Read more: Hermann/BaltimoreSun/19January2012]

Hayden: We Determined Attacking Iran was a Bad Idea. President George W. Bush's administration concluded that a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities would be a bad idea - and would only make it harder to prevent Iran from going nuclear in the future, former CIA and National Security Agency (NSA) chief Gen. Michael Hayden said Thursday.

"When we talked about this in the government, the consensus was that [attacking Iran] would guarantee that which we are trying to prevent - an Iran that will spare nothing to build a nuclear weapon and that would build it in secret," Hayden told a small group of experts and reporters at an event hosted by the Center for the National Interest.

Hayden served as director of the NSA from 1999 to 2005 and then served as CIA director from 2006 until February 2009. He also had a 39-year career at the Air Force, which he ended as a four-star general.

Without an actual occupation of Iran, which nobody wants to contemplate, the Bush administration concluded that the result of a limited military campaign in Iran would be counter-productive, according to Hayden.

"What's move two, three, four or five down the board?" Hayden said, arguing that an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities was only a short-term fix. "I don't think anyone is talking about occupying anything."

Hayden then said he didn't believe the Israelis could or even would strike Iran - that only the United States has the capability to do it -- but either way, it's still a bad idea.

"The Israelis aren't going to [attack Iran] ... they can't do it, it's beyond their capacity. They only have the ability to make this [problem of Iran's nuclear program] worse. We can do a lot better," he said. "Just look at the physics, the fact that this cannot be done in a raid, this has to be done in a campaign, the fact that neither we nor they know where this stuff is. [The Israelis] can't do it, but we can." [Read more: Rogin/ForeignPolicy/19January2012]

Norway Spy Chief Kristiansen Quits in Secrecy Gaffe. Norway's head of intelligence Janne Kristiansen has handed in her resignation because she said too much during a parliamentary hearing.

Justice Minister Grete Faremo told reporters that a "potential breach of confidentiality is a very serious matter".

According to a transcript, Ms. Kristiansen told the hearing that Norway had agents working in Pakistan.

Reports say Pakistan has asked Norway to explain her remarks.

Ms. Kristiansen resigned late on Wednesday night after meeting the justice minister.

A ministry spokesman told the BBC News website that the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) chief had "drawn her own conclusions".

Head of the PST since November 2009, Ms. Kristiansen had already raised eyebrows when she argued that the service could not have been in a position to prevent the bomb attack and shootings carried out by Anders Behring Breivik in July last year.

"Even East Germany's Stasi [secret service] would not have been able to detect this person," she told Norwegian TV after the twin attacks in which 77 people died.

She later apologised for the comments. [Read more: BBC/19January2012]

Russian Spy Agency: Global Crisis Demands New Tactics. Russian military intelligence is adjusting its work methods in response to the worsening international situation, Igor Sergun, the head of GRU - the country's largest espionage agency - has told President Dmitry Medvedev.

"Changes in the world situation have required adjustments to be made to intelligence mechanisms and their implementation," Sergun said on Thursday, as he presented his report to the head of state.

Currently, the main focus of Russian military intelligence is on "the so-called hot spots where terrorist and extremist groups are acting, regions with crisis situations, and also the sources and possible routes of illegal proliferation of nuclear materials and the components of weapons of mass destruction," he said.

Sergun underlined that the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) is "practically the only special service in the world" which integrates all existing types and directions of intelligence into its structure.

GRU successfully fulfills its tasks thanks to the professionalism of secret service agents "combined with the usage of the most up-to-date achievements of information, telecommunication and space technologies and innovations," explained Sergun.

Major General Sergun added that the agency has the technical capabilities to act in almost all possible fields. "This helps to obtain important information concerning the situation in military conflict areas and regions that interest military intelligence," he added, as cited by Itar-Tass. [Read more: RT/19January2012]

Pentagon Cedes Control of Defense Cyber Pilot to DHS. The Homeland Security Department is taking over a heralded Pentagon project that shared classified intelligence with select military contractors and their communications providers, DHS officials said.

The new arrangement puts DHS, the civilian agency responsible for facilitating the protection of private critical infrastructure, in charge of communicating with private Internet service providers. The Defense Department will continue to be the point of contact for contractors, officials said.

During the summer, National Security Agency employees, the military's code breakers, had been disclosing to contractors and their ISPs the "signatures" - the unique fingerprints of threats - for uploading into virus-detection systems. The goal of the so-called DIB Cybersecurity Pilot was to block intruders from accessing the computers and networks that support Pentagon operations.

The Obama administration has opted to temporarily extend what was originally a 90-day initiative, DHS officials said Tuesday.

The officials added that the program remains restricted to the initial participating companies while all parties enhance operations based on lessons gleaned from the trial run. Wide interest from the military industry has sparked talks of expanding the program to all Defense Department companies and, perhaps, nondefense critical sectors, such as the power and banking industries.

Under the extension, data will be exchanged only among communications company and Defense and Homeland Security personnel who have security clearances, according to a Jan. 13 privacy notice. [Read more: Sternstein/NextGov/17January2012]

CIA Indictment Highlights Murky Ties Between Reporters and Intel Officials. The Justice Department has indicted a high-profile former CIA agent, John Kiriakou, accusing him of providing classified information to journalists and misleading the CIA while trying to get permission to publish a memoir about his time with the intelligence agency.

The 26-page indictment accuses Kiriakou of giving an unnamed journalist the name of a covert CIA agent, threatening the intelligence officer's safety and ability to work abroad. He is also accused of helping Scott Shane, the intelligence reporter for The New York Times, identify a second CIA agent and confirm the operative's role in interrogating a Qaida suspect named Abu Zubaydah.

The indictment shines a light on the shadowy, and sometimes legally questionable, communications between journalists, CIA operatives, and lawyers in high-profile terror trials. As National Journal first reported last November, the Justice Department is also investigating whether the CIA's former general counsel, John Rizzo, improperly disclosed classified information about the CIA's secretive drone campaign to Newsweek. Rizzo has yet to be indicted.

Kiriakou made a brief appearance at federal court Monday afternoon with his new attorney, Plato Cacheris, a well-known attorney who had once represented Monica Lewinsky. Kiriakou was released on his own recognizance after he surrendered his passport, agreed not to travel outside the Washington metro area, and co-signed a $250,000 bond with his wife and brother. Cacheris didn't reply to an email seeking comment. Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for The Times, declined to comment on Shane's role or any other aspect of the indictment.

In a letter to employees, meanwhile, CIA Director David Petraeus said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the Kiriakou case because it was an ongoing legal matter, but said "unauthorized disclosures of any sort - including information concerning the identities of other agency officers - betray the public trust, our country, and our colleagues" and "may put lives in jeopardy." [Read more: Dreazen/NationalJournal/23January2012]

Ex-U.S. Spy Chief Says May Take Crisis for New Cyber Law. U.S. intelligence agencies have unique capabilities that can help protect American companies from cyber espionage and attack, but it will probably take a crisis to change laws to allow that type of cooperation, a former spy chief said on Monday.

Intelligence agencies like the National Security Agency are authorized to operate abroad but generally are restricted from working within the United States,

"Until we have a banking collapse or electric power goes off in the middle of a snowstorm for eight weeks, or something of that magnitude, we're likely just to talk about it and not do much," Mike McConnell, former director of national intelligence, said.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives and the Democratic-controlled Senate have separate efforts under way on legislation aimed at improving cybersecurity.

The House intelligence committee in December approved a bill that would allow U.S. spy agencies to share cyber-threat intelligence with private companies. Some critics worry that could lead to government surveillance of private data.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the Senate will take up "comprehensive" cybersecurity legislation this year. [Read more: Zakaria/Reuters/23January2012]

Homeland Security Wants to Spy on 4 Square Miles at Once. It's not just for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars anymore. The Department of Homeland Security is interested in a camera package that can peek in on almost four square miles of (constitutionally protected) American territory for long, long stretches of time.

Homeland Security doesn't have a particular system in mind. Right now, it's just soliciting "industry feedback" on what a formal call for such a "Wide Area Surveillance System" might look like. But it's the latest indication of how powerful military surveillance technology, developed to find foreign insurgents and terrorists, is migrating to the home front.

The Department of Homeland Security says it's interested in a system that can see between five to 10 square kilometers - that's between two and four square miles, roughly the size of Brooklyn, New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood - in its "persistent mode." By "persistent," it means the cameras should stare at the area in question for an unspecified number of hours to collect what the military likes to call "pattern of life" data - that is, what "normal" activity looks like for a given area. Persistence typically depends on how long the vehicle carrying the camera suite can stay aloft; DHS wants something that can fit into a manned P-3 Orion spy plane or a Predator drone - of which it has a couple. When not in "persistent mode," the cameras ought to be able to see much, much further: "long linear areas, tens to hundreds of kilometers in extent, such as open, remote borders."

If it's starting to sound reminiscent of the spy tools the military has used in Iraq and Afghanistan, it should. Homeland Security wants the video collected by the system to beam down in "near real time" - 12 seconds or quicker - to a "control room (T) or to a control room and beyond line of sight (BLOS) ruggedized mobile receiver on the ground," just as military spy gear does. The camera should shift to infrared mode for nighttime snooping, and contain "automated, real time, motion detection capability that cues a spotter imager for target identification." Tests for the system will take place in Nogales, Arizona. [Read more: Ackerman/Wired/23January2012]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Canadian Spy Scandals: Key Players. One slept with several cabinet ministers. Another sold info to the Soviets to fund his expensive tastes. Take a look back at Canada's other spies.

The Gouzenko Affair. Igor Gouzenko received intelligence training at the beginning of the Second World War, becoming a cipher clerk at the Soviet legation in Ottawa in 1943. Two years later, after he found out that he and his family were being sent to the USSR, he defected and went public with his knowledge of Soviet-operated spy networks on Canadian soil, armed with documents taken from the embassy to prove his assertions.

No one took Mr. Gouzenko seriously until a Soviet attempt to recapture him. Afterward, 12 suspects were arrested and put before a Royal Commission.

The commissioners, also using Mr. Gouzenko's testimony and the documents he took, confirmed the existence of a spy ring in July of 1946, adding that the group targeted atomic secrets, among other goals.

Mr. Gouzenko was given a new identity. Even his death, which apparently occurred from natural causes, was kept secret. [Read more: Haniff/Globe&Mail/20January2012]

United States: Cybersecurity And The Law: What To Expect In 2012. Our economic activities, our social lives, and even our physical safety increasingly depend on computers and other devices linked together through the Internet. Protecting those systems and the information they contain has thus become a national imperative. As President Obama stated near the outset of his Administration, "America's economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cybersecurity."

In the past decade, an increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity industry has grown up to help companies, individuals, and government agencies contend with the growing array of threats posed by cyber attackers and cyber thieves. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study puts spending on cybersecurity in the United States at $30 billion a year and growing at 10-15% per year.

The legal system has been slower to respond. But both lawmakers and law enforcers - at the federal and state levels - have begun to hear the alarms, and this coming year may well see major developments in the legal regime governing cybersecurity. [Read more: Cedarbaum/WilmerHale/January2012]

Speak Like a Spy: A How-to Guide. You've been a ghost at Fort Fumble, left to slip and slide, but now you're retread as a lingie and can use your skills to whiffle. If you're wondering what may have been in my coffee this morning, folks at the National Security Agency - or at least those from days gone by - would probably have no problem understanding the meaning behind the previous sentence. An article about the unofficial vocabulary of the super secret NSA was published in a 1991 edition of an in house magazine. Cryptologic Quarterly is published by the History and Publications staff and is only for the eyes of NSA employees. The article was one of a number recently declassified and made public by the NSA. Jobs have no doubt changed and technology has grown in leaps and bounds, so the lingo may differ, but now you have a chance to see for yourself NSA speak.

By the way, the translation of my first sentence:

You've been floating among offices waiting for a permanent position at the NSA, left to waste time, but now you're retrained as a linguist and can use your skills to read rapidly through a stack of materials to cull out usable items.

If you want to become familiar with some of the lingo, click here. [Read more: Benson/CNN/18January2012]

CIA Fighting Terrorists on Social Media. Ian Fleming's James Bond had the gadgets, the girls, and of course, the Aston Martin. But in the 21st Century, modern day spies and intelligence officers are spending less time shooting and more time...Tweeting?

It's no conspiracy theory, either.

According to NPR, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and others have full time staffs of translators and analysts devoted to monitoring social media traffic, all in the hopes of spotting the next uprising, coup or terrorist attack - with little to go on but a status update.

Move over, Q. The CIA has Tweet Deck.

"People realize this is much more than just doing a Google Search," an analyst speaking on condition of anonymity told NPR's Rachel Martin.

Yet it's not the same as typing in 'Al Qaeda' or 'Wikileaks' in Google News and clicking enter. The type of information analysts and researchers are looking for is more granular. An Al-Shabaab terrorist in Somalia could be talking to a comrade via Twitter. Or he could be sharing tips and tricks via one of the many Islamist message boards the Agency - and 13 others - monitor every day.

But in an era where the average person has five or six emails to their name, determining where terrorists are tweeting from - as opposed to where they say they are tweeting from - is no less difficult. It is well known that Al Qaeda's Inspire Magazine hosted a Gmail account that subscribers could use to organize and plan attacks throughout the globe. Literally dozens of users took advantage of the service, and not all of them lived in countries like Yemen where they could be taken out by a Hellfire missile.

As NPR put it, a terrorist could be tweeting from Yemen. But he could also be from Ohio.

"We can't tell where individual posts are coming from," Doug Naquin, the director of the CIA's Open Source Center said in a one-on-one interview with NPR. "But if there's any situation - let me put it broadly - in which we came across anything that involved U.S. domestic persons, we would either stop it or turn it over to one of our partners on the domestic side."

Translation: sic the FBI on them. [Read more: Winn/OhMyGov!/24January23012]

Section III - COMMENTARY

Rule No. 1 for Would-Be Spies - Stay Away from the Embassy. I have to admit that the arrest of alleged spy Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle has made me somewhat nostalgic for the Cold War. Intelligence services of all stripes and nationalities practice the same expedient amorality in the name of national security, but there was a sense of higher duty that seemed to transcend the moral indefensibility of the profession itself. There was a time when spying was more a chess match than a fist-fight and the essence of espionage was like opening one of those Matryoshka dolls that progressively reveal another doll hidden within another doll and so on.

The Soviet-era KGB constituted a formidable opponent to the West and lived up to Winston Churchill's description of Russia as "A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma". There was elegance to espionage in the Cold War that is missing today. The clandestine meetings with sources held in the cafes of Vienna and austere safe houses of East Berlin have given way to bases in Nevada where MQ-1 Predator drones are controlled and launch hellfire missiles at clusters of militant jihadists in Waziristan.

The Soviet-era Cold War was in its last throes when I first set foot in Europe to do some university studies to support my cover activities as a spy. I remember that a significant amount of my pre-deployment security briefing was dedicated to warning me about how aggressively the KGB would be "coat-trailing" for foreign agents to recruit to their side. KGB "tradecraft", the techniques used in conducting the day-to-day business of spying, were very highly developed and the Russians were masters at it. A spy (and spy service) lives or dies by the quality of tradecraft skills and fortunately for me, my former service was modeled after the post-war British Secret Intelligence Service, providing me with a first-class education.

Tradecraft, like any professional accreditation, requires frequent review and modernization. The fundamentals are still taught today; surveillance detection, clandestine meeting protocols, telephone behaviour, cover stories, etc. but failing to recognize change in this world is fatal. Being cautious on the street while careless on the internet can lead to imminent disaster where a spy ends up in the "fingernail factory", or worse.

The monolithic KGB is long gone and has been replaced with two new Russian services, the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, or SVR, responsible for intelligence operations external to Russia and the Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii or FSB, tasked with domestic security operations. The modern SVR, while an active and capable service, is a mere shade of the former glory that was the KGB and its legendary First Chief Directorate.

While I'm not "read-in" on the detailed circumstances of Sub-Lt. Delisle's case, I can make a few guesses where things went wrong for the Russians based on what's been reported in the media so far. No modern intelligence service operates out of an embassy any more. This anachronistic practice has gone the way of the Dodo and diplomatic cover is now considered useless. [Read more: Ross/NationalPost/24January2012]

Analysis: Vladimir Putin's Support of Spying is of Cold War Calibre.  It is as if the Cold War never ended.

Last Friday, Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, attended a funeral in Moscow for Gevork Vartanian, the legendary Soviet spy who foiled a Nazi plot to assassinate Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt during their Tehran Conference in 1943.

After laying flowers on the Hero of the Soviet Union's casket and kissing his widow, Mr. Putin declared Russia's greatest intelligence agent "will live on through our memories and in our hearts."

Days later, a top British bureaucrat confirmed a James Bond-style 2006 spy plot in which Russian counter-intelligence officials discovered British spies were using an artificial rock, equipped with electronic gear, in a Moscow park to collect stolen secrets.

Then, on Wednesday, the Russian newspaper Izvestia carried a headline telling readers, "Canadian officer arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia."

Russian spies haven't been this visibly active since the height of the Cold War.

"Much of this goes on sub rosa and never comes to public view," said Wesley Wark, a University of Toronto security expert.

"But the general view is that the post-Soviet Russian state remains wedded to a very intensive overseas intelligence collection effort. The Putin administration in particular seems extremely keen on investing in foreign intelligence, which is perhaps not very surprising, given his KGB background." (Mr. Putin is a former KGB spy, who was stationed in Dresden, East Germany, in 1985-90.)

In fact, the scale of Russian spying has never really let up, despite the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago.

"As far as anyone can tell it has remained unchanged or even has increased since the end of the Cold War," said Prof. Wark. [Read more: Goodspeed/NationalPost/21January2012]

Espionage Motivates Code Theft at the Federal Reserve? On Jan. 19, 2012, Business Week reported that a Chinese citizen in the U.S. since 2000 on a work visa had pilfered software code from our country's Federal Reserve and now faces legal action in U.S. vs. Zhang.

Bo Zhang, 32, a computer programmer hired to work on the highly confidential source code last year, claimed he took the code in order to hedge his bets if he fired from the Fed job.

"He asserted that he took it for private use and in order to ensure that it was available to him in the event that he lost his job [with the New York Fed]," according to prosecutors in the case.

In the spy world, infiltrating high levels of other governments and gaining access to key confidential data is job one. In a world in which economic upheavals are an everyday language and knowing your enemies financial structures and money movements is just as crucial.

"Our cyber infrastructure is vulnerable not only to cybercriminals and hackers, but also alleged thieves like Bo Zhang," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.

John P. Wheeler III, the former Pentagon official who was beaten, murdered and dumped in the Cherry Island landfill a little over a year ago, was very vocal about potential threats to national security due to weaknesses in America's cyber infrastructure.

And Bo Zhang could have provided such crucial data during his four months of employment at the Reserve during 2011, from May until August. The contractor, who works for an unnamed technology company, was finally caught with his hand in the figurative code jar in August, when the FBI was notified.

According to prosecutors, Zhang had access to a software program that tracked key U.S. financial data. The code in his possession tracked "Billions of dollars that are electronically transferred every day in the U.S.' General Ledger."

In layman's terms that means that someone working in the U.S. on a work visa had access to information America's enemies would readily pay for. And which, by the way, was most likely compromised, as one of Zhang's work colleagues at the Federal Reserve came forward later to tell supervisors that Zhang claimed at one point during his employment to have "lost" an external hard drive that contained the confidential code.

That, essentially, laid the ground work for the theft to appear as an accident, and for the code to make its way into someone else's hands. At least the Federal Reserve had security procedures in place that while not able to stop the initial theft of the government's intellectual property, did eventually conclude it had been compromised, according to a Reserve spokesman named Jack Gutt.

And in an effort to forestall a future occurrence of this nature, Gutt says "The New York Fed has further strengthened its already considerable protections as a result of this incident." [Read more: Smith/Examiner/19January2012]

How China Is Stealing Our Secrets. One word seems to be popular with all politicians - from the right or left - innovation. Everybody likes the idea of innovation and agrees that it is key to American competitiveness, if not the future.

China and other Asian countries already make most of our high volume commodity products, so America must compete by inventing new products, new technologies, and new industries. President Obama in his state of the union speech summed up our competitive challenge when he said, "The only durable strength we have, the only one that can withstand these gale winds, is innovation."

America has always led the world in innovation, new products, and new technologies. In fact, inventing new technologies is as American as Jazz music, Western movies, and the Rocky Mountains. Everyone knows that new inventions and technologies can keep America in the manufacturing game. This includes the Chinese who are committed to acquiring our technologies any way they can. This is a much bigger threat than most people know because it not only threatens American manufacturing, but it is beginning to threaten our national security. U.S. technology espionage is a state-led effort that is a multi-level strategy including the following:

The FBI ranks China as one of the greatest potential espionage threats over the next decade. The FBI has performed four investigations into suspected Chinese espionage over the past 20 years (only one of which was prosecuted successfully) and has revealed the complexities of such cases. According to Nicholas Eftimiades author of the book "Chinese Intelligence Operations," Chinese espionage is focused on the theft of American technology.

A 1999 report to the congressional committee on U.S. National Security and Military Concerns warned that the People's Republic of China (PRC) has stolen classified information on every thermo nuclear warhead in the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) arsenal. The U.S. Army War College says that China has gathered a lot of secret information on stealth technology, naval propulsion systems, electronic warfare systems, and nuclear weapons through espionage.

An analysis of the U.S. Justice Department records by the Associated Press reveals that "there have been at least 58 defendants charged in Federal Court related to Chinese espionage since 2008." [Read more: Collins/Manufacturing.net/18January2012]

One Cloud To Rule Them All: An IT Dream. The Navy and Marines have a network. The Army has its knowledge online. The Air Force wanted to be the cyber czar. The Joint Staff has a network. NSA has a really big network. And then there's the Department of Homeland Security and everyone else in government. Everyone has a network.

How do you make them effective and protect them? One experienced network guy who thinks big thoughts for the Defense Information Systems Agency (fondly known as DISA) has a dream about all the military networks. He'd like to see "one IT infrastructure" for the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Joint Staff. Tony Montemarano is DISA's head of strategy and he was speaking before at least 1,000 people attending a lunch sponsored by AFCEA about DISA.

Now Montemarano certainly didn't stand up and advocate this position or say it was likely to happen, but you could hear the yearning in his voice as he made his statement. And he received the only applause the DISA panel attracted during its hour-long presentation today.

In search of my own dream, I asked the panel if they could describe why cloud-based systems are more secure than traditional networks. After all, many lawmakers (or defense journalists) don't really understand the cloud, let alone how it is secured. You are putting all your good stuff in one place, so wouldn't it be easier to read it or steal it since you've now got everything sitting there waiting to be plucked? [Read more: Clark/AOLDefense/17January2012]

Intel Insights: Military Attention turns to China, Pacific. The year that was, 2011, was a momentous one for the U.S. intelligence community. The 17 agencies that are part of it had their share of public successes and failures, just like in any year. But 2011 was noteworthy because many of the events our intelligence professionals dealt with will affect how we engage the world for years to come.

Usama bin Laden's death in May, and the subsequent death of the American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, both in intelligence-driven operations, dealt severe blows to the al Qaeda terrorist franchise. Although that group has certainly not been eliminated, it has been, at least for now, marginalized.

The withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq eased some of the demands on our military intelligence assets, but the advent of the popular movements in the Middle East known as the �Arab Spring� have made the need for robust political intelligence on that part of the world clearer than ever.

The Iranian crisis almost reached a boiling point several times in 2011 and remains unresolved. Iran remains committed to developing an offensive nuclear capability, no matter what they say publicly. Against this backdrop, Iran conducted naval exercises purporting to showcase its ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which about 20 percent of the world's oil supply travels.

In the Pacific, the death of North Korea's leader Kim Chong-il and the rise of his son, Kim Chong-eun, bring about new uncertainties as we try to find a workable resolution to the Korean conflict that is technically still going on � even after almost 52 years.

China's intentions are as unfathomable today as they were a year ago. The Chinese are certainly becoming more aggressive in both the cyber and traditional military realms. Using a refurbished former Soviet aircraft carrier to project power in the Pacific, as well as exhibiting a tougher stance in the South China Sea and their prowess in the cyber world, the Chinese seem to be bent on challenging the U.S. in the Pacific for now. Perhaps they will do so globally in the future.

All of these events, as well as the federal government's significant budgetary shortfalls, drove the president to unveil new "strategic guidance" for the Department of Defense a week ago. While the details of what the new strategy blueprint really means for the military and the intelligence community will have to wait for budget figures to be released (probably by January 26), some of its new elements are fairly clear now. [Read more: Leighton/PotomacLocal/16January2012]

Between a Spy Rock and a Hard Place. Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

Although Moscow may be prone to see foreign hands behind every reversal, from the rise of the new protest culture to the failure of the Phobos-Grunt space probe, there is no escaping the fact that Russia is an intelligence target. The recent admission that the "spy rock" uncovered by the FSB in 2006 really was part of a British MI6 operation has highlighted the continued activity of foreign spies in Russia.

What do they do? Pro-government sources tend to talk up the notion that foreign agents are working for regime change in Russia. TV pundit Mikhail Leontiyev called new U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul such a specialist and darkly noted that the National Democratic Institute at which he had worked was "known for its proximity to the U.S. intelligence services."

While many Western countries make no secret about their support for individuals and organizations promoting democratic values and openness in Russia, there is no real evidence of any concerted covert campaign. Frankly, such efforts are too dangerous and unpredictable. All intelligence operations must live with the possibility of exposure - and the risk of discrediting the very causes one wishes to support are great.

Besides, why would anyone need spies to support protest movements? As is, the ingenuity, social media savvy and populist rhetoric of the agitators are making the best of their opportunities.

However, foreign intelligence agencies are obviously active in Russia. But their missions are more likely to be the conventional ones of gathering political, military and economic information to inform national policy. Whether or not they can learn much more than an assiduous user of Google can these days is beside the point. [Read more: Galeotti/MoscowTimes/23January2012]

Section IV - Careers, Letters to the Editors, Books 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.]

Budget and Finance Analyst (TS/SCI for Full Scope or CI polygraph) Washington D.C. metro area. (job requisition 09373)

Seeking a mid-range experience (5-8 years) as budget/finance analyst for a national intelligence agency in the Washington DC metro area. Analyst must have demonstrated hands on experience working inside a federal acquisition office.

Duties and Responsibilities: Responsible for various financial functions such as budgeting, auditing, forecasting and analysis for national intelligence agency. Must be capable of developing budgets for assigned contracts, and tracks performance to budgets. Must have current knowledge of relevant laws, regulations, policies, and procedures, and be able to mentor less experienced personnel.

Experience and Qualifications: - 5-8 years as budget or finance analyst - Proficiency in working with Federal acquisition rules and regulations - Familiarity with organization process improvement. - Bachelor's Degree in a business area preferred. - Proof of US citizenship or permanent residency is required - TS/SCI with Full Scope or CI polygraph required.

POC: Ms. Lyn Keesling, lkeesling@mcmunn-associates.com, phone: 703-994-1852 Candidates are encouraged to apply at https://parsons.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=09373.

Recruitment/Applicant Processor (TS/SCI with CI or Full Scope Polygraph), Washington D.C. metro area. (job requisition 09372)

Seeking experienced Intelligence Community HR person to support a national intelligence agency in the Washington DC area. The position involves supporting the recruiting and in-processing of employees.

Successful candidate will demonstrate: - Excellent organizational, work-flow and multi-tasking skills. Demonstrated ability to represent the organization in a positive, proactive manner and ability to manage competing priorities while adhering to strict deadlines. - Be able to accurately post, track and report metrics to HR Senior Management for all current and previous ODNI vacancy announcements while ensuring data integrity. - Create innovative and create ideas to establish products that will promote efficiency and streamlining of current processes and procedures. - Ensure accuracy and data integrity as it relates to data being entered, stored and retrieved from the HR Staffing and Recruitment Database. - Provide preliminary screening of applicants for compliance and preparing applicant packages for each individual. - Perform other recruitment, applicant processing and HR support functions as tasked.

Requirements: - 8 years (minimum) of IC HR experience - Proficiency in all aspects of managing personnel in a large organization. - Familiarity ODNI policies and procedures. - Bachelor's Degree (or equivalent work experience)
- Proof of US citizenship or permanent residency is required - TS/SCI clearance required. Full Scope or CI Polygraph required.

POC: Ms. Lyn Keesling, lkeesling@mcmunn-associates.com, phone: 703-994-1852 Candidates are encouraged to apply at https://parsons.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=09372

Letters to the Editors

In Defence of J Edgar Hoover by John Preston. Mr. John Preston's January 21 piece In Defence of J Edgar Hoover about the former FBI director's alleged homosexuality only needed to reach a few miles down the road from London to find the truth.

Christopher Andrew, recently retired from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge - the author of the book Defence of the Realm based on his access to secret MI5 files - wrote two volumes of the Mitrokhin Archives published in 2000 and 2005. Drawing on Mitrokhin's access to KGB secret files, the books are considered the most important look inside the inner workings of the Soviet spy agency.

It is quite clear from Mitrokhin's notes that Hoover's alleged homosexuality was concocted by the KGB's Service A as disinformation damaging to the "main adversary" - the United States.

Service A released the libel via to an English-language news service controlled by the Soviets. It was lapped up by Western newspapers who did not bother to check the report for accuracy or attribution.

The Hoover disinformation operation was obviously quite successful. Reference to his alleged homosexuality and cross-dressing have surpassed the KGB's expectations. The libel has evolved into a slander permeating all levels of American society. Journalists, TV and radio presenters - even sit-coms - regularly flout the story with glee. Clint Eastwood's new film on Hoover serves to cement into history a spurious falsehood.

I urge Mr. Preston to read pp. 235-236 in volume one of the Mitrokhin Archives entitled The Sword and the Shield. It is clear that the libel and slander concerning Hoover's homosexuality are products of KGB active measures that preyed on the propensity of Western mainstream media to rush into print or broadcast news they wanted the public to believe whether true or not.

Here is the link to a piece I wrote on the subject when the film was released.

Bernie Reeves, Editor & Publisher, Raleigh Metro Magazine, www.metronc.com,Founder: Raleigh Spy Conference,www.raleighspyconference.com, 919-787-1944

Call for Papers for May 2012 Conference by IAFIE [International Association for Intelligence Education 8th Annual Conference "lntelligence Education: Theory and Practice" - Washington, DC]

Conference organizers seek papers from those who support advancement of research, knowledge, and professional development in intelligence education.
They seek presenters and papers in the following areas:• Pedagogical approaches both theoretical and applied• Research initiatives• History of intelligence analysis• Future trends in the field of intelligence analysis
• Nexus between intelligence education and intelligence training• Regional and functional analytic questions• Current successes and lessons learned in intelligence education• Student papers that contribute to the field
• Role of intelligence education in developing the profession• International perspectives on the discipline and the profession
Accepted papers and copies of any av materials are due May 1, 2012. IAFIE intends to publish these materials in conference proceedings. Submit ideas for papers, presentations, and panels to Bascom D. Talley, Events Committee Chair, at dittalley@jhu.edu no later than close of business on February 29, 2012. Event will occur 21 - 24 May at Officers Club, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington DC. Lodging: Residence Inn by Marriott at National Harbor.

Books

Canadian Actor's Father was Britain's First Double Agent. Patricia Owens, the Canadian-born actress best known for her leading role in the classic 1958 film "The Fly," lived in fear that her glittering Hollywood life would come to an end if anyone knew her secret.

It was the 1950s, and the infamous Hollywood blacklist was terrorizing anyone in the entertainment industry whose political beliefs didn't bleed red, white and blue.

But while Sen. Joseph McCarthy was chasing down suspected Communists, Owens was not worried about any Marxist leanings ending her career.

Instead, the Golden, B.C.-born actress was worried because her father, Arthur Owens, was believed to be a Nazi spy. Which he was. And wasn't. It's rather complicated.

Arthur Owens was a British war hero who saved thousands of Allied lives, according to a new book, "Snow - The Double Life of a World War II Spy," by espionage writer Nigel West and documentary filmmaker Madoc Roberts.

Using thousands of declassified documents from British intelligence services, the writers weave a fascinating tale of a complicated man pivotal to world history, but one whose motivations still lie in the shadows.

Arthur Owens was a Welsh nationalist who had little love for the Crown. As Europe hurtled toward the Second World War, Owens - code name Johnny O'Brien - was delivering information to Adolf Hitler's Germany on Britain's military activities.

But some 20 years before James Bond made such spy lingo ubiquitous, Owen was actually Britain's first double agent for MI5 (the country's famed counter-intelligence agency).

"He was the first double agent MI5 had before the war and was absolutely pivotal to the double-cross system which saved thousands of lives," Roberts said in a telephone interview from Cardiff, Wales. [Read more: Visser/CTVNews/20January2012]

Jacksonville Priest's Memoirs Discuss Bullfighting, CIA Careers. On the surface, the title of J. Perry Smith's new memoir, "The Unlikely Priest," seems an understatement.

Before he became an Episcopal priest, Smith, now the 67-year-old canon for pastoral care at Jacksonville's St. John's Cathedral, was a Trappist monk, an Army intelligence officer, a CIA agent and an FBI agent. And a bullfighter.

"People ask me how in the world I came from being an FBI agent to being a priest," Smith said. "They think it's incongruent."

But Smith doesn't agree.

His life as a soldier, a spy and a cop was, like his life as a priest, "a life of service," he said.

And his decision to become a bullfighter and a monk, like his decision to become a deacon and a priest in the Episcopal church, was part of his quest for a spiritual home.

Yes, bullfighting has spiritual meaning, Smith said, even if many people find it an intolerable form of animal cruelty.

"I don't try to defend bullfighting," Smith said. "Yes, it is cruel."

But the rituals of bullfighting are like the rituals of religious ceremony, he said. "Dressing up in a fancy suit to sacrifice a bull" has its parallels to what he does as a priest, dressing "in fancy clothes to call into our presence an ancient rite... that centers on sacrifice."

"There's something intrinsic to this art, something otherworldly that transcends time and space and earth....," he said. "It was a very formative experience for me." [Read more: Patton/FloridaTimesUnion/20January2012]

French Secret Service 'at the beck and call of Nicolas Sarkozy'. France's secret service has become an "information agency at the Elys�e's service" with an unchecked special operations department to spy on rivals, agents at the heart of the "French FBI" are quoted as claiming in a book out yesterday. 

When President Nicolas Sarkozy merged France's powerful counter-espionage service, DST, with its domestic intelligence unit, known as les Renseignements G�n�raux, RG, he promised the new entity would put a stop to its predecessors' alleged habit of spying on anyone considered a potential threat to the powers that be.

Mr. Sarkozy said he had for too long been the personal victim of illicit prying and smear tactics from party rivals who he was convinced were trying to trip him before the 2007 elections, instead promising a "respectable republic" whose leaders would no longer exploit intelligence services for political ends.

But 'The President's Spy' contends the reverse has happened; the new 4,000-man "French FBI" - the Direction Central du Renseignement Int�rieur, or DCRI - has become a "tool devoted to serving a camp and its interests", namely that of President Sarkozy.

Disgruntled anonymous intelligence officials are quoted as saying they have had enough of being at the President's beck and call.

"I have lost all my illusions. The DCRI has been created as an intelligence agency at the Elys�e's service," one counter terrorism agent is quoted as complaining. [Read more: TheTelegraph/24January2012]

David Petraeus Biography "All In" Reveals a Broad Scope of War Strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last Summer, General David Petraeus stepped down as America's leading officer in the war on "terror." One month later, Petraeus received a Presidential appointment to become head of the CIA, a position where Petraeus is now free to conduct less "political" and more "covert" military action, against the vague face of terrorism.

Tomorrow General Petraeus releases his heavily anticipated 400 page biography, "All In," recanting Petraeus' 37 years on military active duty. According to inside sources (who received pre-released copies of the prose) the biography is part documentary, part modern history and part personal reflection, reflection from smack dab in the middle of the war on terror.

So what insight does America's highest ranking military officer reveal in his upcoming biography? For the better part of the last 15 years, General Petraeus has shaped America's foreign policy in regards to terrorist insurgency. So what does General Petraeus have to say about his work?

How does Petraeus portray the political aspects of the war on terror, especially in regards to the General's Washington D.C. constituency? Remember, it was General McChrystal, who Petraeus replaced as leader of the war in Afghanistan, after untimely remarks about President Obama in Rolling Stone Magazine.

"Petraeus tries to make sure that he and President Obama are always in synch on the war efforts," the biography states, as to insure Petraeus avoids ticking off his Washington counterparts in the new book. Nevertheless another section of the book, states General Petraeus told his inner circle quote, "Washington is F*&$'ing with the wrong guy." Comments Petraeus gave in regards to a debate with politicians over the exercise of force in Afghanistan, versus the safety of American soldiers.

"We have relearned since 9/11 the timeless lesson that we don't always get to fight the wars for which we're most prepared or most inclined.'' David Petraeus says in his new book, when asked about America's war on terror.

"All In" the story of Petraeus' legacy, characterizes the military legend as sometimes perplexed by his own political stature and impartial to the "mythology," which is said to reside amongst Petraeus' own soldiers. The biography tells the story of a man who not only fought in America's first round of Persian Gulf interventions, but later went on to physically write, "the military code," in regards to "Counter Insurgency" (COIN) and anti-terrorist warfare.

"All In," describes how General Petraeus' first act as head of the war in Afghanistan, was to lift restrictions on his troops when it came to the use of force, particularly airstrikes where civilians were present.

"There is no question about our commitment to reducing civilian loss of life. There was, however, a clear moral imperative to make sure we are fully supporting our troops in combat," Petraeus later said about the decision not to restrict troops from force. [Read more: CivilianNews/24January2012]

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.

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!

Wednesday, 1 February 2012, 6:00 pm - Nellis AFB, NV - The AFIO "Roger E. McCarthy" Las Vegas Chapter holds meeting with Mike Butchko on "Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) and Homeland Security."

Place: The Officers' Club at Nellis Air Force Base. All guests must use the MAIN GATE located at the intersection on Craig Road and Las Vegas Blvd. Address: 5871 Fitzgerald Blvd., Nellis AFB, NV 89191 Phone: 702-644-2582.
(Guest names must be submitted along with their birth date to me by 4:00 p.m., Monday, January 23, 2012
Please join us at 5 p.m. in the "Robin's Roost" bar area for liaison and beverages
Our featured speaker for the evening will be: Michael J. Butchko, Chief Operating Officer, National Security Technologies LLC (NSTec).
Butchko brings over 30 years of command and civilian management experience to NSTec that includes managing the highly successful Joint Base Operations Support Contract (JBOSC) at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and commanding the Air Force Development Test Center at Eglin AFB where he managed operating budgets up to $600M and up to 8,000 personnel. Throughout his career, he has maintained an exemplary safety and environmental compliance record with accident and lost time rates well below industry averages—with no fatalities and no compliance violations.

Prior to accepting his current position as Chief Operating Officer for NSTec, he was Vice-President of Logistics and Range Operations for Northrop Grumman Technical Services. He was responsible for multiple national and international operations supporting various test and training ranges, base infrastructure and logistics support for several aircraft programs. His previous position was as President, Space Gateway Support, LLC (SGS), which operates the Joint Base Operations Support Contract at Kennedy Space Center and other operations support contracts which together employed nearly 3,000 personnel.

Mr. Butchko will discuss the role that the Nevada National Security Site (formally known as the Nevada Test Site) plays in our local and national homeland security. He will discuss first responder training; nuclear search and detection both local and national; and, research into defeating vehicle-borne improvised explosives. The discussion brings into focus how the mission on the Site has evolved from the sole nuclear role for which the Site is well known.

If you are planning to attend the AFIO meeting on Wednesday, February 1, please provide your name and birth date to me, Mary Bentley as soon as possible. I need to have it sent to me by 4:00p.m., Monday January 23, 2012, in order to have your name included on the access list for Nellis AFB. Also, if you have any guests, please provide their name and birth date for them as well.

Questions/Reservations? Email Mary.Bentley@doe.gov or call her at 702-295-0417.

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 speaks 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

Saturday, 4 February 2012, 12 Noon - Williamsburg, VA - The AFIO Norman Forde Hampton Roads Chapter hosts retired CIA station chief and paramilitary advisor Richard L. Holm at the Center Street Grill, 5101 Center Street, Williamsburg, VA
Holm, a recipient of the agency's Distinguished Intelligence Medal and the Donovan Award, will be discussing a 35-year career that took him from perilous postings in Laos and the Congo to less dirty but just as demanding assignments in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Brussels, and an especially challenging Parisian assignment.
For RSVP or any questions, please contact Stan Winarski or Clay Farrington at afiohamptonroads@cox.net.

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

Saturday, 11 February 2012, 11 am - Orange Park, FL - North Florida Chapter hosts luncheon meeting.

Chapter President Baird has a couple of potential speakers lined up and the next chapter newsletter will have additional details.  If you will be attending, never too early to RSVP to Quiel at qbegonia@comcast.net or 904-545-9549.  Hope to see you there!

14 February 2012 - MacDill AFB, FL - AFIO Florida Suncoast Chapter featuring former FBI Agent Catherine Hunt

Catherine Hunt, former FBI, is Proposal Manager, EKS Group, LLC. EKS provides the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community with expertise on intelligence operations, counterintelligence, human intelligence, information operations, and counterterrorism.
Ms. Hunt served as a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for 11 years in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Divisions and held positions in the Legal Attaché offices at the U.S. Embassies in Cairo and Baghdad.Throughout her career, Ms. Hunt worked counterintelligence and counterterrorism investigations, was the Hate Crimes Coordinator within FBI San Francisco's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), and was a FBI Certified Crisis Negotiator. Hunt spent 4 months embedded with the military in Iraq soon after the U.S. invasion, conducting interviews and investigations. Ms. Hunt holds a Masters in Social Work from USF.
Event takes place at the MacDill AFB Surf's Edge Club, 7315 Bayshore Boulevard, MacDill AFB, FL 33621.
Please RSVP no later than Wednesday, February 8, for yourself and include the names of any guests.
Email or call the Chapter Secretary at mfshapiro@att.net. Check-in at 1130 hours; opening ceremonies, lunch and business meeting at noon, followed by our speaker.
Note that our meetings have moved to a new facility, the Surf's Edge Club, where the luncheon cost is $20.
You must present your $20 check payable to "Suncoast Chapter, AFIO" (or cash) at check-in to cover the luncheon.
Anyone with special AFIO Gate Access should proceed to the Bayshore Gate. If you need directions, please let us know.
The cash wine and soda bar will open at 1100 hours for those that wish to come early to socialize. Inquiries to Michael Shapiro Secretary, Florida Suncoast Chapter of AFIO at (813) 832-1164 or at mfshapiro@att.net or visit www.suncoastafio.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

23 February 2012, 1230 - 1430 hrs - Los Angeles, CA - the AFIO Los Angeles Chapter meeting features Lt. Col. Phil Meinhardt USAF (ret.) on "Eagle Pull" in Vietnam

Meinhardt will be addressing the chapter on what happened after the 1973 truce in Vietnam and the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, called 'Eagle Pull' which he wrote. Col. Meinhardt arrived in Vietnam on June 23, 1973 as the Air Force Liaison Officer to the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, continuing with assignments to the U.S. Support Activities Group and the Military Assistance Group, Thailand. Col. Meinhardt is a 1960 graduate of the Air Force Academy and pilot with a thirty-four year military career that included Chief of Advanced Concepts and Director of Advanced Space Technology for Air Force Space and Missile Systems. Col. Meinhardt is a former Republican nominee to Congress with an extensive planning and policy background.
RSVP AFIO_LA@yahoo.com if you would like to attend, lunch will be served for $20. The meeting will take place at the LMU campus in the Hilton Business Building in RM. 304

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

Thursday, 15 March 2012, 11:30 am - Colorado Springs, CO – The AFIO Rocky Mountain Chapter presents a re-schedulding of Sheriff Terry Maketa speaking about his official visits to Israel and Trinidad.

This should be an interesting talk as El Paso County Sheriff's rarely travel this far from home. 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

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

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