Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Secret U.S. Cable Warned About Pakistani Havens. The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan sent a top-secret cable to Washington last month warning that the persistence of enemy havens in Pakistan was placing the success of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan in jeopardy, U.S. officials said.

The cable, written by Ryan C. Crocker, amounted to an admission that years of U.S. efforts to curtail insurgent activity in Pakistan by the lethal Haqqani network, a key Taliban ally, were failing. Because of the intended secrecy of that message, Crocker sent it through CIA channels rather than the usual State Department ones.

The cable, which was described by several officials familiar with its contents, could be used as ammunition by senior military officials who favor more aggressive action by the United States against the Haqqani havens in Pakistan. It also could buttress calls from senior military officials for a more gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan as the 2014 deadline for ending combat operations approaches. [Read more: Jaffe&Miller/WashingtonPost/24February2012]

Putin Praises Cold War Spies who Stole U.S. Nuclear Secrets. Vladimir Putin earlier praised Cold War-era scientists for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets to prevent them from being the world's sole atomic power.

Putin said that spies with suitcases full of data stolen from the U.S. helped the Soviet Union build its own atomic bomb.

They were apparently given the sensitive data by scientists being employed by the U.S. to work on nuclear missiles.

The daring thefts came at the height of the Cold War when the U.S. appeared to be winning the nuclear arms race with the East. But according to Putin, it was Russia's duty for the 'good of mankind' to act as a counterweight to U.S. power.

'You know, when the States already had nuclear weapons and the Soviet Union was only building them, we got a significant amount of information through Soviet foreign intelligence channels,' Putin told military commanders, according to state-run Itar-Tass.

'The were carrying the information away not on microfilm but literally in suitcases. Suitcases!'

Putin's remarks referred to the dawn of the Cold War more than half a century ago, but they echoed a message he has made loud and clear more recently: that the United States needs to be restrained, and Russia is the country to do it. [Read more: MailOnline/23February2012]

Rendition: Did UK Play Secret Role? New evidence has emerged of an alleged cover-up of Britain's secret role in the "extraordinary rendition" of terror suspects. 

Classified documents, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, suggest Parliament has been repeatedly misled by ministers about the extent of British intelligence officials' involvement in the American-run operations.

The papers outline how MI6 provided key intelligence and support for the transfer of terrorists for interrogation in Libya.

They show that, in direct contradiction to assurances given by successive governments, a British airbase was apparently used as a key staging post for the CIA programme.

The new information centres on MI6's role in the rendition of Abdelhakim Belhadj, a leading opponent of Col Muammar Gaddafi and then terrorist suspect, to Tripoli in March 2004, where he faced imprisonment and alleged torture.

The documents include classified details of how MI6 alerted Moussa Koussa, Gaddafi's intelligence chief, to Mr. Belhadj's detention on immigration grounds in Malaysia. 

He was then seized by the CIA in Bangkok, and put on a flight bound for Diego Garcia, a British sovereign territory in the Indian Ocean. The plane refueled there before flying to Libya, according to the CIA flight schedule.

It provides new evidence of the close links between MI6 and their Libyan counterparts, the ESO, at the time. [Read more: Lewis/TheTelegraph/25February2012]

Prosecutors Charge Accused Lebanese Terrorist in Iraq. U.S. military prosecutors have submitted charges, including murder and espionage, against a Lebanese Hezbollah commander allegedly responsible for killing five U.S. soldiers in Iraq, a Pentagon official said Friday.

The case against Ali Musa Daqduq is complicated by the fact that he is in Iraqi government custody, and it is unclear whether Baghdad authorities will permit his transfer to a U.S. military tribunal.

Prosecutors submitted charges against Daqduq last month, but they have yet to be approved by Brig. Gen. Mark S. Martins, chief prosecutor of the military commissions system that so far has dealt only with defendants held at Guantanamo Bay in connection with the war against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

The New York Times in its Friday editions was first to report the Daqduq charges, which have not been officially announced by the Pentagon because they have not been approved by the chief prosecutor.

If Martins were to approve the charges, the matter would then go to retired Vice Adm. Bruce MacDonald for a decision whether to refer some, all or none of the charges for trial by a military tribunal.

"There are multiple charges against the accused, including murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, intentional infliction of serious bodily injury, attempted taking of hostages, perfidy, spying and terrorism," said Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale, a Pentagon spokesman. "The charges are merely accusations, and the accused is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

Daqduq was captured in southern Iraq in March 2007, two months after a raid in the city of Karbala by insurgents wearing American-style uniforms resulted in the deaths of five American troops. In the U.S. charges against him, Daqduq is accused of planning and coordinating the raid. [Read more: USAToday/24February2012]

Obama Administration Cracks Down on Intelligence Leaks, Transparency Groups Cry Foul. The Obama administration, reeling from the biggest classified information breach in U.S. history thanks to WikiLeaks and its conspirators, is cracking down on intelligence leaks with unprecedented vigor. 

But open government groups and watchdogs are raising alarm, claiming the administration is taking a heavy-handed approach that could "chill" whistleblowers and those who cover their claims. 

The groups are not necessarily leaping to the defense of Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaker. Rather, they're concerned about the sheer number of Americans who have been charged under the Espionage Act over the past few years. 

Since 2009, six Americans accused of leaking sensitive information - including Manning - have been charged under the act. The act has been used to charge accused media leakers more times in the last few years than during the rest of the law's decades-long history, according to the Project on Government Oversight. 

"They're using a hammer to go after these folks," said Joe Newman, spokesman with the Project on Government Oversight. 

The concern is that, while the defendants in these cases may or may not have leaked classified material, the government is using an intimidating tool to punish them. The World War I-era Espionage Act was famously used to charge the Rosenbergs, American communists, for allegedly passing secret information to the Soviet Union - they were executed for the offense. 

Watchdog groups claim being charged under the act is tantamount to being branded a "traitor." 

The Justice Department rejects this argument, noting that the act has many provisions - notably, disclosure of classified information and of defense information, which is not by itself an espionage charge. 

"None of these individuals has been charged with spying for a foreign government," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said. [Read more: FoxNews/24February2012]

High-Value Guantanamo Bay Detainee Majid Khan, in First, Reaches Plea Deal. A former Baltimore area resident held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has reached a plea agreement with military prosecutors that calls for him to testify at the trials of other detainees in exchange for a much-reduced sentence and eventual freedom, according to officials familiar with the case.

The plea agreement with Majid Khan, 31, is the first with a high-value detainee who was previously held by the CIA at a secret prison overseas.

Khan's plea agreement could mark the beginning of an effort to accelerate the number of military commission cases by the new chief military prosecutor, Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, who assumed his position in October.

"What we are beginning to see are the fruits of putting General Martins in as chief, and he is bringing rigor, professionalism and energy to" a system that was stalled, said Charles "Cully" D. Stimson, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs in the George W. Bush administration and now a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. "You would expect cases to start flowing, and one part of that is pleas."

There are 171 detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, and an Obama administration task force recommended that 36 of them be prosecuted in federal court or military commissions.

Khan was charged this month with war crimes, including murder, attempted murder, spying and providing material support for terrorism. Unusually, the case was almost immediately referred to a commission, signaling that a deal was in the works. Such referrals typically take weeks or months.

Khan was captured in Pakistan in March 2003. He vanished into the CIA's network of prisons until Bush announced in September 2006 that Khan and 13 other high-profile detainees, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had been transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

Khan's June 2008 detainee assessment at Guantanamo Bay found him to be a high risk to the United States and its allies, a low detention threat, and of "high intelligence value." [Read more: Finn/WashingtonPost/22February2012]

Afghan Intelligence Officer Killed US Military Advisers: Reports. A 25-year-old Afghan intelligence officer has been identified as 'the main suspect' in the killing of two US military advisers inside the Interior Ministry building in Kabul, media reports said Sunday.

Abdul Saboor joined the police forces two years ago and had one of the highest security clearances in the ministry. He is now believed to be on the run, local television Tolo quoted senior Afghan security officials as saying.

Security forces have already raided his house in the north-eastern province of Parwan, just north of Kabul, and have detained several of his relatives, according to the reports. [Read more: SouthAsiaNews/26February2012]

CIA to Software Vendors: A Revolution is Coming. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency told software vendors on Tuesday that it plans to revolutionize the way it does business with them as part of a race to keep up with the blazing pace of technology advances.

Rather than stick with traditional all-you-can-eat deals known as "enterprise licensing agreements," the CIA wants to buy software services on a "metered," pay-as-you-go basis, Ira "Gus" Hunt, the agency's top technology officer, told an industry conference.

"Think Amazon," he said, referring to the electronic commerce giant where the inventory is vast but the billing is per item. "That model really works."

The old way of contracting for proprietary software inhibits flexibility, postponing the CIA's chance to take advantage of emerging capabilities early on, Hunt said.

He added that this made it harder to keep up with "big data" at a time that such challenges are growing while federal agencies are tightening their belts for deficit reduction.

The CIA does not comment on how much it spends on its software licenses nor other details of its budget because they are classified, said Preston Golson, an agency spokesman. He did not immediately respond to a query about whether the CIA already had begun to recast its software licenses.

Intelligence analysts use programs from companies such as Oracle Corp, SAP AG and Hewlett Packard Co to sift through vast data sets to provide insights, warning and opportunities to the president of the United States and other decision makers. [Read more: Wolf/Reuters/21February2012]

DIA Head Warns Senate of China's Space Program. The Defense Intelligence Agency director recently told a Senate committee the agency believes China is developing a space weapon program that can be used against satellites worldwide.

Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess presented the agency's worldwide threats report to the Senate Armed Services Committee last week detailing China's anti-satellite missiles and cyber warfare capabilities, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

Burgess said China is developing missiles and electronic jammers that are capable of damaging space assets.

Burgess said China recently tested a direct ascent anti-satellite weapon missile in 2007, destroying China's own weather satellite.

DIA analysts indicated that it would take only about two dozen ASAT missile attacks from China to cause serious damage to U.S. military operations. [Read more: Noland/Executive.gov/24February2012]

'Memogate' Claims Spymaster's Head. The race has begun for the coveted slot of director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as Pakistan's civilian and military leadership has decided against retaining ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha. Especially in the aftermath of the "Memogate" scandal, he has fallen out of favor not only with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani but also with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.

Memogate involved Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claiming that the Pakistan government had sought the Barack Obama administration's help to stave off a military coup following al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's May 2, 2011, killed in a covert US commando operation in the Pakistan town of Abbottabad. Pasha came under heavy criticism when Bin Laden was found living in Pakistan, hardly a kilometer from the Kakul Military Academy, which is located in a high-security garrison town on the edge of Islamabad.

The international community raised serious questions about the presence of Bin Laden in Abbottabad, refuting Pasha's stance that his agency was not aware of his being there.

Despite the glaring failure of the ISI to track down the world's most wanted fugitive terrorist, who had been living in Abbottabad for five years, Pasha somehow managed to hold onto his position, and then "unearthed" the Memogate scandal a few months later.

While investigating the memo without even seeking permission from the government, Pasha deemed it fit to travel to London, meet with Ijaz on October 22, 2011, and persuade Kayani to take up the issue with the Zardari-led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government, maintaining that the memo had compromised the country's national security.

In the whole process, Pasha bypassed the prime minister and his office and behaved as if he were not answerable to the civilian setup.

The scandal eventually forced Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, Hussain Haqqani, to quit, besides prompting the Supreme Court to appoint a high-level judicial commission to investigate the alleged role of Zardari in it. [Mir/AsiaTimes/24February2012]

FBI Fraud Probes Increase as Insider Trading 'Widespread'. Open FBI investigations into corporate, securities and commodity fraud increased 8.8 percent as of Sept. 30, compared to a year earlier, the agency said in a report.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had 2,572 such cases open at the end of last fiscal year, according to the report released today. That's up from 2,364 on Sept. 30, 2010.

The FBI report included data on financial crime probes during the last two fiscal years, including investigations related to the economic downturn that followed the 2008 market collapse.

There was an increase in insider trading probes, which are a "widespread problem" that has plagued the "fair and orderly operation" of securities markets, according to the report.

"Insider trading has been a continuous threat to the fair and orderly operation of the U.S. financial markets and has robbed the investing public of some degree of trust that markets operate fairly," according to the report.

The FBI is making greater use of wiretaps and undercover operations, which may provide the "best evidence" to prosecute financial crimes, said Timothy Gallagher, chief of the FBI's financial crimes section, at a briefing in Washington. [Read more: Stern/Bloomberg/27February2012]

Welsh Pair held in Libya Investigated for Alleged 'Espionage'. Two British journalists working for an Iranian television station arrested in Tripoli last week are being investigated for alleged espionage, said the commander of the militia holding them yesterday.

Reporter Nicholas Davies - a 32-year-old who works under the name Nick Jones - and cameraman Gareth Montgomery-Johnson, 37, from Carmarthenshire, were detained last Tuesday by Misratan militiamen and are being held at the former Gaddafi regime Women's Military Academy in Tripoli.

Meanwhile Amnesty International is pressing the Libyan authorities to give the men access to a lawyer.

Base commander Sadoon Alswehle said the men, along with two Libyan colleagues, were stopped by a militia patrol when they were filming near Tripoli's Martyr's Square on February 21.

He claimed they had no visas or press accreditation, after which their TV footage was seized and examined.

"They have no documents allowing them to live or work in Libya," said Alswehle. "What concerns us is the television footage we found, which we think may threaten the security of Libya."

He would not give details of what the footage contained, but it is thought to include film of military installations. [Read more: Steven/WalesOnline/28February2012]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Confessions of a KGB Spy. It is the perfect place to meet a man from the KGB. Boris Karpichkov - former KGB operative and double agent - suggests we meet under the shadow of Marble Arch in central London. I am late. But he is easy to spot: a gaunt, thin, pale figure with the slightly haunted look of someone who has spent their career in the twilight world of espionage.

Since fleeing to Britain in the late 1990s Karpichkov has preferred to keep a low profile - unlike another, better known Moscow agent who fled to London, one Alexander Litvinenko. Now, with the KGB's most famous graduate, Vladimir Putin, about to get his old Kremlin job back, can Karpichkov shed light on the murky world of Russian spying?

Born in 1959 in Soviet Latvia, Karpichkov grew up in a patriotic communist family and became a mechanical engineer. The KGB approached him when he was working in a factory making parts for the aerospace industry. He enrolled at the KGB's academy in Minsk in 1984, learning, among other things, how to shoot, and how to kill with his bare hands. He was assigned to the Riga branch of the KGB's prestigious Second Directorate, specialising in counter-intelligence. He reached the rank of Major.

After the Soviet collapse, Karpichkov stayed in Latvia, now independent and at odds with Moscow, and joined Latvia's new intelligence service. Secretly, however, he continued to supply information to the KGB - renamed the Federal Security Service or FSB.

For three years he was a classic double agent. He says he broke into and planted bugs in the British embassy in Riga. He ran audacious disinformation operations against the CIA. He still has the tools of his trade: skeleton keys used for breaking into the flats of targets (small pieces of metal that might be mistaken for a bicycle repair kit), and a wide-range "scanner", which looks like a chunky walkie-talkie, for eavesdropping.

But in 1995 Karpichkov's problems began. He grew unhappy with the increasingly corrupt FSB, which, he says, failed to pay him. The Latvians began to suspect, correctly, that he was working for the Russians. Back in Russia with his cover blown, he spent several months in a Moscow prison before slipping into Britain on one of the false passports he was given as a KGB officer. He hasn't been back to Russia or Latvia since.

In exile in Britain, Karpichkov has written a colourful memoir about his time in the KGB, for which he is now seeking a publisher. [Read more: Harding/TheGuardian/22February2012]

Long Island Spy Museum to Open this Spring. The spies are coming ... to Stony Brook.

The role of spies and how they shaped American history will take center stage at the Long Island Spy Museum, set to open in late spring in Stony Brook.

The new two-level museum at 275 Christian Ave. will trace the evolution of intelligence-gathering from Long Island's own Culper Spy Ring that helped win the Revolutionary War to espionage after 9/11.

"I think with the modern-day problems that we're facing like terrorism, intelligence is really important," said Michael Gilbert, the museum's chief operating officer.

Construction is under way inside a building that once served as a firehouse. When finished, Gilbert said, the 6,000-square-foot space will be big on interactivity. Visitors will be invited to climb into a surveillance van to manipulate cameras and listen to conversations and head through a secret passage concealed as a bookcase.

Exhibits will include spy gadgets such as a shaving kit that doubles as a radio device, and objects from World War II-era Office of Strategic Service agents: a knife thrown by chef Julia Child, and a jacket from "The Godfather" actor Sterling Hayden.

Gilbert said plans also include a high-tech "Spy Bus" that will transport Long Island students to and from the museum - offsetting costs for schools.

The nonprofit museum was founded in 2010 by a group of former and current intelligence officers from Long Island whose identities - fittingly - can't be revealed because of the classified nature of their work. Two years and $2 million in private donations later, board members include Michael J. Sulick, a CIA veteran and former director of the U.S. National Clandestine Service. [Read more: Harrison/Newsday/25February2012]

Bit by precious BIT. In the early 1960s CIA officials suddenly had a scary thought: what if the Soviet Union could take command of American spy satellites? Could they hack the command system and tell a satellite to start its reentry sequence? Could they reprogram the camera to turn on a few minutes later and thereby miss its targets? Could they tell the satellite to switch itself off or spin out of control?

At the time, both the Air Force and the Navy had signals intelligence (SIGINT) satellites primarily intended to detect Soviet Union radars. The CIA, however, did not have its own satellite SIGINT program. So the CIA turned to Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation in Palo Alto, California, and gave them a contract to develop a system for detecting Soviet efforts to take over control of American satellites. The system was named "BIT."

One of the advantages of the Agena was that in addition to payloads on its nose, the aft rack could mount various secondary payloads, including engineering experiments and even deployable satellites. This is where the BIT system was installed. One of the Lockheed engineers who worked on the system reported that decades later he was startled to see an Agena in a museum with the BIT box still attached, despite the fact that it was a highly classified piece of technology.

Some information on BIT can be gleaned from dozens of recently declassified cables apparently sent from Lockheed, possibly to CIA Headquarters, reporting on what BIT was detecting. BIT's data was probably recorded with other spacecraft telemetry and then sent down when the satellite flew over a ground station. [Read more: Day/TheSpaceReview/27February2012]

Soldiers As Spies. Over the last three years, SOCOM (Special Operations Command) and the CIA have convinced Congress to allow the two organizations to merge some of their operations, and share personnel and other resources. This is a process that started during World War II, and a despite some political ups and downs, never completely stopped. By the time September 11, 2001 rolled around, the CIA was routinely requesting Special Forces operators to work directly for them, a custom that goes back to the early days (1950s) of the U.S. Army Special Forces.

In the last decade SOCOM (which controls the Special Forces, as well as U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Air Force special operations aircraft) increasingly found that they could compete with the CIA in producing quality intelligence. The Department of Defense now allows Special Forces troops to be trained for plain clothes, and uniformed, espionage work in foreign counties. The Special Forces have unofficially been doing this sort of thing for decades, sometimes at the request of the CIA. In 1986, the Special Forces even established an "intelligence operations" school to train a small number of Special Forces troops in the tradecraft of running espionage operations in a foreign country. In practical terms, this means recruiting locals to provide information and supervising these spies, agents and informants.

By law, the CIA controls all overseas espionage operations. But the CIA and Special Forces were both founded by men who had served with the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) during World War II and the relationship continued after the OSS veterans retired from their CIA and Special Forces careers.

The army wants to more aggressively use Special Forces troops for espionage so that the "battlefield can be prepared" more quickly. This is seen as necessary in order to effectively run down fast moving terrorist organizations. Currently, the Special Forces depend on the CIA to do the espionage work in advance of Special Forces A-Teams arriving. In practice, some Special Forces troops are often there, along with CIA personnel, doing the advance work of finding who exactly who is who, what is where and, in particular, who can be depended on to help American efforts. The CIA has not made a big stink about this Department of Defense effort, if only because the CIA is short of people and is still aggressively recruiting people for anti-terrorism operations. Besides, a prime source of new CIA agents has long been former, or retired, Special Forces operators. With the new espionage training Special Forces troops are getting, the CIA will be able to hire these guys later and put them to work without having to train them in a lot of espionage techniques. SOCOM is also believed to be hiring retired CIA personnel, to help run SOCOM intel operations. [Read more: StrategyPage/27February2012]

Today in History, 1997: G-man Admits Spying. FBI agent Earl Pitts, who was arrested in a sting operation and later said he sold secrets to Russia because he was unable to live on his $25,000 salary, pleaded guilty to an espionage charge. His plea came only days before CIA agent Harold Nicholson pleaded guilty to an espionage charge in the same courtroom.

Pitts, 44, was sentenced to 27 years in prison and Nicholson, 46, was sentenced to 23 years for selling secrets to Moscow. [Read more: Curtis/TulsaWorld/28February2012]

Section III - COMMENTARY

Will Iran Be Able to Strike the US By 2014? With tensions rising in the Mideast, many experts and citizens are left to speculate on what the future will bring for the region.

However, many are wondering what the ramifications will be not only for the Middle East, but for America as well.

The experts hotly debate the actual threat Iran poses to the United States, but one government report actually contends that Iran could have the ability to strike the U.S. as early as 2014.

The report came to light as a result of an FOIA request made by researcher John Greenewald at TheBlackVault.com.

Like most FIOA requests, it took the government more than a decade to respond. However, what they did respond with was a heavily redacted report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency with statements revealing U.S. concerns about Iran's nuclear capabilities.

The 1999 report, titled The Future of Iran's Long-Range Ballistic Missile Program, makes two interestingly bold statements. The report claims that a long range missile with "a range of 10,000 kilometers would provide the Iranians with missile coverage of Alaska."

However, these missiles would not reach the continental U.S.

Nevertheless, the report also states that it is possible that Iran could develop a missile "that can strike the united states in the next 10 to 15 years." As disconcerting as this seems, how does the 11 year old report measure up today? [Read more: Dufrene/TopSecretWriters/27February2012]

Gitmo Plea Deal Signals New Trial Strategy. When a suburban Baltimore high school graduate steps out of the shadows of CIA detention this week to admit to serving the senior leadership of al-Qaida, the Obama administration will be unveiling its latest strategy toward an endgame.

Majid Khan has agreed to be a government witness at future military commissions, sources say, in exchange for Wednesday's guilty plea and the possibility of return to his native Pakistan in four years. It's part of an evolving effort to quell criticism that confessions were extracted through torture by offering live testimony from willing captive witnesses.

"It's like organized crime," said retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who was a Pentagon war crimes prosecutor during President George W. Bush's tenure. "Sometimes you pick the lesser of the two evils and bargain with who you can."

Federal prosecutors describe Khan, who turns 32 Tuesday, as a one-time willing foot soldier for radical Islam. He allegedly recorded a martyr's message and donned a fake bomb vest in 2003 in a test to see whether he was willing to kill then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He allegedly delivered $50,000 from Pakistan to Thailand, money used to fund an al-Qaida affiliate's August 2003 suicide attack on a Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. Eleven people died, and more than 80 others were wounded.

The attack's alleged architect, Riduan Bin Ismouddin, an Indonesian man known as Hambali, and two reputed Malaysian deputies were, like Khan, subjected to years of secret CIA interrogations - never charged but still at Guantanamo and, according to a Malaysian newspaper's report, in the queue to face military trials.

Less clear is how Khan would help at a 9/11 trial. His charge sheet alleges he joined al-Qaida after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. [Read more: Rosenberg/MiamiHerald/28February2012]

What You Need To Know About The Senate Cybersecurity Bill. The Senate is currently debating a key piece of cybersecurity legislation which could change the way American tech firms operate. It is impossible to understate the need for the proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2012 - the United States, in the midst of a historic surge in online crime and espionage, has decided to act to reduce the problem. However, critics argue that the Cybersecurity Act is wasteful and threatens privacy. As currently written, the Cybersecurity Act could lead to massively increased costs for American tech and Internet firms.

The Cybersecurity Act dramatically increases the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) role in combating cybercrime. Responsibility for commercial and civilian online security would be explicitly placed under DHS's supervision; responsibility currently lies with a host of federal, state, and local law enforcement and intelligence agencies. A new National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC) would be established within DHS, and would be headed up by a Senate-confirmed presidential appointee. Information sharing between government agencies would be streamlined. And the DHS will be responsible for establishing federally mandated "cybersecurity performance requirements" for critical Internet infrastructure.

The latest aspect of this bill has especially rankled critics. The DHS, once it decides what constitutes "critical internet infrastructure" - as the bill does not give an explicit definition - will lay down security requirements for the owners and operators of relevant services. Owners and operators will be required, at their own expense, to alter their Internet security choices in accordance with government requirements. This will be an extremely pricy proposition for hardware providers, Internet infrastructure providers, and web giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. [Read more: Ungerleider/FastCompany27February2012]

Section IV - Books, Obituaries, Jobs and Coming Events

Books

'Enemies: A History of the FBI' by Tim Weiner.  Employing the same 'see only evil' slant as his earlier, heavily skewed book on CIA ('Legacy of Ashes'), and grossly misusing the word 'history,' certain to have a few historians snorting, newspaperman Tim Weiner's latest - Enemies: A History of the FBI - offers another bizarre, distorted indictment.

Each week, the FBI sends reporters an email of "top ten news stories" of some of hundreds of investigations that have successfully led to arrests. The press releases usually highlight cybercrooks nabbed, terrorism plots foiled, and convictions by the agents of the world's most famous law enforcement agency.

It's clear, with Weiner's MO, that he wasted no time with any of the successes, for this latest 'history' reads like another pent-up, sneering bushwack. This time, the target is the FBI. He faults it for doing its job, as a secret intelligence service that, he insists, has bent and broken the law for decades in the pursuit of Communists, terrorists, and spies. Worse, in Weiner's view, the Bureau was inept. Quoting Thomas Kean, Republican chair of the 9/11Commission, who in 2004 during public congressional grandstanding and scapegoating, said: "You have a record of an agency that's failed, and it's failed again and again and again." Such statements ignore that all parts of the U.S. defense and national security establishments, were hobbled because of limitations put on these agencies by Congress itself, and our citizens, and understandably failed to divert 9/11 hijackers, or intervene when protected rights trumped effective law enforcement.

Weiner's lipsmacking desperation to eviscerate the FBI...focuses on well-trod mixups and minor scandals. Like his last book, subtitled 'The History of CIA,' this 'history' of the Bureau is as truthful a history as one about aviation laboriously describing every plane crash, and only crashes, never mentioning one successful landing.

Being New York-based, Weiner is particularly skilled at marketing his books using the cloak of respectability of The New York Times. The Pulitzer Committee refused to award his earlier, much-promoted CIA book, and it was surmised to be its lack of honesty in selection and presentation of facts. Much of this story and technique are similar: one cherrypicked incident and fact after another. "Presumably the FBI has done some useful things over the years, but they get short shrift here," quipped Drogin, a pro-Weiner reviewer, in The Los Angeles Times [Drogin/LATimes/22February2012]. Drogin continues, "The Hollywood-beloved takedowns of John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and Bonnie and Clyde, for example, merit one sentence in this 500-plus-page tome. That is one sentence total, not one sentence each." That should tell scholars all they need to know. The New York Times should be ashamed to have their name associated -- twice -- with another bitter, distorted Tim Weiner 'history.' [B]

Professor Researches CIA's Effect on Films. Stemming from a love of spy films and espionage thrillers, assistant professor of film-television-digital media Tricia Jenkins wrote a new book examining the CIA's influence on the film and television industries.

The University of Texas Press released "The CIA in Hollywood: How the Agency Shapes Film and Television" in early February. Sponsoring editor at the University of Texas Press Jim Burr said the book's originality piqued his interest.

"It was a topic that I hadn't seen covered before," Burr said.

Jenkins said she always loved the spy thriller genre and its relationship to the CIA. This interest led to the idea for the book, she said.

The book required a year of research before it could be written, Jenkins said. After finishing her research, she wrote the book within nine months.

Her research also formed the basis for Media, Politics and Social Values, a class she taught last spring. The class was a study in government propaganda, she said.

Jenkins encountered resistance from both the CIA and the entertainment industry when she was researching the book, she said.

But, Jenkins said she still managed to talk with many sources about the subject. Jenkins said she spoke with people who worked for the CIA as liaisons to the entertainment industry. [Read more: Varano/TCU/24February2012]

Obituaries

Ernest van Maurik. Ernest van Maurik, who has died aged 95, was an SOE officer parachuted into German-occupied France in 1944. 

Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, the head of "F" Section, Special Operations Executive, needed to replace his man in Berne, and van Maurik (always known as "Van") was selected for the mission. In January 1944 he was dropped by Halifax bomber into the Ain district about 40 miles from the Swiss frontier. His equipment included a Colt .32 revolver and a code sewn into his belt.

It was a fine night, and he landed in thick snow to be met by a reception committee which included Richard Heslop (known as "Xavier") and Henri Romans-Petit, commander of the local Maquis. The first night was spent on damp straw in a disused farmhouse and, during a stay of several days, he visited the Maquis camps, made a careful note of their requirements and organised airdrops of stores, guns, explosives, medicines and clothing which they had been struggling to obtain.

He and Roman-Petits then headed for the Swiss border in a "voiture gazo". Van Maurik's French was not good enough to stand up to an interrogation, and his cover story was that he was an RAF airman who had been shot down in Belgium and captured by a German patrol - but had jumped out of a truck and got away.

At Annemasse, on the Swiss border, they were given bicycles and told to follow a customs official at a discreet distance. They cycled past German soldiers and, on reaching the bridge, when their way was blocked by barbed wire, managed to cross over on a narrow outside ledge and escape into Switzerland.

Ernest Henry van Maurik was born in London on August 24 1916. The son of a Dutchman who ran a cigar business, and an English mother, he was educated at Lancing and then spent several months in Germany.

As he perfected his German, he saw some of the excesses of the burgeoning Nazi regime. He then went to Switzerland to improve his French before moving to sell tea in London where, in 1936, he joined the Artists Rifles as a territorial. [Read more: TheTelegraph/24February2012]

Franklin Hawkins. Franklin Hawkins, 94, a military engineering expert who worked for the Navy and the CIA, died Feb. 19 at a hospital in Easton, Md.

The former Arlington resident had congestive heart failure, said his nephew John Hawkins Miller.

Mr. Hawkins retired in 1972 after a 17-year career at the CIA, where he analyzed Soviet submarine designs. He had previously done submarine research at the David Taylor Model Basin at the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock Division.

After his retirement from the CIA, Mr. Hawkins did part-time work for a Washington-based firm that translated technical materials for federal agencies; he specialized in Russian documents.

Franklin Hawkins was born in Montclair, N.J. He received a bachelor's degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1941. He served in the Navy during World War II.

His wife of 42 years, Helen Boswell Hawkins, died in 1995. Their daughter, Anne Hawkins, died in infancy.

He had no immediate survivors. [Langer/WashingtonPost/27February2012]

Jobs
 [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, Coast Guard Investigative Service. 
Vacancy Announcement: CG-SES-12-01
Open Period: 9 February 2012 to 12 March 2012
Salary Range: $119,554 - $179,700
Position Location: Arlington, VA

The USCG is announcing a challenging Senior Executive Service career opportunity to serve as Director, Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS). The Director of CGIS serves as the senior federal criminal investigative executive within the Coast Guard and provides executive direction, leadership and management of the Coast Guard Investigative Service.
Additional duties include:

- Provides leadership in the design, development, and implementation of policies, regulations, and procedures for Coast Guard-wide investigative operations and administrative activities of CGIS Regional and Resident Offices, task force operations, protective services, force protection, training, and special operations detachments of the CGIS. 

- Serves as a chief advisor to senior Coast Guard leadership providing expert advice concerning a variety of policy, direction, and managerial issues such as strategic planning efforts which affect the capability of the CGIS to support Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) goals and objectives. 

- Provides executive oversight of planning, developing and carrying out criminal investigations of highly sensitive cases concerning the most significant forms of criminal, cyber or environmental misconduct.

- Ensures all such operations are performed in accordance with Coast Guard, Department of Justice (DOJ), DHS, and accepted federal law enforcement standards and requirements; manages CGIS participation of Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and other federal, state, and local task forces, in which the CGIS agents provide maritime law enforcement expertise and facilitate information sharing between Coast Guard operational commanders and law enforcement partners.

- Works closely with senior criminal investigative executives of other government agencies, foreign and domestic, in assuring effective coordination on all related investigative and operational issues and administrative matters under the direction of those organizations.

The Director directly supervises and evaluates the CGIS Deputy Director, Assistant Director and staff attorney; and provides second-line supervision of the Regional Special Agents-in-Charge.

The selectee must attain a Top Secret/SCI clearance, and undergo pre/post-appointment random drug testing. U.S. Citizenship required. 

To review basic job requirements and to apply to this vacancy please visit: http://www.usajobs.gov/ and enter CG-SES-12-01 in the keyword search.

Job: Subject Matter Experts III (JIEDDO NID COIC SETA)
Job Number: TRU00154
Description: Truestone is seeking Engineering, Acquisition and IT professionals to provide the Joint Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) Counter-IED Operations Intelligence Integration Center (COIC) with technical engineering analysis and applied technology support, enterprise and strategic engineering support, program acquisition support, technical deliverable review support, and architectural design and requirements/alternatives/risk analysis support for the Net-Centric Innovation Division (NID), under the Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract.
The Net-Centric Innovation Division (NID) is the IT engineering arm of the JIEDDO-COIC. It performs system engineering and architecture development; develops and maintains software applications and web-based portals; discovers, evaluates, and integrates new technologies; performs information assurance to defend and protect vital JIEDDO-COIC IT infrastructure; builds and maintains analytical tools and modeling and simulation capabilities; performs system integration and testing; provides tool training; and, performs command and control network architectural design and engineering.
Truestone is seeking subject matter experts with Engineering and IT experience, combined with C-IED and /or previous Government SETA experience, to provide systems engineering and technical assistance services to support JIEDDO-COIC NID leadership and their management of NID operations, including the oversight of acquisition programs.
Qualifications:
Clearance:
Have undergone an SSBI or SSBI-PR within the last five (5) years that was favorably adjudicated;
Have no break, greater than 24 months, in military service, federal civilian employment or access to classified information under the Industrial Security Program; Possess a current Top Secret security determination; Possess a Sensitive Compartmented Information determination reflected in the Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS).
Engineering, IT, Technical, Network, Architectural, Web-based, Software, Computer Security expertise.
Desired Qualifications:
· Prior DoD, military or government service working in a SETA role desired
· Prior JIEDDO, COIC or C-IED experience desired
Work Environment and Physical Demands:
The incumbent shall perform this task order mostly on the Government's site. The contractor is expected to be able to travel on approximately one OCONUS TDY and three CONUS TDY trips per month, if required by the Government to do so. There will be no deployments.
To apply, please go to http://www.Qivliq.com,
visit our employment page and apply on line to Job Description TRU00154
OR use the following link; http://goo.gl/glVRX

Coming Educational Events

EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

MANY Spy Museum Events in March, April, 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.

1 March 2012, 4 - 5:30 pm - Washington, DC - "A Mosque in Germany: Nazis, Intelligence Services and the Rise of Political Islam in the West" at Woodrow Wilson Center

The History and Public Policy Program in collaboration with European Studies presents " A Mosque in Germany: Nazis, Intelligence Services and the Rise of Political Islam in the West" with Stefan Meining, former Wilson Center public policy scholar and editor of Bayerischer Rundfunk, Bavaria's Public Broadcasting Service will discuss his latest book entitled A Mosque in Germany: Nazis, Intelligence Services and the Rise of Political Islam in the West which sheds new light on the history of the Islamic scene in Germany and how it was systematically nurtured by the intelligence services. A Mosque in Germany is based mainly on Meining's research for his documentary film, which was televised by the German public television broadcaster ARD in 2006 sketching the rise of political Islam in the West.
Visit Qantara.de to read a review of A Mosque in Germany: Nazis, Intelligence Services and the Rise of Political Islam in the West.
Christian F. Ostermann, director of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program will chair the event.
Location: 6th Floor Moynihan Boardroom, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington D.C. 20004
RSVP: coldwar@wilsoncenter.org Visit www.wilsoncenter.org for directions and more information

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, 8 March 2012, Noon-2:00 pm - Washington DC - The Returned Services League of Australia, Washington Sub-Branch, meets to hear CAPT Evin Thompson USN on the history of the US Navy SEALs.

CAPT Thompson is currently Navy Special Warfare Branch Head, Expeditionary Warfare Division, Navy Staff.
WHERE - Amenities Room, Embassy of Australia, 1601 Massachusetts Ave NW. NOTE: Valid ID required.
Charge - $15.00, including buffet lunch and sodas. Alcoholic beverages- $2.00 each.
RSVP by noon on March 7, to David Ward at 202-352-8550 or via e-mail at dmward1973@gmail.com
Attire : Business casual
Parking: There is no parking at the Embassy. There is paid public parking behind and under the Airline Pilots Association (17th and Mass) and at 1500 Mass Ave NW.

Friday, 9 March 2012, noon - 3pm - Ashburn, VA - Loudoun Crime Commission Luncheon invites all to hear John Weisman discuss "You can reveal more in fiction than can be done in nonfiction."

John Weisman will be the speaker at the Belmont Country Club in Ashburn VA from 1200 to 1500. He will be talking about "When writing about certain sensitive subjects, sometimes you can get closer to the truth in fiction than you can in nonfiction…" as well as discussing his new book, KBL: Kill Bin Laden, which he will also have for purchase and signing. I'm told that he has no problem signing books brought in as well so if members have any they may bring them.
Location: Belmont Country Club is directly off Rte 7 in Ashburn at 19661 Belmont Manor Lane, Ashburn, VA, 20147. Directions can be found at http://www.belmontcountryclub.com/location-direction.shtml.
Cost: $20.00 paid by cash or check at the door. Doors open at 1200 with lunch at 1230 and John on at 1300.
RSVP by March 6 to collins@loudouncrimecommission.org. Reservation strongly suggested but we always have a few extra seats for stragglers. We expect a larger crowd than normal.

Wednesday, 14 March 2012, 11:30am - Scottsdale, AZ - Hank Potosky on "The Secret Service Protection." at AFIO Arizona

Hank had a thirty-one year career as a Special Agent and Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the United States Secret Service.
He was Coordinator/Director for the 1988 Iowa Caucus and for Secret Service Security Manpower for the 1983 Economic Summit in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was the Secret Service Liaison and Security Coordinator with United Nation Officials for two United Nations General Assemblies. He was involved in the protection of seven Presidents and seven Vice-Presidents and numerous foreign Heads of State. He also
investigated cases involving counterfeiting, forgery of government securities, fraud against the U.S. Government, identity theft and electronics crimes.
New location: McCormick Ranch Golf Course, 7505 McCormick Pwy, Scottsdale, AZ - 480.948.0260.
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, 14 March 2012, noon - Washington, DC - Joe Rochefort's War: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker Who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway - Presentation and book signing

"Elliot Carlson's biography of Capt. Joe Rochefort is the first to be written of the officer who headed the U. S. Navy's decrypt unit at Pearl Harbor and broke the Japanese Navy's code before the Battle of Midway. Carlson brings Rochefort to life as the irreverent, fiercely independent, and consequential officer that he was and discusses his frustrations as he searches in vain for Yamamoto's fleet prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but share his joy when he succeeds in tracking the fleet in early 1942 and breaks the code that leads Rochefort to believe Yamamoto's invasion target is Midway. His conclusions, bitterly opposed by some top Navy brass, are credited with making the U.S. victory possible and helping change the course of the war."
WHERE: McGowan Theater, National Archives, Washington, DC. Directions: http://www.archives.gov/nae/visit/theater.html
A book signing will follow the program

Thursday, 15 March 2012, 11:30 am - Colorado Springs, CO – The AFIO Rocky Mountain Chapter presents a re-scheduling 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

17 March 2012, 2 pm - Kennebunk, ME - AFIO Maine Chapter hosts Mary Margaret Graham, former DDNIC/CIA, speaking on "The Role of Intelligence in the 21st Century"

Mrs. Mary Margaret Graham is a former senior intellience officer  who retired in 2008 as the first Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Collection where she was responsible for oversight of intelligence programs for the 16 agencies which make up the Intelligence Community.  In addition to 29 years in numerous field and headquarters assignments in CIA, she served as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Director of the National Security Agency in the mid-1990s.  Mrs. Graham currently serves as Chair of the Defense Intelligence Agency Advisory Board. She is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards for her service.  WHERE: The Brick Store Museum Program Center, 2 Dane Street, Kennebunk, ME.  The public is invited. For information call 207-967-4298

Wednesday, 21 March 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 pm - Washington, DC - "Weapons of Mass Disruption" at the International Spy Museum

Was your computer one of the machines that attacked Estonia?
Go behind-the-scenes on some of the most aggressive cyber attacks of our time. Join Dave Marcus, Director of Security Research for McAfee Labs, for a special screening of Weapons of Mass Disruption. The film, inspired by the Spy Museum's exhibit of the same name, focuses on key events in the evolution of cyber warfare, from the CIA's successful cyber-sabotage of the Soviet Union's trans-Siberia pipeline in the 1980s, to Stuxnet, a calculated cyber attack on Iran in 2009-10. On-screen experts, including Marcus, discuss cyber attacks you may know: the two week attack on Estonia in 2007 in which the country was essentially shut down; and those you may not: the theft of F35 fighter related information in 2009. They also cover the cyber security issues financial institutions face and the vulnerabilities of critical U.S. water and electricity infrastructure systems. The fascinating interviews with cyber experts include insights such as which popular movie of 2007 made Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of the Kaspersky Labs, break out in a cold sweat. Marcus, who specializes in advance intelligence gathering, digital forensic analysis, as well as intrusion detection and prevention, will lead a post-screening discussion of the film's major points and the latest on information security, malware, and vulnerability assessment. Tickets: $15 To register or for more information visit www.spymuseum.org

22-24 March 2012 - Charlotte, NC - Charlotte International Cryptologic Symposium

The line up of speakers includes: Ron Lawrence who will open the Crypto Symposium with a short talk about all the events going on in the hotel and about radio collecting and how this came about.
Debbie Anderson, daughter of Joe Desch the man who designed the Navy Cryptanalytic Bombe, is speaking and showing the documentary "The Dayton Codebreakers." Jim Oram of enigma-replica.com will be speaking on: " Restoration techniques of the Enigma" includes the showing of a video on the restorations he has completed. Free tours of Jim's Enigma Shop where Enigmas are restored.
John Alexander, a private collector from UK, will be speaking and offering some views of his Crypto equipment.
Richard Brisson, a collector from Ottawa Canada with website www.campx.ca, recently retired from the Communications Security Establishment Canada, will be speaking on the history and artifacts related to cryptology and espionage.
Dr. David Hatch, of NSA and CCH, will provide a display of a SIGABA Machine. Dr. Nicholas Gessler, Research Associate Information Science & Information Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC.
Gessler will be bringing a wide variety of Historical Cryptologic equipment for display.
LOCATION: Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel, 3315 Scott Futrell Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208.
Register at http://www.cc-awa.org/Registration-2012.html
Registration covers both the Cryptologic Symposium and the Antique Radio Charlotte event.

29 March 2012 - San Francisco, CA - The AFIO Jim Quesada Chapter hosts Deputy Director Mike Sena, Northern California Regional Intelligence Center. He will be speaking about the National Fusion Center Networks' role in the information sharing environment. 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.

Monday, 2 April 2012, 6:30pm - Washington, DC - "9/11, False Flags, and Black Ops" at International Spy Museum

9/11, False Flags, and Black Ops: An Evening of Debate with David Frum, Jonathan Kay, and Webster Tarpley
Don't be an April Fool. The truth may be out there, but when does the search for it turn into a wild goose chase? Canadian journalist, Jonathan Kay, set out to answer that question with his profile of the 9/11 Trust Movement in his acclaimed book, Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground. One of the most fascinating people that Kay interviewed is Webster Tarpley. Dr. Tarpley, who has addressed ideas and issues from Venetian history to economic recovery from the current world depression, is the author of 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in the USA. He has developed his theories about international governmental involvement in assassinations and the engineering of the 9/11 attacks by rogue actors from the military and intelligence community over many years, beginning with his investigation of the Aldo Moro murder in Italy in the 1980s. Columnist and commentator, David Frum, founder of the FrumForum.com, will moderate this lively Kay-Tarpley discussion about 9/11, nefarious plots, and other conspiracy theories.
WHERE: International Spy Museum: 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
TICKETS: Tickets: $15. Visit www.spymuseum.org

Wednesday, 4 April 2012, 1000-1130 [lunch to 1300]- Annapolis Junction, MD - National Cryptologic Museum Foundation Spring Program features Douglas Waller on Wild Bill Donovan

The NCMF welcome Douglas Waller as their guest speaker for the spring program. The presentation is at the L-3 Stratis Conference Center in the National Business Park (NBP). Directions are below. After the program, lunch will be served until 1300.

Douglas Waller is a veteran correspondent, author and lecturer. He served in TIME Magazine's Washington Bureau from 1994 to 2007 where he covered foreign affairs extensively as a diplomatic corespondent. Before joining TIME, Waller served as a reporter on Newsweek magazine. He has written a total of eight books of which Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster who created the OSS and Modern American Espionage is his latest.

Donovan was the man President Franklin Roosevelt made his top spy of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. One of America's most exciting and secretive generals, Donovan is a mythic figure whose legacy is still intensely debated. "Wild Bill" Donovan was Director of the OSS, the country's first intelligence agency, the forerunner of today's CIA.

We hope you can join us on 4 April. The Program fee is $40. Make your check out to NCMF, and return by 28 March. Replies/RSVPs to cryptmf@aol.com

Directions from Baltimore: Take MD-295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway) south towards Washington; Take the MD-32 West exit towards Columbia; Keep right at the fork toward NBP; Turn right onto NBP; Take 2nd right to 2720 Technology Drive (L3 is on the left)
Directions from Washington: Take MD-295 (Baltimore-Washington Parkway) north towards Baltimore; Take the MD-32 West exit towards Columbia: Keep right at the fork toward NBP; Turn right onto NBP; Take 2nd right to 2720 Technology Drive (L3 is on the left)

5 April 2012 - Stony Brook, LI, NY - The new Long Island Spy Museum [LISM] hosts their first annual spy symposium

Draft schedule as follows: 9-9:30 Coffee/Light Refreshments; 9:30-9:45 Introduction: Master of Ceremonies - Actor Peter Firth from the critically acclaimed television series MI-5; 9:45-10:45 Speaker #1: Michael Sulick- Former Director of National Clandestine Service, CIA, and 28 year CIA veteran: "Revolutionary War (Revolutionary War Espionage & George Washington's Spies"; 10:45-11:45 Speaker # 2: Bill Birnes- A New York Times best selling author, TV personality, Espionage historian, and holds a law degree from New York University: "WWII-Office of Strategic Services (OSS): The Birth of an Intelligence Agency; Patriots, Buccaneers & Movie Stars"; 11:45-12:45 LUNCH BREAK; 12:45-1:45 Speaker #3: Michael Hayden - Former Director of CIA & NSA: "CIA, the War on Terror, and the Killing of Bin Laden"; 1:45- 2 Coffee Break; 2:00 -3:00 Speaker #4: Cindy Webb - Former Chief Of Counterintelligence, CIA "Counter-Intelligence in the Cold War and Beyond"; 3:00-4:00 Speaker#5: Tom Betro - Former Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, (NCIS): "Counterintelligence 2.0; CI Challenges and Opportunities in the Internet Era"; 4:00-4:30 Q&A for entire panel with the audience; 4.30-4:40 Closing Remarks.
Where: Stony Brook University
Visit: http://longislandspymuseum.org/ for updated schedule.
Long Island Spy Museum, 275 Christian Ave, Stony Brook, NY 11790 -
Call 631-371-1473 for additional information.

Wednesday, 18 April 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 pm – Washington, DC - "Graphic Intelligence: Comics, the KKK, and Covert Ops" at the International Spy Museum

Comic books often reflect the time in which they are created. Since the Cold War, spies have been hot, and the world of comics has had a great assortment of espionage volumes. National security lawyer and comic collector/dealer Mark S. Zaid has assembled a rich array of comics that address spies and espionage. He'll showcase some of the coolest and rarest volumes in his collection while he describes how spy comics mirrored the intelligence issues of the time period in which they were published—some purporting to reveal true spy cases. He'll also share tales of how comics may have been used as intelligence tools and to push social agendas involving war, race, and sex. Then there is the story of the famous superhero who teamed up with actual spies to strike a blow for justice and equality in the United States. Award-winning author Rick Bowers shares the story behind his new book Superman vs. the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate. Bowers reveals how the producers of The Adventures of Superman radio show took on the resurgent Ku Klux Klan in 1946, teaming up with infiltrators within the secret society to produce a ground-breaking, 16-part radio drama in which the Man of Steel conquered the hooded hate mongers.
WHERE: International Spy Museum: 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station.
Tickets: $15.00 Register at www.spymuseum.org

Wednesday, 9 May 2012, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m – Washington, DC - "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden - From 9/11 to Abbottabad" at the International Spy Museum

"Tonight, I can report…that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden."—US President Barack Obama, May 1, 2011

When Osama bin Laden declared war against the United States for the first time to a Western audience, Peter Bergen was there. He produced Osama bin Laden's first television interview. His book, The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader, was named one of the best non-fiction books of 2006. Bergen has continued to write and report extensively on bin Laden and the conflict between the US and al Qaeda for publications ranging from The New York Times to Rolling Stone. He's produced award-winning documentaries on the subject matter, and in his latest book he has turned his attention to the hunt and termination of the notorious terrorist. Join us for an inside account of Bergen's professional connection to bin Laden, his perspective on the decade-long hunt to capture or kill him, and his thoughts on the results of Operation Neptune Spear.
WHERE: International Spy Museum: 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
Tickets: $15.00 Register at www.spymuseum.org

Friday, 18 May 2012, 6:30 – 9:30 pm – Washington, DC - "Surveillance 101 with Eric O'Neill" at the International Spy Museum

Test your surveillance skills on the mean streets of DC!

What if you were assigned to watch the most damaging spy in US history? As a young operative in the FBI, Eric O'Neill was put into position as Robert Hanssen's assistant with the secret task of spying on his boss, who was under suspicion of working for Russia.$7 O'Neill's background with the FBI was in surveillance, so he was up to the challenge. But how would you measure up? It's your chance to find out. O'Neill is prepared to share his hard-earned expertise with you. This intense small group introduction to surveillance will include learning the basics and conducting surveillance in the streets of DC. Will you be able to track the "Rabbit" without being "made?" You'll learn how to snap clandestine shots and keep your target in view so you won't miss operational acts or secret meetings. O'Neill will lead the exercise and help you learn how to blend into the shadows for the best spy results!
WHERE: International Spy Museum: 800 F Street, NW Washington, DC Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail Station
Tickets $94.00. Space is limited to only 10 participants – advance registration required. Call 202 654-0932 to register.

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

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