AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #24-14 dated 24 June 2014 [Editors' Note: The WIN editors
attempt
to include a wide range of articles and commentary in the
Weekly Notes
to inform and educate our readers. However, the views
expressed in the
articles are purely those of the authors, and in no way
reflect support
or endorsement from the WIN editors or the AFIO officers and
staff. We
welcome comments from the WIN readers on any and all articles
and
commentary. IMPORTANT: AFIO does not "vet" or endorse research
inquiries, career announcements, 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, and
should verify the source independently before supplying any resume,
career data, or personal information.]
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CONTENTS Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE
Section IV - Admin: Jobs, Reading, Obituaries and Upcoming Events
|
Do Not Miss the NCMF 2014 Summer Program TOMORROW - 25 June "The Rise and Fall of Intelligence," features special guest speaker The 2014 National Cryptologic Museum Foundation's Summer Program is being held tomorrow, 25 June, and some space remains. Yes, it's late but not too late to attend. There is no reason to miss this great speaker and gathering. Be spontaneous. JUST SHOW UP. As a courtesy, register as soon as you get this email....can be done quickly here....or before you depart tomorrow morning for event. [Only do this one time...not to become a regular practice]. Then head over to the beautiful L3 Conference Center arriving by 1000 hrs. Presentation ends at 1130 hrs followed by a book signing and lunch. The cost is $20 for NCMF members and $50 for non-members (this includes a year membership in the NCMF). Get more details about Dr. Warner and the program here. The Assets series has returned. Production values are higher in these later episodes. Next episode - "What's Done is Done" - is this Saturday, 28 June, at 9 pm on ABC-TV. The Assets, an eight-part miniseries, is based on the real life events of CIA counter-intelligence officer Sandy Grimes. 1985 is the backdrop to the final showdown of the Cold War when Sandy and her partner Jeanne Vertefeuille vow to find the mole that turns out to be the most notorious traitor in US History: Aldrich Ames. Sandy is in a race against time to save the Soviet intelligence officers from being caught and killed. Living her own double life at home, she vows to uncover the truth. The Assets looks inside personal stories by CIA Officers who almost loss the chase to capture Aldrich Ames. The Assets stars Paul Rhys as Aldrich Ames, Jodie Whittaker as Sandy Grimes, Harriet Walter (Babel) as Jeanne Vertefeuille, Stuart Milligan (Jonathan Creek) as Art O'Neill, Julian Ovenden as Gary Grimes, Christina Cole as Louisa, and Ralph Brown as Lawrence Winston. Episodes one, two, and three can be viewed in their entirety here: Episodes become unlocked online one week after the broadcast date except for those who have cable service and login to access ABC using their cable service credentials. The remaining five episodes continue on Saturday, June 28, at 9pm on ABC-TV. Here�s the schedule: Saturday, June 28th - �What�s Done is Done� - Episode 4 The Assets is based on the book Circle of Treason: A CIA Account of Traitor Aldrich Ames and the Men He Betrayed by Sandy Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeuille. Morgan Hertzan, Rudy Bednar and Andrew Chapman executive produce the series. The Assets is produced by Lincoln Square Productions. |
Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS
U.S. Intelligence Denies Iraq Intelligence
Lapse. In one week, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, took over almost one-third of Iraq. The U.S. intelligence community has been blamed in press reports and some political circles for not warning of it ahead of time.
But a senior U.S. intelligence official tells WTOP, "Intelligence analysts for years have closely tracked ISIL and its predecessor organizations, and routinely provided strategic warning of ISIL's growing strength in Iraq and increasing threat to Iraq's stability during the past year."
Questions have been raised about the U.S. intelligence presence inside Iraq, which was altered during the later years of the Iraq War - much of the collection duties were assumed by military assets. But not only did U.S. intelligence supposedly keep up with ISIL's progress, "We also warned about the increasing difficulties Iraq's security forces faced in combating ISIL, and the political strains that were contributing to Iraq's declining stability," the official said.
Intelligence, according to the official, showed that "ISIL has exploited Sunni political discord, uneven Iraqi counter-terrorism pressure, and the Syrian conflict to strengthen its operational capacity and intensify the threat to the Iraqi government." [Read more:
Green/WTOP/17June2014]
Evidence in Colombia's Intelligence Agency Wiretapping Scandal Gone Missing. An inspection by agents from Colombia's investigation unit discovered that evidence was missing from the National Archive in Bogota regarding the wiretapping scandal of Colombia's former intelligence agency.
The disappearance of the evidence in the wiretapping case against Colombia's now-defunct intelligence agency, DAS, was confirmed by journalist Claudia Julieta Duque, who claims to have been "psychologically tortured" and harassed by the former agency, Colombia's Caracol Radio reported on Thursday.
"When the database was handed over, it had 40 modules with information and now there are only three. In that database were two resumes of my harassment conducted by the DAS, and now those archives are gone," said Duque according to South American news outlet teleSUR.
To date, more than seven former officials of the DAS are under investigation over Duque's case, according to Caracol. [Read more: Bedoya/ColombiaReports/19June2014]
Ukrainian Rebel Commander Identified as Russian GRU Military Intelligence Colonel. A key figure in covert Russian efforts to destabilize eastern Ukraine is working for Russia's GRU military intelligence service, according to U.S. officials.
Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, who is currently using the nom de guerre Igor Strelkov, has identified himself in press reports as "defense minister" of the self-proclaimed, pro-Russian "Donetsk People's Republic." This week he called for Russia to send military aid to rebels in eastern Ukraine.
U.S. officials said Strelkov is considered a leading pro-Russian rebel who is undermining stability as part of a major Russian covert action program in Ukraine.
Officials said Girkin is a GRU colonel who was first identified by the Ukrainian SBU intelligence service. Girkin traveled to the Crimea in February and traveled to Donetsk in April. While in the Crimea he was a military adviser to Sergei Aksenov, the current head of Russian-occupied Crimea. [Read more:
Gerz/FreeBeacon/20June2014]
Senate Intelligence Committee Pushes
'Cybersecurity Information Protection Act'. The Senate Intelligence Committee is pushing forward what some are calling a replacement for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act called the "Cybersecurity Information Protection Act" (CIPA). The bill offers many of the same solutions and shortcomings of the CISPA bill that the internet fought so hard to kill last year. The bill written by Senate Intelligence Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) will be up for consideration before the committee next week, according to Feinstein.
"The bill incentivizes the sharing of cybersecurity threat information between the private sector and the government and among private sector entities," Feinstein's office said in a press release. "It responds to the massive and growing threat to national and economic security from cyber intrusion and attack, and seeks to improve the security of public and private computer networks by increasing awareness of threats and defenses."
The bill allows the federal agencies to trade or share classified "cyber threat" information with private companies in exchange for companies voluntarily sharing its users' data.
The sharing that the bill allows includes local, state, and federal law enforcement that is related to any sort of criminal activity. The vagueness of the bill could allow the police to skip the process of getting court orders to set up a wiretap, according to some civil liberties groups. [Read more: GamePolitics/18June2014]
Spy Agencies in the Middle East to Track Australians Fighting With Terrorist Groups. Australian spies are believed to have been redeployed to the Middle East to track Australians fighting with terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria and monitor their attempts to sneak back into the country.
Intelligence sources told The Daily Telegraph yesterday that they believed agents from Australia's foreign espionage agency ASIS were returning to the region because of the heightened domestic security threat posed by people embedded with terrorist groups.
The government would not confirm what operational measures had been taken to tighten national security or whether ministerial approval had been given to gather intelligence on Australians.
However, officials did confirm it had cancelled the passports of a record 41 Australians this year after positive identification they had joined terrorist groups fighting in either Iraq or Syria.
It is more than double the number cancelled last financial year for similar reasons. [Read more:
Benson/DailyTelegraph/25June2014]
Senators Want a Proper Count of Intelligence Contractors. The 17 agencies in the intelligence community that must get a better handle on the extent of their reliance on contractors, witnesses told a Senate panel on Wednesday. Overuse of outsourcing presents risks to both national security and managerial efficiency, senators and an auditor warned.
"Contractors can provide flexibility and unique expertise, but there are risks" if internal controls, formal planning and documentation are inadequate, Timothy DiNapoli, director of acquisition and sourcing management at the Government Accountability Office, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "Changes to the definition of core contract personnel limit the comparability of the information over time," he said, noting that the civilian intelligence community agencies used various methods to calculate the number of contract personnel and did not maintain documentation to validate the number of personnel reported for 37 percent of records reviewed. GAO also found that the civilian intelligence community agencies either under or over-reported contract obligations by more than 10 percent for one-fifth of the records.
Panel Chairman Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said, "The people we entrust with leadership roles at these agencies need to be able to show the American people, and Congress, that they know who is working for them and why." Overreliance on contractors behind the intelligence agencies' secrecy walls presents three hazards, Carper said: hollowing out the in-house workforce and making it weaker, requiring extra layers of management and paying more for work that could have been performed by federal employees. [Read more:
Clark/GovernmentExecutive/18June2014]
Spy Satellite Agency Wants to Tap Video Game Technology. The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the secretive agency that launches and runs the nation's spy satellite system, is looking at technology developed by the video game industry to help it improve how it gathers and analyzes intelligence data, according to a research proposal released Monday.
The NRO wants to tap into the video game industry's "innovative algorithms" and "enhanced visualization techniques," the proposal said.
The NRO works with the National Security Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to provide data to be analyzed to track weapons of mass destruction and potential terrorists, develop military target information, help with natural disaster assistance and support international peacekeeping and relief efforts.
The Director's Innovation Initiative, the agency says, is aimed at paying for research in collection, data processing, management and dissemination-enabling technologies. The various projects are expected to last no longer than nine months and cost no more than $450,000, NRO documents show. [Read more:
Locker/USAToday/23June2014]
Former NSA Director Charging $1 Million a Month to Reveal US Intelligence Methods. Gen. Keith Alexander, who recently retired from his position at the top of the National Security Agency, is reportedly meeting with top brass from the financial industry to discuss how to best protect sensitive information, and he's likely to charge them a million dollars a month for that advice.
Alexander served as the director of the NSA from 2005 until March 28, 2014, quietly leading the largest U.S. cyber-espionage and surveillance agency until his tenure was shaken a year ago by the unauthorized leak of tens of thousands of classified documents by former contractor Edward Snowden. Alexander, who had spent years trying to convince lawmakers that the NSA needed a higher budget, has consistently maintained that major banks and financial institutions are highly vulnerable to cyber-criminals and foreign hackers. That message seems to have resonated, with Alexander finding early success with his new consultancy firm, IronNet Cybersecurity Inc.
Along with Alexander's dire predictions, top firms are under pressure from industry regulators and customers weary of hearing about major companies (including the likes of Target and U.S. Steel) losing sensitive personal information to unknown thieves. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the Consumer Bankers Association and the Financial Services Roundtable have already inquired about IronNet's services, according to Bloomberg.
"It would be devastating if one of our major banks was hit, because they're so interconnected," the retired four-star general warned. [Read more:
Stone/InternationalBusinessTimes/23June2014]
Brennan: Technological Change Tough for CIA. It is a challenge for the CIA -- like any other organization public or private, big or small - to factor an ever-changing digital world into its business model, Director John Brennan said last week in a rare public speech for an intelligence agency chief.
"In the business world, we have seen once-great corporations decline and collapse when they have failed to keep up with the times," Brennan said June 11 at Georgetown University, which touted his appearance as the CIA's first public national security conference. "To avoid that fate, CIA and our community partners must continually adapt if we are to compete with the ever-growing, ever-accelerating supply of information and analysis."
Cyberspace has leveled the intelligence playing field by allowing obscure criminals to conduct asymmetric attacks against nation-states, he added.
"For the intelligence community, the cyber world is a double-edged sword," Brennan said. "Digital footprints may enable us to track down a suspected terrorist, but they may leave our officers vulnerable as well." [Read more: Lyngaas/FCW/19June2014]
Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE
Bletchley Park: The Secret Is Out at Last. So, they've finally cracked it. Bletchley Park, the Second World War code-breaking site in Buckinghamshire, celebrates the completion of its one-year, �8-million Heritage Lottery-funded restoration project today with a visit from the Duchess of Cambridge.
You would never guess - well of course you wouldn't - as you cross the main road from Bletchley railway station and pass a new housing development, that this small country estate housed thousands of wartime staff and the brains that broke, among many other things, the Enigma codes. Nobody knew about it until the first book about Bletchley came out in the Seventies. Nobody visited until a band of doughty local historians fought its demolition and opened it in 1994 (10 people turned up).
"I think a lot of people who worked here during the war were shocked when the book came out," one of the Bletchley guides told me. "All new arrivals had to sign the Official Secrets Act and they put the fear of God into them. Lots of them didn't ever speak about it."
Luckily for us many did, and their voices have contributed hugely to the displays in the restored Huts 3 and 6 and the new visitor centre in Block C, where the Duchess will arrive. Just entering Block C, with its utilitarian yellow walls, dark green woodwork, bulky radiators and unadorned, echoing concrete floors, catapults you back in time. [Read more:
Campbell/TheTelegraph/18June2014]
The Sub That Took Russia 20 Years to Build Is Finally Ready. After more than two decades in development, Russia has finally inducted its newest submarine into the Northern Fleet―a massive nuclear-powered submarine hunter christened the Severodvinsk. Better late than never, I guess.
The K-329 Severodvinsk is the first of Russia's Yasen-class nuclear attack submarines, successor to the older Akula-class and designed to counter America's nuclear-powered Seawolf and Virginia class submarines. Construction on the K-329 began way back in 1993 but due to a number of budget issues stemming from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the project suffered continual delays. It didn't even begin sea trials until 2011, and only entered service last Tuesday. However, the sub's capabilities appear well worth the wait.
According to Russian state media, the Severodvinsk features "a large spherical sonar system, which occupies its entire bow" and provides a wider and more detailed view than what conventional cylindrical systems can produce. The nearly 400 foot long submarine is also reportedly armed with 533mm torpedoes, eight vertical launch tubes loaded with the supersonic Onyx and Kaliber cruise missiles, and potentially a 9K anti-air missile (an advanced surface to air missile) which would give this sub the ability to surface, shoot down an overhead aircraft, then duck safely under the waves again before a carrier fleet ever knew what hit it. [Read more:
Tarantola/Gizmodo/19June2014]
Here Are Some of the Most Bizarre Ideas From the CIA. The Central Intelligence Agency secretly developed an Osama bin Laden action figure whose face peeled off to reveal a scary devil beneath, according to an account first published this week in The Washington Post.
The 2005 effort was meant to produce a toy that could be distributed in Afghanistan. The point was to frighten children and their parents and lower their esteem for the then-hidden Al Qaeda leader, said the Post.
The project was code-named "Devil Eyes" and progressed to at least the prototype stage. Some sources said a substantial number of the figures - whose face reportedly changed when exposed to heat - were actually produced at a factory in China.
Does that sound like an off-beat approach to psychological warfare operations? Sure, but it also sounds like the CIA. In the past the agency has occasionally hatched humorous, bizarre, or downright wacky plans to fulfill a variety of missions. In the 1960s and �70s the orders for these things often came directly from the CIA's cadre of top career officials. [Read more:
Grier/ChristianScienceMonitor/20June2014]
GHOST: An Anti-Terrorism Vessel Built to Outperform Stealth Aircraft. Like all branches of the military, the U.S. Navy is undergoing revolutionary change, where time-tested military tactics and cutting-edge technological advances can potentially meet formidable challenges. One of the greatest threats on the high seas is low-tech vessel attacks with conventional explosives; for example, the October 12, 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others.
That horrific event alerted America's military to the clear and present danger of those tactics being used again against our Navy and other military branches. It also underscored the need for new solutions. One innovative company is stirring great excitement among a variety of naval leaders. Juliet Marine Systems, a maritime technology company headquartered in Portsmouth, NH, takes historically proven systems, combines them with new technologies and comes up with breakthrough solutions to existing needs.
With regard to the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks against America's naval and coalition ships, the company has developed a first-of-its kind anti-terrorism vessel called GHOST. It is a combination of stealth fighter aircraft and attack helicopter technologies packaged in a marine platform. The unique capabilities of GHOST are designed to provide a marine surface and subsurface platform for tracking and identification of multiple targets. Systems for integrating onboard weapons will be designed to be capable of multi-target firing solutions while GHOST operates at very high speed. These weapons integration systems will also allow for attacking several targets simultaneously with a variety of weapons systems options. Already GHOST vessels have the ability to create a protective fleet perimeter, while providing sensor and weapons platforms to deny surface or subsurface intrusions. [Read more: DGIWire/2June2014]
US Intelligence Agency Wants Brain-Like Algorithms for Complex Information Processing. Getting computers to think like humans has been a scientific goal for years - IBM recently said it found a way to make transistors that could be formed into virtual circuitry that mimics human brain functions.
It is technology like that that the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is looking to develop as well. IARPA, the high-risk, high-reward arm of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, will next month hold a Proposers Day to explain one of its new projects it says could revolutionize machine intelligence by constructing algorithms that utilize the same data representations, transformations, and learning rules as those employed and implemented by the brain.
The specific goal of the program, known as Machine Intelligence from Cortical Networks (MICrONS) is to create what IARPA calls "a new generation of machine learning algorithms derived from high-fidelity representations of the brain's cortical microcircuits to achieve human-like performance on complex information processing tasks.
To achieve this goal, IARPA is looking for researchers to: [Read more: Cooney/NetworkWorld/23June2014]
South Bend Mayor, Deployed as Navy Intelligence Officer, Talks Election Day in Afghanistan. It's about 6 p.m. in Afghanistan - 10:30 a.m. in South Bend - when Pete Buttigieg picks up the phone. Half a world away, in the middle of a war zone, he sounds like his usual self - calm, confident, thoughtful.
Asked how he's doing, the intelligence officer with the U.S. Navy Reserve, who also happens to be the mayor of South Bend, responds, "Pretty well overall."
"We're just pretty excited that Election Day went well," he says, referring to the recent runoff for Afghan president, on June 14.
Accusations of fraud continue to hang over the election, threatening to destabilize the country, but turnout was good, according to initial estimates, demonstrating a desire on the part of everyday Afghans to participate in democratic elections. [Read more:
Blasko/SouthBendTribune/22June2014]
The Cold War Gets Prime Time. Vladimir Putin is great for television. And that is not only because the Russian President is a former KGB officer with a flair for grandiosity. Putin deserves credit as a muse for American entertainment.
In the chaotic years of Boris Yeltsin and post-Soviet laissez-faire, movies and television mostly depicted Russians as mobsters, prostitutes and the occasional disaffected scientist. Now, the Kremlin is once again controlled by an autocrat and has returned to the top of the enemies list ― not only in dramas set in the past, but also in those set in the present and future.
Take The Americans, an FX period drama about undercover KGB spies in the era of Ronald Reagan that has attracted a devoted following and imitators. ABC showed The Assets, a mini-series about a real-life spy, Aldrich Ames, a United States counter-intelligence officer who sold secrets to Moscow in the 1980s and '90s. That, too, was a period piece.
Allegiance, a new NBC drama this fall, is set not in the Cold War past, but in a Cold War present. Hope Davis plays a former Russian spy who quit intelligence work to marry an American, but is coerced by her former bosses to return to espionage when her son joins the CIA. The Russia intelligence service may now call itself the SVR and not the KGB, but �the old rules of the organisation are the same�, a Russian spy master hisses at a turncoat agent in the show, as he prepares to burn him alive. [Read more: NewYorkTimes/24June2014]
Robert Ames and the CIA's History of
Back-Channel Talks With 'The Bad Guys'. When reports surfaced in Washington this month that the Obama administration has been holding secret back-channel talks with Hamas over the last six months, the denials came swiftly. "These assertions are completely untrue," proclaimed State Department spokeswoman Marie
Harf. "As you all know, Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization... Per long-standing U.S. policy, we do not have any contact with Hamas."
Let's hope that's not true. The CIA has always dealt with bad guys, and it's essential it keeps doing so. Why? Because bad guys know a lot more about what other bad guys are doing than good guys ever will.
That is a classic story line from the annals of intelligence. In 1969, Robert Ames, a 35-year-old CIA clandestine officer, developed a back channel with Ali Hassan
Salameh, a young Palestinian who served as the bodyguard and, virtually, an intelligence officer for Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization. At the time, the PLO was branded as a terrorist entity and the Nixon administration's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, had solemnly promised Israeli officials that Washington would have no contact with the PLO. It was called the "Kissinger Rule." In 1979, Andrew Young was forced to resign as ambassador to the United Nations for meeting with a PLO official in New York.
But Ames met regularly with Salameh for a decade, with the full knowledge and encouragement of CIA Director Richard Helms. Kissinger also knew about the back channel, and he never tried to shut it down, precisely because he understood its intelligence value. The simple fact of the back channel has been reported on over the years by Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times and David Ignatius of the Washington Post. In research for a book, I was able to find how deep this relationship between Ames and Salameh went. [Read more:
Bird/LATimes/21June2014]
Section IV - Admin: Jobs, Reading, Obituaries and Upcoming Events
IMPORTANT: AFIO does not "vet" or endorse research inquiries, career announcements, 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, and should verify the source independently before supplying any resume, career data, or personal information
Counterintelligence (CI) Analyst - Sr & Mid-level positions; multiple, immediate openings - Ft Devens, MA
Location: Ft. Devens, Massachusetts
Job Description: Supports a CI/HUMINT or intelligence analytical team of military and/or DoD civilian analysts in support of CJ2X and CJ2 analytical requirements. Provides analysis of Intelligence Information Reports (IIR)s/HUMIN...T Reports (HR)s and CIINTREPs, provides feedback and IIR/HR and CI INTREP evaluations, source directed requirements (SDR)s, time sensitive collection requirements (TSCR)s, adhoc collection requirements (AHCR)s, and supports source validation. Conducts analysis of source reliability and report credibility, and communicates the analysis to the collector in support of the source validation process. The counterintelligence Analyst provides CI analysis and assessments in support of HUMINT source validation. This position is mid level analyst. The Counterintelligence Analyst is responsible for researching, developing and presenting CI/HUMINT and all-source intelligence products at the tactical, operational and strategic level as part of an overall analytical team.
The Counterintelligence Analyst is also responsible for counterintelligence and or intelligence analysis related to counter-terrorism, HUMINT, SIGINT, counterintelligence, force protection, Afghanistan and South West Asia regional issues, political/military analysis and support to targeting.
Minimum Qualifications
•This position requires a minimum of 4 years analytical experience within DoD or equivalent Government agencies required, with CI experience preferred.
•Experience in either Counter Terrorism (CT), Afghanistan/South West Asia regional issues, HUMINT, CI or military analysis is desired.
•This position requires Associate's Degree, a Bachelor's Degree preferred.
•Must be proficient in utilizing basic computer applications and intelligence related automation to support analytical efforts and product development.
•Must possess strong research and writing skills and be capable of effectively operating as a member of a strategic level analytical team in the accomplishment of assessments of sources and their reporting through the corroboration of source reporting, analytic feedback, quality assurance and the development of counterintelligence and intelligence products and assessments.
•This position requires former 35L, 97G, or equivalent.
•This position requires TS/SCI clearance.
REPLIES to: Kelly George, Walsingham Group, Inc.,
1000 Centre Green Way, Suite 200, Cary, NC 27513, www.walsinghamgroup.com
Prisoners, Lovers, and Spies Reveals the Secrets of Invisible Ink. Pig's bladder, gypsum, fig sap, alum and onion juice - there's no eye of newt among invisible ink recipes, but blood of dormouse is fair game. By the end of science historian Macrakis' nearly 3,000-year accounting of secret messages, she's all but thrown in the kitchen sink (and the cauldron).
If you're asking whether it's science or sorcery chronicled in these pages, there's a chemical explanation for every reaction here. A quick jump to the back of the book reveals a cookbook of secret recipes that once floated spy rings and sunk empires.
But to simply scrawl lemon juice on paper, heat and reveal those secrets without learning the craft's murky history would skip centuries of fascinating subterfuge. This is a science, the author makes clear, that is far more than the sum of its formulas. The book devotes most of its pages to the stars of secret writing such as the lone chemist who went to the grave with his ink recipe; the cape-wearing, Inquisition-defying founder of the Academy of the Secrets of Nature; and the Enlightenment-era scientists who traded secret formulas like gold for goods.
Macrakis offers a frank rendering of her occluded subject matter. Where one might expect romantic musings befitting invisible ink's literati - Christopher Marlowe and George Washington to name a few - or cold chapters of chemistry lessons, the author keeps her writing firmly rooted in the traditions of history. She pulls from assorted archives a wealth of documents, stories and declassified intelligence that was hidden right up to this book's undertaking. [Read more: Bello/ScienceNews/28June2014]
Former Shin Bet Chief Avraham Shalom Dies. The former director of the Shin Bet internal security organization Avraham Shalom died on Thursday at the age of 86. His funeral was scheduled for this coming Sunday.
Shalom was born in Vienna in 1928 and his family moved to the British-mandated Palestine when he was 11 years old.
He took part in the 1948 War of Independence and after leaving the IDF joined the Shin Bet in 1950, where he rose to become director in 1980. He held the position until 1986 when he resigned amid the controversy over what became known as the Bus 300 Affair.
Shalom was a major figure in some of the most prominent operations carried out by the Shin Bet. He was deputy commander of the mission to seize Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1960. Eichmann was captured in Argentina and brought back to Israel to face trial for his activities during the Holocaust.
His career, however, ended in controversy. [Read more: Winer/TimesofIsrael/19June2014]
John Lloyd Hadden. John Lloyd Hadden, who lived in Brunswick, Maine with his wife Kathryn Falck Hadden, died peacefully at home on May 27, 2013. He was 89.
He was born August 30, 1923, in New York City, the fourth of five children of Gavin and Rebecca Hadden. His father was a structural engineer and designer of curved buildings, such as the Cornell Stadium, whose company foundered during the Depression. Gavin Hadden then went to work for General Groves, who ran the Manhattan Project. John's mother was the daughter of an Episcopal bishop of New York.
John was intent on going to West Point but spent a year at Harvard while waiting for his appointment to the USMA. He graduated as an engineer in '45 but was discharged because of a sports injury. He wrangled an "emergency commission" after the war and spent several years in Germany building roads and bridges and on one occasion, an airstrip for General Curtis LeMay. When the emergency was over, he had to resign his commission, but he secured a job in the fledgling CIA in order to return to Berlin, a city he fell in love with during the Airlift. He met his future life partner his first day on the job. He and Kathryn married in 1952. They lived in Berlin, Hamburg, Salzburg and Israel, with brief stints in Washington, D.C., until his retirement in 1973. He was Station Chief in Tel Aviv during the Six-Day War in 1967.
After his retirement, he taught history and world affairs, bound books, made toys for his grandsons and all sorts of things for other people.
He received a dozen or so commissions to make "portraits in wood," boxes filled with symbolic carvings to celebrate the subject's life and interests, and occasionally gave talks at the Town and College Club, including one on the sex life of the lobster, which he researched with customary diligence.
He was an affectionate and tough-minded father to three sons and a daughter - John, Barbara, Alexander and James, a theater director, abstract painter, boat-builder and metal fabricator, respectively - whom he taught to sail, make things, and look at the world from an oblique angle. He is also survived by two grandsons, Reilly and Will.
He had a great appetite for books on history and science, was an enthusiastic conversationalist, particularly with strangers and people from walks of life different from his own, played squash into his late seventies and kept up a voluminous correspondence with colleagues from the field, remaining especially focused on unfolding events in the Middle East. He was paradoxically a loving friend to many and a keen skeptic about the human species. He often said that Gibbon, author of The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, would have given anything to have had the front row seat at the decline of civilization that he so enjoyed and railed at ceaselessly throughout his life.
In lieu of a memorial service, which he expressly wished not to take place, friends are invited to call and visit his beloved Kathryn ("my friend") when the opportunity arises. [Read more: TimesRecord/6June2013]
AFIO EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....
27 June 2014 - Los Angeles, CA - AFIO Los Angeles hears from Dr. Erik Nemeth on "Cultural Intelligence in International Affairs and Foreign Policy."
Dr. Erik Nemeth from the RAND Corporation will be the guest speaker for the June 27, 2014 meeting. Dr. Nemeth will present "Cultural Intelligence in International Affairs & Foreign Policy" - The politics of historical & cultural property and the intelligence gathering to assess the political significance of looting and repatriation of cultural property. Please RSVP for attendance: AFIO_LA@Yahoo.com
Tuesday, 08 July 2014 - MacDill AFB, FL - The AFIO Suncoast Chapter hosts USCENTCOM Chief of the Joint Cyber Center on "the Rise of Cyber to a Warfighting Domain."
COL John Burger is Chief of the Joint Cyber Center
at United States Central Command responsible for the planning,
integration and execution of cyberspace operations in the
USCENTCOM AOR. He leads a staff of 115 military, civilians and
contractors to assure the CDRs freedom of maneuver in cyberspace and
deny the same to our adversaries. He designs and Implements information
assurance programs to secure cyber key terrain, and develops defensive
cyberspace plans to �see, block, and maneuver� defensive forces against
threats to friendly networks. Working with
our Allies and Partners, he develops Cyber Security Cooperation plans to
enable our partners to protect themselves in cyberspace. He integrates
cyberspace force application with the air, land, and maritime domains in
support of OPLANs. He interacts daily with the Joint Staff, USCYBERCOM,
the Intelligence Community, and the Interagency. COL Burger serves as
principal advisor to the CENTCOM Commander on all cyberspace matters.
Following his graduation from the US Military Academy at West Point,
COL Burger began his career in A Co, 13th ENGR BN, Fort Ord, CA., and
then was assigned tours with 10th ENGR BN, Schweinfurt, Germany. COL
Burger arrived at MacDill AFB in 2009 as the Regional Manager Southeast
Regional Support Center, Defense Intelligence Agency, followed by
assignments as Chief, Cyber Security Division, and then Chief, Joint
Cyber Center, US Central Command.
COL Burger will address the rise of cyber to a DoD warfighting domain with particular emphasis on the intelligence aspects.
LOCATION: MacDill AFB Surf�s Edge Club, 7315 Bayshore Blvd, MacDill
AFB, FL 33621. Please RSVP to the Chapter Secretary no later than
Wednesday, July 2, for yourself and include the names and email
addresses of any guests. Email or call Michael Shapiro at michaels@suncoastafio.org,
the Chapter Secretary. You will receive a confirmation via email. If
you do not, contact the Chapter Secretary to confirm your registration.
Check-in at noon; opening ceremonies, lunch and business meeting at
1230 hours, followed by our speaker.
FEE: You must present your $20 check payable to �Suncoast Chapter,
AFIO� (or cash) at check-in to cover the luncheon. If you make a
reservation, don�t cancel and get a cancellation confirmation by the
response deadline and then don�t show up, you will be responsible for
the cost of the luncheon.
10 July 2014, 1830 hrs - Miami, FL - The New Ted Shackley Miami-Dade County Chapter Hosts Organizational Meeting.
We invite all current AFIO members in the Miami/Ft Lauderdale/Homestead areas to attend an event planning meeting on July 10, 2014 at 1830 in the Doral area of Miami. Purpose of the meeting is to gather input on the organization of a stellar inaugural event, to be held later in the summer with some very special invitees.
Those wishing to attend should kindly RSVP to tsmdc.afio@gmail.com in order to receive a formal personal invitation. Please include your national membership number and updated contact information in your correspondence.
Chapter membership applications will be available at this and all future meetings, as well as on our website (when launched). We look forward to your participation in advancing interest in and knowledge about the Intelligence Community.
Email: tsmdc.afio@gmail.com
Address: 11410 NW 20 St., Suite 220, Miami, FL 33172
Facebook Page: /AFIO-Ted-Shackley-Miami-Dade-Chapter
Twitter: @AFIOMiamiDade
Thursday, 17 July 2014, 11:30 am - Palmer Lake, CO - The AFIO Rocky Mountain Chapter hears Sheriff-Elect Bill Elder.
Our speaker is Bill Elder, Sheriff-Elect at the
caucus who is running unopposed in November; therefore, he will be our
next Sheriff of El Paso County unless a huge write-in campaign is
undertaken. This is an excellent chance to meet the new Sheriff and get
to know more about him and his background.
Location: The Inn on the Palmer Divide, 443 S Highway 105, Palmer Lake, CO 80133 ~ Phone: 719-481-1800.
Exit I-25 at Exit 161 for Monument and Palmer Lake. Go North of SH 105
towards Palmer Lake. You will receive additional directions when you
RSVP to Tom Van Wormer at robsmom@pcisys.net. The lunch will cost $12.00. You can pay at the door.
14 August 2014, 11:30 a.m. - San Francisco, CA - The AFIO San Francisco "Andre LeGallo" Chapter hosts Capt. Welton Chang, DoD Analyst and Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania.
Topic: Predicting War and Peace: Inside the Massive IARPA Political Forecasting Experiment - Exploring the Frontiers of Optimal Political Forecasting. In 2011, IARPA sponsored a tournament to test a big idea: can people predict political outcomes? If so, how? Come learn how the tournament has progressed over the last three years from a participant in the project. Capt. Welton Chang will discuss the experimental set up, findings, and implications for intelligence and policy making.
11:30AM no host cocktails; meeting starts at noon. Please note new meeting location: Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Avenue, South San Francisco, CA 94080. RSVP required by 8/1/14 to Mariko Kawaguchi: e-mail afiosf@aol.com with meal choice (Salmon with Champagne Sauce or Veal Roast au Jus) and mail check made out to "AFIO" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, P.O. Box 117578, Burlingame, CA 94011. Members and students: $25; non-member guests $35.
21 August 2014, 12:30pm - Los Angeles, CA - AFIO � Los Angeles hosts LAPD Police Chief Bernard Parks on Aerial Surveillance Platforms
The chapter will host Bernard Parks, former Chief of
Police of the L.A.P.D. (Los Angeles Police Dept.) and current member of
the Los Angeles City Council, to discuss the current state of safety in
the city of Los Angeles and future limited use of aerial surveillance
platforms (UAV-Drones), and the impact it will have on the future of
local law enforcement in L.A.
Location for the meeting: LAPD-ARTC 5651 W Manchester Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90045, Start Time:12.30 PM, Room 1E.
Please RSVP for attendance: afio_LA@yahoo.com
For Additional Events two+ months or greater....view our online Calendar of Events
MANY more International Spy Museum Events in 2014 with full details are listed on the AFIO Website at www.afio.com.
Wednesday, 25 June 2014, 10:00-11:45 - Annapolis Junction, MD - Dr. Michael Warner addresses the NCMF Quarterly Cryptologic Program on The Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History.
The National Cryptologic Foundation Museum welcomes Dr. Michael Warner,
Command Historian for United States Cyber Command as the speaker at
this Quarterly Cryptologic Program. Dr. Warner has written and lectured
widely on intelligence history, theory, and reform, and has taught at
American University, Johns Hopkins University, and Columbia University.
His new book The Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History has just been published by Georgetown University Press.
Dr. Warner�s book has been called a tour de force through the
history and evolution of intelligence structures. The world changes
intelligence and intelligence changes the world. Dr. Warner will discuss
the development of professional, institutionalized intelligence, and
examine the implications of the �fall� of the state monopoly on
high-powered espionage today and beyond. During the Cold War, only the
alliances clustered around the two superpowers maintained viable
intelligence endeavors, whereas a century ago, many states could aspire
to be competitive at these dark arts. Today, larger states have lost
their monopoly on intelligence skills and capabilities as technological
and sociopolitical changes have made it possible for private
organizations and even individuals to unearth secrets and influence
global events. How that happened and what it portends are the topics Dr.
Warner will explore. You won�t want to miss this interesting program.
LOCATION: The presentation will be held at
L-3 Communications, 2720 Technology Dr, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701,
Tel 301-575-3200. There will be a book signing after the presentation
as well as lunch from 1200-1300.
REGISTER: To attend mail your registration fee to NCMF, PO Box 1682, Ft. George G. Meade, MD 20755-9998
For Information, email: cryptmf@aol.com; call: 301-688-5436/37; Fax: 301-688-5619;
FEE: $20 NCMF members; $50 for guests (includes a guest membership). Deadline for registration is 20 June 2014.
Friday, 27 June 2014, 1 - 4pm - Washington, DC - Meet A Spy: Tony & Jonna Mendez, the real CIA officers behind the movie ARGO
Meet the Mendezes, both are former CIA Chiefs of Disguise,
responsible for changing the identity and appearance of thousands of
clandestine operatives around the world. Tony is most famous for his
rescue of American diplomats from Tehran during the Iranian Hostage
Crisis as depicted in the film ARGO.
Free. No registration required. More info and directions at www.spymuseum.org
Wednesday, 09 July 2014, noon - Washington, DC - Global Terrorism, Espionage and Cybersecurity Update, at the International Spy Museum
Be the first to learn the latest intelligence news! Join David Major,
retired FBI agent and former director of Counterintelligence,
Intelligence and Security Programs, for a briefing on the hottest
intelligence and security issues, breaches, and penetrations. Presented
in partnership with The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security
Studies (CI Centre), these updates will cover worldwide events such as
breaking espionage cases and arrest reports, cyber espionage incidents,
and terrorist activity. Learn Snowden�s current status and what could
happen next with this case. Major uses his expertise to analyze trends
and highlight emerging issues of interest to both intelligence and
national security professionals and the public. Cases are drawn from the
CI Centre�s SPYPEDIA�, the most comprehensive source of espionage
information in the world, containing events and information that may not
be reported by mainstream media outlets. Major will also highlight and
review the latest books and reports to keep you current on what is
hitting think tank desks.
Tickets: Free! No registration required. Visit www.spymuseum.org
Tuesday, 15 July 2014, noon - Washington, DC - Kenneth Daigler discusses Spies, Patriots, and Traitors: American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War at the International Spy Museum
Nathan Hale and Benedict Arnold may be the most famous spies of the
American Revolution, but they were hardly alone. George Washington�s use
of spy networks and wider intelligence efforts were critical to the
fight for independence. In Spies, Patriots, and Traitors, former CIA officer Kenneth Daigler closely examines American intelligence activities during the era of the
Revolutionary War from 1765 to 1783. Daigler will explain how America�s
founders learned and practiced their intelligence role, providing
insight from an intelligence professional�s perspective and revealing
how many of the principles of the era�s intelligence practice are still
relevant today. After the talk, see the Museum�s famous George
Washington spy letter.
Free. No registration required. More info and directions at www.spymuseum.org
15 July 2014, 11:30 am - McLean, VA - Defense Intelligence Forum hears Cal Carnes on "The Insider Threat."
Mr. Cal Carnes will speak on “The Insider Threat.” His presentation will show that the Insider Threat is a malicious threat to an organization that comes from people within the organization, such as employees, former employees, contractors or business associates, who have inside information concerning the organization’s security practices, data and computer systems. He appreciates the gravity of this threat because of his long involvement in counterintelligence issues. His work in intelligence began in January 1968 at Arlington Hall Station where he worked Military Capabilities. In 1972 he worked at the National Photographic Interpretation Center and in 1974 he moved to the Military Intelligence Center at the Pentagon. After this time he worked counterintelligence issues at the Soviet/Warsaw Pact Division, DIA Counterintelligence Division, FBI and Naval Investigative Service. Cal retired from the Army 902d MI Group in 2001 after working for the Army Counterintelligence Center. As a defense contractor, he worked for the Defense HUMINT Service and the Counterintelligence Field Activity. He is now a part-time independent contractor for the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy and the Joint Military Attaché School as a role player. He holds master degrees from Georgetown University in National Security Studies and the National Intelligence College.
This forum will follow a modified Chatham House rule. You may use the information, but with the exception of speaker's name and subject, you may make no attribution. Everything will be off the record.
Location: Pulcinella Restaurant, 6852 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, VA Pay at the door with a check for $29.00 payable to DIAA, Inc
Registration starts at 1130 AM, lunch at 1200 PM.
Make reservations by 16 JULY 2014 by email to diforum@diaalumni.org. Include names, telephone numbers, and email addresses. For each attendee, choose among chicken cacciatore, tilapia puttanesca, lasagna, sausage with peppers, or fettuccini with portabella for your luncheon selection.
Pay at the door with a check for $ 29.00 per person, payable to DIAA, Inc.
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