Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

US Intelligence Thinks Flight MH17 Was Hit by a Missile, Killing 298. A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew members crashed in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, near the Russian border. Echoing Ukrainian officials, US intelligence believes a surface-to-air missile brought the flight down, but they are divided on the origin of the strike, a source told Reuters.

There were no reports of survivors. Reuters pictures showed a scene of devastation with burning debris and body parts spread over a wide area near the village of Grabovo. An airport official puts the death toll as follows: 189 Dutch, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, ten from the UK, four from Germany, four from Belgium, three from the Philippines, and one Canadian, and one from New Zealand, the BBC reports. In a news conference on Friday, President Barack Obama said there was at least one US citizen on board.

Ukraine's intelligence agency has released footage of what they say are intercepted phone calls between Russian military intelligence officers and pro-Russia separatists. In the conversations, they appear to acknowledge the plane has been shot down, but sound shocked upon realizing it's a civilian aircraft completely devoid of any weapons. "Civilian items, medical equipment, towels, toilet paper" are some of the items they found on the ground.

The Ukrainian Prime Minister has ordered an investigation, while the Ukrainian president says that Ukrainian forces were not involved in bringing the plane down. Ukrainian officials said the plane may have been shot down by a Russian-made Buk, or Beech, antiaircraft system, according to a report in The New York Times. A Ukrainian interior ministry official blamed "terrorists" using a ground-to-air missile on the "catastrophe," Reuters reports. [Read more: [Read more: Westcott/NewsWeek/18July2014]

Australian Criminal Intelligence Agency to Introduce Biometrics Identification System. CrimTrac, the national information-sharing service for Australia's police, law enforcement and national security agencies, will replace the national fingerprint database used by law enforcement agencies with an expanded biometrics identification system, according to a report by IT News for Australian Business.

The agency currently operates the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), supported by Morpho's operating system, which enables law enforcement agencies to upload fingerprints from crime scenes to help identify a suspect within minutes.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan recently announced that CrimTrac will be replacing NAFIS with "cutting edge technology" that features a range of new capabilities.

In addition to providing information on fingerprints, the new database would also include data on faces, palm prints, voice recognition, scars, bodily marks and tattoos, as well as facilitate a more rapid matching process. [Read more: Mayhew/BiometricUpdate/15July2014]

Russia to Reopen Spy Base in Cuba. As US-Russian relations continue to deteriorate, Russia is trying to reopen a Cold War-era spy base in Cuba.

During Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to Cuba earlier this month, Putin and Cuban officials reportedly reached a provisional agreement to reopen the signals intelligence facility in Lourdes, Cuba, south of Havana. "A framework agreement has been agreed," an unnamed Russian source told Reuters. The reported agreement was first reported by the Russian newspaper, Kommersant.

The Lourdes base was first opened in 1964 and was used to intercept communications in the US and throughout the Western Hemisphere. Some estimate that as much as 50 percent of the radio-intercepted intelligence that the Soviet Union collected on the US during the Cold War came from Lourdes. Putin closed the facility back in 2001, citing it as a "goodwill gesture" toward the US, which had long expressed concerns about the Russian spy station. However, many analysts believed the real reason behind the decision was the $200 million-a-year rent that Moscow was reportedly paying to Cuba to maintain the base.

According to The Guardian, "the Lourdes facility was the Soviet Union's largest foreign base, a mere 155 miles from the US coast. It employed up to 3,000 military and intelligence personnel to intercept a wide array of American telephone and radio communications." [Read more: Keck/TheDiplomat/21July2014]

Britain Announces Inquiry Into Killing of Ex-KGB Officer. Almost eight years after Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former KGB officer turned whistle-blower, was poisoned in London with a radioactive isotope, the British authorities announced on Tuesday that a public inquiry would be held into his death, permitting investigators to explore whether Russian leaders ordered the killing.

At a time when President Vladimir V. Putin faces mounting Western opprobrium for his support of pro-Russia separatists accused of shooting down a Malaysia Airlines jetliner over eastern Ukraine, the announcement from Theresa May, the British home secretary, could be seen by Moscow as a further rebuke.

"It is more than seven years since Mr. Litvinenko's death, and I very much hope that this inquiry will be of some comfort to his widow," Ms. May said in a written statement to Parliament.

The announcement reflected a remarkable about-face by the government of Prime Minister David Cameron, which, seeking improved relations with Moscow, long resisted demands by Mr. Litvinenko's supporters for scrutiny of any role in his death by the Russian state or the British intelligence services. With Mr. Cameron calling for sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, the ground now seems to have shifted, although British officials described the timing of Tuesday's announcement as a coincidence. [Read more: Cowell/NYTimes/22July2014]

Security Experts Warn of Sophisticated Cyber Threats. Industry and government information security professionals have observed that hackers are using more sophisticated methods and tools in their attacks on enterprise data, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

Dena Levitz write that cyber experts from both public and private sector organizations talked about different types of hacking tactics during a recent panel discussion hosted by the radio station.

"They're doing incredibly successful cyber intelligence collection, very successful cyber intelligence analysis of how the organization's network is configured, knowing exactly what versions of what antivirus software they're running and then crafting very specific APT [advanced persistent threats] against a specific individual, branch or part of that organization," said Bob Bigman, a former CIA chief information security officer, according to the station.

Darren Van Booven, CISO for the House of Representatives, told the forum audience that some cyber criminals try to collect details by calling potential victims on their home phones. [Read more: Hoffman/ExecutiveGov/22Juy2014]

Dozens of Turkish Police Detained for Alleged Spying on Government. Dozens of Turkish police including high-ranking officers were detained on Tuesday, accused of spying and illegal wire-tapping of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his inner circle in what the chief prosecutor said was a concocted probe of an alleged terrorist group.

The former Istanbul anti-terror police chief, himself among those detained and led away in handcuffs, said the incident was entirely political, coming just a few weeks ahead of a presidential election in which Erdogan is standing.

The operation follows a stream of purges targeting the police, judiciary and state institutions this year which government critics have condemned as a symptom of Erdogan's tightening grip.

Concern about his autocratic style has been fueled by his intention to boost the powers of the presidency if he is elected, a plan he reiterated late on Monday. [Read more: Butler/Reuters/22July2014]

US Army Intelligence System Pulled From Key Test. US Army officials have withdrawn their intelligence network from a major testing exercise this fall because of software glitches, in the latest setback for the troubled system.

The decision, laid out in a July 15 memorandum obtained by The Associated Press, stands in contrast to the Army's upbeat public statements about the Distributed Common Ground System.

DCGS-A (pronounced Dee-Sigs-Ay) is a network of software, sensors and databases that is intended to allow troops to process and integrate intelligence from a variety of sources, from electronic intercepts to overhead imagery to spy reports, but has been prone to crashes.

A series of independent government reports in recent years have pointed to flaws in the system, which so far has cost taxpayers about $5 billion, records show. The Army says it is working to fix the problems in a new version to be completed next year. An Army spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the memo. [Read more: Dilanian/AP/21July2014]

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

America's First Intelligence Agency Linked to Forest. For six years, from 1936-1942, disadvantaged children from around the Washington, DC, area spent time at cabin camps tucked into the woods of the Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration area, known today as Prince William Forest Park.

The Chopawamsic RDA program was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide an escape from everyday life in the mist of the Great Depression, but the property was transformed into a secret military installation during World War II.

At that time, there was no single agency responsible for managing and investigating intelligence, and delicate topics were discussed amongst diplomats, soldiers and others in their day-to-day activities without regulation, according to a publication from the National Park Service. However, after the start of World War II in 1941, Roosevelt created the Office of Strategic Services, to implement a centralized system of strategic intelligence in the United States. The OSS lasted from 1942-1945 and became the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency.

Chopawamsic Park was selected by OSS director Col. Bill Donovan as the, "paramilitary training camp of the OSS' Special Operations Branch" in 1942. Divided into five cabin camps, the Chopawamsic RDA served as a training camp to teach recruits about Morse code, communications, weaponry, psychological warfare, radio techniques and more prior to deploying overseas. Engineers also built a pistol and submachine gun range for recruits. [Read more: Wertz/Marines.mil/21July2014]

Real Life James Bonds: 10 Interesting Facts and Figures about MI6 - The British Foreign Intelligence Service. "Bond. James Bond." Though they may not refer to their agents as "00" anything, MI6, more officially known as the Secret Intelligence Service, is still a crack intelligence agency. MI6 actually stands for "Military Intelligence, Section 6" and is comparable to the CIA in America. It's sister organization, MI5 is the security service responsible for protection from domestic threats, much like the FBI or Department of Homeland Security. Of course, any intelligence agency builds up its share of secrets and interesting facts over many years of service, and MI6 is no different. [Read more: Rabon/Anglotopia/21July2014]

Inside the Secret CIA Museum. Osama bin Laden's assault rifle. A signed al-Qaeda training manual. A desiccated rat corpse designed to pass secret messages. A letter from an American operative on a sheet of Adolf Hitler's personal stationery. A painting of the real story behind "Argo". And a remote-controlled robotic dragonfly that may be the ancestor of today's drones.

These are some of the things on display at the Central Intelligence Agency's astonishing private museum in Langley, Va.

Yahoo News got an exclusive on-camera guided tour of what could be the coolest collection you'll probably never get to see. It's burrowed deep inside CIA headquarters just outside Washington, DC, secreted away behind the thick layers of security that stand between the George Bush Center for Intelligence and the public, protecting America's top secrets from prying eyes.

As part of being allowed a rare look inside, Yahoo News had to rely on a CIA crew to film the building's exterior. Cell phones and wireless microphones - that is to say, anything with a broadcasting capability - were forbidden. And the agency took precautions to make sure that our visit did not inadvertently reveal the identity of any CIA staff, setting the shoot for a Saturday when there'd be less foot traffic in the cavernous hallways. Just to be doubly sure, vigilant CIA officials blocked off hallways near the Yahoo News crew with signs warning of an "uncleared" media presence, and obscured the names of some rooms and corridors - a reminder that the news media is, in effect, in the business of gathering intelligence. [Read more: Knox/YahooNews/20July2014]

Secret Agent Margaret's Wartime Efforts Revealed. A 94-year-old community stalwart in Westham who died last month was an elite member of the Secret Intelligence Services in the Second World War who saved countless lives.

Margaret Spencer was disguised as a nun and parachuted into the continent during the conflict to bring agents home, was shot in the back by a German sniper and also thanked by the King and Queen for looking after Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret as they mingled with crowds outside Buckingham Palace at the end of the Second World War in 1945.

Margaret was recruited to the SIS, commonly known as MI6, as a 20-year-old by a family member, given a warrant and a Colt 45 and worked as a secret agent until 1977 when she retired from active service and surrendered her gun.

She was absolved from the Official Secrets Act in 1995 and then told her family of her fascinating double life. [Read more: EastbourneHerald/19July2014]

The Story Behind the CIA's 'Light-Hearted, Humorous' Twitter Account. At first glance, it may look like the CIA's accounts on Facebook and Twitter are part of a bogus scheme, maintained by an unaffiliated comedic troll. But the intelligence agency has confirmed they are the real deal, part of its effort to educate the public about what it does - at least the parts it can talk about.

The CIA officially joined Twitter and Facebook on June 6 to "build its online presence beyond" its public website, mobile portal, and official Flickr and YouTube accounts, according to a statement.

The social media accounts are helping the CIA's office of public affairs, which is responsible for both internal and external communications at the agency, to fulfill one of its core missions: to inform and educate the public, CIA spokesperson Kali Caldwell told PRWeek.

A small, Web-focused team is responsible for the CIA's online presence, and one officer oversees both accounts as part of her overall Web-content-management job. [Read more: Bradley/PRWeek/15July2014]

How a Redstone Arsenal Intelligence Agency May Help US Determine What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. As the world tries to piece together what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Redstone Arsenal-based agency will likely be called to provide the US with critical intelligence on exactly what brought down the jetliner.

The Missile and Space Intelligence Center, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal and part of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is tasked with providing research and information on a variety of foreign threats and missile systems. MISC's Foreign Military Exploitation team dismantles, researches and tests foreign missile systems such as the Russian-made Buk-1M mobile missile that is believed to have been used to bring down the jetliner.

The plane, carrying 285 passengers and 15 crew members, was shot down at the Ukraine/Russia border on Thursday by what was most likely a missile fired by Russian-backed separatists.

MISC officials won't comment directly on the investigation into the Ukrainian crash. Defense Intelligence spokesperson Jim Kudla would only outline MISC's broad mission of providing intelligence information to the Pentagon and the White House on a range of foreign-made weapons, including surface-to-air and short-range ballistic missiles, directed energy weapons and some space and computer systems. [Read more: Gore/AlabamaMediaGroup/22July2014]

Section III - COMMENTARY

This Spy Agency is Putin's Secret Weapon: Meet GRU, the Intelligence Apparatus Enforcing Moscow's Will in Ukraine. There are two ways an espionage agency can prove its worth to the government it serves. Either it can be truly useful (think: locating a most-wanted terrorist), or it can engender fear, dislike, and vilification from its rivals (think: being named a major threat in congressional testimony). But when a spy agency does both, its worth is beyond question.

Since the Ukraine crisis began, the Kremlin has few doubts about the importance of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence apparatus. The agency has not only demonstrated how the Kremlin can employ it as an important foreign-policy tool, by ripping a country apart with just a handful of agents and a lot of guns. The GRU has also shown the rest of the world how Russia expects to fight its future wars: with a mix of stealth, deniability, subversion, and surgical violence. Even as GRU-backed rebel groups in eastern Ukraine lose ground in the face of Kiev's advancing forces, the geopolitical landscape has changed. The GRU is back in the global spook game and with a new playbook that will be a challenge for the West for years to come.

Recent years had not been kind to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff, the Glavnoe razvedyvatelnoe upravlenie (GRU). Once, it had been arguably Russia's largest intelligence agency, with self-contained stations - known as "residencies" - in embassies around the world, extensive networks of undercover agents, and nine brigades of special forces known as Spetsnaz.

By the start of 2013, the GRU was on the ropes. Since 1992, the agency had been in charge of operations in the post-Soviet countries, Russia's "near abroad." But Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have seen it as increasingly unfit for that purpose. When the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's domestic security agency, was allowed to run operations abroad openly in 2003, one insider told me that this was because "the GRU doesn't seem to know how to do anything in our neighborhood except count tanks." (It may not even have done that very well. Putin regarded the GRU as partly responsible for Russia's lackluster performance in the 2008 invasion of Georgia.) There was a prevailing view in Moscow that the GRU's focus on gung-ho "kinetic operations" like paramilitary hit squads seemed less relevant in an age of cyberwar and oil politics. [Read more: Galeotti/ForeignPolicy/17July2014]

CIA Covert Operation Helped Win Space Race. Recently declassified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) present a clearer picture of the all-encompassing and wide reaching efforts to win the Cold War's Space Race.

George Washington University's National Security Archive, a repository of declassified US documents described as the world's largest nongovernmental collection, unveiled a new batch of once highly sensitive CIA documents in a release titled, Soldiers, Spies and the Moon: Secret US and Soviet Plans from the 1950s and 1960s. The newly released cache of formerly classified reports focuses on a series of military initiatives, as well as covert and surreptitious efforts to advance America's lunar programs.

During the 1960s, following President John F. Kennedy's iconic May 25, 1961 address to Congress in which he set the goal of putting a man on the Moon within the decade, the Cold War was reaching epic proportions. President Kennedy's speech served to throw the gauntlet by setting the terms and singling out the ultimate prize for the soon to be gargantuan and nationally ambitious Space Race - a successful manned mission to the Moon. [Read more: Coleman/CommunitiesDigitalNews/21July2014]

Section IV - Upcoming Events

Upcoming AFIO Events

AFIO EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

Saturday, 9 August 2014 - Orange Park, FL - AFIO North Florida Chapter hosts meeting

Location: Country Club of Orange Park. Questions and reservations: Quiel Begonia at qbegonia@comcast.net call 352-332-6150. Cost will be $16 each, pay the Country Club at the luncheon.

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 LAPD (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 LA.
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

13 September 2014, 1130 hrs - Indian Harbour Beach, FL - The Florida Satellite Chapter hosts Counterterrorism expert, Wallace Bruschweiler

Former AFIO Suncoast Chapter VP Wallace Bruschweiler will explore various approaches used by Israel, USA, Western Europe and Russia in combating terrorist activities around the world. He is a quadri-linguist and an expert on counter terrorism and national security issues. Wallace is a results oriented security executive, strategist and problem solver with extensive expertise and over 25 years in solving complex domestic and international security and intelligence situations in a large range of venues. Terrorism has evolved and Wallace has stayed in front of the curve.
Event location: Eau Gallie Yacht Club, 100 Datura Drive, Indian Harbour Beach, FL 32937
For reservations and further details, contact Barbara Keith, 1024 Osprey Drive, Melbourne, Florida 32940. Telephone: 321.777.5561, email: bobbie6769@juno.com

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

Other Upcoming Events

MANY more International Spy Museum Events in 2014 with full details are listed on the AFIO Website at www.afio.com.

Friday, 25 July 2014, 1 - 4 pm - Washington, DC - Meet A Spy: Tony & Jonna Mendez, the real CIA Officers behind the movie ARGO

Meet the Mendezes - Tony and Jonna - 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

Monday, 28 July 2014, 4:30 p.m. - Washington, DC - Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War

C. Christine Fair, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Peace and Security Studies Program, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, author of Fighting to the End, speaks on this important topic.

Where: The Institute of World Politics, 1521 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036; Questions? Contact sdwyer@iwp.edu

Friday, 15 August 2014, 1 - 4 pm - Washington, DC - Meet former FBI/CIA Counterintelligence Officer, Christopher Lynch

Christopher Lynch was a Counterintelligence Officer, first in the FBI, and then in the CIA, for thirty years. As an Operations Analyst, he specialized in the KGB in assessing tradecraft and in detecting hostile control.
Free. No registration required. More info and directions at www.spymuseum.org

Tuesday, 19 August 2014, noon - Washington, DC - Good Hunting: An American Spymaster�s Story with Jack Devine

Jack Devine is one of the legendary spymasters of our time. He was in Chile when Allende fell; he ran Charlie Wilson�s war in Afghanistan; he had too much to do with Iran-Contra for his own taste, though he tried to stop it; he caught Pablo Escobar in Colombia; and he tried to warn George Tenet that there was a bullet coming from Iraq with his name on it. His new book, Good Hunting, is Devine�s guide to the art of spycraft and his belief in the CIA�s vital importance as a tool of American statecraft. Although it has been caricatured by Hollywood, lionized by the right, and pilloried by the left, Devine believes the CIA remains one of the least understood instruments of the United States government. Join him as he uses his wit, candor, and common sense wisdom to set the record straight about an organization whose history has not been given its due.

Tickets: Free! No registration required. Visit www.spymuseum.org.

Disclaimers and Removal Instructions

Weekly Intelligence Notes (WINs) are commentaries on Intelligence and related national security matters, based on open media sources, selected, interpreted, edited and produced for non-profit educational uses by members and WIN subscribers. 

REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: We do not wish to add clutter to inboxes. To discontinue receiving the WINs: 

a)  IF YOU ARE A MEMBER -- click here: UNSUBSCRIBE and supply your full name and email address where you receive the WINs. Click SEND, you will be removed from list.  If this link doesn't open a blank email, create one on your own and send to afio@afio.com with the words:  REMOVE FROM WINs as the subject, and provide your full name and email address where you are currently receiving them.

 b) IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER, and you received this message, someone forwarded this newsletter to you [contrary to AFIO policies]. Forward to afio@afio.com the entire WIN or message you received and we will remove the sender from our membership and distribution lists. The problem will be solved for both of us.

CONTENTS of this WIN [HTML version recipients - Click title to jump to story or section, Click Article Title to return to Contents. This feature does not work for Plaintext Edition or for some AOL recipients]. If you wish to change to HTML format, let us know at afio@afio.com. The HTML feature also does not work for those who access their e-mail using web mail...however NON-HTML recipients may view the latest edition each week in HTML at this link: https://www.afio.com/pages/currentwin.htm

WINs are protected by copyright laws and intellectual property laws, and may not be reproduced or re-sent without specific permission from the Producer. Opinions expressed in the WINs are solely those of the editor's) or author's) listed with each article. AFIO Members Support the AFIO Mission - sponsor new members! CHECK THE AFIO WEBSITE at www.afio.com for back issues of the WINs, information about AFIO, conference agenda and registrations materials, and membership applications and much more!

(c) 2000, 2012, 2013, 2014, Please note AFIO's new address: AFIO, 7600 Leesburg Pike, Suite 470 East, Falls Church, VA 22043-2004. Voice: (703) 790-0320; Fax: (703) 991-1278; Email: afio@afio.com

Click here to return to top.