AFIO Weekly Intelligence Notes #39-11 dated 11 October 2011

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CONTENTS

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Section III - COMMENTARY

Section IV -   Obituaries, Books and Coming Events

Obituaries

Books

Coming Educational Events

Current Calendar New and/or Next Two Months ONLY

Two Upcoming CIA Historic Document Release Events, and Just Announced CASIS Conference in Ottawa on "New Frontiers in Security and Intelligence."

The Berlin Crisis of 1961

"Building the Wall, From Vienna to Checkpoint Charlie"

Thursday October 27, 2011

Location: McGowan Theater, National Archives Building, Washington DC

Time: 9:00am to 12:00pm

CIA Berlin ConferenceThe National Declassification Center at the National Archives, in partnership with the Historical Review Program of the CIA, will be a hosting a one-day conference to mark the anniversary of the Berlin Crisis of 1961. October 27th, 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the American/Soviet showdown at Checkpoint Charlie. At the McGowan theater at the Archives building in downtown Washington, D.C. a panel of distinguished historians will present topics such as "How the East German Leadership Persuaded the Reluctant Soviets to Build the Berlin Wall", "Events and Decisions Leading Up to the Building of the Berlin Wall - The East German Perspective" and "The U.S. Military Response to the 1960-62 Berlin Crisis." The last person to cross the Potsdamer Platz in a car as the Wall was being erected, Dr. William R. Smyser, will be sharing his personal recollections of the Crisis.

A publication of newly released declassified documents will accompany the event. Documents include intelligence reports, U.S. Army and NATO contingency plans, memoranda, photographs and maps of the earliest stages of the Berlin Wall, and a contemporary 600-page State Department analysis covering the situation in Berlin from 1958-1962.

Scheduled Speakers:

Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero
Director, Information Management Services, CIA- Joseph Lambert

Adjunct Professor BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University in Washington - Dr. William R. Smyser

Central Intelligence Agency, Dr. Donald P. Steury
US Army Center of Military History- Dr. Don Carter
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) - Dr. Gregg Pedlow
Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University - Dr. Hope Harrison
Central Intelligence Agency - Mr. Lou Mehrer

Reservations

For seat reservations, please send an e-mail to berlin.1961crisis@nara.gov that includes:

  • your name
  • e-mail address
  • phone number
  • number of seats desired (limit 2 per name)

For more information:

Please email all inquiries to berlin.1961crisis@nara.gov

More information at NARA can be found at....

http://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/cold-war/1961-berlin-crisis/2011-conference.html


Reagan, Intelligence, and the End of the Cold War

November 2, 2011

Location: Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, Simi Valley, California

Time: 12:30 - 5:30 p.m.

By CIA Historical Collections Division

Reagan, Intelligence, and the End of the Cold War
Wednesday, 02 November 2011 12:30 - 5:30 PM - Simi Valley, CA - CIA Document Release Event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, Simi Valley, California

Ronald Reagan, Intelligence, and the End of the Cold War will feature high-level former policymakers, intelligence practitioners, and analysts discussing how the Reagan Administration used intelligence in making policies to end the Cold War. The CIA is releasing a collection of more than 200 declassified documents, including intelligence assessments, high-level memos, and briefing materials provided to the Administration during this period. Also included are never-before-seen video briefings prepared by the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence and delivered to policymakers on such varied topics as the Soviet space program, the Andropov succession, the Chernobyl disaster, and the Moscow summit. This event is free to attend, however reservations are required.

Featured guest speakers include Kenneth Adelman, Former Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and Oleg Kalugin, Former Major General in the Soviet KGB.

Panelists include: Peter Clement, CIA Deputy Director for Intelligence for Analytic Programs; Douglas MacEachin, Former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence; Admiral Bobby Inman, Former CIA Deputy Director; Martin Anderson, Former Advisor to President Reagan; Gregory Treverton, Director, RAND Center for Global Risk and Security; David Holloway, Stanford University; Mary Sarotte, University of Southern California; Bruce D. Berkowitz, Author; Dr. Nicholas Dujmovic, CIA Historian; and David Lodge, CIA Analyst.

Location: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, 40 Presidential Dr, Simi Valley, CA 93065

Click here to make reservations. For more information, please call 805-577-4141 or visit this link.


9-10 November 2011 - Ottawa, Canada - “New Frontiers in Security and Intelligence” is theme of 2011 CASIS Annual International Conference

CASIS is the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies.
DRAFT AGENDA may be viewed here: http://www.casis.ca/documents/2011CISISInternationalConference.doc It is a Word document.
Location: Fairmont Château Laurier Hotel, Ottawa, Canada
To register for the 2011 CASIS Annual Conference please follow the link below. CASIS reserves the right to limit registration.
www.eplyevents.com/casis2011
To book a room at the Chateau Laurier for the 2011 CASIS conference, please follow the link below. This block of rooms provides a discounted rate, but all expenses will be covered by the guest.
https://resweb.passkey.com/go/casis2011

Section I - INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Two Men Charged in Alleged Plot to Assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States - DOJ Summary of the plot follows....
WASHINGTON – Two individuals have been charged in New York for their alleged participation in a plot directed by elements of the Iranian government to murder the Saudi Ambassador to the United States with explosives while the Ambassador was in the United States.
The charges were announced by Attorney General Eric Holder; FBI Director Robert S. Mueller; Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
A criminal complaint filed today in the Southern District of New York charges Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen holding both Iranian and U.S. passports, and Gholam Shakuri, an Iran-based member of Iran’s Qods Force, which is a special operations unit of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that is said to sponsor and promote terrorist activities abroad.
Both defendants are charged with conspiracy to murder a foreign official; conspiracy to engage in foreign travel and use of interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire; conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives); and conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism transcending national boundaries. Arbabsiar is further charged with an additional count of foreign travel and use of interstate and foreign commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Shakuri remains at large. Arbabsiar was arrested on Sept. 29, 2011, at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and will make his initial appearance today before in federal court in Manhattan. He faces a maximum potential sentence of life in prison if convicted of all the charges.
“ The criminal complaint unsealed today exposes a deadly plot directed by factions of the Iranian government to assassinate a foreign Ambassador on U.S. soil with explosives,” said Attorney General Holder. “Through the diligent and coordinated efforts of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies, we were able to disrupt this plot before anyone was harmed. We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously and bring those who have violated any laws to justice.”
“The investigation leading to today’s charges illustrates both the challenges and complexities of the international threat environment, and our increased ability today to bring together the intelligence and law enforcement resources necessary to better identify and disrupt those threats, regardless of their origin,” said FBI Director Mueller.
“The disruption of this plot is a significant milestone that stems from months of hard work by our law enforcement and intelligence professionals,” said Assistant Attorney General Monaco. “I applaud the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s case.”
“As alleged, these defendants were part of a well-funded and pernicious plot that had, as its first priority, the assassination of the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, without care or concern for the mass casualties that would result from their planned attack,” said U.S. Attorney Bharara. “Today’s charges should make crystal clear that we will not let other countries use our soil as their battleground.”
The Alleged Plot
The criminal complaint alleges that, from the spring of 2011 to October 2011, Arbabsiar and his Iran-based co-conspirators, including Shakuri of the Qods Force, have been plotting the murder of the Saudi Ambassador to the United States. In furtherance of this conspiracy, Arbabsiar allegedly met on a number of occasions in Mexico with a DEA confidential source (CS-1) who has posed as an associate of a violent international drug trafficking cartel. According to the complaint, Arbabsiar arranged to hire CS-1 and CS-1’s purported accomplices to murder the Ambassador, and Shakuri and other Iran-based co-conspirators were aware of and approved the plan. With Shakuri’s approval, Arbabsiar has allegedly caused approximately $100,000 to be wired into a bank account in the United States as a down payment to CS-1 for the anticipated killing of the Ambassador, which was to take place in the United States.
According to the criminal complaint, the IRCG is an arm of the Iranian military that is composed of a number of branches, one of which is the Qods Force. The Qods Force conducts sensitive covert operations abroad, including terrorist attacks, assassinations and kidnappings, and is believed to sponsor attacks against Coalition Forces in Iraq. In October 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the Qods Force for providing material support to the Taliban and other terrorist organizations.
The complaint alleges that Arbabsiar met with CS-1 in Mexico on May 24, 2011, where Arbabsiar inquired as to CS-1’s knowledge with respect to explosives and explained that he was interested in, among other things, attacking an embassy of Saudi Arabia. In response, CS-1 allegedly indicated that he was knowledgeable with respect to C-4 explosives. In June and July 2011, the complaint alleges, Arbabsiar returned to Mexico and held additional meetings with CS-1, where Arbabsiar explained that his associates in Iran had discussed a number of violent missions for CS-1 and his associates to perform, including the murder of the Ambassador.
$1.5 Million Fee for Alleged Assassination
In a July 14, 2011, meeting in Mexico, CS-1 allegedly told Arbabsiar that he would need to use four men to carry out the Ambassador’s murder and that his price for carrying out the murder was $1.5 million. Arbabsiar allegedly agreed and stated that the murder of the Ambassador should be handled first, before the execution of other attacks. Arbabsiar also allegedly indicated he and his associates had $100,000 in Iran to pay CS-1 as a first payment toward the assassination and discussed the manner in which that payment would be made.
During the same meeting, Arbabsiar allegedly described to CS-1 his cousin in Iran, who he said had requested that Arbabsiar find someone to carry out the Ambassador’s assassination. According to the complaint, Arbabsiar indicated that his cousin was a “big general” in the Iranian military; that he focuses on matters outside Iran and that he had taken certain unspecified actions related to a bombing in Iraq.
In a July 17, 2011, meeting in Mexico, CS-1 noted to Arbabsiar that one of his workers had already traveled to Washington, D.C., to surveill the Ambassador. CS-1 also raised the possibility of innocent bystander casualties. The complaint alleges that Arbabsiar made it clear that the assassination needed to go forward, despite mass casualties, telling CS-1, “They want that guy [the Ambassador] done [killed], if the hundred go with him f**k ‘em.” CS-1 and Arbabsiar allegedly discussed bombing a restaurant in the United States that the Ambassador frequented. When CS-1 noted that others could be killed in the attack, including U.S. senators who dine at the restaurant, Arbabsiar allegedly dismissed these concerns as “no big deal.”
On Aug. 1, and Aug. 9, 2011, with Shakuri’s approval, Arbabsiar allegedly caused two overseas wire transfers totaling approximately $100,000 to be sent to an FBI undercover account as a down payment for CS-1 to carry out the assassination. Later, Arbabsiar allegedly explained to CS-1 that he would provide the remainder of the $1.5 million after the assassination. On Sept. 20, 2011, CS-1 allegedly told Arbabsiar that the operation was ready and requested that Arbabsiar either pay one half of the agreed upon price ($1.5 million) for the murder or that Arbabsiar personally travel to Mexico as collateral for the final payment of the fee. According to the complaint, Arbabsiar agreed to travel to Mexico to guarantee final payment for the murder.
Arrest and Alleged Confession
On or about Sept. 28, 2011, Arbabsiar flew to Mexico. Arbabsiar was refused entry into Mexico by Mexican authorities and, according to Mexican law and international agreements; he was placed on a return flight destined for his last point of departure. On Sept. 29, 2011, Arbabsiar was arrested by federal agents during a flight layover at JFK International Airport in New York. Several hours after his arrest, Arbabsiar was advised of his Miranda rights and he agreed to waive those rights and speak with law enforcement agents. During a series of Mirandized interviews, Arbabsiar allegedly confessed to his participation in the murder plot.
According to the complaint, Arbabsiar also admitted to agents that, in connection with this plot, he was recruited, funded and directed by men he understood to be senior officials in Iran’s Qods Force. He allegedly said these Iranian officials were aware of and approved of the use of CS-1 in connection with the plot; as well as payments to CS-1; the means by which the Ambassador would be killed in the United States and the casualties that would likely result.
Arbabsiar allegedly told agents that his cousin, who he had long understood to be a senior member of the Qods Force, had approached him in the early spring of 2011 about recruiting narco-traffickers to kidnap the Ambassador. Arbabsiar told agents that he then met with the CS-1 in Mexico and discussed assassinating the Ambassador. According to the complaint, Arbabsiar said that, afterwards, he met several times in Iran with Shakuri and another senior Qods Force official, where he explained that the plan was to blow up a restaurant in the United States frequented by the Ambassador and that numerous bystanders could be killed, according to the complaint. The plan was allegedly approved by these officials.
In October 2011, according to the complaint, Arbabsiar made phone calls at the direction of law enforcement to Shakuri in Iran that were monitored. During these phone calls, Shakuri allegedly confirmed that Arbabsiar should move forward with the plot to murder the Ambassador and that he should accomplish the task as quickly as possible, stating on Oct. 5, 2011, “[j]ust do it quickly, it’s late . . .” The complaint alleges that Shakuri also told Arbabsiar that he would consult with his superiors about whether they would be willing to pay CS-1 additional money.
This investigation is being conducted by the FBI Houston Division and DEA Houston Division, with assistance from the FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Glen Kopp and Edward Kim, of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the U.S. State Department provided substantial assistance. We thank the government of Mexico for its close coordination and collaboration in this matter, and for its role in ensuring that the defendant was safely apprehended.
The charges contained in a criminal complaint are mere allegations and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. [Read more: JCG/USDOJ/11Oct2011]

Russia Claims China Spy Arrest. Russia on Wednesday announced the arrest of a Chinese national who was allegedly trying to secure secret documents on S-300 missile systems while posing as an official interpreter.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) said the arrest was made on October 28 last year but did not explain why it had failed to report the incident.

The announcement was made just a week before Prime Minister Vladimir Putin begins a two-day state visit to Beijing aimed at reaffirming the neighbours' joint diplomatic clout and economic importance.

The FSB domestic security service identified the man as Tong Shengyong and said his case had been forwarded by prosecutors to the Moscow City Court on Tuesday. [Read more:  ChannelNewsAsia/5October2011] 

Warrant Issued for Retired Lebanese Army General for Spying. An arrest warrant in absentia was issued Tuesday against a former Lebanese Army general on felony charges of spying for Israel.

Military Examining Magistrate Imad al-Zein issued the warrant for the arrest of retired Brig. Gen. Ghassan al-Jed on charges of collaborating with Israel's Mossad secret service. [Read more:  DailyStar/5October2011] 

North Korea Spy Charged with Assassination Attempt. A North Korean agent has been charged with trying to assassinate an outspoken anti-Pyongyang activist in Seoul with a poison-tipped needle, South Korean prosecutors said Thursday.

The agent, identified only as An, was in possession of the weapon when he was arrested on September 3, the Seoul Central Prosecutors Office said.

"He was charged with violation of the national security law after trying to kill Park Sang-Hak with a poison-tipped needle," a spokesman told AFP.

No other details were given of the case, which was first reported by local media and the intended victim last month. [Read more:  AFP/6October2011] 

Case Sought Against Pakistan Doctor Who Helped CIA. A Pakistani doctor accused of running a vaccination program for the CIA to help track down Osama bin Laden should be put on trial for high treason, a government commission said Thursday, a move likely to anger U.S. officials pushing for his release.

Dr. Shakil Afridi has been in the custody of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency since soon after the May 2 American raid that killed bin Laden. The agency was humiliated and outraged by the covert American operation and is aggressively investigating the circumstances surrounding it.

Afridi's fate is a complicating issue in relations between the CIA and the ISI that were strained to the breaking point by the bin Laden raid. [Read more:  Brummitt/ABCNews/6October2011] 

Ex-worker Sues US Intelligence Agency, Blames Anti-Islamic Bias for Lost Security Clearance. A former employee is suing one of the government's most secretive security agencies, alleging he lost his security clearance because his wife attended an Islamic school and worked for a Muslim charity.

Mahmoud Hegab filed the discrimination lawsuit this week in federal court in Virginia against the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency at Fort Belvoir.

The Alexandria resident worked at NGA as a budget analyst with a top-secret security clearance. But his clearance was revoked in November after he got married. NGA officials told him they were concerned about his wife's schooling at the Islamic Saudi Academy, a private school in northern Virginia. [Read more:  WashingtonPost/6October2011] 

Senate Staffer's Firing Could Figure in CIA/Iran Leak Trial. A Senate intelligence committee lawyer's firing in 2003 may play a role in the upcoming trial of an ex-Central Intelligence Agency officer accused of leaking top secret information to a New York Times reporter.

Defense lawyers for the former CIA officer, Jeffrey Sterling, asked in July to subpoena records related to the abrupt dismissal of Senate intelligence committee counsel Vicki Divoll on the orders of the panel's then-chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Ks.)

Sterling's defense team said in court filings that a witness told the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Divoll was fired from the panel's staff because she leaked information to Times national security reporter James Risen. The defense lawyers argued that statement made Divoll a potential source for another leak to Risen around the same time about a CIA operation targeting Iran's nuclear program. That leak led to the 10-count indictment of Sterling. He is scheduled to face trial on beginning October 17.

No direct evidence has been made public that Divoll knew about the Iran-related program, but defense attorneys have noted that Sterling was in contact with the Senate intelligence committee in early 2003 around the same time prosecutors allege the ex-CIA officer leaked the information to Risen. [Read more:  Politico/6October2011]

Diplomat Appointed to Turkey's Intel Body. Abdurrahman Bilgi�, a career diplomat whose last title was Turkish ambassador to Japan, has been appointed as deputy undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) as part of organizational restructuring.

Diplomatic sources said bureaucratic procedures were underway for Bilgi� to be transferred to the country's intelligence organization. He will be responsible for providing cooperation with the Foreign Ministry as part of MİT's new strategy to focus on foreign intelligence.

A Cabinet decree has been published in the Official Gazette announcing Bilgi�'s return to Turkey from Japan, where he was serving as Turkey's ambassador since late 2010. [Read more:  HurriyetDaileyNews/7October2011] 

Ex-CIA Chief Acknowledges Open Secret - Drones. US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Friday acknowledged what has long been an open secret - that the CIA deploys armed Predator drones to hunt down Islamist militants.

The US government officially declines to admit to the spy agency's drone strikes, but Panetta - who served as Central Intelligence Agency director until taking over the Pentagon in July - made two casual references to the CIA's use of robotic aircraft during a visit to US bases in Italy.

"Having moved from the CIA to the Pentagon, obviously I have a hell of a lot more weapons available to me in this job than I did at CIA - although Predators aren't bad," Panetta told an audience of sailors at the US Navy's Sixth Fleet headquarters in Naples.

Later at a joint US-Italian air base in Sigonella, Panetta thanked air crews for their role in the NATO air campaign over Libya as he stood in front of a Global Hawk drone, a larger unmanned aircraft that flies at high altitude for surveillance missions. [Read more:  AP/7October2011] 

Four US Nationals Arrested in Pakistan. Four US nationals have been arrested in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab on suspicion of espionage, amid increasing tensions between Washington and Islamabad, Press TV reports.

The four individuals were arrested on Friday while they were roaming around military bases in Punjab's northern city of Jehlum, and were reportedly taken to an unknown location for investigation.

Neither Washington nor Islamabad has so far commented on the issue.

In February, a CIA contractor called Reymond Davis, claimed by the US to have been a consulate staff, was arrested after he killed two locals in the southern city of Lahore.

Davis's arrest, which soured relations between Washington and Islamabad, engaged top US officials in negotiations with Pakistani authorities over his release.

He was set free after reportedly paying blood money to the family of the victims.

In June, Pakistani government imposed travel restrictions on the US diplomats in the country, forcing them to get a 'No Objection Certificate' before leaving the capital, Islamabad, for any other cities. [Read more:  PressTVIR/8October2011] 

Tunisia Arrests Libyan Intelligence Man. Tunisia has arrested a colonel in the former Libyan intelligence service, hiding out in a rented house in a remote town after Moammar Gadhafi's fall, the official TAP news agency said Saturday.

The officer had crossed the border using false identity papers more than a month ago, according to a security source cited by the agency, who did not name the colonel.

He was arrested on Friday near Douz, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southwest of Tunis.

Tunisian security forces had placed the man under surveillance after reports of suspicious behavior.

No firearms were found at the house he rented in a remote area of Douz. [Read more:  Naharnet/8October2011] 

Secret U.S. Memo Made Legal Case to Kill a Citizen. The Obama administration's secret legal memorandum that opened the door to the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical Muslim cleric hiding in Yemen, found that it would be lawful only if it were not feasible to take him alive, according to people who have read the document. 

The memo, written last year, followed months of extensive interagency deliberations and offers a glimpse into the legal debate that led to one of the most significant decisions made by President Obama - to move ahead with the killing of an American citizen without a trial.

The secret document provided the justification for acting despite an executive order banning assassinations, a federal law against murder, protections in the Bill of Rights and various strictures of the international laws of war, according to people familiar with the analysis. The memo, however, was narrowly drawn to the specifics of Mr. Awlaki's case and did not establish a broad new legal doctrine to permit the targeted killing of any Americans believed to pose a terrorist threat. [Read more: Savage/NYTimes/8October2011]

Israel Accuses Deputy Envoy to U.S. of Security Breach. Israel's deputy ambassador to the United States was dismissed after admitting a serious security breach that required "blood, sweat and tears" to repair, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday.

The removal on Tuesday of veteran diplomat Dan Arbell over an alleged media leak prompted Israeli commentators to accuse the far-right Lieberman of a witch-hunt.

Interviewed on Israel Radio, Lieberman gave no details on Arbell's case, citing a government censorship order.

But he said the envoy had "confessed and taken responsibility" under interrogation by the Shin Bet security service, and was now being handled by the Justice Ministry.

"There is a difference between the public's right to know and the dereliction of security," Lieberman said.

"Here was a serious blow to national security, which repairing and restoring afterward required a great effort and a lot of blood, sweat and tears on our part." [Read more: Williams/Reuters/6October2011]

After WikiLeaks, U.S. Tries to Shield Classified Data. The U.S. government on Friday announced steps to clamp down on who can access classified information, seeking to avert another WikiLeaks-scale breach of military documents and diplomatic cables.

The presidential order requires U.S. agencies to appoint senior people to prevent and detect breaches and creates a task force to monitor potential wrongdoing by government officials, bureaucrats, diplomats or soldiers handling classified data.

That task force, to be headed by the attorney general and director of national intelligence, will set out government-wide policies to prevent data theft and establish binding standards within a year, the White House said, announcing the plans.

Officials familiar with the issue who examined the new anti-leak proposals said most of them were fairly predictable and obvious as a cyber-security response.

"The strategic imperative of our efforts has been to ensure that we provide adequate protections to our classified information while at the same time sharing the information with all who reasonably need it to do their jobs," the White House said in a statement. [Read more: MacInnis&Hosenball/Reuters/8October2011]


Section II - CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE

Inside the Russian Short Wave Radio Enigma. From a lonely rusted tower in a forest north of Moscow, a mysterious shortwave radio station transmitted day and night. For at least the decade leading up to 1992, it broadcast almost nothing but beeps; after that, it switched to buzzes, generally between 21 and 34 per minute, each lasting roughly a second - a nasally foghorn blaring through a crackly ether. The signal was said to emanate from the grounds of a voyenni gorodok (mini military city) near the village of Povarovo, and very rarely, perhaps once every few weeks, the monotony was broken by a male voice reciting brief sequences of numbers and words, often strings of Russian names: "Anna, Nikolai, Ivan, Tatyana, Roman." But the balance of the airtime was filled by a steady, almost maddening, series of inexplicable tones.

The amplitude and pitch of the buzzing sometimes shifted, and the intervals between tones would fluctuate. Every hour, on the hour, the station would buzz twice, quickly. None of the upheavals that had enveloped Russia in the last decade of the cold war and the first two decades of the post-cold-war era - Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika, the end of the Afghan war, the Soviet implosion, the end of price controls, Boris Yeltsin, the bombing of parliament, the first Chechen war, the oligarchs, the financial crisis, the second Chechen war, the rise of Putinism - had ever kept UVB-76, as the station's call sign ran, from its inscrutable purpose. During that time, its broadcast came to transfix a small cadre of shortwave radio enthusiasts, who tuned in and documented nearly every signal it transmitted. Although the Buzzer (as they nicknamed it) had always been an unknown quantity, it was also a reassuring constant, droning on with a dark, metronome-like regularity.

But on June 5, 2010, the buzzing ceased. No announcements, no explanations. Only silence.

The following day, the broadcast resumed as if nothing had happened. For the rest of June and July, UVB-76 behaved more or less as it always had. There were some short-lived perturbations - including bits of what sounded like Morse code - but nothing dramatic. In mid-August, the buzzing stopped again. It resumed, stopped again, started again. [Read more: Savodnik/Wired/27September2011]

Special Ops, CIA First In, Last Out of Afghanistan. Special operations forces and the CIA are girding for the moment when Afghanistan's security rests once again with them, working together with Afghan forces against the Taliban.

That's how they started out, the first U.S. forces in just after the Sept. 11 attacks, and top military officials see the war evolving that way once again, as most American troops withdraw in 2014. The next stage could keep the CIA and special operators at war for up to another decade.

The war's 10th anniversary Friday recalled the beginnings of a conflict that drove the Taliban from power and lasted far longer than was imagined.

"We put the CIA guys in first," scant weeks after the towers in New York fell, said Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, then a colonel with U.S. special operations forces, in charge of the military side of the operation. U.S. Special Forces Green Berets, together with CIA officers, helped coordinate anti-Taliban forces on the ground with U.S. firepower from the air, to topple the Taliban and close in on al-Qaida.

Recent remarks from the White House suggest the CIA and special operations forces will be hunting al-Qaida and working with local forces long after most U.S. troops have left.

When Afghan troops take the lead in 2014, "the U.S. remaining force will be basically an enduring presence force focused on counterterrorism," said National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, in remarks in Washington in mid-September. That will be augmented by teams that will continue to train Afghan forces, added White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

The White House insists this does not mean abandoning the strategy of counterinsurgency, in which large numbers of troops are needed to keep the population safe. It simply means replacing the surge of 33,000 U.S. troops, as it withdraws over the next year, with newly trained Afghan ones, according to senior White House Afghan war adviser Doug Lute

It also means U.S. special operators and CIA officers will be there for the next turn in the campaign. That's when Afghans will either prove themselves able to withstand a promised Taliban resurgence, or find themselves overwhelmed by seasoned Taliban fighters. U.S. officials liken it to a parent letting go of a child's wobbly bike, but with lives hanging in the balance.

"We're moving toward an increased special operations role," together with U.S. intelligence, Mulholland said, "whether it's counterterrorism-centric, or counterterrorism blended with counterinsurgency." [Read more:  Dozier/AP/10October2011]

Eugene Hasenfus Parachutes to Safety, Oct. 5, 1986. On this day in 1986, Eugene Hasenfus parachuted to safety after his CIA supply plane was shot down over the Nicaraguan jungle by a militia unit of the pro-Soviet Sandinista government. Hasenfus had been kicking cargo to the anti-government forces below. His capture helped expose what would become known as the Iran-Contra affair, which tarnished the White House during Ronald Reagan's presidency.

Three of Hasenfus's fellow crewmen died in the crash. Against orders from his CIA controllers, Hasenfus had borrowed his skydiver brother's parachute and luckily - his name means "rabbit's foot" in German - it opened. He evaded Sandinista patrols for nearly 24 hours as he made his way to the Managua airport in the nation's capital, where his luck ran out. There, a Sandinista officer asked the sunburned, grime-caked Hasenfus, "What now, Rambo?"

Hasenfus was carrying a "little black book" with incriminating phone numbers. These revelations caused an uproar in the Democratic-led Congress, which in 1984 had passed the Boland Amendment, forbidding the CIA, or any U.S. agency, from supporting the Contras.

Reagan, Vice President George H.W. Bush and other administration officials denied that the CIA had anything to do with this. But the scandal emerged when reporters learned that Washington had sold arms to Iran through Israel - hoping to secure the release of hostages held by Hezbollah - with the profits going to equip the Contras.

The Sandinistas sentenced Hasenfus to 30 years. He served only a few months before being exchanged in a spy swap. [Read more: Glass/Politico/5October2011]


Section III - COMMENTARY

Spy Swap: the Reality Show Washington and Havana Have Yet to Learn. During the Cold War, spy swaps were seemingly commonplace. Iconic, in fact: countless movies of the era use scenes of spooks and dissidents being exchanged at Checkpoint Charlie. And we still do it: just last year, the U.S. sent 10 arrested Russian agents home while Russia in turn let go four prisoners accused of espionage whose releases were sought by Washington.

So why are the U.S. and Cuba - whose relations are hopelessly mired in a cold-war time warp - so bad at this cold-war ritual? Case in point: the dysfunctional drama surrounding U.S. contract aid worker Alan Gross, who has been sitting in a Cuban jail for two years, and Cuban agent Ren� Gonz�lez, who was freed from a U.S. prison this morning after serving 13 years.

Gross, 62, was arrested in 2009 and later convicted for bringing satellite communications equipment to Cuba's Jewish community, under a State Department pro-democracy program, without permission. Though he insisted his work was purely humanitarian and not espionage, a Cuban court sentenced him to 15 years. The punishment is widely considered Cuba's retaliation for the 2001 conviction of five Cuban operatives arrested in Miami, including Gonz�lez, for spying and failing to register as foreign agents. One of the men was also convicted of conspiracy in the deaths of four Cuban exiles whose small, unarmed planes were shot down by Cuban fighter jets for allegedly violating Cuban airspace in 1996. The spies, known as the "Cuban Five," claimed they were simply working to thwart exile terrorism plots against communist Cuba, but their sentences ranged from 15 years in Gonz�lez's case to life in prison. [Padgett/GlobalSpin/7October2011] 

Old Case Revives Media Bias Issue. Five presidents and eight wars ago, the Reagan administration's support for the contra rebels in their fight against Nicaragua's communist Sandinista regime seems very much the stuff of spinning wheels, butter churns and pay telephones. But one of that war's bloody footnotes is creeping into the news again, and what it tells us about the performance of the U.S. media is unfortunately still very relevant.

That the incident was a footnote doesn't make it any less tragic. On May 30, 1984, the charismatic but cuckoo contra commander Eden Pastora called a press conference to announce he was dropping out of the war over disagreements with the CIA, which channeled American aid to the various contra armies and called most of the shots.

As Pastora began to speak, a bomb went off, killing three journalists (including Linda Frazier, a 38-year-old American reporter for an English-language paper in Costa Rica) and maiming several others. The explosive device was carried into the press conference in camera case by a man who identified himself as Per Anker Hansen, a Danish freelance photographer, who slipped out of the building just before the explosion. After Hansen's escape, investigators discovered he was traveling on a stolen passport, and his true identity remained unknown for years.

But it became an article of faith on the American left that "Hansen" was an operative for U.S. intelligence, intent on killing a troublesome CIA ex-asset even if it meant shedding a lot of innocent blood. The Christic Institute, a leftist public-interest law firm, cooked up a theory that the bombing was carried out by a massive conspiracy of contra leaders, anti-Castro Cuban-Americans, right-wing Libyans, past and present CIA officers and National Security Council staffers.

A $24 million lawsuit filed by Christic generated hundreds of stories in the U.S. press, which ranged from respectful to openly sympathetic in its treatment of the conspiracy theory. Two prominent U.S. journalism organizations, the Newspaper Guild and the Committee to Protect Journalists, had helped fund the initial investigation. The Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, ABC, PBS: They all chimed in with credulous reports on the Christic suit. Some stories went far beyond that. One CBS report was so gung-ho in its support of the Christic theory that Costa Rican prosecutors introduced it into court as evidence to obtain criminal indictments of two American contra supporters.

But while the news media offered extensive coverage of Christic's conspiracy ravings, they paid little attention to what was happening in the actual proceedings. There the suit was being exposed as a total fraud. Of the 2,176 witnesses - that number is not a typo - that Christic lawyers said they would call as witnesses to support their case, more than 200 turned out to be dead. Other said they didn't know anything about the subjects they were supposed to testify about.

In the end, a federal judge not only dismissed the case before it even went to trial, but ordered Christic to pay $1 million in legal costs to the defendants.

What's brought the case back into the news more than two decades later is a documentary made by a lefty Swedish filmmaker who was at the Pastora press conference. Peter Torbiornsson's Last Chapter: Goodbye Nicaragua, which has been playing to packed houses in Managua, includes interviews with former Sandinista officials admitting that the bombing was carried out under their orders. The assassin "Hansen" was actually a left-wing Argentine named Vital Roberto Gauguine (later killed carrying out a terrorist attack in Buenos Aires) and his case officer was Col. Renan Montero, a Castro intelligence officer on loan to the Sandinistas.

The scandal of Torbiornsson's film is not that Nicaragua's communist government carried out assassinations; that policy was well-documented long before the attempt on Pastora's life (and should have caused reporters back in 1984 to put more scrutiny on the Sandinistas' roles in the bombing.) The scandal is what it says about the media. [Read more: Garvin/MiamiHerald/26September2011]

When an Obsession With Pollard Turns Good Analysts Bad. Peter Bergen, CNN's terrorism analyst, has made a career out of espousing conventional wisdom. That's what made his recent interpretation regarding treason charges for a Pakistani doctor who allegedly helped the CIA collect evidence about bin Laden so troubling. As CNN reported:

Some analysts, however, draw parallels between Pakistan's possible decision to prosecute [Shakeel] Afridi for treason and an earlier U.S. decision to prosecute former U.S. Navy intelligence official Jonathan Pollard on the same charge. Pollard was caught spying for Israel - a close U.S. ally - in 1985. He was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment. "Pakistan has a pretty legitimate" case, said Peter Bergen, a national security expert and director of the New America Foundation, a non-partisan Washington think tank. "It doesn't really matter how valid the goal is. That doesn't change the fact that you're spying for a foreign intelligence service." Why, Bergen asked, "should Pakistan somehow not play by the same rules that a lot of countries play by?"

Now, much has been said about Pollard, the American defense analyst convicted of spying for Israel. For his espionage, Pollard deserved prison, although not knowing the inside details of the case, I'm agnostic on the debate about the length of his sentence. When it comes to Bergen's analysis of the Afridi case, however, the reference to Pollard is bizarre. While Bergen essentially calls the American case against Pollard and the Pakistani case against Afridi the same, there is no similarity between the two cases: Pollard was a defense analyst working for a government and holding a security clearance for which he took - and knowingly violated - an oath. He was not charged with treason, and there is no evidence he sought to harm the United States. Pollard is in prison because he was found guilty of conspiracy to deliver national defense information to a foreign government. [CommentaryMagazine/10October2011] 

A Closed-Mouth Policy Even on Open Secrets. Speaking hours after the world learned that a C.I.A. drone strike had killed Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, President Obama could still not say the words "drone" or "C.I.A." 

That's classified.

Instead, in an appearance at a Virginia military base just before midday Friday, the president said that Mr. Awlaki, the American cleric who had joined Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, "was killed" and that this "significant milestone" was "a tribute to our intelligence community."

The president's careful language was the latest reflection of a growing phenomenon: information that is public but classified.

The older and larger drone program in Pakistan, for instance, is a centerpiece of American foreign policy, discussed daily in the news media - but it cannot be mentioned at a public Congressional hearing. The State Department cables published by WikiLeaks can be found on the Web with a few mouse clicks and have affected relations with dozens of countries - but American officials cannot publicly discuss them.

Underlying these paradoxes is a problem that government officials, notably including Mr. Obama, have acknowledged and complained of for years: the gross overclassification of information.

The security agencies have become a mammoth secrets factory, staffed today by 4.2 million people who hold security clearances - a total disclosed for the first time last month, and far higher than even the biggest previous estimates. [Read more: Shane/NYTimes/4October2011]


Section IV - Obituaries, Books and Coming Events


Obituaries

Sarkis G. Soghanalian, Arms Dealer Dubbed "Merchant of Death," Dies at 82. Sarkis G. Soghanalian, 82, an international arms dealer known as "the merchant of death" who sold French howitzers to Saddam Hussein and a U.S. cargo plane to Moammar Gaddafi, and who also provided his unique services to the CIA and FBI, died Oct. 5 at a hospital in Hialeah, Fla.

He reportedly suffered from heart disease; his death was confirmed by his former lawyer, Mark Geragos.

Mr. Soghanalian had a gargantuan presence in the multibillion-dollar arms market, both because of his heft - he weighed 300 pounds - and because of his seemingly limitless abilities.

He moved about the world with near impunity because of his cozy relationship with the U.S. government and its allies. He once dined at the White House with President Jimmy Carter. [Shapiro/WashingtonPost/11October2011] 


Books

National Security Intelligence. National security intelligence is a vast, complicated, and important topic, made doubly hard for citizens to understand because of the thick veils of secrecy that surround it.

This definitive introduction to the field guides readers skillfully through this hidden side of government. It not only explains the three primary missions of intelligence - information collection and analysis, counterintelligence, and covert action - it also explores the wider dilemmas posed by the existence of secret government organizations in 'open' societies. With over thirty-five years of experience studying intelligence agencies and their activities, Loch Johnson illuminates difficult questions such as why intelligence organizations make mistakes in assessing world events; why some intelligence officers decide to work against their own country on behalf of foreign regimes; and how agencies succumb to scandals, including spying on the very citizens they are meant to protect.

National Security Intelligence is tailor-made to meet the interests of students and general readers who care about how nations protect themselves against threats through the establishment of intelligence organizations - and how they continue to strive for safeguards to prevent the misuse of this secret power. [Read more: PolityBooks/October2011]


Coming Educational Events

EDUCATIONAL EVENTS IN COMING TWO MONTHS....

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

Wednesday, 12 October 2011, 6:30 p.m. - Washington, DC - Dana Priest on "Top Secret America" at the International Spy Museum

An expos� of what this Washington Post reporter claims is a new, secret “Fourth Branch” of American government.
When Dana Priest began researching a Washington Post series on national security following 9/11, she found a top-secret world that, to her, seems to have become so enormous, so unwieldy, and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, or exactly how many agencies duplicate work being done elsewhere. Reporter Priest, author of Top Secret America, will reveal how she investigated this shadow world and the enormous consequences of this invisible universe of over 1,300 government facilities, nearly 2,000 outside contractors, and more than 850,000 people granted “Top Secret” security clearance. The result may be that the system put in place to keep the United States safe is, according to this journalist, putting the U.S. in greater danger. Priest will also screen some segments from the recent FRONTLINE documentary developed in conjunction with her book.
Tickets:  $9.00. To register visit www.spymuseum.org

Friday, 14 October 2011, noon -3 pm - Ashburn, VA - Steven Emerson, Executive Director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism, speaks at Loudoun Crime Commission Luncheon - AFIO members invited.

Steven Emerson -- an important but infrequent publicly-available counterterrorism expert -- will be talking for 90 minutes on terrorism threats, in general, with particular emphasis on Northern VA and Loudoun Counties. His books will be available for purchase and signing, and he will be amenable to signing those copies you already own. Bring them with you.
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 for the luncheon is $20.00 for AFIO members and can be paid by cash or check at the door. Doors open at 1200 with lunch at 1230; Emerson on at 1300.
RSVPs are strongly suggested but we usually have a few extra seats for stragglers. Please RSVP to Director Collins by October 10th at collins@loudouncrimecommission.org
Do not delay because the Commission expects a larger crowd than normal.

Friday, 14 October 2011, 8 - 9 am - Washington, DC - ABA Standing Committee hosts Joel Brenner, former NCIX/ODNI, who will discuss “The New Face of International Conflict” and how the government, private sector, and individuals can adapt to the cyber threat and implement a more robust counter to growing cyber threats.

Joel Brenner’s new book, America the Vulnerable: Inside the New Threat Matrix of Digital Espionage, Crime and Warfare, delves into many of the complex and sometimes frightening issues facing the United States as it develops a cybersecurity strategy. Breakfast will be held at the University Club, 1135 16th St NW in begins at 8 am.
Currently, of Counsel at Cooley, LLP, where he specializes in global risk management, privacy and data security, and internal investigations, Mr. Brenner was Senior Counsel and later Inspector General at the National Security Agency and and is former Mission Manager for Counterintelligence at ODNI.
FEE: $25.00. The charge for law students is $20. Reservations must be made in advance. Checks made payable to “ABA.” There is no charge for members of the press.
We look forward to seeing you on Friday, October 14.
For more info or to reserve: (202) 662-1035; FAX: 202/638-3844 or visit: www.abanet.org/natsecurity

15 October 2011, 2 pm - Kennebunk, ME - The Maine AFIO Chapter shows documentary "THE MAN NOBODY KNEW: In Search of My Father CIA Spymaster William Colby" created by Carl Colby.

The Maine Chapter will host a showing of the documentary film created by Carl Colby, son of former CIA Director William Colby based on his investigation of his father's life. The film rated a New York Times "Critics’ Choice" award.

William Colby's intelligence career began when he served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II aiding anti-Nazi insurgents in France and Norway. He fought the postwar Communist ascendance in Italy and helped coordinate the coup against President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam. The film covers his rise to Director of CIA from 1973 to 1976 and the turbulent period of Richard M. Nixon's resignation and revealing of CIA activities which became known as the "family jewels" Personal and family tragedies are also part of the film

In 1996 William Colby's body washed ashore eight days after he embarked on a solo canoe trip in Maryland, leaving the details of his last moments, to some, as much in the shadows as the life he had led.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held 2:00 p.m., Saturday, October 15, 2011, in the Brick Store Museum Program Center, 2 Dane Street, Kennebunk. For information call 207-967-4298

Saturday, 15 October 2011, 1 - 3 pm - Washington DC - "Riot Act" by Ed Mickolus, at the International Spy Museum

This former CIA officer and self-described humorist has written "The Secret Book of CIA Humor" and will be giving an author presentation with an entertaining collection of rookie hazing practices, performance appraisal outtakes, and on-the-job anecdotes from his thirty year career with the Agency. Includes “Useful Phrases to Know When Traveling in Terrorist Areas,” “The Problem with Security Covers,” and “You Might be a Taliban If. . ..”
In his real life Ed Mickolus worked as an analyst, covert action officer, manager, and public affairs officer. He now teaches intelligence issues for federal agencies. He considers himself a recovering standup comic, and he lives in northern VA. To register visit www.spymuseum.org

18 October 2011, 1130 am - 2 pm - McLean, VA - Fred King, DIA, on "Cyber Warfare" at the Defense Intelligence Forum Luncheon

Fred King retired from DIA as a Supervisory Intelligence Officer in Information Warfare. He serves as the Chief of the Information Warfare Support Office and lead DIA analyst for the National Intelligence Estimate on Information Warfare. As an analyst, Mr. King worked closely with analysts from other Intelligence organizations to determine how threat systems were attacking US vulnerabilities. These determinations were used to develop programs to eliminate or reduce these vulnerabilities. His group led the investigation of some of the earlier Cyber Attacks on the Pentagon. Because of these and other efforts he received the Director’s Award for Exceptional Civilian Service. For eighteen years Mr. King worked as a Research Engineer for the Army’s Harry Diamond Research Laboratories developing electronic simulators (Radars, Tracking Loops, and Display systems) to evaluate the Electronic Warfare Threats to US systems for the Intelligence Community. Mr. King holds a B.S in Electronic Engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and M.S. in Electronic Engineering from the Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Media: this forum allows attribution of the speaker's remarks. Everything is On The Record.
Location: Pulcinella Restaurant, 6852 Old Dominion Drive, McLean, VA. Pay at the door with a check for $29 payable to DIAA, Inc
Registration starts at 1130, lunch at 1200.
The Defense Intelligence Forum is open to members of all Intelligence Community associations and their guests.
Make reservations by 14 October by email to diforum@diaalumni.org. Include names, telephone numbers, and email addresses.
For each attendee choose either: chicken cacciatore, tilapia puttanesca, lasagna, sausage with peppers, or fettuccini with portabella.
Please note: THE FORUM DOES NOT ACCEPT CASH! If you do not have a check, you must have the restaurant charge your credit or debit card $29 and give us the restaurant's copy of the receipt when you check-in. So, make it easier for everyone by arriving with check.

Thursday, 20 October 2011, noon - Washington, DC - A Vast and Fiendish Plot: The Confederate Attack on New York City - at the International Spy Museum

Ballroom to Battlefield Civil War Program
In 1864, Manhattan had a population of 880,000…a population that came perilously close to death on the evening of 25 November. Six Confederate saboteurs planned to destroy the North’s largest city with a string of 21 separate fires set simultaneously with the goal of engulfing the city in flames. This terrorist plot was the brainchild of the Confederate Secret Service. They had hoped to target a number of northern cities including Boston, Chicago, and Cincinnati to show how easily the Confederacy could strike at Federal cities. Clint Johnson, author of A Vast and Fiendish Plot, will explore this little-known plan for sabotage, explain its links to Canada, and reveal why the saboteurs ultimately failed. Johnson will also speculate on how the saboteurs could have accomplished what would have been the worst terrorist attack in American history.
Tickets:  Free.  No registration required. More information at www.spymuseum.org

Wednesday, 26 October 2011, noon - Washington, DC - "MH/CHAOS: The CIA's Campaign Against the Radical Left and the Black Panthers" at the International Spy Museum

Operation MHCHAOS was the code name for a secret domestic spying program conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency in the late 1960s and early 1970s charged with unmasking any foreign influences on the student antiwar movement. CIA counterintelligence officer Frank Rafalko was a part of the operation. The New York Times revealed MHCHAOS in 1974, then Congress investigated, and MHCHAOS took its place in the pantheon of intelligence abuses. Rafalko, however, says in MH/CHAOS that the operation was justified and that the CIA was the logical agency to conduct it. He’ll defend his perspective with dramatic intelligence collected on the New Left and black radicals.
Tickets:  Free.  No registration required. More information at www.spymuseum.org

Thursday, 27 October 2011 - Washington, DC - CIA Historical Collections Division Conference: "A City Torn Apart; Building the Berlin Wall - 1961"

The Berlin Crisis of 1961 - "Building the Wall, From Vienna to Checkpoint Charlie" - Date: Thursday October 27, 2011, Location: McGowan Theater, National Archives Building, Washington DC; Time: 9:00am to 12:00pm

The National Declassification Center at the National Archives, in partnership with the Historical Review Program of the CIA, will be a hosting a one-day conference to mark the anniversary of the Berlin Crisis of 1961. October 27th, 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the American/Soviet showdown at Checkpoint Charlie. At the McGowan theater at the Archives building in downtown Washington, D.C. a panel of distinguished historians will present topics such as "How the East German Leadership Persuaded the Reluctant Soviets to Build the Berlin Wall", "Events and Decisions Leading Up to the Building of the Berlin Wall - The East German Perspective" and "The U.S. Military Response to the 1960-62 Berlin Crisis." The last person to cross the Potsdamer Platz in a car as the Wall was being erected, Dr. William R. Smyser, will be sharing his personal recollections of the Crisis.

A publication of newly released declassified documents will accompany the event. Documents include intelligence reports, U.S. Army and NATO contingency plans, memoranda, photographs and maps of the earliest stages of the Berlin Wall, and a contemporary 600-page State Department analysis covering the situation in Berlin from 1958-1962.

Scheduled Speakers: Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero
Director, Information Management Services, CIA- Joseph Lambert
Adjunct Professor BMW Center for German and European Studies at Georgetown University in Washington - Dr. William R. Smyser
Central Intelligence Agency, Dr. Donald P. Steury
US Army Center of Military History- Dr. Don Carter
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) - Dr. Gregg Pedlow
Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University - Dr. Hope Harrison
Central Intelligence Agency - Mr. Lou MehrerReservations: For seat reservations, please send an e-mail to berlin.1961crisis@nara.gov that includes: For more information: Please email all inquiries to berlin.1961crisis@nara.gov More information at NARA can be found at....

http://www.archives.gov/research/foreign-policy/cold-war/1961-berlin-crisis/2011-conference.html

Thursday, 27 October 2011, 9:30 am - 5:15 pm - Newport News, VA - "Energy Security" Workshop being cohosted by the AFIO Norman Forde Hampton Roads Chapter and Chris Newport Univ

The AFIO Hampton Roads Chapter co-hosts with Christopher Newport University's Center for American Studies the 3rd Annual Workshop on National Security and Intelligence
National leaders from the public and private sectors and NATO will discuss Energy Security.
Luncheon keynote speaker will be The Honorable Spencer Abraham, former Secretary of Energy.
The workshop is free and open to the public. Lunch requires reservation.
For agenda and other details, visit
http://www.cnu.edu/cas/workshop/index.asp
Further questions? Contact: Melissa Saunders at mwsaunders@cox.net or call 757-897-6268

28 October 2011, 12:30 - 2:30 pm - Los Angeles, CA - The AFIO Los Angeles Area Chapter meeting features Dan Caldwell on "Vortex of Conflict: US Policy Towards Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq."
This is not a luncheon; it is a meeting, only. Plan to eat before or after event.
The guest speaker will be Dan Caldwell, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University and the author of "Vortex of Conflict: U.S. Policy toward Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq" (Stanford University Press, 2011). Professor Caldwell will be addressing the findings of his book.
Location: Room 35 at LMU [Loyola Marymount University].
RSVP AFIO_LA@yahoo.com to attend.

2-3 November 2-11 - Buckley AFB, Aurora, CO - DNI hosts 2011 Intelink Technical Exchange.
The ITE [Intelink Technical Exchange] brings together practitioners and technologists from the intelligence, national defense, homeland security, and law enforcement communities working to improve intelligence information sharing. The ITE is open to government employees and contractors. AFIO members may attend but need to show AFIO ID.
CALL FOR PAPERS: If you wish to present at the ITE, send your abstracts by September 15, 2011 to ITE@ugov.gov Your topic should describe substantive technical work area relevant to the National Security Enterprise, our information environment, or the business of intelligence.
Contact ITE@ugov.gov for additional information

Wednesday, 02 November 2011 12:30 - 5:30 PM - Simi Valley, CA - CIA Document Release Event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library, Simi Valley, California

Ronald Reagan, Intelligence, and the End of the Cold War will feature high-level former policymakers, intelligence practitioners, and analysts discussing how the Reagan Administration used intelligence in making policies to end the Cold War. The CIA is releasing a collection of more than 200 declassified documents, including intelligence assessments, high-level memos, and briefing materials provided to the Administration during this period. Also included are never-before-seen video briefings prepared by the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence and delivered to policymakers on such varied topics as the Soviet space program, the Andropov succession, the Chernobyl disaster, and the Moscow summit. This event is free to attend, however reservations are required.

Featured guest speakers include Kenneth Adelman, Former Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and Oleg Kalugin, Former Major General in the Soviet KGB.

Panelists include: Peter Clement, CIA Deputy Director for Intelligence for Analytic Programs; Douglas MacEachin, Former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence; Admiral Bobby Inman, Former CIA Deputy Director; Martin Anderson, Former Advisor to President Reagan; Gregory Treverton, Director, RAND Center for Global Risk and Security; David Holloway, Stanford University; Mary Sarotte, University of Southern California; Bruce D. Berkowitz, Author; Dr. Nicholas Dujmovic, CIA Historian; and David Lodge, CIA Analyst.

Location: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, 40 Presidential Dr, Simi Valley, CA 93065

Click here to make reservations. For more information, please call 805-577-4141 or visit this link. There is no fee to attend.

9-10 November 2011 - Ottawa, Canada - “New Frontiers in Security and Intelligence” is theme of 2011 CASIS Annual International Conference

CASIS is the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies.
DRAFT AGENDA may be viewed here: http://www.casis.ca/documents/2011CISISInternationalConference.doc It is a Word document.
Location: Fairmont Château Laurier Hotel, Ottawa, Canada
To register for the 2011 CASIS Annual Conference please follow the link below. CASIS reserves the right to limit registration.
www.eplyevents.com/casis2011
To book a room at the Chateau Laurier for the 2011 CASIS conference, please follow the link below. This block of rooms provides a discounted rate, but all expenses will be covered by the guest.
https://resweb.passkey.com/go/casis2011

12 November 2011, 11 am - Orange Park / Gainesville, FL - The AFIO North Florida Chapter meets at the Country Club to hear Col. Will Merrill at this luncheon.

Speaker will be Col. Will Merrill. To inquire or sign up, contact Quiel at qbegonia@comcast.net or 904-545-9549.

Tuesday, 15 November 2011, Noon to 1 pm - Washington, DC - "Uncompromised: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of an Arab American Patriot in the CIA" - Nada Prouty speaks at the Spy Museum

After a childhood in war-torn Lebanon with an abusive father and facing the prospect of an arranged marriage, Nada Prouty jumped at the chance to forge her own path in America, a path that led to undercover work in the FBI, then the CIA. She worked quietly and professionally behind the scenes of some of the most high-profile cases in recent history, including the hunt for Saddam Hussein and the bombing of the USS Cole. Her work earned her great respect from her colleagues but her promising career came to an end in the wake of 9/11. At the height of anti-Arab fervor, federal investigators charged Prouty with passing intelligence to Hezbollah. Lacking sufficient evidence to make their case in court, prosecutors went to the media, suggesting that she had committed treason. Prouty, dubbed “Jihad Jane” by the New York Post and castigated in the blogosphere, was quickly cast as a terrorist mastermind by the relentless 24-hour news cycle. Though the CIA and a federal judge eventually exonerated Prouty of all charges, she was dismissed from the agency and stripped of her citizenship. In Uncompromised, Prouty tells her story in a bid to restore her name and reputation.
Tickets: Free. No registration required. Directions and more information available at: www.spymuseum.org

Thursday, 17 November 2011, 11:30 am Colorado Springs, CO – The Rocky Mountain Chapter presents 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.  Dick Durham will lead the meeting as the President will be in London on his own fact finding and gathering mission.  To be held at a new location, 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 November 2011 - San Francisco, CA - The AFIO Jim Quesada Chapter hosts Richard W. Held, former Special Agent in Charge, San Francisco Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Topic: The Cyber Threat: Changing the Nature of Future Conflict.

11:30AM no host cocktails; noon - luncheon. $25 member rate with advance reservation and payment; $35 non-members accompanied by a member. No walk-ins allowed. Seating is limited. E-mail RSVP to Mariko Kawaguchi (please indicate meat or fish) no later than October 29, 2011 at afiosf@aol.com and mail a check made out to "AFIO" to: Mariko Kawaguchi, P.O. Box 117578, Burlingame, CA 94011

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

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