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A veteran British envoy on diplomacy, sex and espionage

December 17, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Christopher Meyer

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
British newspaper The Daily Mail has published a well-written and entertaining essay by a longtime UK government envoy, explaining the close links between diplomacy, sex and espionage. Sir Christopher Meyer, a career diplomat with the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, served in several countries during his career, including the Soviet Union and Spain, as well as in Germany and the United States, where he was ambassador from 1997 to 2003. He argues in his article that “sex and diplomacy have long been bedfellows”, and recounts some of his personal experiences in the former USSR, where he began his 35-year diplomatic career in 1968, as “an innocent, unmarried 24-year- old”. He arrived in Moscow along with Sir Duncan Wilson, Britain’s ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1968 to 1971. Sir Christopher is bold enough to recount that Sir Duncan’s predecessor, Sir Geoffrey Harrison (ambassador from 1965 to 1968), “had to leave [Moscow] in a hurry, having fallen for the charms of his Russian maid –trained and targeted, of course, by the KGB”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, British embassy in the US, British embassy in the USSR, Cold War, diplomacy, eavesdropping, Germany, Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service (UK), history, honey traps, KGB, NATO, Sir Christopher Meyer, Sir Duncan Wilson, Sir Geoffrey Harrison, Spain, UK, United States, USSR

News you may have missed #0204

December 3, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Release of secret US reports to be postponed (again). Millions of secret US government documents are scheduled to be declassified at the end of the year, unless President Barack Obama extends the deadline, like his predecessors have done. The White House is reportedly preparing an executive order that will postpone the declassification, in order to assuage various US intelligence agencies “unwilling to part with their secrets”. Change, Mr. Obama?
Analysis: Why India needs an intelligence revamp. We have written before about the urgent need to restructure Indian intelligence agencies.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, Barack Obama, declassification, government secrecy, India, intelligence reform, News, news you may have missed, United States

Analysis: Is an obscure US military unit replacing the CIA?

December 3, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

JSOC logo

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
An obscure US military unit established in 1980 is gaining prominence in America’s “war on terrorism” and may be slowly replacing the CIA’s functions, according to a well-researched piece in The Atlantic magazine. The US Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) was created soon after the fiasco of the attempted rescue of the hostages held at the US embassy in Tehran. Since 9/11, the unit has emerged from its relative obscurity to join the forefront of America’s so-called “global war on terrorism”. Gathering evidence from a variety of sources investigating the use of paramilitary operations in America’s post-9/11 wars, Max Fisher argues that, even under the Obama Administration, JSOC may in fact be “taking on greater responsibility, especially in areas traditionally covered by the CIA”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Afghanistan, Analysis, Bush Administration, CIA, intelligence oversight, Joint Special Operations Command, JSOC, Obama Administration, Pakistan, paramilitary units, United States, US DoD, US Special Forces, War on Terrorism

Analysis: The role of spies in Latin America

December 1, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Latin America

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
These days it’s a full-time job keeping up with intelligence news coming out of Latin America. In recent weeks alone, there were major spy scandals involving the busting of an alleged Colombian espionage ring in Venezuela, the acknowledgment by Bogotá that it spied on Ecuador, and the ongoing high-level intelligence scandal that some say may cause recalls of diplomats between Chile and Peru. So what is going on in Latin America? How widespread is espionage in the continent and is it on the rise? The BBC’s Juan Paullier has consulted several regional and international experts for his well-written analysis on the subject. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cold War, Colombia, domestic intelligence, Ecuador, espionage, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela

Analysis: Interim report on Obama’s intelligence reforms

November 28, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

M.A. Goodman

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
It has been nearly a year since US President Barack Obama initiated his plan to reform the CIA and its tattered relations with the rest of the US intelligence community. How is he doing so far? Not great, says Melvin Goodman, a former CIA analyst, in a well-argued article on the subject. On the one hand, Obama has been successful and “deserves high grades” for addressing the CIA’s renditions, detentions and interrogations programs, argues Goodman. On the other hand, the President has avoided taking a strong leadership role in addressing the major problems of the CIA, including “appoint[ing] leaders willing to address the culture of cover-up that exists at the CIA and to make the necessary strategic changes”. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, Center for International Policy, CIA, corruption, extraordinary rendition, Johns Hopkins University, Melvin A. Goodman, Obama Administration, torture, United States

News you may have missed #0191

November 19, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Peru-Chile spy dispute deepens. Not only was senior Peruvian Air Force officer Victor Ariza Mendoza, who was arrested in Lima last Saturday, a spy for Chile, but there were six other individuals involved in the ring, according to Peruvian authorities. Peru has even asked Interpol to get involved in the affair.
UN-Iran in secret nuclear negotiations, says paper. The London Times has alleged that the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency is secretly negotiating a deal to persuade world powers to lift sanctions against Iran and allow Tehran to retain the bulk of its nuclear energy program, in return for co-operation with UN inspectors.
Analysis: The real spy war between CIA and DNI. For months, the CIA and the office of the Director of National Intelligence fought an intense and acrimonious turf battle over covert action oversight and access to White House officials. Now new details are emerging about deeper and more sensitive conflicts between the two agencies, including which agency is responsible for oversight of the CIA’s controversial and classified Predator drone program.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, assassinations, Chile, CIA, DNI, espionage, IAEA, Interpol, Iran, Iranian nuclear program, News, news you may have missed, Peru, Predator drones, secret meetings, turf wars, United Nations, United States, Victor Ariza Mendoza, Victor Ariza Mendoza spy ring

News you may have missed #0181

November 13, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Overt clues and tactical challenges in the Hasan case. The White House has authorized an investigation into US intelligence agencies’ handling of information relating to Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. But the fact is that, by their very nature, individual actors and small cells are very difficult for the intelligence agencies to detect.
US government-authorized wiretapping not reliable, research finds. Telephone users who suspect their calls are wiretapped by a US law enforcement agency could disable the taps by overwhelming the telephone system’s thin bandwidth, according to a new research paper on the subject.
Israeli spying in Lebanon violates UN resolutions, says UN official. The bizarre, self-exploding wiretapping devices discovered by Lebanese security forces last month along the Lebanese-Israeli border violate UN Security Council Resolution 1701, says the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, CALEA, communications interception, espionage, Fort Hood, Israel, Lebanon, Malik Nadal Hasan, Michael Williams, News, news you may have missed, UN Security Council, United Nations, United States, wiretapping

News you may have missed #0173

November 9, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

Russia, Georgia, in secret border reopening talks. Russia and Georgia, whose borders have been shut since the 2006 South Ossetia War, are in secret negotiations to reopen their only common border checkpoint, according to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper.
Why Shin Bet is taking over Israeli domestic investigations. Israel’s Shin Bet, the country’s domestic intelligence service, is overtaking the role of the police forces in solving criminal cases. The reasons are primarily political.
Interview with Bruce Schneier. A Q&A session with the cryptography legend, author of Secrets and Lies and Beyond Fear. Interesting quote: “[W]e now know that the NSA vacuums up all sorts of electronic communications, e-mail included. So maybe it would be a good idea for all of us to routinely encrypt our e-mail”.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2008 South Ossetia War, Analysis, Bruce Schneier, cryptography, encryption, Georgia, Israel, News, news you may have missed, NSA, Russia, secret meetings, Shin Bet

News you may have missed #0165

November 4, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

UK demands Russians deliver spy assassin. David Miliband, Britain’s foreign secretary pressed Russia during a visit to Moscow on Monday to turn over Andrey Lugovoi, the main suspect in the 2006 killing in London of Russian former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. But, as before, Russia rejected the demand on legal grounds.
Analysis: Confusion in US intelligence secrecy policy. The decision last week by the Director of National Intelligence to declassify the FY2009 budget for the National Intelligence Program is inconsistent with other ODNI classification actions and highlights the confusion over the proper scope of national security secrecy that prevails in the US intelligence community today.
Equatorial Guinea pardons Western coup plotters. Four whites jailed for leading an alleged 2004 coup attempt in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea have been unexpectedly pardoned. They include Simon Mann, a British former Special Forces officer, and Nick du Toit, a South African mercenary. The Guinean government cited…”Jesus Christ” in making the decision to pardon the coup plotters.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Alexander Litvinenko, Analysis, Andrey Lugovoy, assassinations, coup plots, David Miliband, declassification, DNI, Equatorial Guinea, intelligence budget, KGB, London, mercenaries, News, news you may have missed, Nick du Toit, Russia, Simon Mann, South Africa, UK

News you may have missed #0162

November 2, 2009 by intelNews Leave a comment

South Korean 1967 spy case was “trumped up”, report finds. A national truth commission set up by South Korea’s primary intelligence organization, the National Intelligence Service, has concluded that the so-called Tongbaengnim spy ring case was “grossly trumped up”. The case culminated in a public show-trial of 194 South Korean academics, artists and students, accused of spying for North Korea.
CIA torture sparked rift with FBI. The Associated Press is reporting what intelNews readers have known since July 20; namely that the CIA’s use of “harsh interrogation techniques” against captured terror suspects made FBI interrogators wary of the legality of the methods. As a result, FBI agents were barred from the interrogations.
Analysis: Friendship is no bar to espionage. As relations between Taiwan and China improve, would it be reasonable to expect that China will temper espionage activity against Taiwan, and vice-versa?

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, China, CIA, Cold War, declassification, espionage, FBI, history, lawsuits, News, news you may have missed, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Tongbaengnim spy ring, torture, turf wars, United States

Analysis: Is US supporting suicide terrorists in Iran?

October 26, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Jundullah men

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Jundullah, a militant anti-regime Sunni group in Iran, claimed responsibility last week for an October 18 suicide attack that killed 42 people, including five senior members of the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards corps. Tehran blamed the attack, which is part of a wider low-intensity guerilla war in the country’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, on the work of covert American, British and Pakistani operatives. Should the Iranian allegations be taken seriously? IntelNews has written before about Washington’s complex relationship with Jundullah and the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK), two of several armed groups officially deemed terrorist by the US State Department. In 2007, ABC News went so far as to claim that Jundullah “has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005″. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, Bush Administration, CIA, covert operations, Iran, Jundullah, Mujahedeen-e Khalq, Robert Baer, separatism, suicide bombings, terrorism, United States

Analysis: NSA emerging as the world’s most powerful spy agency

October 17, 2009 by intelNews 2 Comments

James Bamford

By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Regular readers of this blog know that the US National Security Agency is in the process of renovating its soon-to-be-unveiled Texas Cryptology Center, a 470,000-square-foot facility that will cost “upwards of $130 million” and be used primarily to store intercepted communications data. They also know that the gigantic Agency, which is tasked with worldwide communications surveillance, as well as communications security, is also building a 1 million square foot data center at Utah’s Camp Williams. Finally, as we reported last August, the NSA is currently laying out a 20-year plan to construct 5.8 million square feet of new working and storage space on its Fort George G. Meade headquarters in Maryland, and staff it with 11,000 people. What does all this mean? Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, book news and reviews, Camp Williams (Utah), databases, Fort George G. Meade, James Bamford, Maryland, Matthew M. Aid, NSA, San Antonio (Texas), Texas Cryptology Center, United States, Utah

Analysis: Major spy overhaul underway in South Africa

October 12, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Moe Shaik

By IAN ALLEN | intelNews.org |
In July, Laurie Nathan, a former member of South Africa’s ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence, warned that a steadily declining culture of accountability in South Africa’s spy services was threatening the country’s constitutional order. Last week, based on the Commission’s findings and policy suggestions, the country’s minster for state security, Siyabonga Cwele, announced a “major restructuring” of South Africa’s security services. Already, the first generation of pro-ANC intelligence agents, who staffed the post-apartheid South African intelligence apparatus, is on its way out. The departures of Manana Manzini, who until recently directed the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Loyiso Jafta, of the National Communications Centre, and Taki Netshitenzhe of the Electronic Communications Security, were accentuated by the retirement of ANC “superspy” Hilton Tim Dennis, who headed for many years the NIA’s Counter Espionage unit. Read more of this post

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with Analysis, ANC, domestic intelligence, Electronic Communications Security (South Africa), Hilton Tim Dennis, intelligence oversight, intelligence reform, Laurie Nathan, Loyiso Jafta, Manana Manzini, Ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence (South Africa), Moe Shaik, National Communications Centre (South Africa), National Intelligence Agency (South Africa), Sheryl Cwele, Siyabonga C. Cwele, Siyabonga Cwele, South Africa, South African Ministry of Intelligence, South African Ministry of State Security, Taki Netshitenzhe

News you may have missed #0139

October 12, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Pakistan tells US diplomat to be quiet. Perturbed by the recent remarks of US Deputy Chief of Mission in Islamabad, Gerald Feierstein, that top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders are presently hiding in Quetta, Pakistan has summoned the US diplomat and demanded that he stops discussing intelligence issues in media. The move follows a closed-door meeting last week between the director of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Ahmed Shuja Pasha, and CIA director Leon Panetta.
Analysis: HUMINT worries al-Qaeda more than drone assassinations. The CIA-operated drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan get all the headlines. But what’s really worrying al Qaeda are the agents in their midst, says Adam Rawnsley of Wired magazine’s Danger Room blog.
Chinese spymaster complains about US news leak. It has emerged that Major General Yang Hui, China’s most senior military intelligence official, recently made a secret visit to the US and complained to the Pentagon over the US press leak on the Chinese submarine that secretly shadowed the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in 2006. He said senior Chinese leaders suspect the Pentagon deliberately disclosed the encounter as part of an effort to send a “tough” message to China’s military.

Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with al-Qaeda, Analysis, assassinations, China, diplomacy, espionage, Gerald Feierstein, HUMINT, maritime surveillance, News, news you may have missed, Pakistan, Predator drones, Quetta (Pakistan), secret meetings, Taliban, United States, US DoD, USS Kitty Hawk, Yang Hui

News you may have missed #0126

October 3, 2009 by intelNews 1 Comment

Cyber spying increasing in the US, says new report. The Office of the US National Counterintelligence Executive’s annual report says that cyber attacks against US government and business targets “proliferated in fiscal year 2008”. The report also states that Blackberries and iPhones belonging to government and business personnel are becoming major targets by foreign cyber spies.
Analysis: The case for a US National Declassification Center. There is no argument about the fact that the US government’s declassification system simply doesn’t work. The way around the problem is to establish a centralized National Declassification Center, according to a National Archives and Records Administration white paper.
New Colombian spy agency forbidden from conducting wiretaps. Technically, the scandal-prone Administrative Department of Security (DAS) is no more in Colombia. The new agency, which is expected to replace DAS, will not be allowed to tap telephones, a function that will be solely entrusted to the police force. We’ll have to wait and see about that.