INTELLIGENCE "STUFF" by Col. John Macartney, USAF Ret., Ph.D.

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Old Intelligence "Stuff"

Intelligence "Stuff"
19 December 2000
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CLEMENCY POSSIBLE FOR ISRAELI SPY, JONATHON POLLARD

Political pressure is again building and Pollard clemency will be considered in final days of the Clinton Administration.
LEONARD PELTIER, a native American activist serving a life term for the 1975 execution-style slaying of two FBI agents, is also being considered for clemency. Because of that, hundreds of off-duty FBI agents marched around the White House on Dec 15 to demonstrate their opposition.
http://www.uexpress.com/ups/opinion/column/gg/text/1999/01/gg9901146091.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/13/world/13SPY.html
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/

FEDERAL GOVT APPROVES 1/2 METER COMMERCIAL IMAGERY

Three weeks ago and with little fanfare, the govt approved a license for Space Imaging, Inc, to operate a 1/2-meter resolution commercial imaging satellite. That means it will be possible to discern an object on the ground that is as small as 19 inches. The company already has a 1-meter satellite, Ikonos, in orbit and expects to have this new 1/2 meter satellite (with what amounts to 4 times more resolution) up in 2004. While the resolution of the NRO's best satellites is classified, it has been reported in the press to be 10 centimeters, or about 4 inches. Space Imaging and other companies already sell commercial 1/2 meter imagery, but it comes from aircraft not from space — making it not very relevant for national security purposes. But satellite imagery, including commercial imagery, is very relevant in international relations and for military purposes. So this is a big deal! According to Vernon Loeb's article below, the main impetus for the higher resolution commercial imagery is the US Intelligence Community, which is expected to become the biggest customer. The idea is that in the future Intelligence Community will make greater use commercial imagery for photos, while the NRO will concentrate on more exotic space sensors   MASINT, very high resolution, infrared, radar and the like. In order to keep the new commercial imagery from being used against this country, the US govt maintains the option of exercising "shutter control," as it does now for 1-meter images. In addition, Space Imaging will not be allowed to distribute images that are less that 24 hours old. [The current Ikonos satellite is further prohibited from imaging Israel, and that restriction may also apply to this new licensing arrangement. — jdmac]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14261-2000Dec15.html
http://www.spaceimaging.com/ikonos/anniversary/media.htm

INTELLIGENCE STUDY RELEASED: "GLOBAL TRENDS 2015"

This important study, which was run by the NIC, the National Intelligence Council, was undertaken in cooperation with many outside experts from universities and think tanks. Among other things, it says that the risk of an attack against the United States involving chemical, biological or nuclear warheads is greater today than during most of the Cold War. It also says that by 2015 nearly half the world's population -- more than 3 billion people — will live in countries that are "water-stressed" — mostly in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and northern China. An interesting section in the "Overview" compares this study with "Global Trends 2010," published in 1997. It says that globalization, non-state actors, natural resources and technology have become even more important drivers than was realized at that time.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19618-2000Dec17.html
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/globaltrends2015/index.html

DIA SAYS IRAQ BOUGHT OVER 4000 SONY "PLAYSTATION 2's"

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_exnews/20001219_xex_why_iraqs_bu.shtml

PENTAGON STUDY ABOUT CHINA & TAIWAN SAYS THERE ARE SERIOUS "INTELLIGENCE GAPS"

http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-20001219223355.htm

WOULD US CUT OFF INTELLIGENCE SHARING WITH BRITS?

A brief mention buried in the middle of this column reports that John Bolton, expected by some to be top DOD official, warned that US would cut off intelligence sharing if the British support a proposed European Army.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/pruden-2000121921564.htm

ANOTHER "SECRET EVIDENCE" CASE FALLS THROUGH

Last Friday, Attorney General Janet Reno approved the release of a Florida college professor who has been jailed for more than 3 1/2 years on the basis of secret evidence that immigration authorities refused to show him or his lawyers. A three-judge immigration panel ruled on Dec 11 that Mazen Al-Najjar, 43, a Palestinian immigrant who taught Arabic at the University of South Florida, should be freed. But INS Commissioner Doris Meissner appealed to Reno, who intervened moments before Al-Najjar was scheduled to be released last Tuesday. After considering the matter, Reno approved the release on Friday. Al-Najjar, who is married and has 3 American-born daughters, still faces possible deportation because of his immigration status — his student visa expired years ago. [It is hard to know what to make of these "secret evidence" cases. Presumably, the individuals are being held, or deported, based on sensitive intelligence information that they are involved with terrorism. Civil libertarians hate the law that allows "secret evidence," and when several of these cases have actually gone to court and the evidence was revealed (behind closed doors to judges and lawyers) the case collapsed. Is that because the evidence is flimsy, or because the govt won't reveal sources & methods or on lega technicalities — it's hard to know. — jdmac]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14200-2000Dec15.html

ISLAMIC SCHOOL IN YEMEN TEACHES HATRED FOR THE WEST

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/17/world/17YEME.html

MORE ON POLYGRAPHS

Vernon Loeb discusses polygraphs in his Dec 11 "IntelligenCIA" column. Among other things, he writes that the CIA discovered the unofficial "chat room" on the CIA's internal computer system through a routine polygraph exam.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45255-2000Dec8.html

TAPES RECOVERED BY FBI SO FAR NOT WEN HO LEE's

FBI crime laboratory and DOE experts have determined that none of more than 10 cassette tapes retrieved from the Los Alamos County Landfill are the infamous tapes of US nuclear weapons secrets made by Wen Ho Lee. The finding raises doubts about the Taiwanese American scientist's assertion that he tossed the tapes into the trash at Los Alamos in 1999.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7465-2000Dec14.html

US EXTREMELY VULNERABLE TO TERRORISM