Month: December 2010

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Journal: CSIS on IAEA and NATO Intelligence

IO Multinational, IO Secrets, IO Sense-Making
Berto Jongman Recommends...

Shining a Brighter Light on Dark Places: Improving the IAEA’s Use of Intelligence through Cooperation with NATO

By Michael Hertzberg

Center for Strategic & International Studies Dec 21, 2010

One possible improvement to the IAEA’s monitoring and verification regime would be enhancing the IAEA’s use of intelligence by formalizing cooperation with a multilateral security organization such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Working through NATO, which has established procedures and infrastructure for sharing and disseminating classified information, would avoid many problems that occur in bilateral intelligence-sharing.

Phi Beta Iota: NATO does not have any intelligence collection or processing capabilities of its own; it is completely dependent on what its members choose to provide it–and as with intelligence provided to the UN (e.g. IAEA), this is generally impoverished if not blatantly misleading.  The only viable solution for multinational intelligence is the establishment of a Multinational Decision Support Centre (MDSC) with Regional MDSC, all reliant primarily on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), but all also having full-spectrum Human Intelligence (HUMINT) capabilities as well as Advanced Information Operations (IO) capabilities.  The Americans must learn that in Epoch B, must must surrender control in order to gain command of the truth.

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Reference: Anthony Cordesman On Intelligence

07 Other Atrocities, Blog Wisdom, Government, InfoOps (IO), Intelligence (government), Methods & Process, Officers Call, Policies, Real Time
Richard Wright

QUESTION: Did Cordesman address intelligence in SALVAGING AMERICAN DEFENSE–The Challenge of Strategic Overstretch?

ANSWER: Actually he did under “Challenge Seven” on inter-agency co-operation. In general his observations on inter-agency co-operation complement what you have often noted over the years. In this chapter he also has a scathing section called “The Impact of  New Intelligence Hierarchy” in which he notes “serious limitations” of the DNI, but more interestingly argues that what really need to be reformed are intelligence processes and culture. He also dislikes the phrase ‘information sharing' because it implies that information is proprietary to specific agencies rather than belonging to the government as a whole. He also notes that the Intellgience Community  “sometimes seem to have never learned that the Cold War is over.”

Finally he notes that what is really needed in the IC is “real time sharing and fusion of information of all kinds at all levels” rather than mindless protection of information that is of short term value.

It strikes me as very strange that someone like Cordesman who has been Mr. Inside for thirty years would come to roughly the same conclusions as Robert Steele, himself one of the most independent (and perceptive)  thinkers on intellgience and information operations issues that I know.

I read Cordsman's treatment of Intellgience issues as evidence that the so-called IC  is pretty close to becoming entirely irrelevant.

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Journal: From WikiLeaks to OpenLeaks–and Local News

07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Corporations, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, InfoOps (IO), Journalism/Free-Press/Censorship, Media, Open Government, Real Time, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Tools

Micah L. Sifry | December 17, 2010 – 4:01pm

Back in 2009, Daniel Domscheit-Berg applied to the Knight News Challenge in the name of Wikileaks for $532,000 to fund a project to “improve the reach, use and impact of a platform that allows whistle-blowers and journalists to anonymously post source material.” At the time Domscheit-Berg was known to the world by the pseudonym “Daniel Schmitt” and made frequent appearances on behalf of Wikileaks alongside its editor-in-chief Julian Assange (including at the October 2009 Personal Democracy Forum Europe conference in Barcelona). Now, as is widely known, he and Assange have parted ways and Domscheit-Berg is part of a group organizing the launch of OpenLeaks.org, which is being described as more of a technological service provider to media organizations than as a central hub for leaks, and which is promising to roll out a detailed description of its organization and plans in January 2011.

It's illuminating to compare the 2009 Wikileaks News Challenge proposal–which made it to the final round of the prestigious program but was ultimately rejected by the Knight News Challenge judges–to Domscheit-Berg & Co's current plans for OpenLeaks. Obviously, until OpenLeaks starts functioning, we are comparing two different versions of “vaporware,” but in the same way that Wikileaks itself has evolved over the last year, I think you can see a parallel evolution how Domscheit-Berg and the others in his group are thinking about how best to expand the open information model as well.

Read fascinating article and entirety of the original WikiLeaks proposal….

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Search: return of investment for information sys

InfoOps (IO), Intelligence (government), IO Sense-Making, IO Technologies, Methods & Process, Officers Call, Technologies

This search is a VERY important one, and does not yield the correct answer, which is in itself an indictment of information technology.

The correct answer is NEGATIVE, and Paul Strassmann, former Director of Defense Information, is the person who established this fact for the top corporations, although he likes to soft-shoe it and say neutral or negative.   NOT positive.  There is no Return on Investment (RoI) for information technology in and of itself.  He first disclosed this in his keynote luncheon presentation at OSS '96, and then published a book.  Both links are below. Paul Strassmann is one of our heroes–he has NOT been listened to carefully enough, and is in our little black book as a “must have” advisor for any future Information Operations (IO) “break-out” but only if he signs a non-compete and forgoes any association with any of the vendors selling vapor-ware (which is to say, all of them).

1996 Strassmann (US) U.S. Knowledge Assets: Choice Traget for Information Crime

Review: Information Productivity–Assessing Information Management Costs of U. S. Corporations

In Case of DoD Specifically:

2006 General Accountability Office (GAO) Defense Acquisitions DoD Management Approach and Processes Not Well-Suited to Support Development of Global Information Grid

2004 General Accountability Office (GAO) Report: Defense Acquisitiions: The Global Information Grid and Challenges Facing Its Implementation

2002 The New Craft of Intelligence–What Should the T Be Doing to the I in IT?

See Also:

Graphic: Cyber-Threat 101

Graphic: Tony Zinni on 4% “At Best”

Graphic: Jim Bamford on the Human Brain

Journal: Return on Investment Missing from IT World

Journal: Systems Design & “Reverse Innovation”

Journal: Bees’ tiny brains beat computers

Continue reading “Search: return of investment for information sys”

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Journal: Dennis Kucinich Introduces Monetary Reform

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Government, InfoOps (IO), Methods & Process, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Strategy
Dennis Kucinich

Dear Friends of the American Monetary Institute,

IMPORTANT MONETARY NEWS ALERT:   MAJOR, HISTORIC PROGRESS BEING MADE

On Friday December 17th Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D,Ohio, 10th District) took a crucial and heroic step to resolve our growing financial crisis and achieve a just and sustainable money system for our nation by introducing the National Emergency Employment Defense Act of 2010, abbreviated NEED. The bill number is  HR6550.

While the bill focuses on our unemployment crisis, the remedy proposed contains all the essential monetary measures being proposed by the American Monetary Institute in the American Monetary Act. These are what decades of research and centuries of experience have shown to be necessary to end the economic crisis in a just and sustainable way, and place the U.S. money system under our constitutional checks and balances. Yes it can be done!

We expect this bill will also be re-introduced next year in the 112th Congress. By putting it in now Congressman Kucinich accomplishes these important things:

* First, the seriousness of intent is underscored;

* Second, it gives our nation the opportunity to view, discuss and understand the necessary provisions, giving the chance to make improvements for re-introduction;

* Third it serves as a beacon to our beleaguered people, cutting through the error, vested interest and disinformation that has blocked monetary reform understanding and action in the past.

The American Monetary Institute has activated its blog to discuss and review any questions about this act. Just click on the blog link at our homepage.

To participate in this process, please sign up at the bottom of our home page at . Then, after reading the proposed legislation feel free to make comments or put questions on the blog, including thoughtful suggestions on how it might be improved.

You can read a copy of the legislation here.

Warm regards to all,
Stephen Zarlenga
AMI

See Also:

Dennis Kucinich on the Proposed Monetary Reform

New Economy Network

Dennis Kucinich, Vice President for the Commonwealth–and Some Details