Journal ISSN 1078-1935 – Page 2087 – Public Intelligence Blog

Being read in Europe and Asia.

The Secret History of US Drone Strikes in 2012 (Woods et al.)

Chris Woods, Jack Serle and Alice K. Ross write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism:

EXTRACTS

PAKISTAN

Drone strikes in Pakistan are now at their lowest level in five years, as Islamabad protests almost every attack. The CIA also appears to have abandoned ‘signature strikes’ on suspected militants fitting certain patterns of behaviour – at least for the present. Almost all attacks in recent months have been against named al Qaeda and other militant leaders.

As drone strikes fell in Pakistan they rose steeply in Yemen, as US forces aided a major military campaign to oust al Qaeda and other Islamists from southern cities. A parallel CIA targeted killing programme killed numerous alleged militants, many of them named individuals. Yet US officials took more than three months to confirm that American planes or drones had killed 12 civilians.

. . . . . . . .

One reason for a decline in Pakistani strikes may have been growing hostility. Some 74% of polled citizens said they viewed the US as an enemy, and uniquely Pakistan bucked a global trend to register as the only nation favouring Mitt Romney for president. In contrast, the American public appears to staunchly support covert drones – in one poll 83% of respondents were in favour of the strikes.

The British High Court was called on in April to look into US covert drone strikes and possible British co-operation, which some lawyers in the UK insist is illegal. Days before the end of the year the High Court declined to investigate. After years of inactivity, US and Pakistani courts also began to consider legal questions surrounding the campaign.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Informed Comment on US Drone Strikes”

2013/01/052013/01/05

NIGHTWATCH: Pakistan Nuances Not Understood — Same in Syria

IO Deeds of War

Pakistan: Pakistani news outlets have denounced the death of Maulvi/Mullah Nazir by a US drone attack last week. A prominent national security commentator, Mahmood Jan Bar, said that “it is a loss for Pakistan.”

Babar said Mullah Nazir and his supporters believed that “Pakistan is an Islamic country and no aggression is being carried out against the country,” and therefore “it is not justified under any circumstances to attack forces in Pakistan.”

Babar said Mullah Nazir's old friends who belonged to the Mehsud tribe were not happy with him. “The people who are being led by Hakimullah Mehsud were not happy with Mullah Nazir … because of people like Mullah Nazir that peace was restored in South Waziristan,” adding he was clear that Taliban “will have to go to Afghanistan if they want to fight a war.”

Comment: The US has not confirmed the death of Mullah Nazir, but Pakistani new services accept that he was killed by a US drone attack.

Nazir's death puts in sharp focus the incongruity between US and Pakistani national security interests. All so-called terrorists are not the same in south Asia. Nazir cooperated with Pakistani authorities to establish security in South Waziristan. His counterpart in North Waziristan, Hakimullah Mehsud, did not. Both men led sub-clans of the Mehsud tribe in ancient Waziristan. Both fought against the US in Afghanistan.

In practical terms their differences meant that the followers of Nazir would fight against US forces in Afghanistan but not against Pakistan. Hakimullah Mehsud's followers fight in both countries. That explains Pakistan Army Chief of Army Staff General Kayani's attitude that bin Laden and many others never posed a threat to Pakistan.

The drone strike that apparently killed Nazir, however, directly affects the security of Pakistan. If the Mehsuds in South Waziristan join the Mehsuds in North Waziristan in attacking Pakistani forces, security conditions west of the Indus River will deteriorate and draw down resources, primarily as the result of a US drone attack whose larger ripple effects evidently were never considered.

NIGHTWATCH KGS Home

Continue reading “NIGHTWATCH: Pakistan Nuances Not Understood — Same in Syria”

2013/01/05

Donald Rumsfeld Supports Chuck Hagel

Corruption, Ineptitude, Military

Priceless video, one day before 9/11 — military cannot account for 25% of what it already spends.

Phi Beta Iota: We suspect–lacking direct knowledge–that a considerable portion of the “unaccounted for” funds actually went to pay for underground cities in the continuity of operations / elite fallback bunkers. This is different from the 41% documented waste in weapons systems contracts that is properly documented.

2013/01/042016/03/26

Reflections on Reform 2.3 Numbers for 30% DoD Cut over 2-4 Years

Advanced Cyber/IO, All Reflections & Story Boards, Budgets & Funding, Ethics, Government, Officers Call, Policies, Serious Games, Strategy, Threats, True Cost

It never occurred to me, when I lost the first bureaucratic battle on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) in 1992, that my innate sense of integrity [do the right thing] would lead me to resign from the Marine Corps civil service in 1993 as a very young GM-14, and spend not five, not ten, but twenty years wandering in the wilderness helping over 66 governments and over 7,500 mid-career officers get a grip on sources and methods the traditional secret services refused to consider and the traditional consumers of intelligence did not know how to do. Of all my student bodies, the USA was the worst, remaining ignorant at the leadership level, helpless at the follower level–butts in seats, no brain required. Hence, as we approach a historic turning point, the possibility that we might have a Secretary of State and a Secretary of Defense that can actually get a grip on reality together, I thought it might be useful to offer up three things I have learned during my 20-year walk-about:

Continue reading “Reflections on Reform 2.3 Numbers for 30% DoD Cut over 2-4 Years”

2013/01/042013/01/04

Gold Transformer: Mother, Should I Trust the Government?

Commerce, Corruption, Government

Mother, Should I Trust the Government?

James Quinn

Financial Sense, 01/02/2013

EXTRACT 1:

The white collared psychopathic criminals on Wall Street reaped billions in profits, paid themselves millions in bonuses, and cost taxpayers trillions when it all blew up in 2008. The ruling elite have added $6 trillion to our national debt and their central banker has added another $2 trillion to our ultimate tab, while providing free money to their Wall Street bank owners. They realize their efforts to restart the exponential growth engine have failed. They gutted our productive manufacturing based economic system by shipping the blue collar jobs overseas to Chinese slave labor facilities, replaced workers with machines, stimulated consumption with unlimited distribution of high interest debt, and allowed conglomerates to drive small business owners out of business with their cheap foreign sourced goods, all in the name of capitalism. The plan worked so well that real wages haven’t risen in 40 years, inflation has destroyed the purchasing power of the middle class, 47.7 million people are dependent on food stamps to survive, and the masses can’t even afford the cheap slave labor produced trinkets anymore. There is too little cash, too few jobs, too much debt, too many takers, too few makers, too many bankers, too much delusion, and too few resources to sustain the unsustainable. We have entered the end stages of a ravenous locust swarm. The fields have been stripped barren.

EXTRACT 2:

Kyle Bass recently revealed a fact about our government leaders:

“They’re not going to tell you that a collapse is coming. You’re going to have to see it for yourself. The government’s never going to tell you that it’s going to happen.These guys are never going to tell you the truth, because they can’t tell you the truth. Their job is to promote confidence, not to tell you the truth.”

We need more people to respond to Roger Waters’ question, “Mother, should I trust the government?” with this answer before we can begin to tear down the wall that seemed too high.

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” – George Orwell

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: A long, informed, graphic-illustrated review of the past fifty years.

2013/01/042013/01/04

Sepp Hasslberger: Another Good Local Energy Solution

05 Energy

Using Thermodynamics & 100-Year-Old Technology To Break The $20 Per MWh Barrier

The week long power outage here in New Jersey, after hurricane Sandy, made me realize that we need simple, scalable, cheap, and locally produced power. Removing all distractions and giving an engineer of German lineage a week to think on a problem often gets the problem solved. After pulling out the 7-pocket expanding file with all my past Stirling designs, a couple notepads, my favorite gel pens, a dry erase board, and some reference books, I began designing. As with any engineering project, you need to describe what you want to accomplish, and your limiting factors. Due to cost constraints, engineering is always compromise.

What is the goal? An always-on (24 x 7 x 365) power supply that is inexpensive to produce, can be bulk produced with readily available materials, can be manufactured in any nation using 1950′s or earlier technology, and has a working lifespan greater than 20 years. (That sounds really simple, doesn’t it?)

What are the design criteria?

Low Temperature Differential (LTD) Stirling based design.
All parts must be designed for high-speed manufacture and assembly.
All materials used must be inexpensive and readily available.
The Stirling design must have the least number of wear points possible.
It must use inexpensive solar thermal panels for gathering energy.
The solar panels must be easily produced in an automated fashion.
It must have inexpensive (dirt cheap) energy storage.
It must produce at least 3 kW of power continuously (24 x 7 x 365 x 20).
On a daily basis, it must be capable of gathering two to three times the energy required for a 24-hour period, on the least sunny day of the year. (NREL solar radiation manual)
It must be capable of storing the energy required for 3 to 5 days of continuous usage with no energy input.
Any person with basic mechanical skills should be able to install the system.
The total Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) must be under $20 per MWh.

Read full article.