Key Players – Page 193 – Public Intelligence Blog

2011/05/012011/05/12

Bin Laden Show Part 04: President of Pakistan and China Against the Pakistani Military & Tribes

02 China, 02 Diplomacy, 03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Iran, 06 Russia, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Military

Pakistan did its part

By Asif Ali Zardari, Monday, May 2

Although the events of Sunday were not a joint operation, a decade of cooperation and partnership between the United States and Pakistan led up to the elimination of Osama bin Laden as a continuing threat to the civilized world. And we in Pakistan take some satisfaction that our early assistance in identifying an al-Qaeda courier ultimately led to this day.

China carries Benazir Bhutto’s dream – by Antoaneta Becker

Zardari and Chinese leaders reportedly discussed investment opportunities in numerous sectors, including port development, hydropower, roads, railways, mining and others.

Among the projects discussed between Beijing and Islamabad is a proposed railway to link Kashgar to the southern Pakistan port of Gwadar. If realized, it would give China direct access to the Arabian Sea and provide an alternative route should a naval blockade cut oil supplies from the Middle East.

“All Chinese plans for gaining access to resource-rich Central Asia and building energy pipelines pass through Gilgit-Baltistan,” said Syed. “Gilgit, the northern areas capital, has acquired the status of gateway to Central Asia after Pakistan-China barter trade agreement and accords with Central Asian States.”

say no to pak — Click on Image to Enlarge

Pakistan: Bhutto's shadow lingers as Zardari takes reins of power

Benazir's husband is voted in amid muted rejoicing, but army hostility and militant violence could threaten hopes for stability, reports Jason Burke

Phi Beta Iota: The Op Ed is “party line” stuff. Not in the Op-Ed is the fact that China is the President's primary ally, and the military and the tribes do not like him. Not in the Op Ed is China's enormous success across multiple fronts in Pakistan, including its ownership of the port of Gwadar, previously addressed here at Phi Beta Iota. While the USA has been waging war, badly, without a strategy and without a return on investment in mind, China has been waging peace. We are reminded of how Iran lured the US neoconservatives into Iraq. In the absence of intelligence and integrity at the highest levels of the US Government, China wins, Russia ties, and US loses, across Central Asia, over the next decade. Ultimately this region is about water and rare metals. The region is not conquerable. Brzezinski and his disciple Obama don't get that yet. President Zardari is not the man his wife was (see our review of her book below).

2011/05/012011/05/12

Bin Laden Show Part 03: Fox News Take

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Military

three stooges hitler — Click on Image to Enlarge

1. Waterboarding produced the first “lead”–waterboarding is good, this is the silver bullet on waterboarding.

2. Intelligence Community nailed it, over the years, and finally did this without Pakistani assistance to include surveilling the courier in what is the equivalent of a denied area.

3. Bin Laden's presence so close to the military academy in Pakistan is proof positive of the duplicity of the Pakistani government and military, the time has come to “get tough” with them.

4. Afghanistan is a much needed base from which to attack Pakistan, we need to do more of that.

Phi Beta Iota: We don't make this stuff up. As skeptical as we are of everything coming out of the White House on this, mindful of the high probability that Bin Laden died years ago, if he does turn out to have been “cornered” in this villa, we are certain he was brought there, put there, by the Pakistanis, as a sitting duck, for the theater operation, with very specific quid pro quos vis a vis US withdrawal from Afghanistan. CIA retirees (Robert Grenier) are now spinning on CNN that the Pakistanis were not aware of Bin Laden's being hidden 1.3 kilometers from the Pakistani military academy. The furniture has been cleared out, the press is not allowed into the compound, and it will probably be refurbished and returned to its original owner, probably a senior Pakistani general who loaned it for the one act play.

White House Theater Part II: Basic Questions

2011/05/012011/05/12

Bin Laden Show Part 02: Basic Questions

07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Military, Officers Call

Rush to Judgment 2011 Style

President Obama’s May Day announcement that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. Forces has been a cause of general rejoicing in the U.S. and, apparently, a good deal of backslapping among the National Security Establishment. Yet prudence would suggest that some caution might be in order until more information is available.

There are a number of questions about this event which really have not been asked or answered that would greatly assist in verifying the account given by the President:

The courier: a false name for the preferred courier of bin Laden was extracted from detainees at Gitmo and later intelligence was able to discover his real name, yet how did intelligence know what this courier looked like? Also how was an American able to unobtrusively follow a courier daily in a small town like Abbotabad? Why did nobody in the town notice the Americans conducting a six month surveillance of the compound in question?
The faithful number two man: Osama bin Laden supposedly routinely travels with his doctor and chief lieutenant Ayman al Zawahiri, where was he when the attack occurred?
Proof by DNA: whose DNA was bin Laden’s compared to and where was the comparison test conducted? I would add one note. In the case of Osama bin Laden (or any Arab for that matter) DNA matches are tricky. For example, bin Laden has 50 sibelings by the same father but different mothers so not all his sibelings would have the same DNA although it should be possible to determine 50 to 60 per cent matches with all, but only a few 80 to 99 per cent matches with only a few.
Allowing for the sensitivity of this event in the Islamic World and the burial within 24 hours rule, bin Laden’s body should have been examined by a forensic pathologist to determine his medical condition at time of death. More to the point why burial at sea?
When the President made his announcement, there already was a crowd of mostly young, mostly white demonstrators with hand held American flags in front of the White House Gates. Where did they come from and how did they know what the President was going to announce?

Having listened to John Brennan’s noon news conference this day (2 May) one can’t help but conclude this whole event was a put up job, possibly representing collusion between the U.S. and Pakistani Governments. Was this entire event a staged show to bolster this administration’s counter-terrorism credentials and open the way for quick exit from Afghanistan?

Phi Beta Iota: As with 9/11, we believe the Administration is engaged in impeachable activities that are not in the public interest. There is absolutely ZERO evidence to back up the Administration's wild claims, and all common sense questions such as asked above cannot be answered by the Administration. The “system” is corrupt; we pray this is the final outrage that opens the eyes of the millions of naive US citizens that want to believe in America the Beautiful but cannot get a grip on just how evil neo-facsism can be.

2011/04/292011/04/29

Cyber-Security Politics, Business, Ethics…

02 China, 03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, Advanced Cyber/IO, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Computer/online security, Corruption, Cyberscams, malware, spam, Government, InfoOps (IO), Mobile, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Technologies

Is it just me, or does it appear that we're okay with selling our cyber-soul to China (and Russia), as long as we can also blow tens of billions on US firms pretending to do cyber-security?

Report: Despite status as U.S. security threat, China's Huawei partnering with Symantec

East-Asia-Intel.com, April 27, 2011

The Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies, which has been linked to the Chinese military, is working with the U.S. software security giant Symantec, which is engaged in securing hundreds of thousands of U.S. computer systems against outside intrusions, according to a report last week in the Diplomat newsletter.

The report said “China and Russia are leveraging U.S. multinational corporations' economic requirements to accomplish strategic goals that could quite plausibly include covert technology transfer of intellectual property, access to source code for use in malware creation and backdoor access to critical infrastructure.”

Huawei was blocked from buying the U.S. telecom 3Leaf last year by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and also was blocked in 2008 from buying 3Com over security concerns. The U.S. National Security Agency also stepped in to dissuade AT&T from buying Huawei telephone equipment.

Despite those actions, Huawei formed a joint venture with Symantec in 2007 called Huawei Symantec Technologies Co. Ltd. (HS), the report said. Huawei is the majority partner with 51 percent ownership, with the entity being headquartered in Chengdu, China.

The report said a 2008 report identified HS as developing “China's first laboratory of attack and defense for networks and applications.”

The result is that Symantec is assisting China's cyber development of computer warfare capability.

The report was produced by cyber security expert Jeffrey Carr, author of Inside Cyber Warfare: Mapping the Cyber Underworld (O'Reilly, 2009).

Phi Beta Iota: The US Government compounds its lack of a strategic analytic model and the requisite integrity to actually pay attention to whatever findings might emerge, with an abysmal inattention to the most basic aspects of counter-intelligence, not just within government, but across the private sector, which does not actually take counter-intelligence seriously either. Creating a Smart and Safe Nation is not difficult–it requires only a uniform commitment to intelligence and integrity across all boundaries.

2011/04/28

Secrecy News: The Costs of War & More (CRS)

03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Corruption, Military, Peace Intelligence

THE COSTS OF WAR, AND MORE FROM CRS

As of March 2011, Congress had approved a total of more than $1.2 trillion dollars for costs associated with the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other post-9/11 “war on terror” operations, the Congressional Research Service said in its most recent update on the subject. See “The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11,” March 29, 2011.

Other new or newly updated CRS reports include the following (all pdf).

“Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians,” April 6, 2011.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Terrorism Investigations,” April 27, 2011.
“U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress,” March 28, 2011.
“Sensitive Covert Action Notifications: Oversight Options for Congress,” April 6, 2011.
“Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions,” April 6, 2011

Journal: Over $1 trillion Wasted on Wars, Veterans and Families of Veterans Vocal Against Both Elective Wars

Secrecy News: Costs of Major US Wars, Contractors in Iraq & AF, Drones & Homeland Sec

2011/04/28

Pakistan Rules in Afghanistan–Petraeus Who?

02 Diplomacy, 03 Economy, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, History, Intelligence (government), IO Impotency, Methods & Process, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Waste (materials, food, etc)

I'm told this story is in every newspaper and on television in Afghanistan. Most Afghans believe it to be true. Basically, in spite of the Administration's posturing, Pakistan would become the governing power in Afghanistan…..The Administration's statements show a clear lack of understanding about this region….

Pakistan Tells Afghanistan: Expel the Americans

ByAhmad K. Majidyar | National Review Online

Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Pakistan's leaders “bluntly” told Afghanistan's president “to forget about allowing a long-term U.S. military presence in his country,” and urged him instead “to look to Pakistan–and its Chinese ally–for help in striking a peace deal with the Taliban and rebuilding the economy.” According to Afghan officials, at an April 16 meeting in Kabul in which the leaders of Pakistan's military and intelligence also participated, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Pres. Hamid Karzai that “the Americans had failed them both,” and that it was time for Kabul to choose “alternative allies.” The Pakistani delegation also outlined a number of demands to the Afghan leader. Afghanpaper.com, quoting an unnamed Afghan official, lists Pakistan's demands as:

Read full article….

Continue reading “Pakistan Rules in Afghanistan–Petraeus Who?”

2011/04/272011/04/27

Right-Sizing the US Military–Doug Macgregor

10 Security, 11 Society, Intelligence (government), Key Players, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Peace Intelligence, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Strategy, Threats

WinslowWheeler Cropped — Winslow Wheeler

Although there are important elements I disagree with — in some cases strenuously — US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor (Ret.) has written an important piece on the fundamental changes and massive budget reductions that are needed to improve America's ability to survive into the future.

Macgregor gets the three essentials right, I believe:

1) the threat America faces is now massively reduced; its future character may very well not be what conventional wisdom expects, and Americans need to fundamentally change how we interact with the rest of the world,

2) before any changes are effected in the size, character and funding of our armed forces, a comprehensive audit must be successfully and immediately completed to understand how we spend our money, and funding should be withheld unless and until that is done, and

3) massive changes are needed in our armed forces and their leadership, organization, staffing, weapons, and more.

Macgregor's two part article, “Lean Mean Fighting Machine” and “A Radical Plan for Cutting the Defense Budget and Reconfiguring the Military.” Both are published by Foreign Policy; I believe they merit your thorough reading and consideration.

Phi Beta Iota: The US Marine Corps understood all this in 1989, and sought to change the defense paradigm from worst case to most likely in 1992; then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and his subordinates were not at all interested. Right-sizing defense–and the whole of government–is not that difficult, provided that one has absolute integrity rooted in real-world truthful intelligence. That cannot be said of the US Government today.

2009 Perhaps We Should Have Shouted: A Twenty-Year Restrospective

2008 Rebalancing the Instruments of National Power–Army Strategy Conference of 2008 Notes, Summary, & Article

2008 U.S. Naval Power in the 21st Century

2001 Threats, Strategy, and Force Structure: An Alternative Paradigm for National Security

2000 Presidential Leadership and National Security Policy Making

1998 JFQ The Asymmetric Threat: Listening to the Debate

1995 GIQ 13/2 Creating a Smart Nation: Strategy, Policy, Intelligence, and Information

1993 On Defense & Intelligence–The Grand Vision

1992 MCU Thinking About Revolution

1992 E3i: Ethics, Ecology, Evolution, & intelligence (An Alternative Paradigm)

Reference: 1992 USMC C4I Campaign Plan

1991 MCG Intelligence Support for Expeditionary Planners