Intel & ops update

Their preferred explanation lies in the combination of a particular mindset given to simplification, monistic understandings of the world and desire that existing social arrangements be preserved, with key environmental factors (most importantly, frustrated professional aspirations due to a lack of opportunities). Interestingly, Gambetta and Hertog suggest that the same mindset which drives engineers in the Islamic world to become terrorists, may lead to the marked tendency of US engineers to adhere to strongly conservative political views.

SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The spy who came in from the creche

By Oliver Pritchett

Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 11/11/2007

( THINKS TERRORIST TRAINING KIDS IS FUNNY )

The head of MI5, Jonathan Evans, warned last week that al-Qaeda was now recruiting schoolchildren in this country. I was relieved to discover that our Security Services are still ahead of the game and are active in playgroups. Welcome to Wee Chickadees.

"Let's all sit down in a nice big circle, children. Very good. I'm Wendy, your control, and this is Bianca, who is our helper. I'm sorry but Julie can't be with us today, so all you littlies in Julie's cell will be with me. Oh dear, I see Ben's a bit upset. What's the matter with Ben?"

"Rebecca blew his cover, Miss."

SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We do know that Khan sold Iran advanced equipment to manufacture and operate the centrifuges that can enrich uranium, either to generate electricity or to provide the fuel for a weapon. But Khan's nuclear bazaar trafficked in other goodies as well -- including the blueprints for a Chinese-made nuclear warhead, which were found in Libya after Moammar Gaddafi abandoned his atomic aspirations in December 2003 and fingered Khan as his chief supplier.

SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pakistan warns against nuclear weapons grab

Published: Tuesday, 13 November, 2007, 01:27 AM Doha Time

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan warned yesterday it had sufficient “retaliatory capacity” to defend its nuclear weapons, after a report the US had made contingency plans to stop them falling into the wrong hands.
Denouncing “irresponsible conjecture,” the foreign ministry said Pakistan was ready and able to defend its nuclear arsenal and there was no risk of the arms being taken.
Its reaction followed a Washington Post report that with Pakistan in the throes of a political crisis, the US had drawn up contingency plans in case the Pakistani military risked losing control of the weapons.

SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

‘Top militant’ seized for harbouring Al Qaeda

Published: Tuesday, 13 November, 2007, 01:27 AM Doha Time

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces yesterday seized a top militant accused of harbouring Al Qaeda insurgents, beheading troops and supplying arms to a rebel cleric in the country’s northwest, officials said.
The man was captured in the northwestern Swat Valley, a former tourist spot where Pakistani troops are battling pro-Taliban Islamists seeking to impose Shariah law, security officials said.
Chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad confirmed that security forces had arrested a “top suspect involved in militancy.”

SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigerian security agents arrested several men who allegedly had materials for making explosives, and evidence has linked them to the al Qaeda terror network, a senior security official said Monday.

The suspects, all Nigerians, were arrested in the states of Kano, Kaduna and Yobe, located in the country's predominantly Muslim north, said Ado Muazu, spokesman for Nigeria's special state security police.

"Investigations show they have links to the al Qaeda network," Muazu said, without elaborating or saying exactly how many suspects were detained.

SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

System That Predicts Crisis Events and Stability of Countries

October 24, 2007: 09:00 AM EST

CHERRY HILL, N.J., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.3-million, 15-month, Phase-I program to develop the Predicting Stability through Analyzing Germane Events (PRESAGE) system -- an element of DARPA's Integrated Crises Early Warning System (ICEWS) program.

ICEWS will let military commanders anticipate and respond to worldwide political crises and predict events of interest (EoIs) and stability of countries of interest with greater than 80 percent accuracy. Using national resources across Diplomatic, Information, Military, and Economic sources, ICEWS will provide combinations of strategies, tactics, and resources to mitigate predicted instabilities with the greatest positive impact.

VERY DOABLE: SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXX

SOURCE: Chinese connection to malware

Portable hard discs sold locally and produced by US disk-drive manufacturer Seagate Technology have been found to carry Trojan horse viruses that automatically upload to Beijing Web sites anything the computer user saves on the hard disc, the Investigation Bureau said.
Around 1,800 of the portable Maxtor hard discs, produced in Thailand, carried two Trojan horse viruses: autorun.inf and ghost.pif, the bureau under the Ministry of Justice said.
The tainted portable hard disc uploads any information saved on the computer automatically and without the owner’s knowledge to www.nice8.org and www.we168.org, the bureau said.

The affected hard discs are Maxtor Basics 500G discs.
The bureau said that hard discs with such a large capacity are usually used by government agencies to store databases and other information.
Sensitive information may have already been intercepted by Beijing through the two Web sites, the bureau said.
The bureau said that the method of attack was unusual, adding that it suspected Chinese authorities were involved.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tourism decline affects livelihood in Chitral

CHITRAL, 28 Oct, 07: Despite being a peaceful and tranquil place, as ever, tourism has declined in the recent years in Chitral due to fall out effect of instability in the adjoining areas. A large section of the population depending on tourism to earn their livelihood have suffered financially due to this negative development. A report published in the daily 'Dawn' on this subject is reproduced below, for our readers:

CHITRAL: Terrorism endangers livelihood of thousands of people

( IF BINY IS HIDING THERE THEY DON'T WANT TOURISTS AROUND ANY WAY,

SAY MARGE ISN'T THAT, NO IT COULDN'T BE, LETS GO SAY HI.. )

SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

What does it mean to be Osama Bin Laden's "Handling Officer" for the Pakistani ISI? What is the responsibility of the person that has this particular job? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jon Gold

His response...

The handling officer of a source in Indian and Pakistani intelligence agencies is the person who looks after the welfare of the source, keeps him motivated and uses him as needed. The source cannot meet anybody else other than his handling officer except the head of the agency. One source--one handling officer is the general rule. This is to prevent the exposure of the operation and maintain its deniability. I understand in the CIA they call him the Running Officer of a source.

SOURCE:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Pakistan frees Mullah Obaidullah, other senior Taliban leaders

By Bill RoggioNovember 11, 2007 2:03 PM

Mullah Obaidullah Akhund.

President Pervez Musharraf's promise to hunt the Taliban as part of its suspension of the constitution and a virtual state of emergency rings hollow as the Taliban's grip on the northwest Frontier Province tightens. Newsweek reported the Pakistani government has released several senior Taliban commanders captured inside Pakistani territory over the past year. The leaders were among 25 Taliban exchanged for over 200 Pakistani soldiers captured by South Waziristan commander Baitullah Mehsud in late August.

SOURCE:

gERALD