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------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ARTICLE 02 – Denying Success in Human Intelligence Collection ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Special Series: Third of Four Installments By J. David Galland The targets of U.S. intelligence collection efforts, whether governmental or non-governmental organizations, are normally aware that they will be subject to penetration attempts by the United States or other foreign governments, opposition groups, political parties or other unanticipated directions. All have varying motivations, different goals, and perceived justifications. Organizations such as opposition political parties, national liberation movements, and terrorist groups, should rightfully assume that they will be targeted for intelligence collection – particularly if they themselves are operating within the borders of the United States. One of the recent issues facing the U.S. intelligence community has been the fact that congressional intelligence oversight committees, and nongovernmental watchdog panels view domestic intelligence collection with disdain. In recent years, these groups have focused on the constitutional rights of a potential spy, or the proper conduct of intelligence operations, as opposed to domestic security and national defense. It is important both for citizens and elected officials to understand that neither intelligence operations, nor counter-intelligence operations, are the same as criminal investigations. Intelligence collection must not be constrained by the rule of law or traditional jurisprudence per se. In response to this, neither should counter-intelligence efforts be hamstrung by the legal rules of a possible future prosecution or the admissibility of evidence in a courtroom. What must determine the guidelines for collection missions and counter-intelligence operations is the level of danger and the validity of the threat, as well as the potential value of the intelligence "take." Given the general awareness among governments and subnational organizations such as al Qaeda to U.S. and Western intelligence-gathering capabilities, it is logical to presume in coming years that collection efforts will continue to encounter new and increasingly sophisticated measures to thwart them. Circumventing and overcoming such counter-intelligence efforts will be a very dangerous business, and a rather tall order. During the Cold War era, security precautions to deny collection in the communist bloc were governed by a paranoid suspicion of outsiders and the secretiveness of entire societies. A classic example of the multi-tiered counter- intelligence effort is the former East Germany. With its many civilian, military and police intelligence services, bolstered by its paranoid suspicious political system, East Germany was able to protect itself quite well from the West. Any experienced case officer can affirm that East German intelligence targets were a hard nut to crack. Invariably, it would be assumed that any human East German intelligence source was either doubled, or was, in fact, a double agent. Some double agents flourished and collected for as long as thirty years. With the opening of East Berlin in 1989, and the seizing of the files of the East German security service (the Staatssicherheitsdienst, or "Stasi") this was proven to be a chillingly correct assumption. The Stasi files are now referred to as the "Gauck Files," for the name of a cleric who rescued and secured these files at the central repository building after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. Since that time, these files have been thoroughly exploited and researched by U.S. and German Intelligence agencies, most particularly the Bundesnachrichtendienst, the German equivalent to the CIA. The explosive growth of information technology will continue to manifest itself in the counter-intelligence effort as it does in all other fields. Advanced electronic computer systems and platforms will produce more effective solutions for targeted organizations to protect their most sensitive secrets and valued holdings. As counter-intelligence capabilities become more sophisticated and practically undetectable, collection sources will likely be inhibited in their efforts to gather information. In an operation where an intelligence source is being used to target his own government or employer, the constant thought of how betrayals are dealt with constitutes an implied threat. This often instills a level of paranoia which severely hampers the intelligence operation. This form of implied counter-intelligence can be classified as "institutional" and is very difficult to overcome when human sources are the primary collection asset. United States intelligence agencies have been on the cutting edge of operational security, information security and signals security for many years. These protection caveats generally fall into the field of technical counter-intelligence collection. However, they have their shortcomings as well. In most cases, a persistent, well-placed human intelligence source, with routine access, who is operating within an organization in which the source is employed, can remain undetected for many years. Such a source is often beyond the capability limits of technical counter-intelligence efforts unless caught red-handed. (Former FBI agent Robert Hansson, who spied within his agency for more than 15 years before being caught, is a good example of this.) In the human intelligence business, my experience has been that the best method of denying information to a hostile collecting source, is the aggressive use of "offensive counter-intelligence teams", known by the acronym, "OFCO." An OFCO operation is highly demanding and, by necessity, extremely "close-hold" in nature. Such a counter-intelligence operation may operate for the short term, locally, or may involve an multi-year global effort. Primarily, the offensive counter-intelligence operation is used in situations when it is determined that allowing a "discovered" clandestine collector to continue the collection mission is in the best interest of U.S. intelligence. These operations are extremely tenuous, but critically important. They constitute the best method to learn of, and further detect, hostile spies. Offensive counter-intelligence operations are characterized by numerous inherent dangers and challenges that are always unique to the mission. It is the goal of the team to detect and collect every shred of information about the spy. Often the spy is aggressively exploited, deceived, and led in specific directions without his or her knowledge. Frequently attempts are made under these circumstances to un-wittingly "double" the spy. This requires highly developed intelligence skills on the part of personnel involved, as well as meticulous coordination and planning. Particular areas of interest and questions that ought to be answered before the spy is finally thwarted are: * Who does the spy work for? * What are the person’s motivations and possible personal goals? * How is the spy being rewarded or paid? * What is the communications plan with the spy’s controller? * What is the collection focus? * What is the spy’s level of sophistication of intelligence tradecraft? * How and where has the source been trained by the hostile intelligence service? When offensive counter-intelligence investigations are performed correctly, these operations can yield a bounty of information revealing critical secrets of how the hostile intelligence agency operates and manages its collection agents. More importantly, they answer questions which will ultimately improve intelligence denial and collection capabilities important to the success of the United States to identify and neutralize foreign intelligence operations directed at our critical national interests. J. David Galland, Deputy Editor of DefenseWatch, is the pen name of a career U.S. Army senior Non-Commissioned Officer currently serving in Germany. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ARTICLE 03 – Champs & Chumps: Special Holiday Awards ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- >From the Editors: It’s time for another installment of Champs and Chumps, our occasional and informal recognition of the best and the worst, of leadership and loopiness, in this new era of bipartisanship, 24-7 media zaniness and armed combat. Maybe it’s the potent eggnog or perhaps merely the seasonal cheer, but we have many more champs than chumps. A salute to the champions on American Airlines Flight 63 for their heroic and effective response to an apparent act of terrorism on a Dec. 22 flight from Paris to Miami. When a passenger tentatively identified as British passport holder Richard C. Reid reportedly tried to ignite explosives secreted in his shoes, two flight attendants, Hermis Moutardier and Cristina Jones, and as many as 10 passengers rushed the man and immobilized him with belts and straps, after which two physicians onboard sedated the man. This fast action probably prevented a life-threatening mishap on the airliner. A chump award goes to the French officials who apparently allowed Reid – despite his matching a security profile of suspicious persons – to board the aircraft one day after rejecting his attempt to fly out of Paris on another airliner. A retrospective salute to Gen. Tommy Franks and his staff at the U.S. Central Command for their steadfast yet creative application of military leadership in the Afghanistan operation. In particular, a cheer for the Centcom logisticians who managed to locate and ship saddles and horse feed to the Northern Alliance cavalry, and for the U.S. Special Operations Command education team who realized that in the era of satellite-guided precision munitions there is still room for the horse cavalry on the training agenda. Another reach-back cheer to the unidentified Pan Am International Flight Academy instructors in Minnesota and Arizona who – we learned from news reports last week – repeatedly raised questions to the FBI and FAA about accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui (currently facing arraignment in federal court) and Hani Hanjour (pilot of the hijacked airliner that struck the Pentagon on Sept. 11). We reserve future chump awards to the federal officials who obviously failed to wake up in time to the potential threat. We cannot let 2001 go by without issuing a mega-chump award to Geraldo Rivera for his egotistic and factually-challenged TV reports from Afghanistan, particularly his inaccurate assertion that he had prayed at the site of a friendly-fire accident near Kandahar when in fact he was several hundred miles away near Tora Bora at the time. Whenever our friends in the mainstream press have occasion to wonder why many senior military commanders mistrust the news media, it is decisions to deploy journalists like this that add new poison to the well. "Why Are We in Afghanistan?" columnist Nicholas von Hoffman wrote on Nov. 19 in The New York Observer. "We are mapless, we are lost, and we are distracted by gusts of wishful thinking" to believe Afghans would switch sides so easily. "Moreover, as hellish as the Taliban are, it appears that the ordinary people of Afghanistan prefer them to the brigands and bandits with whom we've been trying to make common cause." That same week, male citizens of Kabul gleefully shaved of their Taliban-imposed beards and Mr. von Hoffman earned a chump award for clueless prophecy (to be shared with several dozen other laptop bombardiers in the press who, from the outset, cheerfully predicted a Vietnam-style quagmire in the Hindu Kush). Two final salutes: A full-fledged cheer and Oscar nomination for Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld stemming from his stellar performance before the Pentagon press corps. Not only has he calmed and heartened the nationwide audience watching his daily appearances on TV, but he has actually added drama, suspense, humor and common sense to a normally dreary Q&A. And our hearty endorsement as well to the good people of Time magazine for doing the right thing: Making New York City Mayor Rudi Guiliani their – and our – Person of the Year for 2001. Editor’s Note: We have received numerous requests from readers to make “Champs and Chumps” a regular feature of DefenseWatch, and are resolved to do so in the near future. We invite your nominations. Please email any recommended Champ or Chump (with supporting evidence) to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for consideration. Due to the high volume of email we receive, please mark your email with “Champs and Chumps” in the header field. Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ARTICLE 04 – Medal of Honor Recipient – HEDRICK, CLINTON M., Tech. Sgt. USA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 194th Glider Infantry, 17th Airborne Division. Place and date: Near Lembeck, Germany, 27-28 March 1945. Entered service at: Riverton, W. Va. Birth: Cherrygrove, W. Va. G.O. No.: 89, 19 October 1945. Citation: He displayed extraordinary heroism and gallantry in action on 27-28 March 1945, in Germany. Following an airborne landing near Wesel, his unit was assigned as the assault platoon for the assault on Lembeck. Three times the landing elements were pinned down by intense automatic weapons fire from strongly defended positions. Each time, T/Sgt. Hedrick fearlessly charged through heavy fire, shooting his automatic rifle from his hip. His courageous action so inspired his men that they reduced the enemy positions in rapid succession. When six of the enemy attempted a surprise, flanking movement, he quickly turned and killed the entire party with a burst of fire. Later, the enemy withdrew across a moat into Lembeck Castle. T/Sgt. Hedrick, with utter disregard for his own safety, plunged across the drawbridge alone in pursuit. When a German soldier, with hands upraised, declared the garrison wished to surrender, he entered the castle yard with four of his men to accept the capitulation. The group moved through a sally port, and was met by fire from a German self-propelled gun. Although mortally wounded, T/Sgt. Hedrick fired at the enemy gun and covered the withdrawal of his comrades. He died while being evacuated after the castle was taken. His great personal courage and heroic leadership contributed in large measure to the speedy capture of Lembeck and provided an inspiring example to his comrades. Editor’s Note: If you know of any MOH recipient who is hospitalized or has passed away recently, please email DefenseWatch MOH Editor Jim H. at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- EDITOR'S NOTE: Your Support is Important! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Footnote: The ultimate success in reviving and expanding SFTT depends on everyone. We need your financial contributions to continue our operation. While any amount is welcome, we suggest a $30 annual contribution from each member will enable us to succeed. The IRS recognizes SFTT as a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Educational Foundation (IRS EIN 31-1592564). Donations are tax deductible. Send us some moral support and encouragement to help in the struggle to improve combat readiness. Every little contribution helps. Mail your checks to: Soldiers For The Truth Foundation P.O. 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