Intel 'failures' destined to repeat?

from G2 BULLETIN

'There's no mystery ... Get the information the president needs'

President George W. Bush has expressed as his "greatest regret" the intelligence failure through which the CIA assessed that stockpiles of WMDs existed in Iraq, leading to the March 2003 U.S. military intervention, which revealed that if any stockpiles existed, they had vanished by the time coalition forces arrived, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

But unless there are dramatic changes, the administration of President Barack Obama likely is to be condemned to relive this experience.

The deficiencies in U.S. intelligence gathering date back at least four administrations. One of the most serious failures came from the inability of the Central Intelligence Agency to pursue contacts in Hamburg where the hijackers who attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, made their plans.

But even if there's the intent to place an emphasis on such human intelligence, or HUMINT, the results will take time, since the development of human sources takes from 2-10 years.

At this point, there has been no indication from the Obama administration as to what emphasis HUMINT will receive.

Until now, the emphasis on intelligence gathering has been built on development of technical intelligence of various descriptions.

Concerns already have been raised that U.S. intelligence agencies have been unsuccessful in penetrating the various terrorist groups of national security concern.

Among other things, part of this problem is due to the lack of emphasis on language and cultural training or recruiting from people who are familiar with the two.

Another reason is the inability of U.S. agents to assimilate into the culture from which they intend to extract such information.

Some of these concerns are underscored by a recently published book, "The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture," by former CIA officer "Ishmael Jones," who writes under a pseudonym.

Jones, who was involved in developing human sources with access to intelligence on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, believes CIA isn't getting the job done.

"Espionage is not hard to understand. … There's no mystery about what needs to be done at the CIA," he said. "Get officers overseas into target countries, reduce fraud and corruption. Get the intelligence the president needs to defend America and our allies."

Bibi’s Bold Message

By P. David Hornik

The Israeli papers carried reports on Monday (here, for instance) about an article in the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat claiming Egypt was warning Hamas to strike a deal with Israel before Binyamin Netanyahu forms the next government. Otherwise, the Egyptian officials are supposed to have said, Hamas stands to “lose everything.” ....

Israel foils Hizbullah attack in Europe

Israeli intelligence agencies recently succeeded in thwarting a major Hizbullah terror attack against an Israeli target in Europe, Channel 2 reported Wednesday, citing security officials.

The attack was reportedly thwarted by Israel in conjunction with a European intelligence agency.....

CIA Station Chief in Algeria Accused of Rapes

By BRIAN ROSS, KATE McCARTHY, and ANGELA M. HILL

The CIA's station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women who claim he laced their drinks with a knock-out drug, U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News.

Officials say the 41-year old Warren, a convert to Islam, was ordered home by the U.S. Ambassador, David Pearce, in October after the women came forward with their rape allegations in September.

According to the affidavit, the two women "reported the allegations in this affidavit independently of each other." ....

Iran Would Need One Year to Produce Bomb-Grade Uranium, Expert Says

Source: Global Security Newswire

Iran would need at least a year to produce enough weapon-grade uranium for a nuclear-weapon from its existing stocks of low-enriched material, the London Telegraph reported today (see GSN, Jan. 27).

Tehran insists it only intends to produce low-enriched uranium for use in civilian nuclear power plants. The United States and other Western powers have demanded that Iran halt its enrichment program because Tehran might continue enriching the uranium until it is suitable for use in a bomb, according to the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

"This year, it's very likely that Iran will have produced enough low-enriched uranium which, if further enriched, could constitute enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon, if that is the route Iran so desires," said Mark Fitzpatrick, a nonproliferation expert at the think thank.

Iran would need another 12 months for the actual conversion. First, it must address various technical issues and become more adept at the enrichment process, according to the Telegraph.

If Tehran decided to enrich uranium to weapon-grade levels, it would have to ban U.N. inspectors who monitor Iranian nuclear sites to ensure they are not diverting material to military programs. The expulsion of the inspectors would signal a problem to the international community, giving it some time to react.

In addition, Iran would have to prepare missiles to accommodate nuclear warheads in order to establish a credible deterrent, according to the Telegraph. Alleged Iranian records held by the International Atomic Energy Agency suggest Tehran has attempted to modify its Shahab 3 missile to carry a nuclear payload (David Blair, London Telegraph, Jan. 28).

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday said that "there is a clear opportunity for the Iranians ... to demonstrate some willingness to engage meaningfully with the international community" on the nuclear standoff, the New York Times reported.

Clinton declined to discuss what new strategies Washington is considering to engage Iran, but suggested that she and President Barack Obama are considering a range of options. She also referred to ongoing talks between the five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany, which are set to resume next week. European diplomats expressed optimism that the Obama administration would begin to reveal elements of his Iran strategy at that session.

The administration is likely to appoint veteran Middle East envoy Dennis Ross to a key Iran policy position, State Department officials said.

Financial pressure is making Tehran increasingly likely to cooperate with the United States and its allies, said Abbas Milani, Iranian studies head at Stanford University.

“The Iranian regime is in a truly desperate situation,” Milani said. “The regime is in a much more amenable mood because the economy is in a shambles. They’re also dealing with someone whose name is Barack Hussein Obama" (Mark Landler, New York Times, Jan. 28).

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today called on Obama to pursue policy shifts more significant than mere tactical changes, Reuters reported.

"We welcome change but on condition that change is fundamental and on the right track," he told supporters, adding that any policy change that only alters tactics would "soon be revealed" (Zahra Hosseinian, Reuters, Jan. 28).

Meanwhile, Iran yesterday brushed off a Japanese call to halt its uranium enrichment program, Agence France-Presse reported.

At a meeting in Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone told an Iranian diplomat that suspending the effort would "win the trust of the international community." Iranian envoy Samareh Hashemi responded by reaffirming Tehran's insistence that its nuclear program has no military component (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Jan. 28).

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder plans to "amplify and underline" his nation's stand on the nuclear issue during a visit next month to Iran, Bloomberg reported Monday.

“The nuclear dossier will play an important role” in the trip, said German Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner (Rainer Buergin, Bloomberg, Jan. 26).

Economic stimulus? Feds want your medical records

(Compiler's note: A must read article.)

By Bob Unruh

Electronic database to include lawsuit, mental health, abortion, sexual details

A little-discussed provision in President Obama's economic stimulus plan would demand that every American submit to a government program for electronic medical records without a choice to opt out, and it has privacy advocates more than a little alarmed.

Patients might be alarmed, too, privacy advocates said, if they realized information such as documentation on abortions, mental health problems, impotence, being labeled as a non-compliant patient, lawsuits against doctors and sexual problems could be shared electronically with, perhaps, millions of people.

Sue A. Blevins, president of the Institute for Health Freedom, said unless people have the right to decide "if and when" their health information is shared, there is no real privacy.

"President Obama has pledged to advance freedom," she said. "Therefore the freedom to choose not to participate in a national electronic health-records system must be upheld."

Blevins' organization, one of the few raising the alarm at this point, said the stimulus plan would impose an electronic health records system on every person in the U.S. without any provision for seeking patient consent or allowing them not to participate.

"Without those protections, Americans' electronic health records could be shared – without their consent – with over 600,000 covered entities through the forthcoming nationally linked electronic health-records network," Blevins said.

The organization said Americans who care about health privacy should contact members of Congress and the president to let them know about the need for opt-out and consent provisions.

According to the institute, the measure currently includes plans for:

• An electronic health record "for each person in the United States by 2014."
  
  
• A national coordinator to develop a "nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of information."

The institute said the medical privacy rule established under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 already allows personal health information to be passed along without patient consent for treatment, payment and "oversight." The recipients of such information could be any of the people in the 600,000 organizations in the industry.

"Nobody wants to stop the proper use of good technology," Blevins said, "and for some people privacy is not an issue."

But she said the bottom line is that patients "would end up losing control of his or her personal health information."

"There's a lot at stake with electronically transferring health data and paying claims within the $2.2 trillion healthcare industry," warned the organization, which works on issues of health freedom in the U.S.

Another group, Consumer Watchdog, even suggested today Google is trying to lobby for the "sale of electronic medical records."

The group said, "Reportedly Google is pushing for the provisions so it may sell patient medical information to its advertising clients on the new 'Google Health' database."

Consumer Watchdog said, "Americans will benefit from an integrated system capable of making our medical records available wherever we may need them, but only if the system is properly used.

"The medical technology portion of the economic stimulus bill does not sufficiently protect patient privacy, and recent amendments have made this situation worse. Medical privacy must be strengthened before the measure's final passage," the group said.

WND previously has reported on attempts in Minnesota by state lawmakers to authorize the collection and warehousing of newborns' DNA without parental consent.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been successful in stopping the action there so far.

The Citizens' Council on Health Care has worked to publicize the issue in Minnesota. The group raised opposition when the state Department of Health continued to warehouse DNA without parental consent in violation of the genetic privacy and DNA property rights of parents and children.

Twila Brase, president of CCHC, said at the time the problem is that "researchers already are looking for genes related to violence, crime and different behaviors."

In an extensive interview with WND at the time, she said, "In England they decided they should have doctors looking for problem children, and have those children reported, and their DNA taken in case they would become criminals."

In fact, published reports in Britain note that senior police forensics experts believe genetic samples should be studied, because it may be possible to identify potential criminals as young as age 5.

Brase said efforts to study traits and gene factors and classify people would be just the beginning. What could happen through subsequent programs to address such conditions, she wondered.

"Not all research is great," she said.

Classifying of people could lead to "discrimination and prejudice. … People can look at data about you and make assessments ultimately of who you are."

The Heartland Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening is one of the organizations that advocates more screening and research.

The group proclaims in its vision statement a desire to see newborns screened for 200 conditions. It also forecasts "every student … with an individual program for education based on confidential interpretation of their family medical history, their brain imaging, their genetic predictors of best learning methods. …"

Further, every individual should share information about "personal and family health histories" as well as "gene tests for recessive conditions and drug metabolism" with the "other parent of their future children."

Still further, it seeks "ecogenetic research that could improve health, lessen disability, and lower costs for sickness."

"They want to test every child for 200 conditions, take the child's history and a brain image, and genetics, and come up with a plan for that child," Brase said at the time. "They want to learn their weaknesses and defects.

"Nobody including and especially the government should be allowed to create such extensive profiles," she said.

The next step, said Brase, is obvious: The government, with information about potential health weaknesses, could say to couples, "We don't want your expensive children."

"I think people have forgotten about eugenics. The fact of the matter is that the eugenicists have not gone away. Newborn genetic testing is the entry into the 21st Century version of eugenics," she said.