Intel Wars Read online

  165 “an American Muslim population that remains hostile to jihadist ideology” Brian Michael Jenkins, Would-Be Warriors: Incidents of Jihadist Terrorist Radicalization in the United States Since September 11, 2001 (Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation, 2010), p. vii.

  174 “You get a clear sense of the conundrum facing the FBI and U.S. law enforcement” Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and National Counterterrorism Center, Identifying Homegrown Violent Extremists Before They Strike: An Information Needs Review, 2010. Unclassified/FOUO.

  176 “The British government, for example, is spending” See, for example, Cable, London 001933, AMEMBASSY LONDON to SECSTATE WASH DC, “UK Government Seeks Deeper Counter-Radicalization Coordination,” August 21, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Confidential; Cable, London 002005, AMEMBASSY LONDON to SECSTATE WASH DC, “UK’s Assistance Strategy,” August 28, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Confidential.

  177 “risks reinforcing the idea that the United States is somehow at war with Islam itself.” Remarks by John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, “A New Approach to Safeguarding Americans,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, Washington, D.C., August 6, 2009.

  177 “fundamentally troubling … that there remains no federal government agency” Peter Bergen and Bruce Hoffman, Assessing the Terrorist Threat: A Report of the Bipartisan Center’s National Security Preparedness Group (Washington, D.C.: Bipartisan Policy Center, September 20, 2010), p. 29.

  178 “The Internet has expanded as a platform for spreading extremist propaganda” Robert S. Mueller III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Statement Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Washington, D.C., September 22, 2010.

  178 “According to a May 2008 secret assessment by the British foreign intelligence service, MI6” Cable, London 1224, AMEMBASSY LONDON to SECSTATE WASH DC, “CODEL Smith Discussed Iraq and Counterterrorism Issues with MOD, MI-6, and DFID Officials,” May 1, 2008, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Secret/NOFORN.

  184 “Dondi, an Asian elephant, had died suddenly at the Southwick Zoo” Central Florida Intelligence Exchange (CFIX), Domestic Security Intelligence Report. August 6, 2010, Sensitive But Unclassified.

  7: DISTANT BATTLEFIELDS

  194 “Particularly important was the CIA’s intimate relationship with the Egyptian General Intelligence” Cable, Cairo 002543, AMEMBASSY CAIRO to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Scenesetter for General Petraeus’ Visit to Egypt,” December 21, 2008, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  194 “The FBI worked closely with the Egyptian State Security Service” Cable, Cairo 003348, AMEMBASSY CAIRO to SECSTATE WASH DC, “FBI Deputy Director Meets with Head of State Security,” November 28, 2007, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret.

  196 “Assad has continued to thumb his nose at the United States since Obama became president in 2009.” Cable, Damascus 000390, AMEMBASSEY DAMASCUS to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Scenesetter for Visit of Special Envoy Mitchell to Damascus,” June 4, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret.

  196 “According to U.S. intelligence officials, Syria remains one of the top state sponsors of terrorism in the world.” See, for example, Cable, Damascus 000146, AMEMBASSEY DAMASCUS to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Reactions to Makhluf Designation,” February 28, 2008, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret.

  196 “Classified intelligence reports reviewed by the author reveal that” See also Cable, Damascus 000389, AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS to SECSTATE WASH DC, “CODEL Pelosi Meets Syria’s President Asad,” April 25, 2007, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Confidential; Cable, Damascus 000252, AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS to SECSTATE WASH DC, “CODEL Lynch Meets Asad, Muallim,” April 6, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Confidential.

  196 “Inside Syria, [Iraqi] insurgent leaders could take refuge” Carter Malkasian and Gerald Meyerle, How Is Afghanistan Different from Al Anbar? (Arlington, Virginia: Center for Naval Analyses [CNA], February 2009). FOUO.

  197 “telling a group of analysts in Washington in June 2009” General David H. Petraeus, USA, PowerPoint Presentation to Center for a New American Security, CENTCOM Update, June 11, 2009. Unclassified.

  197 “In another ominous portent of things yet to come, the U.S. government’s relations” Cable, Baghdad 000011, AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Najaf Clerical Leaders Fear Iranian Ideological Dominance,” January 5, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Secret; Cable, Baghdad 000197, AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Rubaie Claims He Carried Message of Confident Iraq in Visit to Iran,” January 26, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  197 “Since at least 2003, Brigadier General Qasem Soleimani” Cable, Baghdad 002992, AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Iran’s Efforts in Iraqi Electoral Politics,” November 13, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret.

  198 “Over the past decade, Dubai and the other principalities” Cable, Abu Dhabi 000877, AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI to SECSTATE WASH DC, September 3, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  199 “according to a leaked State Department cable, banks in Dubai currently hold about $12 billion” Cable, Riyadh 009095, AMEMBASSY RIYADH to SECSTATE WASH DC, “xxxxxxxxxxx on Iranian Threats,” December 16, 2006, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  202 “According to Lt. General Ronald L. Burgess Jr., the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency” Lt. General Ronald L. Burgess, USA, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, Statement Before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, Iran’s Military Power, April 14, 2010. Unclassified.

  202 “Iran is also continuing to provide clandestine support to a number of extremist Shiite groups in Iraq.” Cable, Baghdad 000011, AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Najaf Clerical Leaders Fear Iranian Ideological Dominance,” January 5, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Secret; Cable, Baghdad 000197, AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Rubaie Claims He Carried Message of Confident Iraq in Visit to Iran,” January 26, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Secret/NOFORN; Cable, Baghdad 001103, AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Iran in Iraq: Strategy for Pressuring IRGC-QF,” April 24, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Secret/NOFORN; Cable, Baghdad 002992, AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Iran’s Efforts in Iraqi Electoral Politics,” November 13, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Secret.

  203 “may have attempted to conceal its activities from other branches of the Iranian government.” Cable, USNATO 000520, USMISSION NATO to SECSTATE WASH DC, “North Atlantic Council Readout—September 19, 2007,” September 20, 2007, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  203 “enemy of my enemy” Joint Chiefs of Staff, PowerPoint Presentation, Strategy for the Long War: 2006–2016, various dates between September 27, 2006, and November 3, 2006. Secret.

  203 “Iran has opposed Afghan reconciliation talks with the Taliban” Director of National Intelligence, Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, February 12, 2009, p. 11. Unclassified.

  204 “According to a leaked State Department cable, these three men” Cable, Kabul 000467, AMEMBASSY KABUL to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Negative Influence of Certain Karzai Advisors,” March 2, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Confidential.

  204 “This new information formed the basis for a controversial November 2007 National Intelligence Estimate” Cable, Berlin 002157, AMEMBASSY BERLIN to SECSTATE WASH DC, “German Response to U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s Nuclear Program,” December 3, 2007, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  207 “it was tough because North Korea was a denied area” Ralph E. Weber, ed., Spymasters (Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources Books, 1999), p. 115.

  207 “In 1999, someone within the South Korean intelligence community leaked” “ROK Spies Who Died After Infiltrating NK Number 7,726,” Korea Times, July 27, 1999.

  210 “The CIA station in Bogotá, the U.S. military intelligence services,
and the DEA continue to provide” Cable, Bogotá 004983, AMEMBASSY BOGOTA to SECSTATE WASH DC, “FARC/ELN: Terrorist Takesdowns Reflect USG-GOC Intel Cooperation,” June 5, 2006, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Secret; Cable, Bogotá 011380, AMEMBASSY BOGOTA to SECSTATE WASH DC, “UAVS—‘Eyes in the Sky’ for COLMIL Operations,” December 20, 2006, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files, Secret.

  210 “Ecuador is suspected by the U.S. intelligence community” Cable, Quito 000015, AMEMBASSY QUITO to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Whither Correa: A Shift Further Left,” January 14, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  211 “In September 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department froze the assets” Cable, State 014070, SECSTATE WASH DC to Distribution List, “Russia’s Anticipated Transfer of IGLA-S (SA-24) MANPADS to Venezuela,” February 14, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  211 “Randall Fort, a former head of the State Department’s intelligence staff” Cable, Wellington 000356, AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON to SECSTATE WASH DC, “A/S Fort’s October 9-10 Visit to New Zealand,” October 24, 2008, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  212 “notwithstanding his tirades and antics” Cable, Santiago 000983, AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO to SECSTATE WASH DC, “A Southern Cone Perspective on Countering Chavez and Reasserting U.S. Leadership,” June 18, 2007, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret.

  212 “Sensitive reports indicate Cuban and Venezuelan intelligence ties” Cable, Caracas 000219, AMEMBASSY CARACAS to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Cuba/Venezuela Axis of Mischief: The View from Caracas,” January 30, 2006, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  CONCLUSION: THE PAST IS PROLOGUE

  214 “It remains to be seen” Harold P. Ford, “Why CIA Analysts Were So Doubtful About Vietnam,” Studies in Intelligence, Semiannual Unclassified Edition no. 1, 1997, p. 88; Bruce Palmer Jr. “US Intelligence and Vietnam,” Studies in Intelligence, Special Edition vol. 28, no. 5, 1984, pp. 42–44, CIA Electronic FOIA Reading Room, document no. 0001433692, http://www.foia.cia.gov.

  219 “As first reported by Shane Harris of the National Journal” Shane Harris, “The Cyberwar Plan,” National Journal, November 14, 2009.

  220 “On April 28, less than 24 hours after the first cyber attacks” Cable, Tallinn 000375, AMEMBASSY TALLINN to SECSTATE WASH DC, “Estonia’s Cyber Attacks: Lessons Learned,” June 6, 2007, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret.

  221 “For example, a secret 2008 report by the German equivalent of the FBI” Cable, State 116943, SECSTATE WASH DC to Distribution List, “Diplomatic Security Daily,” November 3, 2008, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  221 #x00A0; “Since late 2002, USG [U.S. government] organizations have been targeted” Cable, State 116943, SECSTATE WASH DC to Distribution List, “Diplomatic Security Daily,” November 3, 2008, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  221 “The event appears to be a targeted spear-phishing attempt” Cable, State 063860, SECSTATE WASH DC to Distribution List, “Diplomatic Security Daily,” June 19, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/NOFORN.

  222 “U.S. policy remains that hackers and cyber criminals” Cable, State 093327, SECSTATE WASH DC to Unknown, “FSC Fall 2009 Opening Round Guidance,” September 8, 2009, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret/Sensitive.

  222 “A well-placed contact claims that the Chinese government” Cable, Beijing 207, AMEMBASSY BEIJING to SECSTATE WASH DC, “PRC Role in Attacks and Responsive Strategy,” January 26, 2010, WikiLeaks Cablegate Files. Secret.

  222 “In testimony delivered before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in February 2010” Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence, Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, February 2, 2010, p. 2. Unclassified.

  222 The following section on Stuxnet is based largely on interviews conducted over the past two years with a number of U.S. government cyber-security experts, as well as two intelligence analysts who specialize in cyber-warfare issues.

  223 “the most sophisticated cyberweapon ever deployed.” William J. Broad, John Markoff, and David E. Sanger, “Israeli Test on Worm Called Crucial in Iran Nuclear Delay,” New York Times, January 15, 2011.

  Plate Section

  A 2008 U.S. Army map of Afghanistan’s political divisions.

  The view from a gun position at Firebase Phoenix overlooking the Korengal Valley on July 10, 2007. (Courtesy of Department of the Army.)

  Corporal Scott Harvey, a cryptologic linguist with Operational Command Element 2, 2nd Radio Battalion, Task Force Belleau Wood, uses a radio scanner to listen to Taliban radio activity in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, May 2011. (Courtesy of United States Marine Corps.)

  U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Samuel Kautz, with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, launches a RQ-11B Raven unmanned drone at Combat Outpost Viking, Iraq, June 2, 2009. (Photo by Corporal Robert S. Morgan, courtesy of United States Marine Corps.)

  Air Force ordnance personnel load a Hellfire missile on an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned drone in April 2010. (Courtesy of United States Air Force.)

  U.S. Air Force personnel with the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron conduct preflight services on an RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned drone at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, February 12, 2010. (Photo by Master Sergeant Scott T. Sturkol, courtesy of United States Air Force.)

  Sergeant Marcel Ruales, with the U.S. Army’s 636th Military Intelligence Battalion, and assigned to the Human Intelligence Collection Team, Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Afghanistan, shakes hands with children in the Afghan village of Warghez on September 17, 2009. (Photo by Master Sergeant Sarah R. Webb, courtesy of United States Air Force.)

  U.S. Army RC-12X Guardrail SIGINT aircraft flying an operational intelligence collection mission over Afghanistan. (Courtesy of United States Army.)

  Former director of national intelligence Dennis Blair. (Courtesy of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.)

  Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, director of the CIA from 2009 to 2011, and White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1997. (Photo by Monica King, courtesy of Department of Defense.)

  National Security Agency director Lieutenant General Keith B. Alexander being briefed on SIGINT operations in Afghanistan by Rear Admiral Paul Becker, director of intelligence of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command, in July 2010. Note that the map on the wall has been censored. (Courtesy of ISAF Media Relations Office.)

  President Barack Obama and senior staff attend a briefing in the White House Situation Room. (Courtesy of the White House.)

  Stills from a Taliban propaganda video aired on the Al-Emera network showing insurgents en route to an attack on a United States Army outpost in Nuristan Province in 2009, as well as an arsenal of RPGs. The title card reads “Foreign Press Center of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

  A U.S. Air Force MQ-1B Predator unmanned drone taxis down the runway on October 13, 2008, at Ali Air Base, Iraq. (Photo by Senior Airman Christopher Griffin, courtesy of United States Air Force.)

  The tracking device that college student Yasir Afifi found mounted on the undercarriage of his car in October 2010, later reclaimed by FBI agents. (Photo courtesy of Flickr user floorsixtyfour, used under a Creative Commons license.)

  A Note on the Author

  Matthew M. Aid is a leading intelligence historian and visiting fellow at the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C. His The Secret Sentry has been hailed as the definitive history of the National Security Agency. He is a regular commentator on intelligence matters for the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Associated Press, CBS News, NPR, and many other media outlets. He lives in Washington, D.C.

  By the Same Author

  The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency

  Copyright © 2012 by Matthew M. Aid

  Electronic edition published in January 2012

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  For information address Bloomsbury Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

  Published by Bloomsbury Press, New York

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Aid, Matthew M., 1958–

  Intel wars : the secret history of the fight against terror / Matthew M. Aid.—1st U.S. ed.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 978-1-60819-499-5 (ebook)

  1. Terrorism—Prevention—Government policy—United States—History. 2. Intelligence service—United States—History. I. Title.

  HV6432.4.A36 2012

  363.325'1630973—dc23

  2011023840