RETIRED FEMALE MI5 CHIEF WRITES SPY THRILLERS

"Retired Female MI5 Chief Writes Spy Thrillers" has been updated. Click HERE to read new version.

VIET NAM WAR- AMAZING STATS!

OSINT NEWS received this from a friend, who fought in Viet Nam, even went back to visit not too long ago. Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall - SOMETHING to think about. 

• Most of the surviving Parents are now Deceased.
• There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.
• The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.
• Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East wall, appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25, 1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet. The war is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side and contained within the earth itself.

• The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, MA. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.
• There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.
• 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.8,283 were just 19 years old.The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock, was 15 years old.997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.
• 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall. Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.
• 54 soldiers once attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. I wonder why so many from one school.
• 8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.
• 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.
• Beallsville, OH, with a population of 475, lost 6 of her sons. West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

• The Marines of Morenci: They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.
• The Buddies of Midvale: LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah, on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed.
• LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
• The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths. The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

Most Americans who read this will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters...there are no noble wars, just noble warriors. 

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion of Ad revenues generated on this site is donated to the AFIO. His ideas are his own and do not represent those of any organization he's a member of. We will publish your ideas and comments at no charge...for the good of the order! Contact us on the secure Bpath Mail Form.

OSINT NEWS- CIA DRONE ATTACKS INTENSIFY AGAINST RADICAL ISLAMISTS

I guess the CIA knows all about disinformation, and how to use it. They recruited plenty of paid local Pakistani and Afghani agents to spread the word around that U.S. Predator drones can find Talliban leaders anywhere, anytime. It’s called the “Whispering Campaign” and the operation has Taliban leaders sweating. A formal CIA official who now consults on intelligence issues said, "We have them thinking that we can track them anywhere, that we've got devices in their cars, their houses, everywhere. They're so afraid to stay in their houses at night they're digging foxholes to sleep in."

As a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO), I was privy to a seminar at Nellis AFB in Nevada, home of the drone unmanned aerial vehicle. During a declassified briefing, we learned of the potent effects of drone attacks and their advanced surveillance capabilities. They are so accurate that smaller missiles are used to minimize civilian deaths. Many of the drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan are flown 7,000 miles away…at Nellis AFB! There’s a 4-second satellite delay, so the last 4 seconds before landing, the Nellis pilots turn control of the drone back over to the clandestine airfield controllers in the Middle East. The AFIO sent us all great photos of the entire operation, but requested we not show them.

The CIA's “Whispering Campaign” is actually spreading the truth, not rumors. The frequency of drone attacks in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan has increased significantly during Obama’s term. Due to new technologies, the CIA can instantaneously react to intercepted cell-phone calls. They collect such numbers and save them in computerized data bases for instant networking via satellite. Whenever a Taliban leader dials the phone and it’s in the CIA data base, it can be traced and located instantly. Shortly, a Predator drone, or the newer Reaper, will be searching him out, armed with Hellfire missiles.

Citing unnamed current and former officials in the US and Pakistan, The Washington Post newspaper said the new technology had resulted in more accurate strikes that have provoked relatively little public outrage. The Washington Post added that, "One such missile was used by the CIA last month in Miram Shah, a Pakistani town in the tribal province of South Waziristan. The projectile, which was no bigger than a violin case and weighed about 35 pounds (16kg), hit a house there and killed a top al-Qaeda official and about nine other suspected terrorists. The mud-brick house collapsed and the roof of a neighboring house was damaged, but no one else in the town was hurt."

Last year, roughly 70 drone attacks inside Pakistan killed 400 identified terrorists and insurgents. Little wonder al Qaeda’s top inner circle ceases using cell phones in favor of messages delivered by courier. It was because of the drones. Of course, courier-usage didn't help bin Laden.

Under the Obama administration, the CIA has been granted the go ahead to boost drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions in a move to step up military operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. Federal lawyers declared this move legal on the grounds of self-defense to counter threats the Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters pose to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and Americans as a whole. Although President Obama stated, “The drone strikes are necessary to take out high-level terrorist targets”, the U.S. later stated that they will be used to target low-level combatants as well, even if their identities are unknown.

As we all know, Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen was a high-profile al-Qaeda leader recently killed by drone strikes. President Obama has ordered dramatic increases in the use of Predator and Reaper drones in Yemen, Somalia, and in NW Pakistan. Drone killings of radical Islamists will be on-going at an increasing rate.

Our picks- 12 resources for drone enthusiasts!

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion of Ad revenues generated on this site is donated to the AFIO. His ideas are his own and do not represent those of any organization he's a member of. We will publish your ideas and comments at no charge...for the good of the order! Contact us on the secure Bpath Mail Form.

OSINT NEWS- UNSCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS SUGGESTS AL QAEDA WILL SET OFF A NUCLEAR WEAPON WITHIN U.S.

WILL AL QAEDA (AQ) DETONATE A NUCLEAR WEAPON INSIDE THE U.S.? (Check all that appy)
	YES
	NO
	PROBABLY
	AQ has the intent to do so.
	AQ has the capability to do so.
pollcode.com free polls

OSINT NEWS is accumulating indicators of intent and capability of al-Qaeda detonating a nuclear weapon inside the U.S. Each indicator is followed by a (-) or (+) symbol. The (-) means that it's a favorable indicator that, indeed, al Qaeda sets off a nuclear weapon inside the U.S., while a (+) means that they will not.

This is an unscientific method because each indicator is rated as one-point, which are totalled at the end, and some indicators hold more weight than others. However, this is an on-going process and as more OSINT is collected, more indicators will be added to the equation. We would appreciate your input as well. If you have comments or additional indicators to add, please contact us on the secure Bpath Mail Form.

Regardless, it provides a narrative of observations that intelligence professionals may want to peruse, especially as more indicators accumulate.

Indicators of al-Qaeda detonating a nuclear weapon inside the U.S.

There are no trends, indicators, or concrete evidence that a nuclear attack is imminent. (+) Still, al Qaeda is considered a nuclear power threat to the U.S.. How so? Their ambitions are
known. Al-Qaeda spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith has stated al-Qaeda’s objective: “to kill 4 million Americans—2 million of them children—and to exile twice as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands.” This mission in life could only be achieved with a nuclear weapon (-)

Al Qaeda has talked with Pakistani scientists to learn about the technology (-) and have tried to acquire nuclear material.(-) The U.S. discovered documents in Afghanistan training camps of their intentions (-). Most intelligence still places capability far behind their ambitions and intentions. (+)

After 9/11, the U.S. military and intelligence services forced al Qaeda’s leadership to go on the run. (+) Training camps were dispersed and key operational planners were killed. (+) Al Qaeda lieutenants were afraid to sleep in their homes at night for fear of drone attack. Their operational ability declined (+). However, their communications program grew more sophisticated. (-) The Jihad media program has grown by leaps and bounds; their volume and sophistication is top notch (-). Al Qaeda has grown from a half dozen Internet sites to a current 4-5,000 (-). Now, at the speed of light, they spread their jihadis message and talk much about WMD (-). Their followers all over the world have grown energized.(-) They have alluded to religious texts that give them the right to kill millions of Americans at one time…that is al Qaeda’s nuclear policy(-). Millions of Muslim (mostly) online followers have become their chorus.

Our current terror worries have raised the ante on betting against a terrorist nuclear strike. The U.S. is now in three (3) active wars: Iraq, Afghanistan, and global terrorism. Because of these involvements, according to Brian Jenkins, we have lost our focus…namely, Pakistan.(-) This country is considered the most dangerous spot on earth. They have a nuclear arsenal(-), an unstable government and divided society as a whole. Their intelligence service, the ISI, has pro-Taliban elements ensconced inside it.(-) And, because of Pakistan, it will take a minimum of 25 years to fundamentally change the governments in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, including building up the Afghan army. (-)

The Nunn-Lugar program and other initiatives have made the chances of theft of highly enriched uranium and plutonium in Russia more remote (+). However, terrorists can buy or steal nuclear material from a rogue state easier because of Iran and North Korea producing weapons-usable material.(+)

Two Armenians sold 18 grams of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to an undercover Georgian security agent. (-) They thought he was a radical Islamist jihadist. (-)

Russia has an estimated 700 tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in hundreds of facilities with varying levels of security. (-)

Highly-enriched uranium (HEU) which could be used to make a nuclear bomb is on sale in the black market along the Russian border.(-) Arrests have been made three times in 7 years.

We do not know how much of Russia’s stockpile has been stolen. (-)

We do not know how much, if any, HEU has been sold to extremist groups. (-)

President Obama persuaded 50 world leaders to pledge to secure all vulnerable nuclear material within four years. (+)

U.S. nuclear laboratories analyzed the uranium sold to undercover agents on the black market and it was 89.4% enriched, usable in a nuclear bomb. (-)

Arrested HEU smugglers told undercover agents that there was plenty more that could be easily obtained and sold. (-)

The HEU is easy to obtain (steal) and smuggle past expensive U.S.-funded radiation sensors along the borders of the former Soviet Union. (-)

We don’t know how much HEU is currently flowing freely through the black market. (-)

Common logic suggests that HEU, indeed, has been sold to radical Islamic groups and is probably in al Qaeda’s possession. (-)

Billions of dollars has been spent upgrading security at nuclear sites around the globe. (+)

There has been 21 seizures or attempts to steal HEU or plutonium in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. (-)

There has never been a good inventory of the Soviet stockpiles because the accounting never was devised to account for internal threats. (-) However, most of the HEU thefts have been by insiders. (-)

In the 1990’s, a large amount of HEU disappeared within Russia’s stockpiles. It is hidden and someone is trying to find buyers. (-)

To make a nuclear weapon small enough to transport anywhere, you need HEU that’s 90% enriched. The confiscated HEU on the black market was 89.4% …close enough! (-)

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, hundreds of tons of HEU sat with absurdly little security. A Russian naval officer walked through a hole in the fence at a military base, cut the padlock on a shed, and carried out several kilograms of HEU in his backpack. (-)

Smugglers usually settle for below $10,000 a gram for bomb grade HEU. Al Qaeda has enough funds for many purchases. (-)

The mere existence of a black-market price for HEU is a worrisome sign that there is a supply and a demand for it. (-)

Radiation detectors along the Georgia-Armenia border failed to detect any of the HEU smuggled through. (-)

In the first three months of Operation Enduring Freedom — the Gulf War — our troops found in a cave outside of Khandahar in Afghanistan a canister filled with Uranium 238 [the basic ingredient for a nuclear bomb] and in Turnak Farms [where at one time 1,800 members of al-Qaida lived and worked] they found jars and jars and jars of yellow cake [pure uranium, dried]. (-)

Sheik Kabbani, the president of the Supreme Islamic Council of North America, appeared before the Senate and the House and said that over 48 nukes were in the U.S. (-)

A Waziristan summit meeting in Pakistan in April 2004 was attended by planners of the next 9/11. Included was one Sharif al Masry, and Adnan el-Shukrijumah, the next Mohammad Atta, and a terrorist from Brooklyn. They all confirmed that nuclear weapons had been developed by al-Qaida with the help of scientists and technicians from the A.Q. Khan Research laboratories. (-) They said was that all of the weapons had been forward deployed to Mexico and transported over the border into the U.S. (-) (Reported in a tiny paragraph in Time magazine). 


Indicator totals: (+) = 9     (-) = 37     Out of 46 indicators, 19.1% indicate that al Qaeda will not set off a nuclear weapon within the U.S., while 70.9% of the indicators suggest that al Qaeda will.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion of Ad revenues generated on this site is donated to the AFIO. His ideas are his own and do not represent those of any organization he's a member of. We will publish your ideas and comments at no charge...for the good of the order! Contact us on the secure Bpath Mail Form.