Intelligence & National Security Discussion

satya · Post by **satya** » 14 Mar 2010 22:42

How the hell in the world did this moron end up receiving Bail in the 1st place is mind boggling to say the least!

He was the tracker . Gud work . 2010-11 are going to be the years to watch if we get through with minimum burns rest is ok

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 14 Mar 2010 23:32

satya wrote:
He was the tracker . Gud work . 2010-11 are going to be the years to watch if we get through with minimum burns rest is ok

If indeed he was a Tracker, then yes, Great work. I'd rather like to believe your version over mine... HOWEVER if he was NOT a tracker and was let out on Bail for lack of evidence or some other reasons/loopholes, one needs to look into that aspect as well..
The DDM news report didn't mention anything about him being under surveillance or striking a plea-deal with the DA, because our DDM usually do drop a line here and there about these sort of things to "sensationalize" these but I didn't catch any from this report...

sum · Post by **sum** » 15 Mar 2010 09:24

Craig Alpert wrote: If indeed he was a Tracker, then yes, Great work. I'd rather like to believe your version over mine... HOWEVER if he was NOT a tracker and was let out on Bail for lack of evidence or some other reasons/loopholes, one needs to look into that aspect as well..
The DDM news report didn't mention anything about him being under surveillance or striking a plea-deal with the DA, because our DDM usually do drop a line here and there about these sort of things to "sensationalize" these but I didn't catch any from this report...

Don't expect our agencies to feed info about him being a tracker etc to the DDM and don't expect the DDM to be so sharp as to pick up the "real" story behind most of this smoke and mirrors stuff.

Avinash R · Post by **Avinash R** » 15 Mar 2010 10:42

LeT has 320 global targets; 20 of them are in India: Top US official

Masaru · Post by **Masaru** » 15 Mar 2010 11:05

Passport demand highest from backward UP districts

n 2009, the regional passport office (RPO) at Lucknow — which caters to districts like Gonda, Faizabad, Azamgarh and Jaunpur — received an average 1,403 applications daily for fresh passports. The staggering figure put it ahead of RPOs in Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab and the metros which have traditionally been the hubs of passport demand.

Are there possible security implications related to this?

Sudip · Post by **Sudip** » 15 Mar 2010 11:10

Masaru wrote:Passport demand highest from backward UP districts

n 2009, the regional passport office (RPO) at Lucknow — which caters to districts like Gonda, Faizabad, Azamgarh and Jaunpur — received an average 1,403 applications daily for fresh passports. The staggering figure put it ahead of RPOs in Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab and the metros which have traditionally been the hubs of passport demand.
Are there possible security implications related to this?

maybe just their desire to move to Gelf?

Marut · Post by **Marut** » 15 Mar 2010 11:47

The new face of terrorists & jihadis targeting India. Mansoor Peerbhoy was just the tip of the iceberg.

Some staff of Bangalore-based MNCs in touch with terrorists

Recent security audits of some of the top software firms, including Indian MNCs headquartered in Bangalore, have revealed that some
of their employees are in touch with jihadi elements in Pakistan, via the internet, or are surfing and posting messages on radical Islamic sites and blogs during their work hours.

It is a well-known fact that the profile of a terrorist has undergone a makeover in the recent times — from a madrasa-educated small towndweller to a professionally-trained person with a white-collar job in an urban centre.

Marut · Post by **Marut** » 15 Mar 2010 12:19

sum wrote:
Craig Alpert wrote: If indeed he was a Tracker, then yes, Great work. I'd rather like to believe your version over mine... HOWEVER if he was NOT a tracker and was let out on Bail for lack of evidence or some other reasons/loopholes, one needs to look into that aspect as well..
The DDM news report didn't mention anything about him being under surveillance or striking a plea-deal with the DA, because our DDM usually do drop a line here and there about these sort of things to "sensationalize" these but I didn't catch any from this report...
Don't expect our agencies to feed info about him being a tracker etc to the DDM and don't expect the DDM to be so sharp as to pick up the "real" story behind most of this smoke and mirrors stuff.

The tracker may not have known of him being tracked at all. There are many such instances in J&K during the insurgency phase when security agencies let go of the small fry or OGW's just to track their network/contacts before infiltrating with one of their own or cleaning them up. Usually the public prosecutor does not present a 'strong case' for preventing bail in these cases. If they want to keep any turd in custody, they have ways of doing it. Notice when the turd gets arrested and produced in court, it's usually for a single case/charge. The strongest possible case, based on the charge, is presented to prevent bail. Usually it works but in cases it doesn't, the pandus are waiting outside the court to catch the turd on another charge.

As sum says most DDM can't be expected to be sharp enough to figure this out, but some do and they also know what not to write. Hence we find many such half baked stories.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 16 Mar 2010 04:53

Brother In, Friend Out

India however, appears to have bungled, at least as far as the ground realities are concerned. No doubt, it had put in a good deal of finances in rebuilding war-torn Afghanistan, even completed the 200 km Delaram-Zaranj highway but was never unequivocal in its approach.

What did India actually want to achieve in Afghanistan? Did it want to thwart the Pakistani moves of establishing a 'strategic depth'? Or did India wish to use Afghanistan as a spring board to launch into resource-rich Central Asia? Or was it just an economic venture anyway?

These queries may be answered only by the Foreign Policy establishment of the 'Land of Eternal Peace'.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 16 Mar 2010 10:35

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/ ... sonnel.htm

Two persons moving around in a suspicious manner near a key Indian Space Research Organisation facility on the outskirts of Bangalore fired at security personnel in the wee hours on Tuesday after which the guards retaliated, but the duo escaped.

abhijitm · Post by **abhijitm** » 16 Mar 2010 11:09

krishnan wrote:http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/ ... sonnel.htm

Two persons moving around in a suspicious manner near a key Indian Space Research Organisation facility on the outskirts of Bangalore fired at security personnel in the wee hours on Tuesday after which the guards retaliated, but the duo escaped.

two armed men come near ISRO, fire at guards and escape!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
unbelievable

Now I know how safe a common man is

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 16 Mar 2010 11:24

But that is still a civilian agency. Now this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_shoot ... adquarters

abhijitm · Post by **abhijitm** » 16 Mar 2010 11:37

Carl_T wrote:But that is still a civilian agency. Now this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_shoot ... adquarters

but the good thing is that the attacker was finally caught. Lets see what happens in our case.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 16 Mar 2010 11:53

Carl_T wrote:But that is still a civilian agency. Now this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_shoot ... adquarters

But i think they are under CISF protection

Marut · Post by **Marut** » 16 Mar 2010 16:37

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/isro-shootou ... ml?from=tn
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/03/16/isro ... pt-pc.html

Chidu says it wasn't a terror attack. Karnataka Police thinks the CISF guard may be spinning a yarn

Hope this gets figured out. Either ways, not a positive thing for CISF.

ankit-s · Post by **ankit-s** » 16 Mar 2010 20:09

China provided Pak blueprint to build N-weapon

Washington: It is China which provided Pakistan with the blueprint to build a nuclear weapon, in early 1980s, a small, reliable armament that could be delivered on India by attack aircraft or missile, according to a new book

The book "Peddling Peril: The Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America's Enemies" that hit the stands today gives an in-depth account of how the maligned AQ Khan network through espionage and stealing build the nuclear plant and finally weapon for Pakistan, the secret technology of which was later passed to several rouge States.

http://www.zeenews.com/news611708.html

sum · Post by **sum** » 16 Mar 2010 21:49

Centre orders action against Maharashtra ATS chief

The central government has taken strong exception to Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief K P Raghuvanshi divulging key information to the media about terror suspects and their links in Pakistan, and asked the state government for action against him, according to an official here.

The government is not happy with Raghuvanshi's loose talk and the way he is functioning, a top home ministry official said Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

Raghuvanshi addressed reporters in Mumbai Sunday when the ATS arrested two terror suspects and foiled a major plot to blow up state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) terminals, a mall and a market complex in Mumbai.

He told mediapersons that preliminary investigations revealed that the arrested duo - Abdul Latif Sheikh, 29, and Riyaz Ali, 23 - were trained in Pakistan and were in touch with terror outfits in that country.

The ATS chief also revealed that the two were talking to somebody in Pakistan whom they referred to as "uncle", apparently their handler in Pakistan. Raghuvanshi said the ATS had been tracking the duo for the past 10 days.

The Home Ministry official in New Delhi said the ATS chief's statements to media have hindered the investigation process.

He added that the government has found Raghuvanshi talking to mediapersons and has asked the state government to take action against him.

Sometimes the police dont provide even vital info and sometimes they overdo it.

Hope they take courses from the IB who silently do their job and pack up without too many soundbytes.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 17 Mar 2010 09:48

A Dagger to the CIA

On December 30, in one of the deadliest attacks in CIA history, an Al Qaeda double agent schemed his way onto a U.S. base in Afghanistan and blew himself into the next life, taking seven Americans with him. How could this have happened? Agency veteran Robert Baer explains, offering chilling new details about the attack and a plea to save the dying art of espionage

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politic ... to-the-cia

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 17 Mar 2010 12:40

^^^ Looks like the Company has unlearned a lot of its former lessons! Very elementary mistakes have led to the Khost incidents, stuff which a "duly BRF acclimatised" abdul would be able to point out, such as:

An old operative I used to work with in Beirut said he would have picked up Balawi himself and debriefed him in his car, arguing that any agent worth his salt would never expose the identity of a valued asset to a foreigner like the Afghan driver.

AND

One thing that should have raised doubts about Balawi was that he had yet to deliver any truly damaging intelligence on Al Qaeda, such as the location of Zawahiri or the plans for the Northwest bomb plot. Balawi provided just enough information to keep us on the hook, but never enough to really hurt his true comrades. And how was it that Balawi got Al Qaeda members to pose for pictures? This should have been another sign. These guys don't like their pictures taken. So there were a few clear reasons not to trust Balawi, or at least to deal with him with extreme caution.

AND the real Dagger

But the most inexplicable error was to have met Balawi by committee. Informants should always be met one-on-one. Always.

Looks like people like "Kathy" have been promoted to innately incompetent positions, where the daily grind is manageable, but jab push comes to shove tab rassi toot jaathi hai.

The fact is that Kathy, no matter how courageous and determined, was in over her head. This does not mean she was responsible for what happened. She was set up to fail. The battlefield was tilted in Al Qaeda's favor long ago—by John Deutch and his reforms, by the directors who followed him

Hope NIA, RAW and IB take many pages out of this blunder committed by the Company

sum · Post by **sum** » 17 Mar 2010 13:24

abhishek_sharma wrote:A Dagger to the CIA

On December 30, in one of the deadliest attacks in CIA history, an Al Qaeda double agent schemed his way onto a U.S. base in Afghanistan and blew himself into the next life, taking seven Americans with him. How could this have happened? Agency veteran Robert Baer explains, offering chilling new details about the attack and a plea to save the dying art of espionage
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politic ... to-the-cia

Thanks a ton for the link. Fascinating read.

Kanson · Post by **Kanson** » 17 Mar 2010 18:09

^^ I guess, clipping the wings of CIA, started during the Reagan era. At the end of coldwar, if i'm not wrong, CIA was running its own limited empire like ISI and decision to "clean" the CIA seems to be a policy decision and not some adhoc one as described by the veteran.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 17 Mar 2010 18:31

sum wrote:Sometimes the police dont provide even vital info and sometimes they overdo it.Hope they take courses from the IB who silently do their job and pack up without too many soundbytes.

Without raising any suspicion about their integrity , I am wondering if this leak was deliberate to tip off the Pak handlers ( via D whose close proximity to Police and Maharashtra Ministers is well known )

No police officer worth is salt will ever give such kind of information knowing very well that investigation is in progress.

Did the Gujarat police leaked the same stuff ? I think not.

So why did ATS chief leaked such a vital information causing permanent damage to the investigation ?

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 17 Mar 2010 18:59

Austin wrote: So why did ATS chief leaked such a vital information causing permanent damage to the investigation ?

He was show boating.

All these guys have unfulfilled ambitions of foreign deputations or some comfortable post retirement sinecure.

They all have no situational awareness other than what the political bosses want.

Since there is no progress on the pune german bakery case, they desperately wanted to claim some success, consequences be damned.

ASPuar · Post by **ASPuar** » 17 Mar 2010 22:59

Isnt this the same guy who blamed diners and the bakery for the Pune blast?

abhijitm · Post by **abhijitm** » 17 Mar 2010 23:34

Karnataka govt. rules out exchange of fire at ISRO facility

Why we have to rely so much on eyewitnesses? Dont we have money and technology to install cctv cameras around key national assets? Just few cameras and "doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani". Why search bullets, question the constable and conclude nothing happened?

My question is to the BRFites who work in DRDO, ISRO, Universities etc. Do we have cctv network there?

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 18 Mar 2010 02:40

Childish’ salt in RAW wound - Spy agency’s secrecy rules draw scorn from tribunal

“The anonymity of personnel of R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing) is more a myth than reality…. There can be nothing gained by asking the officers of RAW to keep to their shells,” the Central Administrative Tribunal ruled yesterday, adding that the veil of secrecy expected of RAW officials was “rather childish”.

“The RTI Act has percolated to every nook and corner of government activities and it may be difficult to accept… now that RAW is shrouded in rigid secrecy,” Ramachandran ruled.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 18 Mar 2010 05:53

sum wrote:
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politic ... to-the-cia

What is not told is that by 1995 lot of operatives had deep connection to Afghan Mujahids, Kashmir mujahids and Afghan drug trade and Gangs such as D Company - Dawood.

To remove the traces of these connection they shut down the operatives but it did not shut down Gen Aslam Beg, Hamid Gul who where all under the CIA connections eco system.

It's impossible to pinpoint exactly when the operatives' sun started to set, but many CIA insiders would point to John Deutch, the former MIT provost and Bill Clinton's second CIA director. From the moment Deutch set foot in Langley, he made it plain that he hated the operatives, their swagger and arrogance. Deutch held them responsible for some of America's worst foreignpolicy fiascoes, from the Bay of Pigs to the overthrow of Allende in Chile. In December 1995, he told The New York Times: "Compared to uniformed officers, [CIA operatives] are certainly not as competent, or as understanding of what their relative role is and what their responsibilities are."

Deutch's first shot at the operatives was his appointment of Dave Cohen as deputy director of operations, the CIA's most senior operative. Cohen was an analyst who had never served overseas or run a foreign informant. Deutch's message couldn't be any clearer: Anyone can do an operative's work.

The first thing Cohen did was order a "scrub" of every informant with dirty hands. Drug dealers, dictators' minions, arms dealers, terrorists—Cohen ordered the operatives to sever ties with all of them. The only problem was, these were the people who mix well with our enemies—rogue regimes like Iran and North Korea and terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Al Qaeda. Deutch and Cohen didn't care; they had a mandate to clean up the CIA, and that's what they were going to do.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 18 Mar 2010 05:55

India will be a dominant player in South Asia, Middle East

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 18 Mar 2010 06:11

VinodTK wrote:India will be a dominant player in South Asia, Middle East

Mostly for PRC consumption. It means for the last 30-40 years the PRC was told they would control most of the area.

COMMENTS:
This is kind of tactic US usually uses. As in recent past days China out-spoke on issues like Taiwan and Dalai Lama against US, the US is now giving positive appraisal to India than to China.
from: MIchael F
Posted on: Mar 17, 2010 at 11:39 IST

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 18 Mar 2010 08:07

Peddling Peril

An exclusive excerpt from David Albright's new book, Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America's Enemies.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... ling_peril

RayC · Post by **RayC** » 18 Mar 2010 08:10

‘Childish’ salt in RAW wound
- Spy agency’s secrecy rules draw scorn from tribunal

New Delhi, March 17: You would imagine them tiptoeing across foreign alleyways, casting nervous glances over their shoulder as they head for a clandestine meeting with an “asset” to receive a secret document.

But if India’s top administrative tribunal is to be believed, the 007s of the country’s spy agency might as well do it all in the glare of TV cameras.

“The anonymity of personnel of R&AW (Research and Analysis Wing) is more a myth than reality…. There can be nothing gained by asking the officers of RAW to keep to their shells,” the Central Administrative Tribunal ruled yesterday, adding that the veil of secrecy expected of RAW officials was “rather childish”........

Nisha Priya Bhatia, who is in her late 40s, had created a media sensation by swallowing rat poison outside the PMO in August 2008 after being refused entry to voice her charge of sexual harassment against a colleague.

She was compulsorily retired last December 18, the order issued by the cabinet secretary citing Rule 135 (1)(a) of the R&AW (Recruitment, Cadre & Service) to say that any official exposed as an intelligence officer could be compulsorily retired as having become unemployable for security reasons. ....

There is nothing secret about RAW, the tribunal said, advising the agency to “update” its approach “in tune with (the) change in times”......

The ruling appeared to make no distinction between the agency’s covert operatives and those in desk jobs. It said: “After 10-12 years of assignments around the world, any persons, whether an Indian or a foreigner, if interested in intelligence work, (will) come to know who is who….”.......

External intelligence officials are by convention expected to guard their identity. When Valerie Palme, a covert operative of US spy agency CIA, was outed by a journalist apparently following a leak from within the George Bush administration, she had to resign.

An investigation followed allegations that the White House had targeted her because her husband, a former ambassador, had claimed Washington had hyped the case for the Iraq war. It led to the conviction of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney, for perjury.

Interesting Judgement

An interesting judgement by the Tribunal.

There is no doubt that the Tribunal would have examined the case before giving this opinion. However, one wonders can gathering of intelligence by agents be done overtly!

ASPuar · Post by **ASPuar** » 18 Mar 2010 09:47

^^

This judgement seems ill thought out, and shows complete lack of application of mind. Perhaps the tribunal should forego its childish churlishness, and allow government agencies to work in the manner in which they must, according to their own professional judgement.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 18 Mar 2010 15:27

abhijitm wrote:Karnataka govt. rules out exchange of fire at ISRO facility

Why we have to rely so much on eyewitnesses? Dont we have money and technology to install cctv cameras around key national assets? Just few cameras and "doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani". Why search bullets, question the constable and conclude nothing happened?

My question is to the BRFites who work in DRDO, ISRO, Universities etc. Do we have cctv network there?

With regard to the ISRO and DRDO/HAL/NAL facilities in namma-bengalooru, the residential quarters for the employees are usually walking distance from these assets, employees will usually identify each other through visual or simple id check onlee. Same in the case of IISc, people come and people go and there is hardly any screening for odd or erratic behavior. CCTV's are located only in highly sensitive areas which are mostly off-limits to most people.

ISRO and NAL have been electrically fenced and have remotely operated gates to prevent Dec 2001 Parliament type terro attacks, nothing which can prevent 26/11 type of attack. For that I think we need tower based remotely operated robotic machine guns

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 19 Mar 2010 04:31

No Surgical Strike on Terror Camps in Pak: MoS Raju

ndia on Thursday ruled out the possibility of any surgical strike on terror camps inside Pakistan, but asserted that adequate measures would be taken to ensure its interests are protected.

"No, no," minister of state for defence M M Pallam Raju, said when asked about the possibility of surgical strikes on terror camps inside the neighbouring country.

He told reporters here, "We will take adequate measures to see to it that our nation is safe, our citizens are safe, and our interests are safeguarded."

While expressing hope that Pakistan will act against terror camps operating from its soil, he said India will also ensure that its interests are protected and the nation is secure.

"The first responsibility is towards ensuring adequate security towards which we are leaving no stone unturned. Beyond that whatever information we have about these camps, we have brought it to the notice of our neighbour and we hope they will take action on that," he said on the sidelines of a seminar at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses here.

" Across the borders, we are taking adequate safety measures and we are continuing to talk to that government. I am sure there will be results at the end of the day," he said.

Defence minister A K Antony had yesterday said there were 42 terror camps inside Pakistan and that the neighbour had not done enough yet to dismantle the terror infrastructure.

On the gaps in the Army's anti-tank missile systems, Raju said the defence ministry would provide whatever capability the Services needed within the time frame that they sought. "The entire endeavour of the Ministry is to supply the capability that the Services want within the time frame that they seek," he said.

Asked if the defence ministry would do away with the system of 'Sahayaks (batman)' for Army officers as strongly recommended by a parliamentary committee, Raju said it was for the concerned service to examine it, just like the Air Force and the Navy have acted on it.

"It is for the Army to look into it and see what is appropriate," he added.

this reminds of a famous tag line in the commercial "Got Balls?" or shall I say "Grow Balls?"

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 19 Mar 2010 08:14

http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnew ... leID=29934

India's internal security is under fresh threat, both from terrorists and Maoists. On Monday last, three States -- Maharashtra, West Bengal and Karnataka were put on terror alert.This follows interrogation of Indian Mujahideen (IM) suspect Salman Ahmed, who has "revealed" that plans are afoot to engineer serial blasts in three cities, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata and in particular "target foreigners."

Meanwhile, the Centre has finally adopted stern strategy viz the Maoists' threat. It has discarded Kishenji's ultimatum of striking cities and towns if its offer of talks is rejected. Instead, it has put Operation Green Hunt into top gear in Bengal and Jharkhand.

sum · Post by **sum** » 19 Mar 2010 08:44

HT was airing the story about the PSO of Advani in '92 now claiming that he was directly involved in the demolition etc. However, the channel mentioned that the then PSO, Anju Gupta is now a IG and deputed to RAW. They later must have realized their faux-pas and changed the headline to "IG is currently in a sensitive role".

Isn't the channel in breach of the OSA for blowing a RAW officer's cover ( assuming her RAW deputation isnt a well known fact)?

krisna · Post by **krisna** » 19 Mar 2010 08:49

sum wrote:Centre orders action against Maharashtra ATS chief

The central government has taken strong exception to Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief K P Raghuvanshi divulging key information to the media about terror suspects and their links in Pakistan, and asked the state government for action against him, according to an official here.

Centre proposes....

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 700179.cms

The Maharashtra home department has decided not to initiate any action against K P Raghuvanshi, chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

state disposes...

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 20 Mar 2010 05:16

The great game with China, India

Only a strip of sixteen miles of intervening Indian territory at one point in Bangladesh's northern borders prevents Bangladesh from having a direct border with China. If during any physical conflict between India and China, any push through by Chinese forces across this sixteen miles strip of territory occur, such a development will lead to complete geographical isolation of the seven north-eastern Indian states with the rest of India. In that case, Indian forces would be able to reach the theater of conflict if only Bangladesh allows Indian forces to travel directly through Bangladesh territories.

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 20 Mar 2010 06:33

Parcel With Defence Installations Maps Recovered

Craig Alpert · Post by **Craig Alpert** » 20 Mar 2010 06:34

Chidamabarm to Leave for 3-Day Visit to UK