FAS | Intelligence | News | 1998 ||||

April 1998 Intelligence News

• PCI Shines in NIMA Pathfinder98 PCI personnel participated in the US National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) Pathfinder98 program during the spring and summer of 1997.
• [EXCERPTS] DoD News Briefing / Secretary Cohen and Minister of Defense Alain Richard, Republic of France Thursday, April 30, 1998 - Q: You mentioned increasing military space cooperation and I was curious about the kind of programs or objectives you might have. Are you looking at sharing of military space intelligence with the U.S.? Are you looking at developing joint intelligence satellites? Reconnaissance, imaging?
• TERRORISM REMAINS A SERIOUS GLOBAL THREAT, STATE DEPT. SAYS 30 April 1998 By Edmund F. Scherr USIA -- While the number of international terrorist incidents remains at a relatively lower level, a State Department report emphasizes that terrorism remains a "serious, ongoing threat around the world."
• Identification Lab Examines Bay of Pigs Remains From Nicaragua 29 April 1998 Rudi Williams American Forces Press Service -- The Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii is examining bone fragments found in Nicaragua that could be those of two fliers missing since the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba.
• DRUG CERTIFICATION Voice of America 29 April 1998 - FORMER U-S AMBASSADOR TO PANAMA AMBLER MOSS, WHO HEADS A RESEARCH CENTER IN FLORIDA, SAYS THE U-S CERTIFICATION SYSTEM HAS NOT WORKED.
• NRO Provides Support to the Warfighters -- 28 April 1998 The Rapid Targeting Capability has been in Bosnia since Sept. 1996. The key players in developing the system were the NRO, the Air Force's Reconnaissance Program office at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio and the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake.
• DAS WINER REMARKS ON TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN 27 April 1998 - Jonathan Winer, deputy assistant secretary of state for law enforcement and crime in the State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, spoke on efforts to curb the smuggling of illegal aliens and the trafficking in women and children.
• Air Force retiring SR-71 Blackbirds 27 April 1998 -- (AFNS) -- The SR-71 Blackbird, a pioneer in reconnaissance aircraft, will be permanently retired from Air Force operations. The decision follows the secretary of defense's approval March 6 to permanently retire the aircraft following the president's line-item veto of the Defense Appropriations Act in October.
• Special Ops helicopters get new technology 27 April 1998 -- (AFNS) --The Air Force received the first production-modified MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter from Lockheed Martin Federal Systems at a ceremony April 17.
• DoD News Briefing Thursday, April 23, 1998 - 2:25 p.m. (EDT) Mr. Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD (PA) Masters of Download. The nature of the material, software they reportedly downloaded, and how much currency that software would actually have on the market in terms of selling it to terrorists.
• CONGRESS/CUBA 23 April 1998 Voice of America -- CUBAN-AMERICAN LAWMAKERS HAVE ANNOUNCED NEW LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO CUBAN DISSIDENT GROUPS AND THOSE WHO SUFFER POLITICAL PERSECUTION.
• STARR / SECRET SERVICE 23 April 1998 Voice of America -- INDEPENDENT COUNSEL KENNETH STARR IS WAGING A LEGAL BATTLE WITH THE DEPARTMENTS OF JUSTICE AND TREASURY OVER WHETHER HE HAS THE RIGHT TO COMPEL TESTIMONY FROM SECRET SERVICE AGENTS IN THE PROBE INTO SEX AND PERJURY CHARGES AGAINST PRESIDENT CLINTON.
• U-S / TERRORISM 22 April 1998 Voice of America -- THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION SAYS THE UNITED STATES REMAINS VULNERABLE TO CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL TERRORISM.
• TERRORISM THREAT AGAINST THE UNITED STATES 22 April 1998 Voice of America -- PARTICIPANTS AT A CONFERENCE AT WASHINGTON'S CATO INSTITUTE PROPOSED A MORE RESTRAINED U-S FOREIGN POLICY TO REDUCE THE TERRORIST THREAT.
• GERMANY / TERRORISM 22 April 1998 Voice of America -- THE DISBANDING OF GERMANY'S ONCE-FEARED "RED ARMY FACTION" TERROR GROUP IS BEING GREETED WITH A MIXTURE OF RELIEF, SKEPTICISM AND ANGER.
• ARABS / TERROR 22 April 1998 Voice of America -- ARAB GOVERNMENTS HAVE CONCLUDED A LANDMARK TREATY PLEDGING JOINT EFFORTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM.
• DoD News Briefing Captain Mike Doubleday, DASD (PA) Tuesday, April 21, 1998 - 1:45 p.m. (EDT) -- Comment about a report recently to the European parliament concerning the development these last years of U.S. and British eavesdropping system called Echelon.
• ARABS / TERROR PACT 21 April 1998 Voice of America -- ARAB JUSTICE AND INTERIOR MINISTERS ARE EXPECTED TO SIGN A NEW AGREEMENT PLEDGING STEPPED-UP EFFORTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM.
• PAK DRUGS 21 April 1998 Voice of America -- HUNDREDS OF PAKISTANI SOLDIERS HAVE BEGUN DESTROYING OPIUM CROPS IN A REMOTE CORNER OF PAKISTAN.
• CLINTON ON ANNIVERSARY OF OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING 20 April 1998 -- President Clinton called the bombing, the worst terrorist action in US history, "an attack, not just on the people, a city, a state, a nation but on what we stand for."
• WACO ANNIVERSARY 17 April 1998 Voice of America -- SUNDAY (4/19) IS THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRE THAT DESTROYED THE CHURCH AND LIVING QUARTERS OF THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN RELIGIOUS SECT NEAR THE U-S CITY OF WACO, TEXAS.
• BAY OF PIGS ANNIVERSARY 17 April 1998 Voice of America -- VETERANS OF THE FAILED BAY OF PIGS INVASION REMEMBERED THEIR FALLEN COLLEAGUES FRIDAY IN MIAMI.
• U-S SPY HEARING 4/16/98 Voice of America A U-S (FEDERAL) JUDGE HAS DENIED BAIL FOR A FIRED INTELLIGENCE AGENT ACCUSED OF SPYING FOR TWO FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
• ISRAEL INTELLIGENCE CHIEF Voice of America 4/16/98 THE CHIEF OF ISRAELI ARMY INTELLIGENCE SAYS HE BELIEVES PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT HAS MADE IT CLEAR TO THE MILITANT HAMAS GROUP THAT THERE MUST BE NO TERROR ATTACKS ON ISRAEL FOR NOW.
• DoD News Briefing Thursday, April 16, 1998 ELIGIBLE RECEIVER is a game that was played by the Joint Staff last June. It tested our ability to deal with cyber attacks. It was directed only against our unclassified systems, not against classified systems, and it found that we have a lot of work to do to provide better security.
• V-O-A / IRAN BROADCASTS Voice of America 4/15/98 THE STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS IT SUPPORTS INCREASED FARSI LANGUAGE BROADCASTS BY THE VOICE OF AMERICA AS A WAY TO ENRICH POLITICAL DEBATE IN IRAN, AND DOES NOT PLAN TO USE A PROPOSED NEW SERVICE TO BEAM ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA INTO THE COUNTRY.
• U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing , APRIL 15, 1998 - IRAN Radio Free Europe and Voice of America Money Used for Broadcasting Persian Language to Iran / Discussions with Congress/Funding / Czech Government's Concerns and Terrorism COLOMBIA Blackhawks and Counter-Narcotics Operations / Update on AmCit
• [EXCERPTS] DoD News Briefing Tuesday, April 14, 1998 DIA intelligence report saying that the Colombian military could be defeated in five years by the guerrillas.
• CIA / ENVIRONMENT Voice of America 4/14/98 AN ANALYST FROM THE U-S CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ARGUES THAT MANY OF THE THREATS TO WORLD PEACE TODAY STEM FROM ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS.
• NICARAGUA / C-I-A Voice of America 4/13/98: U-S ARMY FORENSIC EXPERTS HAVE RECOVERED WHAT COULD BE THE REMAINS OF TWO CUBAN EXILES WHO DIED IN 1961 WHEN THEIR PLANE CRASHED IN NICARAGUA DURING THE BAY OF PIGS OPERATION.
• GERMANY / LIBYA Voice of America 4/10/98 LIBYAN AUTHORITIES MAY NOW BE WILLING TO PROVIDE HELP IN THE 12-YEAR-OLD INVESTIGATION OF A TERRORIST BOMBING IN BERLIN.
• COLOMBIA - PENTAGON Voice of America 4/10/98 THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT IS LOSING THE WAR AGAINST VARIOUS MARXIST INSURGENCIES, BASED ON A SECRET U-S INTELLIGENCE REPORT.
• "Disgruntled" CIA Employees Ralph McGehee CIABASE 10 Apr 1998 CIA is confronted each year with two or three cases of disgruntled employees on administrative leave who are seen as risks. CIA officials say that each year it must deal with "dozens" of cases involving medical, personnel and other issues.
• [EXCERPTS] U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1998 - COLUMBIA Reaction to Bob Novak's Column Regarding Guerrilla Insurgency
• [EXCERPTS] DoD News Briefing Thursday, April 9, 1998 - Is there any sort of high level thought being given in the building to a new strategy in terms of assistance to the Colombian government vis-�-vis the insurgency, not the counterdrug stuff? The Congress laid out fairly specific requirements that had to be considered for looking at Cuban military capabilities. We had to look at threats that Cuba could pose to U.S. national security including but not limited to unconventional threats such as encouragement of massive destabilizing waves of immigration into the United States, attacks on citizens or residents of the United States if they're carrying out protests near Cuban territorial lines.
• COMPUTER CRIME Voice of America 09-Apr-98 2:38 RECENTLY, EIGHT COUNTRIES [BRITAIN, CANADA, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, JAPAN, RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES] AGREED TO WORK TOGETHER TO FIGHT COMPUTER CRIME. THEY ALSO ARE WORKING TO MAKE SURE LEGAL ACTION CAN BE BROUGHT AGAINST PEOPLE WHO COMMIT COMPUTER CRIMES WHEREVER THEY LIVE.
• SAF / INTELLIGENCE Voice of America 4/9/98 SOUTH AFRICA'S GOVERNMENT HAS APPOINTED A COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE THE COUNTRY'S MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SERVICES. THE ANNOUNCEMENT FOLLOWS THE SUBMISSION OF A FALSE INTELLIGENCE REPORT TO PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA.
• NIMA and Commercial Imagery Q&A with Robert D. Steele, President of OPEN SOURCE SOLUTIONS Inc. The bad news here is that NIMA is still not getting the support it needs from the CINCS or SecDef for a hard-dollar commitment to out-year procurements of commercial imagery.
• LATAM DRUGS Voice of America 4/8/98 COLOMBIA'S NATIONAL POLICE CHIEF CALLS "OPERATION PELICAN" ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STRIKES AGAINST NARCOTICS SMUGGLING IN RECENT YEARS.
• AFOSI welcomes 33 new special agents Released: Apr 7, 1998 ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AFNS) -- The Air Force Office of Special Investigations welcomed 33 new special agents to its ranks during a graduation ceremony April 3 at the Air Force Special Investigations Academy.
• EDITORIAL: LIBYA'S LACK OF COMPLIANCE Voice of America APRIL 7, 1998 -- LIBYA HAS YET TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTIONS DEMANDING COOPERATION IN INVESTIGATIONS OF TWO TERRORIST BOMBINGS.
• MCCAFFREY/DRUGS Voice of America 4/7/98 U.S. DRUG CZAR GENERAL BARRY MCCAFFREY SAYS AUTHORITIES ARE FACING A NEW THREAT IN DRUG MONEY LAUNDERING: NEARLY INSTANT TRANSFERS OF ILLEGAL CASH WITH THE CLICK OF A COMPUTER MOUSE.
• PALESTINIAN / HAMAS Voice of America 4/6/98 PALESTINIAN POLICE SAY HAMAS MILITARY LEADER MUHYIDEEN AL-SHARIF WAS KILLED A WEEK AGO BY FELLOW-MEMBERS OF HAMAS AS A RESULT OF AN INTERNAL DISPUTE, AND NOT BY ISRAELI AGENTS AS HAMAS HAD CLAIMED.
• 67 Palestinians Suspected of Cooperating With Israel Have Been Murdered (Communicated by the Government Press Office) Jerusalem, April 6, 1998 The Palestinian security services expend considerable efforts to monitor and interrogate Palestinians suspected of cooperating with Israel. Suspects have been kidnapped by the PA security services and forcibly detained in Palestinian prisons, where they have been questioned about their alleged ties to Israel.
• PAK U-S Voice of America 4/6/98 PAKISTAN HAS RELEASED A PAKISTANI EMPLOYEE OF THE U-S DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY (DEA) WHO WAS CONVICTED LAST YEAR OF "ANTI-STATE ACTIVITIES" AND DRUG TRAFFICKING.
• SAF DEFENSE CHIEF Voice of America 4/6/98 SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA HAS ACCEPTED THE RESIGNATION OF THE COUNTRY'S NATIONAL DEFENSE FORCE CHIEF, GEORGE MEIRING, FOLLOWING A REPORT GENERAL MEIRING MADE OF A PLOT TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT.
• IRAQI OPPOSITION Voice of America 4/6/98 THE IRAQI OPPOSITION HAS NOT ENDED ITS CRUSADE FOR OUTSIDE SUPPORT TO BOLSTER ITS FIGHT AGAINST SADDAM HUSSEIN.
• Counterintelligence agents needed WASHINGTON (Army News Service, April 3, 1998) -- The counterintelligence field needs soldiers to fill more than 125 positions. Applications are currently being accepted for reclassification to Military Occupational Skill 97B.
• Arrest of former CIA employee Douglas F. Groat STATEMENT BY THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE Press Release 04/03/98 No. 04-98 -- 3 April 98
• C-I-A ALLEGED SPY Voice of America 4/3/98 -- FORMER C-I-A EMPLOYEE DOUGLAS GROAT WAS CHARGED WITH FOUR COUNTS OF ESPIONAGE FRIDAY AND ONE COUNT OF ATTEMPTED EXTORTION.
• CUBA INTEL Voice of America 4/3/98: A STORY IN FRIDAY'S MIAMI HERALD (NEWSPAPER) SAYS THE SOVIET UNION LEARNED OF U-S BATTLE PLANS IN THE 1991 PERSIAN GULF WAR BY ELECTRONIC EAVESDROPPING FROM AN OUTPOST IN CUBA.
• WORLD TRADE BOMB SENTENCE Voice of America 4/3/98: A PALESTINIAN MAN CONVICTED OF BOMBING THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IN 1993 WAS SENTENCED TODAY TO 240 YEARS IN PRISON
• [EXCERPTS] TRANSCRIPT: STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, APRIL 3, 1998 CUBA Russia Monitoring Facility at Lourdes in Cuba EL SALVADOR Sentencing of National Guardsmen for Murder of Nuns; USG Assessment of Killings; Possible Request for Declassification of Documents Related to Killings COLOMBIA U.S. Anti-Drug Aid to Colombia Military; No Aid for Anti-Guerrilla Operations Not Tied to Drug Traffickers; Russian Mafia Connection with Narco-Trafficking Guerrillas
• COHEN/CUBA Voice of America 4/2/98: DEFENSE SECRETARY WILLIAM COHEN DENIES A PUBLISHED ACCOUNT HE IS TRYING TO CHANGE A REPORT ON CUBA FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES.
• ANTI-CORRUPTION MEETING Voice of America 4/2/98: ANTI-CORRUPTION EXPERTS MEETING IN MIAMI, FLORIDA SAY UNREGULATED OFFSHORE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ARE PLAYING A KEY ROLE IN THE SPREAD OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AROUND THE WORLD.
• NEW DIRECTOR OF DEFENSE SECURITY SERVICE SELECTED April 1, 1998
• CLINTON / PEACEKEEPING VOA 4/1/98 PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS OUTLINED THE IMPORTANCE OF PEACEKEEPING IN AFRICA TO PREVENT THE OUTBREAK OF VIOLENCE ON THE CONTINENT.
• CUBA REPORT / REACT VOA 4/1/98 THE TINY, BUT INFLUENTIAL, GROUP OF CUBAN AMERICAN LAWMAKERS IN CONGRESS IS REACTING ANGRILY TO A PENTAGON ASSESSMENT THAT CUBA NO LONGER REPRESENTS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES.