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EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE
A BRIEF REVIEW
ISSUE NUMBER 92 ON SALE/PUBLICATION DATE 18 JUNE 2014
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EYE SPY 92 VOLUME XII NUMBER FOUR (ISSUE 92) ISSN 1364 8446 publication date: AUGUST 2014
Each print edition of Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine is 84pp - full colour throughout. The images contained in this brief overview are very low resolution
Subscribed to by all the world’s leading intelligence and security agencies SPECIAL EDITORIAL FROM THE EDITOR - MARK BIRDSALL
ERRORS IN INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION Three major happenings have attracted the attention of the intelligence world of late. Firstly the shocking shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine; the advances of the terrorist group ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and a new round of bloody clashes between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Forces. ISIS was born from al-Qaida in Iraq and its followers are led by around 30 regional thugs who have a reputation for extreme violence - the likes of which we have not seen since Abu Musab al-Zarqawi operated in Iraq. Despite warning after warning from the CIA and MI6, ISIS has been allowed to develop and has now become a magnet for attracting hundreds of young men from around the world. President Obama, under increasing pressure from intelligence officials, has at last ordered strikes against the terror group which is threatening to overrun the entire north of Iraq. It will be interesting to see what support (if any) the USA is afforded by its allies. Nevertheless, the terror outfit will be difficult to eliminate. The rise of ISIS and its ‘grand leader’ - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi are examined in Eye Spy 92.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Pro-Moscow militia men
There is a legitimate back story to the appalling loss of life following the MH17 incident. Events leading up to the attack should have been sufficient to alert the air authorities that using the air corridor over this part of Ukraine was simply too dangerous. I do not understand for a moment why a secondary route was not introduced and made mandatory to all civilian carriers. Three months of air incidents and the introduction of missile systems to pro-Russia militias fighting Gaza youngster government forces, should surely have alerted decision makers that it would be best to avoid the area. I understand questions surrounding this issue have been quietly raised and discussed but this is hardly helpful to those grieving families who lost loved ones. A few thousand miles away in Gaza, another disaster has befallen its besieged people. For the third time in five years, IDF and Hamas have clashed and as predictable as ever, the losers are civilians. Commentators, politicians and world
Primitive but menacing. Qassam rocket launches used by Hamas
governments have described Israel’s response to the killing of three young men as “disproportionate.� These deaths and the murder of a young Palestinian by Israelis lit the touch paper. Militarily Hamas are no match for the IDF. The firing of rockets into Israel and the heavy weaponry used to attack launch sites in Gaza have resulted in the deaths of over 1500 people, the majority of whom are civilians. There is now a propaganda war developing - the blame game - which neither side will win. Hamas point to schools and hospitals which were undoubtedly destroyed, and to some degree it is true coordinates for such sites were delivered to Tel Aviv. Israel argues they were being used to host launch sites and store weaponry. Again, this is an aspect of the conflict which will never be resolved satisfactorily. And then there are the notorious tunnels of Hamas - used for years to secret supplies, materials and weaponry into Gaza. Todate, Israel has destroyed around 100 tunnels - some of which enter Israel. Intelligence watchers note these will inevitably be rebuilt in time. Prior to the new war, Hamas was losing support in Gaza. But now it is again enjoying popularity. Israel has been widely criticised for its hardline response and even some allies have been left shocked by the images coming out of Gaza. The Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
towns will take years to rebuild, and about 500,000 homes have been destroyed. There are no winners and only a political solution will stop this happening again. All three events have been described as “avoidable” by intelligence analysts. The growth of ISIS was predicted by the CIA and AFRICOM a year and more ago. Events in Syria and the lack of focus on who to President Obama and CIA Director John Brennan. The US Intelligence support and the Community is fast losing faith in the White House withdrawal of US forces in Iraq enabled its emergence to go unchecked. Civilian airliners should never have been allowed to overfly eastern Ukraine, and in Gaza, few analysts predicted the response ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He publicly warned the White House - “never second guess me on matters involving Hamas.” This reveals a great deal of mistrust between Washington and Tel Aviv. In truth, many analysts believe President Obama has little stomach to enter into tough negotiations as he nears the end of his second presidential term. Eye Spy was told few senior US intelligence officials trust the president to act with authority. This is perhaps reflected in the dismissive manner in which he is being treated by Moscow. President Putin simply does what he wants - and may yet - according to our sources, decide to order Russian military forces into Ukraine. If that happens, it will be interesting to see how the president and other fearful European leaders respond. NATO could react - but where will this all lead? In the world of espionage, several new cases have attracted the attention of Eye Spy, not least the on-going actions of bogus Chinese firms attaching themselves to legitimate US defence contract companies. In Germany, we have seen yet another CIA Chief of Station depart, this because two of its spies were identified. There are also rumours of an enlarged CIA spy ring which may yet lead to further rumblings in Berlin. Eye Spy investigates. We also have contracted a special tradecraft feature on cell phone and other electronic media platform interception. ‘Gone in Sixty Seconds’ reveals how you can lose sensitive information and your identity in a moment. Thankfully the author provides readers with a simple counter-measure that can help. It is a topic long discussed by Eye Spy. Virtually any cell phone can be bugged - suffice to say such devices have been banned at Cabinet Meetings in Whitehall, and ironically by the German Parliamentary Committee investigating the NSA’s interception and surveillance programme. Eye Spy 92 has a fascinating intelligence feature on the heroes of the Great War and the reopening of the Imperial War Museum. This is accompanied by some splendid imagery. It is hard to believe a hundred years have passed since this terrible conflict began. Yet one operation enabled by the British laid the foundation for today’s codebreakers. We also caught up with former New Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton. He was the first senior police officer on the scene at 36 Alderney Street, Pimlico, London, where MI6-GCHQ man Gareth Williams was discovered dead in a sports bag in 2010. Rumours about his death continue to abound, but Mr Sutton had some interesting thoughts and comments to make. These are just some of the informative features which appear in this information-packed edition. Readers can also view other reports and stories in this brief overview.
CAUGHT IN THE GAZA CROSSFIRE OPERATION PROTECTIVE EDGE
Controversy over huge civilian death toll Hamas and Israel clash for the third time in five years
Israel seeks to destroy the ‘supply and carrier’ tunnels of Gaza, as fighting between IDF troops and Hamas results in over 1500 deaths - the vast majority civilians
THE PRELUDE NOT JUST ANOTHER ORDINARY SUMMER IN UKRAINE
As NATO officials describe events in Ukraine as a ‘hybrid war requiring a hybrid solution’, Eye Spy examines a number of deadly and controversial incidents culminating in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 and the loss of 300 people. Also a fascinating insight into the work of Ukraine’s intelligence service - the SSU
KEYS TO ENIGMA
REMEMBERING A SPECIAL DAY FOR CODEBREAKERS
GONE IN 60 SECONDS TARGETS AND OPPORTUNITY
TRADECRAFT
A special tradecraft feature that reveals just how easy it is to access your cell phone and other electronic platforms - even when they are switched off. This informative article also provides users of such devices with a simple countermeasure FACT: For security purposes British premier David Cameron has banned all electronic devices at Cabinet meetings
FACT: Virtually any cell phone can be illegally accessed in seconds... FACT: Before every meeting of the German Bundestag’s NSA inquiry committee, members must leave their cell phones in a metal box in an adjacent room
FAREWELL ‘C’ MI6 CHIEF SIR JOHN SAWERS STEPS DOWN
The head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, Sir John Sawers, 58, has revealed he is to leave MI6 in November 2014, after serving as ‘C’ for five years. A look back at some notable moments in his career
DEEP BLACK: CENTRAL EXCHANGE DIEGO GARCIA AND EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION
The latest developments surrounding two major international investigations into the CIA’s extraordinary rendition programme - and the alleged role played by Britain which may yet come back to haunt both London and Washington
THE HUNT FOR AL-BAGHDADI CIA SEARCHES FOR NOTORIOUS ISIS TERROR LEADER
A defined CIA ISIS Desk and Special Forces now activated in search and elimination programme of the most dangerous terrorist to emerge since Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
The actions of ISIS against civilians and government forces in Syria and Iraq have been compared to the Nazi slaughter of millions of Jews in WWII Europe. A United Nations investigatory panel has also described them as ‘war crimes’
NEW TRANS-ATLANTIC BOMB PLOT UNDERWEAR BOMB-MAKER NOW WORKING FOR ISIS
A special report on how MI6 infiltrated a terrorist cell to discover how a notorious bomb-maker plans to bring airliners down around the world...
Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri
MH17 SHOOTDOWN INSIDE STORY: AN INTELLIGENCE PERSPECTIVE
Pro-Moscow militias bring down Malaysian civilian airliner as months of intelligence ignored on dangers of overflying eastern Ukraine
‘AIR CORRIDOR SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN OPERATIONAL’
The coffins of Dutch dead arrive at Eindhoven Airport and are afforded dignity after their shocking treatment by Ukraine rebels in Donetsk
MI6-GCHQ SPY DEATH NEW SCOTLAND YARD DETECTIVE TALKS TO EYE SPY
One of Britain’s most experienced lead detectives who worked on the investigation into the bizarre death of Gareth Williams, a GCHQ cyber specialist on secondment to MI6 in 2010, has admitted having lingering doubts about how the analyst actually died...
CIA SPY GAMES LANGLEY’S CHIEF OF STATION DEPARTS BERLIN
Langley’s most senior spy in Berlin asked to leave after German intelligence officer and military staffer arrested for trading secrets in return for money - this as allegations of a CIA spy network surface. Full inside story
RED ESPIONAGE BOGUS FRONT COMPANIES SECURE MORE US SECRETS
A complex operation exposes yet another Chinese espionage spy ring operating in North America. Eye Spy provides an insight into how such networks infiltrate the USA and secure high-end technologies which are duplicated by Beijing
THE RECRUITERS DON’T GIVE TERRORISTS THE ‘OXYGEN OF PUBLICITY’
Using ‘tradecraft’ and cunning drawn from the intelligence world, Eye Spy examines the tactics and methods used by terrorist organisations to attract, secure and deploy young men to the battlefields of Iraq, Syria, Africa and beyond...
MITROKHIN ARCHIVES KGB HAND-WRITTEN FILES NOW AVAILABLE TO VIEW
Translated, but edited copies of KGB papers from the legendary ‘Mitrokhin Archive’ have been made available for research. The hand-written notes containing a huge number of intelligence files were transcribed by senior KGB archivist Major Vasili Mitrokhin over several years at the height of the Cold War. Each day after finishing work, Mitrokhin would secretly remove reports from his office, take them home and make copies - this he did for decades. Eye Spy selects a few of the most interesting ‘intelligence gems’...
ENCOUNTER CONTROL PART FIVE IN THE INTELLIGENCE CYCLE
This feature focuses on the development and use of knives by those involved in military operations, the darker areas of intelligence, assassination and security and also as a defensive tool...
THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 SIGNALS • INTELLIGENCE • VICTORY
The British military historical event of the year was the reopening of the flagship Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London in July. This was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One and followed a major refurbishment. Eye Spy was invited to report on the occasion and a new WWI exhibition...
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