FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. Spy story: Mata Hari and Anna Chapman. Contributor Charles Simmons tells the tale: “HUMINT, the acquisition of intelligence through human means, is a key tool for any spy organization. For as long as men have governed or made war, women have been employed to acquire intelligence. . . . Mata Hari and Ann Chapman were separated by a century in time. But in the spy game, HUMINT is HUMINT, and the centuries don’t change good tradecraft.”
2. Speaking up: women in Defense. Also from Editor Lindy Kyzer, “Women aren’t expecting opportunities to fall into their laps, but they may also not be taking the steps it takes to get noticed. For women seeking to ‘lean-into’ a defense industry career, keep these tips in mind . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Droning ISIS to death. Defense One contributors Arthur Herman and William Luti report, “Fortunately, [Secretary of Defense Ash] Carter will have at hand the perfect tool for delivering a series of mortal blows against ISIS without putting a single American soldier on the ground: America’s fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAV’s. Of course, UAV’s now fly routinely over the ISIS battlefield conducting reconnaissance and combat. However, instead of launching occasional missile strikes as they do now, the key to defeating ISIS must be a systematic and sustained drone air campaign . . . .”
2. Strategic victory for ISIS in Thar Thar. The Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss report, “The Islamic State overran the headquarters of an Iraqi Army brigade stationed in the Thar Thar area northwest of Baghdad late last week. Scores of Iraqi soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured . . . . Thar Thar is a strategic area for both the Iraqi military and the Islamic State. Control of the region allows the Islamic State to move forces and supplies between eastern Anbar province and southern Salahaddin province.” See also, “Is winning in Tikrit really the key for Iraq retaking Mosul?”
3. ISIS chems peshmerga, perhaps. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “Kurdish sources in Iraq have said they have evidence that Islamic State (ISIS) used chlorine gas as a chemical weapon against Kurdish peshmerga fighters. The Kurdistan Region Security Council said the chlorine gas was spread by a suicide truck bomb attack on 23 January in northern Iraq. Iraqi officials and Kurds fighting in Syria have made several similar allegations since last fall about ISIS using chlorine chemical weapons against them.”
4. Nuclear talks: agree to keep talking. AP’s Bradley Klapper and George Jahn report, “The United States and Iran are plunging back into negotiations in a bid to end a decades-long standoff that has raised the specter of an Iranian nuclear arsenal, a new atomic arms race in the Middle East and even a U.S. or Israeli military intervention. Two weeks out from a deadline for a framework accord, some officials said the awesomeness of the diplomatic task meant negotiators would likely settle for an announcement that they’ve made enough progress to justify further talks.” See also, “Iran Produces First Long-Range Missile.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. DARPAs’ 100-gig project. Military & Aerospace Electronics’ John Keller reports, “U.S. military researchers are moving forward on a project to develop a military wireless data link able to transmit data at speeds as fast as 100 gigabits per second within one RF and microwave frequency channel. Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., released a solicitation last week (DARPA-BAA-15-22) for the second and third phases of the 100 Gb/s RF Backbone (100G) program. These phases of the 100G program will reduce the number of participating contractors from six to two, and the two companies picked will share about $27 million.”
2. Fed contractor inventory. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “How many contractor employees does the federal government rely on, at what cost per person, and how does that compare with the cost of assigning the same task to a full-time hire? . . . ‘Regrettably, CBO is unaware of any comprehensive information about the size of the federal government’s contracted workforce . . . . However, using a database of federal contracts, CBO determined that federal agencies spent over $500 billion for contracted products and services in 2012.’”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. You’ve been compromised. Fierce Government IT’s Molly Bernhart Walker reports, “Federal agencies often approach cybersecurity by addressing each infection and by assuming they have a secure baseline, but they’re not being honest about the strength of their security and are continually stuck playing ‘whack a mole,’ a government cybersecurity expert says. A better approach is that agencies should assume that they’ve already been compromised, says Jeff Wagner, the Office of Personnel Management’s security operations director.”
2. Social media fight with ISIS. Wired’s Adam Weinstein reports, “The U.S. diplomatic corps is fully engaged in a battle to beat ISIS in the electronic talkosphere. But what does that mean, exactly? So far, the government’s social media campaign against ISIS has been, like most governmental campaigns, long on bureaucracy and short on details.”
3. BRANDEIS: DARPA’s online privacy project. DARPA News reports, “Named for former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who while a student at Harvard law school co-developed the concept of a ‘right to privacy’ in a seminal article under that title, the new program seeks to explore how users can understand, interact with and control data in their systems and in cyberspace through the expression of simple intentions that reflect purpose, acceptable risk and intended benefits such as ‘only share photos with approved family and friends.’”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Bouncing Bibi: “A Senate panel is investigating whether the United States government is funding efforts to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . . . . The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is reportedly probing the funding for OneVoice Movement, a Washington D.C., group that includes an organization seeking to oust the current Israeli government. . . . OneVoice, which has recently received $350,000 in State Department grants, may have provided money to its subsidiary, the Victory 15 campaign, which is based in Israel and is opposed to Netanyahu.” See also, “Has Bibi lost his magic?”
2. Revolving doors: “For five years, Dan Poneman was the Energy Department’s No. 2 administrator during a time when the agency steered hundreds of millions of dollars to a struggling nuclear company that has won the backing of both the Obama administration and top Republicans and Democrats in Congress. This month, he’s set to become the company’s president and CEO — a post that will bring him as much as $1.7 million a year.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “Lithuania prepares for a feared Russian invasion.” Reuters contributor Ola Cichowlas argues, “The threat to the Baltics grows with every day of Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine and sinister clampdown at home. Nobody knows what Putin will do next. Lithuanians, meanwhile, are preparing for the worst.”
2. “A $5 billion downpayment on Ukraine’s future.” Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board argues, “Ukraine’s reforms are critical to peace building in Europe, pacifying a restless Russia, and spreading democracy in post-Soviet states. After a year of hard work and war, Ukraine deserves a $5 billion reward to keep its reforms going.”
3. “The Definition of Insanity.” Rudaw contributor David Romano argues, “Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’ American support for strong central governments and the ‘territorial integrity’ of states in the Middle East and North Africa might fit this description.:
THE FUNNIES
2. Grim fairy tales.
