FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
1. FBI jobs. Editor Lindy Kyzer reminds, “If you’ve got a love for law enforcement and a penchant for waiting until the last minute, take note – [Tuesday] is the last day to apply for the FBI’s 2015/2016 Special Agent program. . . . If you’re reading this and kicking yourself that you’ve missed the deadline to apply, take heart. Outside of the agency’s special agent program, other positions are available. Learn more at www.fbi.gov.”
2. After you quit: being memorable. Also from Kyzer, “In your last two weeks, it’s really all about your attitude. Try to keep a smile on your face and a good perspective. This can be incredibly difficult, especially if you’re leaving under less-than-ideal circumstances. But it truly will be the legacy you’re remembered by. Take everything in stride . . . .”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
1. Nuke talks: an end in sight. Reuters’ Louis Charbonneau, John Irish, and Parisa Hafezi report, “Iran and six world powers ramped up the pace at Tuesday’s negotiations over a preliminary deal on the Iranian nuclear program, as their self-imposed deadline approached and both sides warned it was crucial to overcome differences that could wreck an agreement. For nearly a week, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have been trying to break an impasse in the negotiations, which are aimed at stopping Iran from gaining the capacity to develop a nuclear bomb in exchange for easing international sanctions that are crippling its economy. But disagreements on enrichment research and the pace of lifting sanctions threatened to scupper a deal . . . .” See also, “Iran talks to continue in new phase” and “Can China keep negotiations on track?”
2. Iran in Iraq. The Long War Journal’s Caleb Weiss reports, “Despite claims by the US government to the contrary, several Iranian-backed Shiite militias are still operating in Tikrit. The US has said that airstrikes in the central Iraqi city would only come if these militias withdrew from leading the battle. . . . However, several of these groups continue to release photos or videos from the area. In addition, several have released statements denying that they have withdrawn from the fight.”
3. Body count Afghanistan: 220,000. Afghan Zariza reports, “According to a new report, the U.S. led ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan has killed about 220,000 people, mostly civilians, following the September 11 attacks in the U.S. The 101-page report titled ‘Body Count: Casualty Figures after 10 Years of the War on Terror’ has been jointly prepared by the Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Global Survival and the Nobel Prize-winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. The report has found that a total of around 1.3 million people, directly or indirectly, have lost their lives in the U.S. war on terror, including one million in Iraq, 220,000 in Afghanistan and 80,000 in Pakistan.” Read the report. See also, “Senior Taliban commander arrested in Kabul.”
CONTRACT WATCH
1. Lockheed team wins in Korea: $8 billion. Defense News reports, “South Korea on Monday selected Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and partner Lockheed Martin for a multi-billion-dollar contract to develop 120 ‘indigenous’ fighter jets to replace Seoul’s aging fleet. The bid from KAI and the US aerospace giant, which is subject to a screening process before being officially approved, was always seen as the favorite for the 8.6 trillion won ($7.8 billion) deal over a rival bid by civilian carrier Korean Air (KAL) teamed with Airbus.”
2. NIST tech call. FierceGovernmentIT’s Dibya Sarkar reports, “The federally led program that’s trying to provide secure online identity interactions for individuals and organizations across the nation is soliciting applications to test privacy-enhancing technologies. The National Institute of Standards and Technology last week announced it is seeking applications to advance the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC, program. NSTIC’s goal is to foster technologies that address a longstanding problem with a lack of trust among individuals, organizations and businesses regarding online identities.”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
1. NSA: post-Snowden HR challenges. National Public Radio’s Geoff Brumfiel reports, “Daniel Swann is exactly the type of person the National Security Agency (NSA) would love to have working for it. A fourth-year concurrent bachelors-masters student at Johns Hopkins University, the 22-year-old has a bright future in cybersecurity. . . . After Snowden’s revelations, Swann’s thinking changed. The NSA’s tactics, which include retaining data from American citizens, raise too many questions in his mind . . . .” Listen at Morning Edition.
2. CIA transformation. The Week’s Matteo Faini reports, “After 70 years, it’s time for some major restructuring at the CIA — at least according to its director, John Brennan, who announced earlier this month his plan to overhaul the agency by creating ‘mission centers’ that would concentrate resources on specific challenges or geographic areas. Brennan also announced the formation of a new ‘Directorate of Digital Innovation’ to lead efforts to track and implement new intelligence-gathering cyber tools.
3. Army Aviation: beyond the night. Defense One’s Marcus Weisgerber reports, “A generation after night-vision gear allowed the U.S. Army to ‘own the night,’ service leaders want to equip their helicopters to own bad weather. . . . The Army’s term for such gear is ‘degraded visual environment technology’ . . . . The new degraded-visual-environment gear would allow helicopter pilots to fly in rain, snow or fog. It would also help in brownouts, when rotor wash creates a cloud of dust and rocks around a landing helicopter. Most importantly, it would enable entire missions.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
1. Sidestep. “[T]he real reason Reid is retiring may have nothing to do with any of these excuses and everything to do with his concerns that a possible Republican Presidential victory in 2016 would lead to the appointment of a Republican Attorney General in January 2017. A Republican Attorney General would be almost certain to initiate a criminal investigation into Reid’s abuse of his political power in a brazen intervention in the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) issuance of EB-5 visas to investors in a Las Vegas casino and hotel that was represented by his son, Rory Reid, as was highlighted in a report released by the Inspector General of DHS . . . .”
2. Stepping down. “Rafael Moure-Eraso, the chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board(CSB), resigned after increased pressure from lawmakers and at the White House’s request. Under Moure-Eraso, complaints have risen regarding poor management, his use of a personal e-mail account for agency work, ‘abuse of power, employee retaliation, and lack of honesty in his communications with Congress,’ according to an 18 March letter from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
1. “The 4 Things You Need for an Iran Deal.” Defense One contributor Joe Cirincione argues, “If the talks should fail, the only real alternatives are watching Iran proceed with an unconstrained program that would rapidly bring it to the threshold of a nuclear bomb, or John Bolton’s new war with one of the largest military powers in the Middle East. That is not a sequel that anyone will want to watch.”
2. “Iranian Reactions to Operation Decisive Storm.” Long War Journal contributor Behnam Ben Taleblu argues, “A win for the coalition conducting Operation Decisive Storm would at most mean that Iran’s ability to co-opt local forces in the Arabian Peninsula has been challenged. But given Iran’s clear linkage of the crisis in Yemen to other theaters of conflict in the Middle East, it and its allies will retain incentives for responding asymmetrically and elsewhere, and that is something in which the Islamic Republic excels.”
3. “What exactly is the allure of Islamic State?” Los Angeles Times contributor Simon Cottee argues, “In recent months, debate over Islamic State has centered on one large question: namely, how Islamic is it? A potentially richer question about Islamic State is how much it owes not to Islam, but to more universal desires and longings — and how, more practically, it exploits these in what is arguably the most compelling reality TV show on earth.”
THE FUNNIES
1. Nice shot.
2. Wow.
3. Wow.
