Friday Finale & This Time Last Year

FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM

1. Being a spy these days. Editor Lindy Kyzer advises, “Young people with dreams of espionage and intrigue may do well to temper their interest in social networking. Every year the CIA has to drop several potential spies due to things they’ve said on public networking sites . . . . So what’s a social spy to do? You don’t need to give up social networking entirely, but following a few tips could help you preserve your intelligence community career potential.”

2. Networking vulnerabilities. Contributor and barrister Sean Bigley advises, “A security clearance makes you a highly marketable commodity in today’s job market. Unfortunately, it can also make you a target for foreign intelligence services, criminals, and others who wish to harm our nation’s security. Given this dynamic, many security clearance applicants wonder how they can advertise their unique skill set – and cleared status – in a way that maximizes their allure to potential employers, but also avoids security risks. . . .”

THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT

1. The nuke deal with Iran. Reuters’ Matt Spetalnick reports, “U.S. President Barack Obama still faces a formidable task in preventing a skeptical Congress from sabotaging a nuclear pact with Iran and keeping talks from collapsing over the fine print, despite achieving a surprisingly detailed initial agreement that he hailed as ‘historic.’ While major world powers and Iran made genuine progress in reaching a broad agreement in Switzerland on Thursday, the real test looms at the end of June when the deal must be finalized.” See also, “P5+1, Iran agree on parameters of an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program” and “Why Iran nuclear deal means so much to Obama.”

2. Terrorists arrested in NYC. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “Roommates Noelle Velentzas, 28, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, were arrested Thursday morning and charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction in the United States, according to federal prosecutors. FBI officials say both women, who live in Queens, New York, were radicalized by Islamic State (ISIS) propaganda. A complaint unsealed on Thursday says the women had been communicating with people affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.” See also, “Thwarting Islamist terrorism in U.S. require counterterrorism measures abroad.”

3. al Shabaab terrorizes university. The Long War Journal’s Thomas Joscelyn reports, “Shabaab terrorists attacked the Garissa University College in Kenya [Thursday]. . . . approximately 10 gunmen were involved in assault, which left at least 147 people dead and dozens more wounded. Some members of the Shabaab assault team were killed by security forces, but others took a number of students hostage after the initial attack. A spokesman for Shabaab, al Qaeda’s official branch in Somalia, said the gunmen deliberately separated Muslims from non-Muslims during the attack. ‘We sorted people out and released the Muslims’ . . . .”

4. Afghanistan money pit. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “The newly inaugurated first lady of Afghanistan recently expressed skepticism about new spending on programs to promote the status of women in her country, a concern, it turns out, shared by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. IG John Sopko on Thursday sent a letter to the acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development with pointed questions on a plan to spend $416 million—a little over half from USAID and the rest from unnamed donors—on a program named ‘Promote’ that USAID announced in July 2013.”

CONTRACT WATCH

1. Army procurement power. Breaking Defense’s Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. reports, “There seems to be little support for Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno‘s push for the four service chiefs to get greater authority over procurement — not even from the Army’s civilian head of acquisition Heidi Shyu. . . . As a service chief under the current system, ‘you influence the acquisition process, priorities, funding, decisions…by your personality,’ Odierno said. ‘You have no authority. I’d like to see us get authority in those areas, where we are part of the approval authority [for] these programs.’ That argument won’t go far on Capitol Hill.”

2. USAF anti-hacking avionics. Military & Aerospace Electronics Editor John Keller reports, “U.S. Air Force researchers are advising industry to get ready for a potential $49.7 million cyber security project to safeguard military avionics from computer hackers and other cyber warfare threats. Officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, issued a notice Wednesday for the upcoming Avionics Vulnerability Assessment Mitigation and Protection (AVAMP) program, which seeks to find ways of protecting avionics from cyber attack.”

TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY

1. Reinventing science. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “The genetic engineering of deadly pathogens is not the sort of thing that a terrorist or would-be supervillain could easily attempt in a kitchen. But the quickening pace of genetics research has plenty of scientists worried.”

2. Erasing Israel: a cyber-caust. Homeland Security News Wire reports, “In a new video posted online, hackers operating under the ‘Anonymous’ flag have threatened to erase Israel from cyberspace. Citing reasons which include ‘continuous aggression, bombing, killing, and kidnapping of the Palestinian people,’ the hackers vowed to unleash cyber ‘squadrons’ that will launch a ‘cyber holocaust’ on 7 April, a little more than a week before Israel’s 16 April Holocaust Remembrance day, known as Yom HaShoah.”

3. Lithuania and CIA jails. Reuters’ Andrius Sytas and Christian Lowe report, “Lithuanian prosecutors said on Thursday they had restarted an investigation into allegations that state security officials helped the CIA run a secret jail in the Baltic state as part of the agency’s global program to interrogate al Qaeda suspects. Prosecutors re-opened a probe, which was dropped four years ago, after a U.S. Senate report last year detailed a secret CIA facility that matched reports about a site in Lithuania . . . .”

POTOMAC TWO-STEP

1. I am a rock. “Sen. John McCain is giving the thumbs-down to the framework of a deal intended to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The Arizona Republican is a respected voice on national security and persistent critic of President Obama and his drive to reach detente with Tehran. He has long argued that Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry were making too many concessions in their zeal to arrive at a deal with Iran. That was essentially McCain’s conclusion Thursday as he reviewed the details of a tentative framework for an accord between the U.S. and the world powers. Of particular concern to McCain, Iran remains free to make trouble for the U.S. and its allies across the Middle East.”

2. Burning down the house. “The world is on fire, and the U.S. needs to do more to stop it, according to John Boehner. ‘I wouldn’t have believed that I would be involved in as much foreign policy as I am today . . . . And it certainly isn’t by choice. It’s just that the world is on fire. And I don’t think enough Americans or enough people in the administration understand how serious the problems that we’re facing in the world are.’” See also, “Ted Cruz Scares Little Girl: ‘Your World Is on Fire.’

OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS

1. “How both sides can sell the Iran nuclear deal back home.” Reuters contributor Ali Vaez argues, “There is plenty in this deal that is not pretty. But no deal is. Negotiation, by nature, produces imperfect results when viewed through the lens of a single party. Iran is retaining a higher enrichment capacity than the United States and its allies would prefer, while sanctions relief appears slower and slimmer than Iran would desire. Opponents will likely pounce on these weaknesses. That’s why a persuasive narrative of victory, for both sides, is essential for securing and sustaining a reasonable accord.”

2. “When Will the NSA Stop Spying on Innocent Americans?The Atlantic’s Connor Friedersdorf argues, “If Congress does attempt to reauthorize Section 215 in its present form, it is likely to divide GOP presidential candidates and benefit the anti-surveillance faction . . . . Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat—and whether you’re for or against reauthorization—the time to contact your Congressional representative is now. This is just the sort of occasion when letters, emails and phone calls could make a difference.”

3. “The Part of Obama’s Arms-To-Egypt Deal That Matters.” Defense One contributor Derek Chollet argues, “It is in the U.S. interest for Egypt to be strong and secure, and for its military to be modern and capable. It is in our interest for Egypt to be a leader and a stabilizing force in a deeply troubled region. That is why Obama’s decision to resume the full assistance was the right one.”

THE FUNNIES

1. Osmosis.

2. Parenting.

3. Glass houses.

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Ed Ledford enjoys the most challenging, complex, and high stakes communications requirements. His portfolio includes everything from policy and strategy to poetry. A native of Asheville, N.C., and retired Army Aviator, Ed’s currently writing speeches in D.C. and working other writing projects from his office in Rockville, MD. He loves baseball and enjoys hiking, camping, and exploring anything. Follow Ed on Twitter @ECLedford.