TEARLINE
U.S. intelligence officers are heading to the Syrian border to help bolster the political and military organization of rebel forces waging civil war against Syrian President Bashar Assad. While they will not enter Syria, they will meet with rebel commanders in Turkey to help streamline their operations against Assad’s forces. Paramilitary operations officers, collection management officers and operations officers will also work in concert to assess the strength of the rebels’ ranks and ascertain whether Islamic extremist elements like al Qaeda have infiltrated their ranks. This assessment will help the Obama administration decide whether to continue its policy of non-lethal support to the anti-Assad forces, or to escalate American involvement in the conflict.
AROUND THE WORLD
The French government is providing funds to five revolutionary councils in rebel-held parts of Syria to help them restore water supplies, sanitation, health services and bakeries. French diplomats say that France is not supplying funds for weapons or providing weapons to the rebel Free Syrian Army.
In the old days, 10 years ago, jihadists vowed death to Western imperialism on audiotapes that couriers smuggled out of mountain hideouts and passed to satellite TV stations. The next generation of militants has a much simpler way to proselytize: Twitter.
Pakistani authorities gave Save the Children’s six foreign staffers four weeks to leave the country after alleging that the aid agency had some connection to the Pakistani doctor recruited by the CIA to help track down Osama bin Laden.
ON THE FIGHT
J.M. Berger posits that the FBI is "playing fast and loose in its fight against domestic terrorism".
Commandant General Jim Amos says the Marine Corps could save money by allowing “homesteading,” a practice in which some Marines stay in one region for long periods of time.
The White House has drafted a preliminary executive order aimed at strengthening the nation’s computer systems against attack, an effort to begin to accomplish through fiat what could not be achieved through Congress. The draft order would create voluntary standards to guide companies in guarding themselves against cyberattacks. Meanwhile. the Defense Information Systems Agency has released it’s 5-year strategic plan.
CONTRACT WATCH
Paragon Dynamics . will pay over $1 million to settle allegations that it improperly obtained information about Raytheon’s bid for two contracts with the National Reconnaissance Office.
Technica has won a $95 million blanket purchase agreement with the General Services Administration to provide information assurance security engineering support for the FBI and the greater Justice Department.
The Air Force will begin an operational utility evaluation of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter on September 10th. The OUE is scheduled to last 65 training days and will be primarily located in and around Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida.
Robert Caruso is a veteran of the United States Navy, and has worked for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Business Transformation Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
