Friday Finale & This Time Last Year
FROM THE DESK OF CLEARANCEJOBS.COM
Cleared Coast Guard. Contributor Ashley LaGanga reports, “The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is competing talent for its intelligence division, announced RDML Steven Andersen, USCG at this year’s Intelligence & National Security Summit. . . . A sampling of currently-open positions includes Program Specialist, Cybersecurity (Top Secret/SCI), Information Technology Specialist (Secret), Human Resources Specialist (Secret).”
Social media anxiety. In-house counsel Sean Bigley advises, “The implications are enormous for social engineering – the idea that spies can identify and cultivate promising intelligence leads by learning about their targets’ personal lives. As the CIA Director recently discovered, social engineering can also very effectively be used to guess email passwords or password reset ‘challenge questions.’ That means the Director was likely one of the 29% of internet users ODNI says fail to use strong passwords.”
THE FORCE AND THE FIGHT
ISIS in Afghanistan. The Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss report, “In the last two months, the Islamic State has advertised three training facilities in Afghanistan, including the Sheikh Jalaluddin camp. Last month, the jihadist group showcased the ‘Sheikh Abu Omar al Baghdadi camp’ and the “Sheikh Abu Musab al Zarqawi camp”, which are also likely in Nangarhar. The two camps are named after the former leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the founder al Qaeda in Iraq (the predecessor of the Islamic State), respectively. The images offered the first official visual evidence of Islamic State training camps in Afghanistan.”
Boko Haram: killing machine. The Atlantic’s Edward Delman reports, “The grisly attacks in France and Lebanon last week have fixed attention on the violence perpetrated by ISIS. But a study published this week indicates that the world’s deadliest terrorist organization actually operates thousands of miles south of Paris and Beirut, in Nigeria.”
Mali attack. AP’s Harouna Traore and Baba Ahmed report, “Malian army commander Modibo Nama Traore said 10 gunmen stormed the hotel shouting ‘Allahu Akbar,’ or ‘God is great,’ in Arabic before firing on the guards and taking hostages. The Brussels-based Rezidor Hotel group that operates the hotel said the assailants have ‘locked in’ 140 guests and 30 employees.”
Army aviation: restructure. Defense News’ Jen Judson reports, “The commission tasked with examining the future force structure of the US Army is taking a close look at the possibility of incorporating multi-component aviation units made up of both full-time troops and reservists . . . .”
CONTRACT WATCH
Russia-China pact: Su-35 sales. Defence Talk reports, “Russia and China have agreed on the sale of 24 advanced Sukhoi Su-35 fighters to Beijing . . . . The deal – which military experts say could be worth more than $2 billion – represents the first time a foreign state has purchased the Su-35. . . . Moscow and Beijing, which were rivals during the Cold War, have strengthened cooperation in recent years to counterbalance perceived dominance by the United States.”
Opportunities dwindling. Government Executive’s Charles S. Clark reports, “Governmentwide spending on defense and civilian contracting risks being pinched over the next five years by growing mandatory spending on entitlements, according to industry research . . . . Though the overall federal budget will rise from current $3.9 trillion to $6.2 trillion in 2025, the defense portion is projected to fall from 15 percent to 11 percent of that total, while discretionary spending shrinks from 30 percent to 20 percent . . . .”
TECH, PRIVACY, & SECRECY
Red Mercury Myth. The New York Times’ C.J. Chivers tells the tale: “The Islamic State was seeking a weapon that could do more than strike fear in its enemies. It sought a weapon that could kill its enemies wholesale, instantly changing the character of the war. Imagine a mushroom cloud rising over the fronts of Syria and Iraq. Imagine the jihadists’ foes scattered and ruined, the caliphate expanding and secure. Imagine the price the Islamic State would pay.”
Standoff Suicide Bomber Detection System. Defense One’s Patrick Tucker reports, “The SSBDS is not a single magic lens, but an ensemble of sensors that measure radiation at the midwave and longwave infrared as well as the terahertz wavelengths. There’s also a visible-light camera. Terahertz radiation may sound like something to avoid — but because it uses low energy and isn’t ionizing, it’s less dangerous to human tissue than are x-rays. It’s been used as part of security applications since 2004.”
Mass surveillance reviewed. Pro Publica’s Lauren Kirchner reports, “Ultimately, it’s impossible to know just how successful sweeping surveillance has been, since much of the work is secret. But what has been disclosed so far suggests the programs have been of limited value. Here’s a roundup of what we know. . . .”
OPM: cyber-insecurity. FCW’s Sean Lyngaas reports, “Despite some improvement, the Office of Personnel Management continues to lag in cybersecurity, according to the most recent info security audit from the agency’s internal watchdog. Failure to move on key vulnerabilities leaves OPM potentially open to another devastating attack . . . .” See also, “Best practices are moving targets.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
Finger wag. “President Obama scolded congressional Republicans on Thursday for failing to pass a new war authorization measure to fight the Islamic State, and instead fighting Obama’s policy prescriptions. ‘It’s easier to talk about Guantanamo, I guess, than it is to, for example, pass an authorization for the use of military force [AUMF] in Syria, which hasn’t gotten done yet,’ Obama said . . . .”
Floater. “Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain on Thursday introduced legislation that would repeal mandatory budget caps enacted in 2011 for national security spending, citing new challenges from Russia, China and the Islamic State that have strained shrinking Pentagon resources. . . .”
OPINIONS EVERYONE HAS
“Congress Needs to Debate the War on ISIS.” The Atlantic contributor Garrett Epps argues, “Perhaps politics are completely broken and a debate will do no good. But if U.S. leaders can’t decide between ‘leading from behind’ and plunging into a global religious war, perhaps the country shouldn’t be sending its young men and women to risk their lives.”
“What 100,000 U.S. boots on the ground get you in Syria.” Reuters contributor Michael O’Hanlon argues, “The main point is that we are not in an either/or situation. There are several options to analyze and consider between the extremes of doing nothing and launching yet another big U.S.-led war in the Middle East.”
“Why jihadism appeals to religiously illiterate loners.” Homeland Security News Wire contributor Akil N. Awan argues, “In direct contrast to feelings of boredom, purposelessness, and insignificance, the jihadists offer redemption through the image of the chivalrous warrior, recast as some sort of avenging hero.”
“It’s High Time for US, Russian Militaries to Start Meeting Again.” Defense One contributor Peter B. Zwack argues, “It’s better agreeing to disagree than having no discussion at all. Without direct dialog between our senior defense leaders we cannot even begin to consider a more mutually cooperative and secure future.”
THE FUNNIES
