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Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Start your day with intelligence. Get The OODA Daily Pulse.
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
A top level security probe is under way after a 12-year-old boy walked on to a plane unchecked with no documents at the height of the terror scare. The boy boarded a plane at Gatwick on Monday despite airport security being on red-alert. Want more data points that support the idea that – mechanical…
The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Tuesday that the spy agency avoids racial profiling because it is “fundamentally stupid” and does not knowingly use information gleaned under torture offshore because the practice is “morally repugnant.” James Judd told a gathering of Canadian judges on Tuesday that he is “acutely aware” of complaints…
In my embargoed contribution to a pending book on reform, I argue that going the networked/wiki-ed/blogged route is both a nice way to cut out a lot of the overhead associated with the intel process. As it works now it is very hierarchical, with gatekeepers at every turn and operating at a pace that makes tortoises look…
So controversial is the forthcoming National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, say officials and observers, that even the terms of reference are likely to be the subject of intense, but highly secret, discussion and debate. Somewhere in a conference room in Northern Virginia, roughly two-dozen seniors and their backups are sitting around a table and bickering…
The plot has also revealed the indispensability of good counterterrorism intelligence. A defense against terrorists, as against other enemies of the nation, must be multilayered to have a reasonable chance of being effective. One of the outer defenses is intelligence, designed to detect plots in advance so that they can be thwarted. One of the…
The [UK] Government is discussing with airport operators plans to introduce a screening system that allows security staff to focus on those passengers who pose the greatest risk. The passenger-profiling technique involves selecting people who are behaving suspiciously, have an unusual travel pattern or, most controversially, have a certain ethnic or religious background. The system…
. . . execpt for the tactic. Incredible: The FBI said Monday it had no information to indicate that the three Texas men arrested in Michigan with about 1,000 cell phones in their van had any direct connection to known terrorist groups. Also, a prosecutor in a separate Ohio case said he can¹t prove a…
This is what passes for CT analysis at Time. Acceptance that this is less an AQ issue than it is a terrorism issue is a nice change of pace from the class that loves to poo-poo any disrupted plot that doesn’t reveal the perps had wallets full of AQ business cards. Note however the quick…
As a friend from one of the Commonwealth nations points out, “Nice job by the domestic intelligence service,” which is his subtle but well-meaning dig at both our FBI and larger intelligence apparatus. Domestic tip-off; foreign intelligence supplement; and allied intel cooperation all operationalized for the door-kickers inside of a year. Were this a US…
As I alluded to earlier, it is a little hard to accurately assess things if you’re not prepared to use accurate if un-PC language. US and UK media might have an aversion to mentioning the Muslim connection, but the Italian media apparently does not. Ethnic and religious descriptions are hardly immaterial in situations like this,…
Bloody day job . . . Surveillance, electronic or otherwise, works: By late 2005, the probe had expanded to involve several hundred investigators on three continents. They kept dozens of suspects under close surveillance for months, even as some of the plotters traveled between Britain and Pakistan to raise money, find recruits and refine their…
As a guy who knows a thing or two about warning systems, I watched again with dismay the misuse and abuse of the homeland security advisory system today. Granted, it isn’t really a “warning” system per se, but the general concept is the same: give people a quick way to assess the threat. The problem…
This by Evan Kohlmann on the CT Blog yesterday 8/9: Participants on key Arabic-language Al-Qaida chat forums on the Internet have announced their intent to launch collective cyberterrorist attacks tomorrow, August 10, aimed at interrupting or denying service to other pro-Israeli websites–namely the “Internet Haganah” cyberterror watchdog site run by Aaron Weisburd. […] . .…
What a day to sleep in. Some quick hits before I descend into the seventh level of teleconference hell: In the words of Secretary Chertoff this latest plot is “suggestive” of al-Qaida because it is essentially a dusting off of the plans for Operation Bojinka; funded by al-Qaida and put together by two guys whose…
. . . about everything covered in the MSM – especially war – is suspect. Some of you didn’t need confirmation, but since I have a nice side-bar going with former info ops colleagues a post seemed appropriate. Army of Analysts Experts people, Army of Experts . . .
Major cities in Niger are experiencing rolling blackouts following the recent coup in the country, which has led to Nigeria cutting electricity supplies to its northern neighbor. The power shortages are affecting cities such as Niamey, Maradi, and Zinder, with residents experiencing intermittent power for about an hour at a time before it is switched…
NASA has lost contact with its Voyager 2 probe after sending it the wrong command, causing the spacecraft to tilt its antenna away from Earth. The probe, which has been exploring the universe since 1977, is currently more than 12.3 billion miles away from Earth in interstellar space. NASA hopes that communication will resume when…
Russia has said the situation in Niger is cause for serious concern on Monday. The country’s president was ousted in a coup that was condemned largely internationally, except by Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has extensive interests in Africa. Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called for all sides in Niger to show restraint and return…
The death toll from a suicide bombing that targeted an election rally in Pakistan has risen to 54. The election rally was for a pro-Taliban Muslim leader. The government has promised to hunt down those behind the attack. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack that occurred on Sunday, which also wounded almost 200…
At least six people have been killed and over 20 wounded in a bomb explosion near a Shia Muslim shrine south of the capital city of Syria, Damascus. The explosion occurred one day ahead of Ashura, a day of mourning observed by Shia Muslims. The blast was near Syria’s most visited Shia pilgrimage site and…
Supporters of a coup in Niger attacked the headquarters of the ousted president’s party on Thursday. The headquarters were set on fire and stoned, while cars were also burned outside. The small group of arsonists broke away from a larger show of support for the leaders of the coup that was taking place outside parliament.…
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence