DARPA Asks Raytheon To Develop Radar For Integrated Sensor
Although it would contain "millions of electronic components," the thickness of the antenna as envisioned by Raytheon would be about 0.4 inch.
A radar antenna the length of a football field that would weigh less than the 22 players in action on it is in development by Raytheon Company under terms of an $8 million contract associated with the Integrated Sensor is Structure or ISIS program from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna would be bonded to the hull of an unmanned airship 150 to 300 meters (164 to 328 yards) in length that could hover for long periods above the jet stream at altitudes of 65,000 to 70,000 feet. The antenna would transmit on UHF and X-band. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) is a leader in AESA technology, which uses no moving parts to scan at nearly the speed of light.
Meet the Counterterrorism-Industrial ComplexSeptember 19, 2006.
By Ken Silverstein
Last week I wrote about the steady flow of CIA employees to Blackwater USA, the private security contractor with major operations in Iraq. Yesterday's Los Angeles Times took a broader look at the revolving door between intelligence agencies and the private sector, and found that “because of the demands of the war on terrorism and the drawn–out conflict in Iraq, U.S. spy agencies have turned to unprecedented numbers of outside contractors to perform jobs once the domain of government-employed analysts and secret agents.”
For private contractors to hire intelligence officials is not a new phenomenon. Take a look at the board of directors of any major defense or homeland security contractor and you're likely to come across some familiar names. The board at San Diego-based Science Applications International Corporation, which receives billions annually in federal contracts, has included two former CIA directors (John Deutch and Robert Gates), a former head of the National Security Agency (Bobby Ray Inman), and two former defense secretaries (William Perry and Melvin Laird).
But the pace of the movement to private firms has recently reached alarming proportions. “At the CIA,” said the Los Angeles Times story, “poaching became such a problem that former Director Porter J. Goss had to warn several firms to stop recruiting employees in the agency cafeteria . . . . One recently retired case officer said he had been approached twice while in line for coffee.” (As I noted in my recent post about Blackwater, that firm's CEO, Erik Prince, has a “green badge” that allows him access to CIA installations, and he regularly meets with senior officials at the agency's headquarters.)
Among the Times' other interesting findings:
More than half of all employees at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCC) are outside contractors, and the former head of the NCC, John Brennan, is now the CEO of Analysis Corp, which supplies contract analysts to the center. The use of contractors is especially heavy at the CIA. Abraxas Corp, a firm conveniently located near the agency in McLean, Virginia, and home to many former CIA veterans, creates false identities for an elite group of overseas case officers.
Contractors have at times outnumbered CIA employees at key stations like Baghdad and Islamabad. In Baghdad, contractors aren't simply performing bureaucratic functions; they recruit informants, manage relationships with the military, and “handle agents in support of frontline combat units.”
Senior U.S. intelligence officials told the Times that agencies have become so dependent on contractors that they could no longer function without them. “If you took away the contractor support, they'd have to put yellow tape around the building and close it down,” a former CIA official told the newspaper.
One former senior CIA official told me that the implications of the “enhanced revolving door” are being felt in a broad variety of ways. “There are many people inside who aspire to work for a private contractor because—overnight—they can at least double their earnings,” he said. “It undermines morale and doesn't build a competent system. But the bigger story is that this is symptomatic of a new ‘counterterrorism-industrial complex’ that's popping up and that is starting to look a lot like Eisenhower's military-industrial complex. It's a multibillion dollar industry and it's beginning to drive policy.”
Local officials seek release of 'no-fly list' to authorities
Mayor John Beckman and Police Chief Jerry Adams want to meet with Congressman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, to see if they can get federal authorities to release all the names on the "no-fly list" to local law enforcement agencies. "That information needs to be available to our chief of police and every chief of police in America and every sheriff in America," Beckman said.. http://www.lodinews.com/articles/
2005/06/21/terrorism/2_nofly_050621.txt
Rumsfeld Link to N. Korean Reactors
Rumsfeld link to sale of reactors to North Korea 10 May 2003 The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, sat on the board of a company that three years ago sold two light water nuclear reactors to North Korea - a country he now regards as part of the "axis of evil" and which has been targeted for regime change by Washington because of its efforts of build nuclear weapons. Mr Rumsfeld was a non-executive director of ABB, a European engineering giant based in Zurich, when it won a $US200 million contract to provide the design and key components for the reactors. He sat on the board from 1990 to 2001, earning $US190,000 a year.http://www.legitgov.org/
Rocky Mountain Spies
By Shane Harris
letters@govexec.com
The next boomtown for spend-happy spies is . . . Aurora, Colo.? The growing Denver suburb will play home to a major operations center for the National Security Agency, amid a broader move by the intelligence community to align its operations with the military.
The Denver Post first reported NSA's move in January, and the buzz spread that its electronic eavesdroppers were building a new "warning hub" at Buckley Air Force Base. National security historian William M. Arkin has reported that the base is a major downlink for intelligence satellites, including NSA's. Buckley also is home to the 460th Space Wing, which runs the Defense Support Program satellites, the "eyes in the sky" that detect missile launches and warn the military.... Some of the biggest names in the intelligence business, including SAIC and Lockheed Martin Corp., have satellite offices nearby. Only Las Vegas and Colorado Springs - go figure - have better tax rates than Aurora, according to The Kiplinger Letter.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1006/101606ol.htm
Cunningham probe could lead to officials in Defense, intelligenceAn investigation into the dealings of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., may implicate Defense Department and other agency officials who awarded contracts or were otherwise involved with funds channeled to corrupt contractors, according to a House inquiry.
The executive summary of an investigation by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence was released Tuesday by ranking member Jane Harman, D-Calif. The summary offers insight into the findings of independent investigator, Special Counsel Michael Stern.
Stern was hired by Harman and committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., to examine the activities of Cunningham, who pleaded guilty last November to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes from contractors. Mitchell Wade, the former president of government contractor MZM Inc., pleaded guilty in February to bribing Cunningham and corrupting Defense Department officials
The investigation summary said that, to facilitate their illicit activities, the men needed to "secure the cooperation, or at least the noninterference, of many people," including the various Defense officials "responsible for execution of the money, awarding the contracts and preparing the statements of work; and officials of the agencies for which the contracts were to be performed."
"This was a lot of people to persuade, cajole, deceive, pressure, intimidate, bribe or otherwise influence to do what they wanted," Stern wrote in the report....
By Jenny Mandel
jmandel@govexec.com
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/
fds1006/101806m1.htm
Also see:
Many in Government Helped Cunningham Or Yielded, Panel Finds
Report Indicates Widening Investigation
By Walter Pincus, Washington Post
October 18, 2006; Page A19
Former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) channeled more than $70 million in Pentagon and intelligence agency contracts to two companies that paid him bribes, and required the "cooperation or at least the non-interference of many people" to pull that off, a congressional investigation has found...
Report Spells Out Abuses by Former Congressman
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/washington/18inquire.html?hp&ex=1161144000&en=96b2680002002a81&ei=5094&partner=homepag
By MARK MAZZETTI
Published: October 18, 2006
The investigation found that Mr. Cunningham, a California Republican who is serving an eight-year prison sentence for bribery, repeatedly abused his position on the committee to authorize money for military projects, often over the objections of staff members who criticized some of the spending as wasteful....
Wife of banned U.S. contractor held on suspicion of laundering
BERLIN (AP) -- The wife of an American military contractor accused of cheating U.S. taxpayers has been arrested on suspicion of laundering her husband's purportedly ill-gotten gains after investigators seized about $1 million from her accounts, a prosecutor said yesterday.
Jacqueline Battles, a German citizen, was detained after a German bank informed authorities about "suspicious transactions" on her accounts two months ago, prosecutor David Kirkpatrick said. ... In March, a U.S. jury ordered Mrs. Battles' husband, contractor Mike Battles, and business partner Scott Custer to pay $10 million for swindling the U.S. government in connection with Iraq rebuilding projects involving their Middletown, R.I.-based company, Custer Battles LLC. The firm also had a primary office in McLean, Va. ...
According to the Providence Journal, Mr. Battles ran unsuccessfully in the 2002 Republican primary for the right to challenge Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, Rhode Island Democrat, for his seat. Mr. Battles reportedly is a U.S. Military Academy graduate who once worked for the CIA. Mr. Custer is a former Army Ranger.
The firm reportedly won $100 million in Iraq contracts before being banned in 2004. There also are accusations that Custer Battles then set up sham companies to continue receiving Iraq contracts.
http://washingtontimes.com/business/
20060918-095946-3280r.htm
CIA contractor found guilty in local assault case
http://rdu.news14.com/content/
your_news/sandhills/default.asp?ArID=91325
9/22/2006 3:00 PM
By: Ilin Chen
LILLINGTON, N.C. -- Former CIA contractor David Passaro was found guilty of beating his ex-girlfriend, Bonnie Heart, in Harnett County. District Court Judge Andy Corbett sentenced him to 55 days in prison, which could be served along with his federal sentence. But, Friday’s decision was not the end of this case.
David Passaro strolled into court wearing just jeans and a T-shirt. He faced misdemeanor charges of assault, larceny, and damage to property. Passaro had been in court before on assault charges. In August, he was found guilty in federal court of beating an afghan detainee, and faces up to 11 years in prison.
Raytheon hires CIA veteran
Boston Business Journal
Raytheon Co. said Wednesday it has hired a former CIA member.
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories
/2006/10/16/daily29.html?t=printable
The Waltham, Mass. defense contractor (NYSE: RTN) said Michael P. Morgan, a 26-year CIA veteran, will lead the company's multi-int strategy for its Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) business, a $2.5 billion unit specializing in intelligence, information systems and technology.
In this role, Morgan will develop business development initiatives to strengthen and expand IIS' expertise in the intelligence sector.
Morgan's most recent assignment was with the CIA's Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Prior to this post, he held a variety of senior level intelligence positions with the CIA.
O'Reilly Equates 9/11 Scholars With TerroristsO'Reilly threatens Truth Professors With FBI Investigation By Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones 14 Oct 2006 During Professor Jim Fetzer's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor Thursday night, O'Reilly equated the 9/11 Scholars with terrorists and threw his weight behind a move to have them being investigated by the FBI, in a similar vein to a previous case in which his false charges led to the arrest of another professor and charges of supporting terrorism which were later dismissed. "I'd put the FBI on you and that nutty Barrett and find out what the hell you guys are up to," salivates O'Reilly, making reference to Sammy Al-Arian, a former professor at USF who was charged and later acquitted...
http://www.legitgov.org/
Livermore Scientists Reignite JFK Assassination Debate
August 21, 2006
LIVERMORE -- ...
"It basically shatters what some people call the best physical evidence around," chemist Pat Grant, director of the lab's highly respected Forensic Science Center told the San Jose Mercury News...
http://www.ktvu.com/news/9709821/detail.html
Dentist Whistleblower Who Met 9/11 Hijackers Poisoned To Death
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/
september2006/220906methijackers.htm
KTBS | September 22 2006
Comment: This guy obviously paid the price for his efforts to warn the U.S. government that their agents were about to act as the fall guys for a terror attack. This kind of witness elimination mirrors what happened after the JFK assassination.
Alternate Windows Media link if You Tube remove the above video is http://clipeditor.shadowtv.com/videos/clipeditor/client14744
/stv_ktbs_20060921_060521_1158843238608.wmv
The Google Video Link is http://video.
google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=835715
0577175856460&hl=en-GB
He claimed he met three of the Sept. 11 hijackers in Shreveport a year before the attacks. Now, that man, Shreveport dentist Dr. David Graham, is dead.
Tehran, Iran, Sep. 06 – The Supreme Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps accused the Bush Administration and the Israeli security service Mossad of ordering the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington, DC.
“The events of September 11 were ordered by U.S. [officials] and Mossad so that they could carry out their strategy of pre-emption and warmongering and unipolarisation in order to dominate the Middle East”, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi told military commanders on Tuesday. His comments were reported by the state-run news agency ISNA.
General Safavi said that Iran was the leading force of the “Islamic world”. “The geographic heart of the Islamic world is in Mecca and Medina. But, the political heart of the Islamic world is in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] is the flag-bearer of the front of Islamic awakening and the fronts of the awakening of third world nations”, he said.He said that Washington had been defeated in its strategy of “attacking Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon” and creating a new order in the Middle East.
“The U.S.’s neo-conservative strategy was to dominate the vast energy resources of the Persian Gulf in order to be able to control Europe, China, and India and drive the world to a unipolar state. Therefore, it planned to change undesirable regimes such as those of Iraq, Sudan, Syria, and Afghanistan”. ...
(Source: http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=15423)
