Worldwide Terrorist Networks Heavily Use HF E-Mail
For 36 years, Klingenfuss Radio Monitoring has been conducting overseas monitoring missions in more than 50 countries around the globe. Based on decades of personal experience with the state of affairs in certain places, we precisely predicted already in October 2001 (!) in an e-mail to certain customers (e.g. Mr. Fred Osterman from Universal Radio) that
"When the Big Man comes to Afghanistan, the Bad Man will go up into the mountains. There will be ice and snow and no buddy can find him there. When the Big Man comes up to the mountains, the Bad Man will go down to Jalalabad or Peshawar. There will be thousands of friends and millions of refugees, and no buddy can find him there. And don't forget the Tribal Areas, that are perfectly out of control of the bloody government in Islamabad."
As you have seen on 21 AUG 2002 from this screenshot on our hotfrequencies website updated daily, "Pakistan president Pervez Musharaf confirmed that Al-Qaeda might be regrouping in Afghanistan because of the weakness of the Afghan government. He said the failure of the US-led forces and the so-called anti-terror coalition to maintain security lets the situation, again, get out of control. The view is now widely accepted that Osama bin Laden and the Taliban leader Mullah Omar could be hiking in Pakistan's western border tribal belt." Half a year later, the rest of the world seems to discover what we stated already in mid-2002 ...
- Says The Economist on 11 JAN 2003: "The remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban hide in the Tribal Areas along the Pakistani border. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are regrouping in camps on both sides of the border and are allied now with the baddle-hardened fighters of a brutal former mujahaddin commander, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar."
- Says the Far East Economic Review on 09 JAN 2003: "Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, is giving sanctuary to top Taliban leaders, some of whom are living openly in Pakistan, and allows them to cross into Afghanistan to orchestrate rock attacks against US bases. The ISI is fuelling Pashtun radicalism, which is the ideology that led to the creation of the Taliban in the first place. US generals in Afghanistan say 90 % of the attacks they face are coming from groups based in Pakistan."
- Says the Far East Economic Review on 02 AUG 2003: "In the last week of July, up to three ambushes or rocket bombardments were taking place daily with the Taliban retreating into Pakistan after the attacks. The forces of renegade commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is allied to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, are operating in several areas in northeastern Afghanistan and close to the Pakistani border."
- Says Rantburg on 29 NOV 2003: "Former Taleban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was seen in the Pakistani border town of Quetta last week, according to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Mr Karzai told The Times newspaper he had received information that Mullah Omar was spotted praying in a mosque. There have been no confirmed sightings of him since the Afghan war ended. Mullah Omar is one of the three men most wanted by US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. As the supreme leader of Afghanistan’s deposed regime, he has periodically issued taped messages urging his followers to maintain their attacks on western forces. President Karzai told the London-based Times newspaper that Quetta was a stronghold for fighters opposing the coalition forces. He called on Pakistan’s President Musharraf to prevent hard-line Islamic groups in the city from supporting those responsible for the recent upsurge in violence in Afghanistan, which has left more than 400 people dead in the past four months."
- Says Süddeutsche Zeitung on 24 MAR 2004: "Die Operation ist wieder einmal fehlgeschlagen, und am Ende haben die mutmaßlichen Al-Qaida-Kämpfer auch noch einen pakistanischen Militärkonvoi aus dem Hinterhalt überfallen und dabei mindestens 14 Soldaten getötet. Es ist Musharraf bisher nicht gelungen, einen Keil zwischen die lokalen Führer in den Stammesgebieten und die versprengten Al-Qaida-Kämpfer zu treiben, die von den Einheimischen gedeckt werden. Einen besseren Schutzschild könnte die Terrorgruppe kaum haben."
- Anybody guessing about the strange OPDI-OPQT connection? Selamat pagi, Encik!
Welcome to the real world!
After their dramatic failure in the 11 SEP 2001 disaster, the inefficient N.o S.uch A.gency and similar "organizations" such as the infamous C.lubof I.nternational A.mateurs only recently started to realize - several years too late! - that there may be "secret" systems of global communication beyond transoceanic cables and telecom satellites. Says an expert on the Asian SIGINT situation here: "During the 1990s, the NSA closed down most of its world-wide HF radio interception and HF-DF network. Most of the large circularly-disposed antenna arrays (CDAAs), which formed the nodes of this network, i.e., the AN/FLR-9 CDAAs used by the Army and Air Force SIGINT agencies, and the AN/FRD-10 Classic Bullseye (or Flaghoist) system used by the US Navy, were dismantled. The US is no longer interested in covering all HF radio transmissions around the world, but the HF band is still very important in Asia." Says Chief Editor Harold Ort N2RLL in Popular Communications (published in New York!) DEC 2002: "The politicians and heads of all the three-lettered organizations moan and groan over the investigation into the system-wide intelligence failures leading up to that fateful day 9/11." Since early 2002, we experienced an ever-increasing interest in our products from secret services, government agencies and radio monitoring units that we have never heard of before. (And after 36 years of working in this field, we DO have a never-ending list of professional customers - look here!)
The N.o S.uch A.gency has been stupid enough so as to boost worldwide - back in 1999! - that "We are the greatest because we have intercepted the satphone call of Osama Bin Laden talking to his mother!", thus revealing, again, that they routinely intercept ALL satellite communications worldwide. By consequence, worldwide terrorist networks extensively use modern HF e-mail technology since then.
Terrorist stations are now pretty active on HF, thus avoiding the routine interception (by N.o S.uch A.gencies) of all e-mails, telefaxes, and phone calls transmitted via monopolized satellite systems (see chapter 2.2 of our GUIDE TO UTILITY RADIO STATIONS). Advanced networks dispose of unlimited funds and are able to provide virtually worldwide coverage by means of strategically positioned radiostations and very sophisticated digital data transmission systems. Some radionets use PACTOR for Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) and PACTOR-2 for the exchange of terrorist messages via HF e-mail. Needless to say, sensitive messages are perfectly encrypted, and cannot be cracked as easily as those DSI.7PL BINARY go_7+. DSI.ZIP 0010232 2980 0A6 (7PLUS v1.4) files transmitted by certain other radionets ... Other networks in Afghanistan, Congo (ex-Zaire), Iraq, Nepal, Somalia, Yemen, and similar hellholes use hard- and software that was stolen from NGOs such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the World Food Programme (WFP). Says Reliefweb here: "An NGO vehicle was stopped by three armed gunmen near Salaar on the Kabul to Ghazni road. The gunmen attempted to steal an HF radio but were unsuccessful. One of the gunmen was overheard encouraging his accomplice to shoot the foreigners in the vehicle. This repeats conversations heard on previous occasions when UN agency vehicles have passed through the area. The UN is urging authorities in the vicinity to resolve this issue. UN road missions will continue using armed escorts between Sayad Abad and Ghazni."
What's more, existing amateur and commercial radionets such as Sailmail and Winlink are misused as well. By consequence, all frequencies of these global networks are perfectly listed in our 2005 products. Needless to say, we will publish many new networks, stations, frequencies and details in our 2006 products!
E-mail via shortwave is "terrorist-proof" - in both senses: a mobile communication station using a cheap laptop computer, connected to a radio transceiver operating from a car battery and feeding a simple wire antenna, is much less vulnerable to an unlawful attack than high-tech telecom switchboards, cellphone-repeater antenna farms on rooftops of high buildings, and satellite ground stations with large dish antennas.
- Details on Australia's High Frequency Modernisation Project - mentioned on page 20 of the brandnew 2005 Guide to Utility Radio Stations - can be found here. The purpose of this project is to provide the Australian Defence Forces with a secure, cost-effective information exchange capability for the command and control of deployed forces as a primary survivable system and as an alternate system to satellite communications. The Modernised High Frequency Communications System (MHFCS) will comprise a nation-wide network of distributed HF radio stations with a central network management system in Canberra (the Fixed Network) and the upgrading of HF radio systems in selected mobile platforms and transportable HF communication shelters. This is a Category 1 project (greater than $ 200 m)! As far as the civilian sector is concerned, the Parliament of Australia says here: "The exchanges in Katherine NT, Woomera SA, and Ceduna SA, link central and western Australia to the east. Both microwave and fibre lines pass through these exchanges. If these critical nodes were attacked all terrestrial communications between the west and east would be severed. Add the exchange at Camooweal QLD, and the entire centre of the continent would be severed from the outside except for direct satellite links and HF radio."
- Details on the HF e-mail radio network of the Italian government - that we have monitored from the very beginning! - have been made public on 07 OCT 2003: "Contract for the supply of equipment, software and services for the Government HF Radio Network of the Italian Ministry of Interior ... The contract is worth a total of 5.3 million EUR and will have a duration of 18 months. The supply will be based on the HF-Internet system designed by Datamat which allows the communication without relying on fixed transportation infrastructure. This kind of network is especially valuable in emergencies, when normal communications systems might be down. Government HF Radio Network will enable both phone and data communication, between different State Police department locations. For years, Datamat has been engaged in designing and integrating innovative systems in the area of Civil Defence and Public Safety. - notes Datamat Chairman Franco Olivieri - The HF-Internet system is the perfect way to ensure continuity of response in many emergency and crisis situations, including natural catastrophes like earthquakes, floods, political unrest, and peace-keeping and law enforcement operations. Datamat has already supplied HF-Internet systems to Carabinieri and State Police for use in peace-keeping missions. These operations, crucial to getting local institutions working again once active conflict is over, help the police force and the judiciary system to enforce law and order and in general, improve the degree of public safety and infrastructure security. HF-Internet systems have been supplied to the missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Afghanistan, and more recently to the Carabinieri in Iraq."
- Says Joe Schroeder W9JUV here: "The amateur radio bands are not a good alternative for terrorists because there is too much of an opportunity for radio amateurs to come across such communications and recognize that it is not normal ham radio talk. They might get some ham equipment, but they would modify it for out-of-band operation. If I were interested in communicating other than by voice I would use PSK-31 or one of the other digital modes. Some of the results we see hams getting with extremely low power transmitters, and the capability of the computer controlled data communications systems to pull signals out of the noise that the ear cannot even detect - and do so with 100% copy - would be an ideal means for terrorists to use."
- Says Der Spiegel on 02 DEC 2002: "Ein Amateurfunker in Kenia hatte ein Gespräch zwischen zwei Männern, die sich Tabba und Hamsa nannten, mitgeschnitten. Der Dialog wurde in einem wilden Gemisch aus Englisch, Hocharabisch und Ägyptisch geführt. Die beiden redeten auch über Deutschland. Bis heute sind Kurzwellensendungen konkurrenzlos in Anonymität und Sicherheit. Im Zickzack zwischen Erdoberfläche und Ionosphäre laufen sie Tausende Kilometer weit, ohne daß dazu verwundbare Leitungen oder Satelliten nötig wären. Und vor allem: keine Zieladresse, Telefonnummer oder Spuren auf Webseiten verraten den Empfänger."
- Says Ulrich Bihlmayer DJ9KR from the Intruder Watch of Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club (DARC) in cq-DL January 2003: "Die militanten Gruppen, die sich für die Freiheit Sri Lankas einsetzen, verwenden Amateurgeräte für ihren Funkverkehr und sind vor allem im 40-Meter-Band zu finden. Die Angehörigen dieses Personenkreises haben sich in Südindien festgesetzt und stammen meistens aus Sri Lanka. Gegenüber den mordenden und funkenden Extremisten sind die indischen Behörden weitgehend hilflos. Ein leitender Beamter der indischen Fernmeldebehörde sagt: 'Wie können wir sie abhören, wenn sie die neuesten Geräte und Techniken haben und besser ausgestattet sind als wir?'"
- Says somebody at 1512 on 19 JAN 2003 on 28057.0 kHz in PSK-31: "WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR WE WON'T BE ALONE IF ATTACK US FROM THE WEST THE BAD ONE WE WILL BE B AND INVINCIBLE INFORMS ALL OUR BROTHERS THEY SHALL PREPARE FOR A GREAT WAR"
It should be noted that around and after the 11 SEP 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States of America, we monitored a dramatic increase in unidentified PACTOR-2 stations from locations in Africa, Asia, and Europe. For obvious reasons you can't ask us for specific details. As a matter of fact, we have been monitoring continuously, and since the early 1980s already, certain "traditional" terrorist networks such as
- Front Pembela Islam Maluku (FPIM) proceeding at Ambon (Maluku), intercepted from locations near Manado (Sulawesi Utara);
- Front Pembela Islam Sulawesi (FPIS) proceeding at Poso (Sulawesi Tengah), intercepted from a secret location near Tomohon (Sulawesi Utara);
- Jemaah Islamiyah (JEMIS) proceeding at several places, intercepted from locations near Bengkulu (Sumatera Barat) and Manado (Sulawesi Utara) and Palembang (Sumatera Selatan) in Indonesia, and from locations near Lundu and Miri in Sarawak;
- Laksar Jihad proceeding at Palu (Sulawesi Tengah), intercepted from locations near Manado (Sulawesi Utara) in Indonesia;
- Laksar Jundullah proceeding at Ujung Pandang (Sulawesi Selatan), intercepted from locations near Manado (Sulawesi Utara) in Indonesia;
- Komando Strategis Angkatan Darat (KOSTRAD) proceeding at Sampit (Kalimantan Tengah), intercepted from locations near Lundu in Sarawak;
- Brigade Mobil (BRIMOB) and Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) proceeding at Manokwari (Papua Barat), intercepted from locations near Manado (Sulawesi Utara);
- Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) proceeding near Lhokseumawe (Daerah Istimewa Aceh), intercepted from locations on Pulau Langkawi in Malaysia;
- certain other terrorist networks from the real world in Africa and Asia;
- Laut Sulu Abu Sayyaf (LSAS) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) plus its rival terrorist organization MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) proceeding on and near Mindanao, intercepted from secret locations in Sabah.
Says the Far East Economic Review on 08 MAY 2003: "Sulawesi, in particular, is critical to Jemaah Islamiah's operations. The sprawling island lies at the end of a route which has been used for years to smuggle militants and weapons from Mindanao in the Philippines through Sabah and East Kalimantan."
The ATU-Arabic teleprinter alphabet used here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in El Djaza'ir, Algeria, is explained in our Radio Data Code Manual
Recent history has shown us that the logistical abilities and capacities of sophisticated terrorist networks have long been, and continue to be!, critically - and criminally! - underestimated by certain government agencies worldwide. At the same time, "nearly every terrorist group and terrorist outrage is now connected to or linked to the Al Qaeda network and Osama bin Laden" (see below) because those chaotic US services, in particular, are perfectly unable to ever understand the real world in Southeast and South Asia. Says The Economist on 28 AUG 2004: "The CIA had not a single reliable agent in Iraq." What's more, the lack of professionalism of government forces is endemic - and watch out, we're talking here not only of those guys in Donesia!
- "This is a chronic problem of the police and the military", says Harold Crouch, one of Australia's foremost experts on Indonesian security affairs, after the devastating carbomb explosions on 12 OCT 2002 on the island of Bali that killed more than 200 people. "The police don't have computers, they don't have proper communications equipment, they don't even have phones. How can they compete with a sophisticated terrorist network?"
- Says the Far East Economic Review on 21 NOV 2002: "Many Indonesians are unconvinced that the authorities have made a breakthrough with the arrest of Amrozi, 40. He broke down only after 40 hours of interrogation. A newspaper asks how an uneducated motorcycle repairman could have helped carry out the country's most destructive attack. Many people, even in educated circles, supect Amrozi could be just a scapegoat. The public is not convinced that investigators aren't on a U.S.-sponsored scapegoating campaign." Believe it or not: the FEER is owned by US media giant DowJones!
- Says British ex-agent 'John Le Carré' ("Der Spion, der aus der Kälte kam") on 20 JAN 2003 in Der Spiegel: "Die amerikanischen Nachrichtendienste haben uns das größte Versagen in der Geschichte der Nachrichtendienste eingebrockt: den 11. September."
- Says Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 15 AUG 2003: "Die 13 Nachrichtendienste der USA sind eine fragmentierte, von Konkurrenzdenken, Verteilungskämpfen und bürokratischen Wucherungen befallene Riesenkrake, die ebenso mit sich selbst wie mit der Feindaufklärung und Feindbekämpfung beschäftigt ist - vergleichbar den Hotels in kommunistischen Staaten, die nicht für die Gäste, sondern für das Personal da waren. Der CIA ist weder Herr über die Informationen, die den Präsidenten erreichen, noch Herr über die Ressourcen, die zur Beschaffung dieser Informationen nötig sind."
- Says Australian Defence Force Academy expert Carlyle A Thayer on 21 AUG 2003: "A relatively small group of so-called international terrorism experts has succeeded in colonizing the discussion and analysis of terrorism in the region. The result has been that nearly every terrorist group and terrorist outrage is now connected to or linked to the Al Qaeda network and Osama bin Laden. They fail to take into account the varying motivations, ideologies and objectives of regional terrorist groups, and the historical, political, economic, linguistic and cultural factors that have shaped them. All of Southeast Asia's designated terrorist groups were founded long before Al Qaeda made its appearance. The origins of Jemaah Islamiah, for example, can be traced back to the 1940s. It is basically a home-grown parochial group despite its international connections. The so-called 'international terrorism specialists' are also wide off the mark when they describe the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines as an Al Qaeda affiliate. The MILF is not an unified body. Whatever connections exist between Al Qaeda and sections of the MILF, the MILF leadership remains primarily focused on its struggle in Mindanao. The MILF's agreement on a ceasefire and willingness to negotiate with the government in Manila is anathema to all that Al Qaeda stands for."
- Says The Economist on 28 AUG 2004: "Since 11 SEP 2001, Beijing has tried to link Uighur nationalist groups to Al Qaeda, even announcing that around 1,000 Uighurs trained with Osama bin Laden's organisation. A few Uighurs did indeed fight for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, but most support non-violence, and there is little evidence of significant Al Qaeda links. Yet America at first place played with Beijing's fiction, placing an obscure Uighur group on its list of international terror groups, a designation China used to tar all Uighurs as terrorists. (China now defines a terrorist in Xinjiang as anyone who thinks 'separatist thoughts'.) Under this pretext, China has over the past two years detained tens of thousands of people in Xinjiang - and executed many of them, according to Amnesty International. Even some American officials are beginning to realise that China's definition of 'terrorism' simply means anyone who opposes Beijing." This very conclusion can be read already in our 1999 GUIDE TO UTILITY RADIO STATIONS on page 540! Selamat pagi, Encik.
- Says Süddeutsche Zeitung on 29 SEP 2004: "Die US-Bundespolizei FBI hat eine riesige Menge von abgefangenen Nachrichten mutmaßlicher Terroristen bisher nicht übersetzen können. Das ist das Ergebnis einer Untersuchung des Justizministeriums in Washington. Das abgefangene Material in Arabisch und Paschtu stieg um 45 Prozent."
- Says The New York Times - Articles selected for Süddeutsche Zeitung on 08 NOV 2004: "The chaos of 15 rival spy agencies failed the nation."
- Say Utility Communications Digest Editor Steve Douglass in Popular Communications (published in New York!) NOV 2004: "Beginning at 8:51 AM EDT, a New York Center controller noticed an unauthorized transponder change from UAL 175 and repeatedly (over VHF channels) tried to contact the aircraft but had no success. Another commercial aircraft radioed New York Center about 'radio reports of a commuter plane hitting the World Trade Center.' At this point it would have been clear to anyone monitoring civilian VHF aircraft frequencies that a terrorist attack was underway. Incredibly, most federal agencies would only learn of the attack much later, and not through official communication channels, but by watching reports on CNN!"
- Says The Economist on 20 NOV 2004: "CIA ... it failed to detect India's plan to test a nuclear bomb in 1998. The break-up uf the Soviet Union, despite years of seismic creaking, was another big surprise to it ... a collective failure to foresee the September 2001 terrorist attacks and a collective hallucination about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. It did not have a single agent in pre-war Iraq!"
- Says Der Spiegel on 06 DEC 2004: "Bis heute gibt es keine Liste aller Terrorverdächtigen. Stattdessen führen zwölf konkurrierende Sicherheitsbehörden eigene Verzeichnisse."
- Says The Economist on 11 DEC 2004: "America has 15 intelligence agencies with a 40 000 000 000 USD budget. Do not expect huge changes. America's intelligence services are so sclerotic that a shock at the top - any shock! - is needed."
- Says Süddeutsche Zeitung on 03 JAN 2005: "CIA: Der pakistanische Geheimdienst 'Inter Services Intelligence' (ISI) deckt Osama bin Laden. Wir haben jetzt Beweise, daß der ISI statt dem Sturz der Taliban die Hand über den meistgesuchten Terroristen der Welt hält. Es hat sich bestätigt, daß der Anführer der Al-Qaida mit Tausenden Getreuen im schwer zugänglichen afghanisch-pakistanischen Grenzgebiet Unterschlupf gefunden hat. Bis in die oberste Führung wird der ISI von Islamisten dominiert. Es wird bezweifelt, ob Musharraf seinem Geheimdienst überhaupt noch irgendwelche Anweisungen geben kann. Zu eng sind die Verbindungen zwischen ISI, den Taliban und bin Laden." That's big fun not only to us because - 3½ years after we stated these very facts! (see above) and more than 3 years after the pertinent article published in FEER! - the incompetent CIA arrives at the same dramatic findings. Congratulations! Sleep on! Selamat malam!
- Say Utility Communications Digest Editor Steve Douglass and Chief Editor Harold Ort N2RLL in Popular Communications (published in New York!) FEB 2005: "It's hard to reconcile the fact that 19 men armed with box cutters could take down the biggest building complex in the world, damage the Pentagon, and kill thousands on the ground and in the air. - The overhaul of the intelligence system failed passage. Amazing, isn't it? Nearly three and a half years after the tragic events of 09 SEP 2001 and we still can't get it together. One has to wonder what it takes to get their attention - or ours for failing to jack them in the posterior to listen and act. Another bazillion dollar eye in the sky, 007 hard drive, or Osama videotape analysis ... Am I the only one asking why it is that with all our high-tech gizmos, monitoring stations, spy gear, and especially added buckaroos to fight the 'war', an overseas TV network can manage to get those videotapes yet our three-lettered agencies can't get him?"
- Says The Economist on 19 MAR 2005: "Last year's Senate report into the Iraq debacle found America's spies - and especially the CIA - negligent and incompetent at every stage of the intelligence collection and analysis process. Further organisational reform would not eliminate the problem. America's spies do not necessarily need shifting; a good few need sacking!"
So much about the "quality" of self-appointed "terrorism experts" and "global communication specialists"!