Stephan Fuchs – Seit dem ersten August, pünktlich zum Schweizer Nationalfeiertag, ist das Armee-Aufklärungsdetachement 10 (AAD 10) einsatzbereit. Heute Donnerstag wurden ihre Fähigkeiten in Isone, im Kanton Tessin, den Medien vorgestellt. Die Öffentlichkeit wird die Special Forces genau einmal zu Gesicht bekommen: Ebenfalls in Isone im Rahmen der Armeetage Lugano 07 vom 20. bis zum 25. November 2007. Dann verschwinden die AAD 10 in der Schublade schweizerischer Geheimnisse.

Die nach englischem SAS Vorbild und laut Weltwoche mit Hilfe amerikanischer Kräfte geschaffene Kommandotruppe soll im Jahre 2011 ihren Maximalbestand von 91 Mann erreichen. Das Kommando ist, mit den Fallschirmaufklärern und spezialisierten Lufttransportmittel der Luftwaffe, Teil des Grenadierkommando 1 des Heeres. Die Aufklärungs- und Grenadierformationen der Armee (AGFA) haben eine Gesamtstärke von 3000 Mann, wovon 5% Berufsmilitärs und 95% Milizsoldaten sind.
Zu den spezifischen Aufgaben der AAD 10 gehören:

Beschaffung von Schlüsselinformationen
Schutz von Truppen, Personen und Einrichtungen bei erhöhter Gefährdungslage
Rückführung von Schweizer Bürgern aus Krisenlagen im Ausland
Offensive Aktionen im Rahmen der Raumsicherung und Verteidigung.

Das kompaniestarke AAD 10 umfasst vier Spezialisten-Züge:
Zug 1: Spezialisten für Einsätze im Gebirge
Zug 2: Spezialisten für amphibische Einsätze
Zug 3: Fallschirm-Spezialisten
Zug 4: Spezialisten für den Einsatz motorisierter Mittel

Nach Angaben des Ministeriums für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport (VBS) erfolgt „ein Teil der Ausbildung des Armee-Aufklärungsdetachementes 10 […] in Kooperation mit inländischen oder ausländischen Partnern, um auf ihrem Fachwissen basieren zu können oder um Wissenslücken zu schließen. Die Ausbildungskooperation mit dem Ausland ist auf Wunsch und Vorgabe der Kooperationspartner klassifiziert. […] Aus Gründen der Operationssicherheit sind Informationen zu Einsatzplanung und Einsatzführung des AAD klassifiziert.“

AAD 10 eine neue Geheimarmee?
Was unter der Geheimbezeichnung P26 im Rahmen der Stay Behind (Gladio) Netzwerke im Kampf gegen den Kommunismus aufgeflogen war, so wird nun befürchtet, ist die AAD 10 eine legalisierte Version. In vielen Teilen stößt die Truppe auf Unbehagen. Von links und rechts wird eine neue Geheimarmee befürchtet. Die Truppe agiert im Dunkeln, ausgebildet werden sie unter anderem auch von englischen und amerikanischen Spezialisten für Nahkampf und verdeckte Operationen. Anfragen kontert das Departament Schmid kategorisch mit: «Aus Gründen der Operationssicherheit sind Informationen zu Einsatzplanung und Einsatzführung des AAD klassifiziert.»

Befürchtet wird, dass verdeckte Operationen auch im Inland ausgeführt werden könnten. Mit militärischen Spezialkräften gegen politisch aktive Bürger? Befürchtet wird, dass die neutrale Schweiz eng und unkontrollierbar – entgegen dem demokratischen Willen- mit ausländischen Diensten verflochten wird.

Forschungen zeigen: Geheimarmeen in Europa wurden von der CIA bezahlt, von der Nato koordiniert

Secret Bases – Alan Turnbull’s ‚Secret Bases ‚Website which has regularly rattled the Governments cage and successfully pushed back the barriers of official secrecy over the last few year’s was suddenly and without warning taken off the internet by Virgin Media earlier this week.

NTL had been perfectly happy to host Alan Turnbull’s high profile site even after the furore that sur-rounded ‘Secret Bases’ in 2003. The problem has only occurred since NTL was merged with Virgin to form the new Media organization.

Apparently no other website hosted by the now ailing Virgin Media have been similarly affected and Virgin have so far refused to discuss this matter directly with Alan Turnbull who has been fobbed off with a suc-cession of what appear to be Indian-based call-centres.

Alan Turnbull believes that he has finally been, to use his own words, ‘nobbled’. His site carries many photographs and maps clearly revealing the fallacy of trying to hide such facilities.

The suspicion must be that one of those organizations so obviously unhappy over his regularly delving into previously closed areas and exposing the bogus security reasons for hiding important facilities have finally begun to pull strings.

It will be interesting to see what reasons Virgin Media provide for taking down Alan Turnbull’s site and whether they will find it possible to answer the growing suspicion that they have quietly caved in to pres-sure from one of Alan Turnbull’s numerous official critics to finally shut down ‘Secret Bases’.

A mirror of Secret Bases in 2004:

Barbara Elias – A collection of newly-declassified documents published today detail U.S. concern over Pakistan’s relationship with the Taliban during the seven-year period leading up to 9-11. This new release comes just days after Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, acknowledged that, „There is no doubt Afghan militants are supported from Pakistan soil.“ While Musharraf admitted the Taliban were being sheltered in the lawless frontier border regions, the declassified U.S. documents released today clearly illustrate that the Taliban was directly funded, armed and advised by Islamabad itself.

Unnamed and undated, this U.S. intelligence document confirms that Pakistan is providing the Taliban with both financial and military assistance.

Obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, the documents reflect U.S. apprehension about Islamabad’s longstanding provision of direct aid and military support to the Taliban, including the use of Pakistani troops to train and fight alongside the Taliban inside Afghanistan. The records released today represent the most complete and comprehensive collection of declassified documentation to date on Pakistan’s aid programs to the Taliban, illustrating Islamabad’s firm commitment to a Taliban victory in Afghanistan.

These new documents also support and inform the findings of a recently-released CIA intelligence estimate characterizing Pakistan’s tribal areas as a safe haven for al-Qaeda terrorists, and provide new details about the close relationship between Islamabad and the Taliban in the years prior to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Declassified State Department cables and U.S. intelligence reports describe the use of Taliban terrorist training areas in Afghanistan by Pakistani-supported militants in Kashmir, as well as Pakistan’s covert effort to supply Pashtun troops from its tribal regions to the Taliban cause in Afghanistan-effectively forging and reinforcing Pashtun bonds across the border and consolidating the Taliban’s severe form of Islam throughout Pakistan’s frontier region.

Also published today are documents linking Harakat ul-Ansar, a militant Kashmiri group funded directly by the government of Pakistan, to terrorist training camps shared by Osama bin Laden in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Of particular concern was the potential for Islamabad-Taliban links to strengthen Taliban influence in Pakistan’s tribal regions along the border. A January 1997 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan observed that „for Pakistan, a Taliban-based government in Kabul would be as good as it can get in Afghanistan,“ adding that worries that the „Taliban brand of Islam…might infect Pakistan,“ was „apparently a problem for another day.“

Now ten years later, Islamabad seems to be acknowledging the domestic complications that the Taliban movement has created within Pakistan. A report produced by Pakistan’s Interior Ministry and obtained by the International Herald Tribune in June 2007 warned President Pervez Musharraf that Taliban-inspired Islamic militancy has spread throughout Pakistan’s tribal regions and could potentially threaten the rest of the country. The document is „an accurate description of the dagger pointed at the country’s heart,“ according to one Pakistani official quoted in the article. „It’s tragic it’s taken so long to recognize it.“

Islamabad denies that it ever provided military support to the Taliban , but the newly-released documents report that in the weeks following the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 1996, Pakistan’s intelligence agency was „supplying the Taliban forces with munitions, fuel, and food.“ Pakistan’s Interservice Intelligence Directorate was „using a private sector transportation company to funnel supplies into Afghanistan and to the Taliban forces.“ Other documents also conclude that there has been an extensive and consistent history of „both military and financial assistance to the Taliban.“

The newly-released documents also shed light on the complexity of U.S. diplomacy with Pakistan as the State Department has struggled to maintain the U.S.-Pakistan alliance amid concerns over the rise of the Taliban regime. In one August 1997 cable, U.S. Ambassador Thomas W. Simons advises, „Our good relations with Pakistan associate us willy-nilly, so we need to be extremely careful about Pakistani proposals that draw us even closer,“ adding that, „Pakistan is a party rather than just a mediator [in Afghanistan].“ In another 1997 cable, the Embassy asserts that „the best policy for the U.S. is to steer clear of direct involvement in the disputes between the two countries [Pakistan and Iran], and to continue to work for peace in Afghanistan.“

As to Pakistan’s end-game in supporting the Taliban, several documents suggest that in the interest of its own security, Pakistan would try to moderate some of the Taliban’s more extreme policies. But the Taliban have a long history of resistance to external interests, and the actual extent of Pakistani influence over the Taliban during this period remains largely speculative. As the State Department commented in a cable from late-1995, „Although Pakistan has reportedly assured Tehran and Tashkent that it can control the Taliban, we remain unconvinced. Pakistan surely has some influence on the Taliban, but it falls short of being able to call the shots.“ Read all at The National Security Archive

Hamid Mir– This interview is bit outdated as it was given on May 3, 2004 to a popular local channel Geo(live).This interview gives useful insights about Pakistan’s Missile and Nuclear related matters.

Hamir Mir – Mr.Samar first of all please tell us when did our nuclear program begin?

Dr.Samar Mubarak Mand: In 1962 when I was first associated with this program, the first phase of this program was underway, at that time the development of manpower and human resource required for this program was initiated. A large number of people were sent abroad by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission for higher studies and to acquire PhDs, and they were sent to the world’s best universities and I also went to Oxford for my PhD during that time. So during the 1970s and 80s, manpower was further expanded and developed and trained.

Along with this, in the 1960s the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology, also known as PINSTECH was set up where a research reactor was established. At that time Pakistan consisted of two parts, East and West Pakistan, and at that time a research reactor and an atomic accelerator was also set up at Dhaka, and many scientists were also trained there.

So basically some facilities for research were set up in the country and people were sent abroad for higher studies. So when India conducted its atomic test in 1974, at that time our Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto sahib had already resolved that Pakistan would also run its own atomic program and nuclear weapons program, so when India conducted its test in 1974, this resolve transformed into practical reality.

Hamid Mir: So we can say that research had begun in the 1960s….

Samar: Yes research had begun in the 1960s.

Hamid Mir: And this practical work on this research began in the 1970s?

Samar: Yes in the 1970s that research transformed into an atomic program.

Hamid Mir: You joined this research in 1962?

Samar: Yes I joined the PAEC and began to be associated with this research.

Hamid Mir: Mr. Samar please tell us that the former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of Pakistan, late Munir Ahmed Khan sahib once told us that our first cold test was conducted in 1983, will you please tell us something regarding this?

Samar: Yes, when our program began in 1974, first of all we had to develop an infrastructure, which included a very big design team of nuclear physicists which by the Grace of Allah still exists and is very competent and if required can deliver a new atomic bomb design to the country every three to four months, as per our requirements.

Pakistani scientists posing. The 28 May shot was fired in a tunnel bored underneath this mountain. The principal scientists responsible for developing the devices and conducting the tests were the team leader Dr. Samar Mubarakmand (right of the man in the blue beret) and Dr. Tariq Salija and Dr. Irfan Burney, all of the PAEC. The better known A.Q. Khan of KRL is left of the man in the beret.

Then facilities were also created for manufacturing, because when a bomb is being designed and made, facilities for explosives are needed, ultra-high precision facilities of mechanical engineering are required, then electronics have to be fully mastered, then once a weapon has been developed, then a totally different technology has to be mastered to test that weapon because testing is such an event that once you press a button, the bomb is detonated and the entire test is over in a few micro-seconds.

So you should have such a capability of testing that in those one or two microseconds, the yield of the bomb is measured accurately and the performance of the bomb is properly gauged and understood. So all this was done and by 1983 the first bomb was also developed, which was ready for a cold test. Then you need some tunnels in the mountains for conducting a test, which should be in a strong rock wherein the tunnels should be constructed so that during a test no radiation or damage is leaked outside the mountain.

This infrastructure also took 5-6 years to develop, and work on it continued from 1977 to 1982-83. When we were ready for a cold test, the government gave us permission to conduct it, and it was the month of March, during which the first cold test was conducted and believe me, it was conducted very discreetly. We drove big trucks without drivers for many hundreds of kilometers ourselves and our scientists acquired heavy driving licenses for this purpose and then conducted the cold test.

Hamid Mir: Where was the cold test conducted?

Samar: I cannot tell you the site where the cold test was conducted…

Hamid Mir: So the cold test was conducted under your supervision?

Samar: Yes it was conducted under my supervision because I was the leader of the test team at that time. So when the test took place, Allah Almighty gave us success and believe me the joy that we had for the cold test at that time was so much that we realized that today we have become a nuclear power, but we could not express it because we were told to keep it secret.

Hamid Mir: You just said that our scientists are so competent that they can develop a new bomb design every three to four months but some people in the international media say that Pakistan’s nuclear program is not indigenous and is dependent on bits and pieces (components and equipment) taken from here and there?

Samar: Look, components and equipment are available throughout the world and their utility is dual use, you can also use them for peaceful applications, like electronic components that can either be used in a radio or can be used in an atomic bomb, there is steel, which can either be used in a bridge or can be used in an atomic bomb also.

Shaheen-II

So this is no argument, dual use items are available of every kind and from everywhere, which if you need you can acquire. Now you know that the Internet is available, if you go on the Internet, you can get crude designs of a bomb also. But if designs are also available in the world and if materials are also available in the black market, then 30-40 countries in the world should have been able to develop atom bombs by now. What is the thing that is an obstacle for a country to develop this capability of a bomb?

What we are able to gather from our 40-42 year experience is that we have had almost two generations who have been associated with this program. First we trained the manpower, then we began work on the bomb, then we conducted the first cold test, then there was a design in the cold test which we knew would certainly work but where and how would we use it, because it was such a large size which could not be fitted on to a missile or an aircraft.

So after 1983 till 1998, we developed 5-6 more designs, conducted their cold tests and not one but more than one cold tests.

And we confirmed that they were the right designs, and we developed them in large quantities and kept them with us, and when we had a chance, we tested all these designs, and all of them were successful, all six of them. Now after passing through this experience, and after working in this program for so many years, and I mentioned the Internet to you also, and I also talked about materials, after saying all this I think no one should have any doubt in his mind that after acquiring four components from the black market, and after getting a design from the internet, it is not an easy task that any one can do. So anyone cannot do it, because if anyone could do it so easily, then many countries would have done it by now.

Hamid Mir: From 14-15 years, Libya and Iran have been buying components and materials from the black market, but they could not develop anything?

Samar: This is proof of the fact that they tried very hard to acquire materials from the black market to develop a program but the bottom line is that until and unless there is a human resource available in a country which understands this work to such an extent that it is able to develop and raise this program from zero to 100% all by itself, till then this work cannot be accomplished.

Hamid Mir: There is another important thing, please tell us about it, on 28th May 1998, who carried out the nuclear tests?

Samar: I was leading that team. I was working for the Atomic Energy Commission at that time. And I have worked in the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from 1962 to 2001. And because atom bombs were developed in PAEC, the entire testing capabilities were there, all the tunnels were developed by the Atomic Energy Commission, site was theirs, I was leading the team that was looking after this program in the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from every angle, so it was natural for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to have given this responsibility to me. And I went to Chaghi with 140 scientists, engineers and technicians and there we conducted these tests.

Hamid Mir: But we had heard that Dr. Qadeer sahib was also present at Chaghi?

Samar: Look, we cannot carry out an atomic test at the spur of the moment, without preparation. I visited Chaghi for the first time in 1981. We installed the instruments in the tunnels, prepared the tunnels according to our requirements, we built atomic bombs during this time also, conducted their cold tests, and when we were asked to carry out these tests, we were given only six days notice. This work cannot be done in six days alone.

This was successful in six days only because we were working on and were associated with this program, with the test site, with testing procedures for 20-25 years and we have developed all these processes and procedures ourselves. So technically we had complete mastery over all this work. When these tests were conducted, our team went there on 20th May, and on 28th May, in the early morning, the tunnels were plugged and the preparation for the test was complete and on 28th May, around 3.pm was the time selected for testing. So at that time, at about 2.45 pm, some of our guests arrived to witness the tests, and Dr. Qadeer Khan sahib was also one of them.

Hamid Mir: He (Qadeer) came to see the tests?

Samar: Yes he came there to see the tests and it was the first visit of his life to Chaghi. And he came there at the invitation of the chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and he arrived 15 minutes prior to the explosions. At that time we were present at a remote site 15-20 kms away from the test site from where we had to conduct the tests. So he came there and joined us in the Dua and then we conducted the test in his presence and we showed him the test and other guests also saw the test.

Hamid Mir: Now the general impression in the world is that tests were only carried out on 28th May, was there any test on 30th May as well?

Samar: We carried out five tests on 28th May, and we conducted another test on 30th May. We have another test site, which is approximately 150 kms away from Chaghi, which is in a desert, and this was an underground test. The Chaghi tests were carried out in tunnels inside a mountain. So the test on May 30 was of immense importance for us because we tested the last and latest design of the atom bomb that we had developed, and we had already carried out its cold test, so we had to test the design of this test on May 30.

And this bomb is very small in size and is very efficient and powerful in yield and this bomb is fitted on to many of our delivery systems such as missiles and aircraft. So it was very important for us that this test should be successful and Allah Almighty gave us a lot of success in it.

Hamid Mir: Mr,Samar we are listening to the story of Pakistan’s nuclear program and nuclear tests from you and surely a common Pakistani is very happy to know that Pakistan has now become nuclear power, but some people say that Pakistan’s nuclear program has been rolled back?

Samar: Look; if a program has to be rolled back, you should keep an eye on three to four things. First of all the manpower, the human resource and the people who are working on the program, if the government wishes to roll back the program, the first thing it will do will be to break that team. There is a perception in our country, may be it is because we live in South Asia where there is the concept of idol worship.

We tend to associate one particular individual with every work, we consider him to be our hero, and people think that this program is going on only because of this one individual, and there is a major flaw in this thinking, that if for some reason you remove that hero from the scene, so common people will think that the program has ended. So the perception of roll back will automatically emerge if you associate the success of the whole program with this one individual.

Today I want to tell you in very clear terms that in the nuclear program, in developing a nuclear weapon, there are 15-20 technologies involved, which include uranium exploration, mining of uranium, refining of uranium, you have to dig out uranium from the earth, then convert it into gas, then its enrichment, then it has to be converted into metal, then it has to be machined, then explosives have to be developed and machined and given the shape of an atomic bomb.

Then there are many other things which are used in the making of a bomb and which are developed, and I don’t want to go into their details now, then designs have to be developed in which a team of nuclear scientists and physicists is involved, then there has to be a test team so that when a bomb has been made, it is tested, and I have told you that in a test you have to obtain the complete data in one micro-second on how the bomb has performed, then tunnels have to be constructed which is the job of geo scientists, then if you have to convert this bomb into a deliverable weapon, because otherwise it is only a device which you can put on the ground and detonate it by joining afew wires, but if you have to deliver it by an aircraft or a missile.

It involves many other requirements such as radars, electronics, computers, and when all these systems and technologies are integrated, only then a deliverable weapon is developed. Now in these 15-20 technologies, in each one of these technologies we have a scientist of international repute, international eminence and international level who is leading that particular team, who has 600 to 1000 men working under him who are middle-level, lower-level and technician-level people.

In the same way you can take the case of missiles. In missiles, there are more technologies involved that an atomic bomb and if I go into their details, it will take a lot of time, and there also there are 15-20 people of this level, who pertain to guidance, controls, aerodynamics, of designing and developing rocket motors.

Hamid Mir: So Mr.Samar you were saying that all people are working in their fields and the program has not been rolled back?

Samar: Yes absolutely, and the second thing that needs to be seen is that if the government wished to roll back the program, it can cut our budget. I assure you that each year we get our budget as per our requirements and it is never cut and even now our budget is the same as it used to be in the past many years and the government is also very serious to take this program forward.

So in this respect I assure you that the budget we require is provided to us, we spend it with a lot of responsibility, there are many checks and balances over us, our audit is conducted regularly, and our scientists work with a lot of honesty. Then the third thing that has to be seen is that you keep getting technical targets and the government continues to give us technical targets about what we have to do.

So if you are given money and you also have the human resource but you don’t have work to do, even then the program can be rolled back. You should note that first we built the Ghaznavi, then we tested it, then we developed Shaheen-I, version 1, and tested it in 1999, then we developed Shaheen-I, version 2 , which had a greater range than the previous one, and then in October 2002, we conducted its two tests, then in October 2003, we conducted two tests of Shaheen-I, version 2, before that in May 2002 we conducted tests of Ghauri and Abdali. Last year we delivered the missiles and mobile launchers of Shaheen missiles to Pakistan Army and we equipped one complete regiment/battery with these missiles.

Now we have again equipped the Army with a battery of Ghaznavi missiles along with launchers, so what does this mean? it means that new missiles are being developed, their new versions are being developed, when we first fired Shaheen-I, its accuracy was different, and now its accuracy is less than 90 meters, Ghaznavi’s accuracy is 58 meters.

Hamid Mir: Will you please tell us what is 58 meters and 90 meters accuracy?

Samar: Now Shaheen’s full range is 700 kms, in the last test, we placed a flag in the ground after completing 700 kms, there neutral observers were stationed and were asked to tell us themselves where the missile falls and we fired the missile from 700 kms away and the missile hit the ground within 90 meters of the target.

Hamid Mir: Now some of our very responsible column writers, on the basis of foreign media reports, are writing that Pakistan’s missile program has been rolled back and some American codes have been installed on those missiles which are known only to the Americans and not to us and whenever we would need to fire the missile, we will have to ask the codes from America and only then the missile would be launched?

Samar: Look, if we can develop a complicated thing like a missile or a difficult thing like a nuclear weapon, then we know full well how to safeguard them also. We don’t need to get these codes from anywhere. We have a National Command Authority, which has a Command and Control Wing, which controls all our nuclear weapons and missiles. We have adopted the world’s most advanced command and control system.

And it is a very important part of that system that secret codes must be installed in all our weapons. When a weapon needs to be used, the person who is using it is given the code a few moments prior to the weapon’s use, and when he feeds that code via the computer, then that weapon is armed and the weapon can only be used in this way. So we have developed these codes ourselves and when these codes are installed at the time of the manufacture of these weapons and they cannot be installed on them later on. Our Command Authority knows what are these codes and these are very secure.

Hamid Mir: You have told us a very important point that these codes cannot be fitted into these weapons after they have been manufactured?

Samar: Yes these codes are fitted at the time of manufacture and it is not possible for anyone to take these weapons somewhere and then use them or detonate them and these weapons cannot be used by anyone who wishes to use them. Their safety is of immense significance and we take great care of this at the time of their manufacture.

Hamid Mir: You said that you also know how to protect these weapons. There is a famous journalist Seymour Hersh who has also written many books, his research articles are published in New Yorker magazine, a few days back he was in Pakistan, here he said that Pakistan’s atomic assets are very unsafe and if religious extremists rebel against the government and declare war or topple the government, they can take these atomic weapons and missiles somewhere else, can this happen?

Samar: No this is impossible, it is just like creating a popular story, it does not happen like this, it is a very serious matter, I will put a nuclear weapon on the road, you can keep it there for 10 months and I guarantee you that no one can use it or detonate it or cause any destruction from it. These weapons cannot be used like this.

Hamid Mir: How is it possible Mr.Samar, if you put such a weapon on the road and I will give a truck to a suicide bomber who will hit the weapon on the road.??

Samar: No, he will only break the nuclear weapon by hitting it but it will not detonate. If an atomic bomb which is fitted onto a missile or an aircraft and if that missile or aircraft is launched and crashes inside your own country, that weapon will not work, the weapon will fall and break but will not detonate.

There is a mechanism and procedure for its detonation, first you give it a code, if you throw a weapon on the ground, it will break but a nuclear explosion will not take place, the explosive inside it will explode, but the nuclear reaction that has to take place will not be triggered. It will be just like detonating 100 kg of explosives.

Hamid Mir: So when Mr. Seymour Hersh who is a senior American journalist writes such things, he does not have information or writes only for propaganda?

Samar: I think his designs are only for propaganda and as I said his aims would be to publish a popular story, as there is no science in what he is saying. Weapons don’t work like this.

Hamid Mir: Now if we talk of missiles, you have told us something about Ghaznavi, what is Shaheen, you have now fired Shaheen-II also?

Samar: Shaheen-II is the front line missile of the entire family of missiles being made Pakistan, starting from Hatf-I to Abdali, to Ghaznavi to Shaheen-I version I and Shaheen-I version II to this Shaheen-II. Shaheen-II is a solid fuelled missile, it is a very big missile and weighs 25 tons and consists of two-stages.

It has a rocket motor which activates when the missile lifts off which takes the missile to a height of 25 kms after which the rocket motor of second stage is activated and the first stage rocket motor separates at this stage.

Then the second stage motor takes the missile to a height of 130 kms and after this its re-entry vehicle which includes the warhead and terminal guidance and control system, this is known as re-entry vehicle, this is then separated from the second stage motor which then takes it forward and after making very accurate corrections takes the missile to a height of 600 kms in orbit after which the missile is brought down and it enters the atmosphere and hits the target.

Hamid Mir: A while ago you were telling us that you conducted the first test of Shaheen-I in 1999, then in 2002, then in October 2003, why did you conduct tests of Shaheen-I again and again?

Samar: When missiles are produced, and by the Grace of Allah these missiles are now in mass production, we are also giving them to the Army and there is a qualification procedure for missiles. One batch is manufactured and one missile is fired and tested from that batch. So if that missile performs accurately as per its specifications, then it is said that the whole batch has qualified.

Hamid Mir: Now Dr. Sahib lets talk something about proliferation. I have this four year old advertisement which was published in Pakistan’s English newspapers and at that time you were in the Atomic Energy Commission.
The advertisement is from the Ministry of Commerce but there is also mention of the Atomic Energy Commission in it and this advertisement which contains a list and enriched uranium is also included in that list and it says that Pakistan is willing to export a lot of nuclear materials along with enriched uranium and other equipment and materials.

At that time you were in the Atomic Energy Commission and on the basis of this advertisement the leader of opposition Benazir Bhutto in many western countries is claiming that during the era of General Pervez Musharraf proliferation started. So would you like to give a response to this?

Samar: I do wish to clarify this issue. This advertisement is an advertisement of an application form which was given in the newspaper by the Ministry of Commerce. If you look at this application form, all the countries in the world who manufacture nuclear materials or such dual use items which can be used in nuclear programs and have peaceful uses also, all such countries in order to prevent such materials and equipment from falling into wrong hands via export, this form is also available in all those countries.

If any person wants to sell any such material or component outside his country, and if someone from a foreign country wants to purchase any such material or component from him, first such a person has to fill this application form, and take permission from the respective ministry of commerce for export. And the ministry of commerce asks the buyer where he intends to use that material or component and asks an end use certificate from that buyer.

The ministry then decides on the basis of the end use certificate whether the material or component should be exported to that buyer or not. And if the ministry of commerce grants an export license, only then that material or component can be exported. Pakistan in order to bring its export control culture to the level of advanced countries of the world who are nuclear powers has adopted this application form, which is an international form, and asked the ministry of commerce to advertise it so that if someone wants to sell any dual use item or material outside this country.

So first he fills this form and takes permission from the government. It is not that we are always ready to sell these materials, this form is an advertisement of a list of materials that if someone wishes to buy any items from this list of material mentioned in the advertisement, he will have to first fill this form and take permission from the government.

Hamid Mir: Can Pakistan sell enriched uranium to any country or organization or person after filling this form?

Samar: Look, it depends on how much enriched uranium someone wants to buy from you. Someone can buy one milligram from you also, it has medical applications, you know that all the treatment in cancer hospitals is through nuclear materials that emit radiations. These radiations are used in cancer treatment.

Similarly, a lot of research work is done in universities by students and they use these materials in very small quantities, not even one gram, but they study the properties of materials by taking a thousandth part of a gram of such materials and also study the energy of the radiations from these materials. When we were students at Oxford, we had worked with these materials.

Hamid Mir: Mr.Samar, we are talking about proliferation. There are many reports in foreign newspapers that some people after making and copying some drawings and formulas have sent them abroad, these people can be a very big threat and in this way atomic technology and secrets can be transferred to someone else. So is such a thing possible?

Samar: Look, I want to say this with a lot of clarity that if you are working in the nuclear program in the country, you sign an oath of secrecy on the first day of your work, all of us have signed this oath of secrecy and we understand it and we follow it very strictly.

We have worked for 42 years on this program and in our department (PAEC) this culture was very strictly enforced that we will not even tell the other Directorate about or work, which are the Directorates of the Atomic Energy Commission also. Any person who required any information, he was given restricted access to that information according to his requirement only. Even the scientists working on different projects would not discuss their work with each other or amongst themselves.

So this was the act of secrecy. Therefore if any scientist has violated the act of secrecy by exporting any secret, any document or paper, or any equipment or technology to any extent, this is a violation of the act of secrecy and I believe this is a very big injustice done to the nation because it is a trust that the nation has in us from day one and we should not violate this trust. Now regarding the issue of proliferation, and I am talking in the context of the world that the world has said that Pakistan has committed proliferation, there is a very obvious thing in all this, and because we are experimentalists and we have actually worked on the bomb, if someone would give me some drawings and formulas and ask me to build an atom bomb, so can I do it?

To build a bomb, I would need training, I would need those machines by which atom bomb is manufactured, I would need raw materials, components which I can use in those machines to build a bomb, and most importantly I would need test equipment to test if bomb has been properly developed and works accurately or not.

Now these are five things, design, training, materials, machines, and test equipment. Now for any country that does not know anything about such a program, if it is provided with one or two of these things or steps, so even then it cannot build an atom bomb until it does not have that human resource which is capable of developing that program from beginning to the end indigenously.

Hamid Mir: So what you are saying is that even if someone has given some secrets and drawings to Iran, Libya and North Korea, unless these countries have proper trained people with them, they cannot build nuclear weapons?

Samar: Yes unless there would be proper trained people in these countries, who have been educated in these disciplines and have the mental ability to accomplish this task from beginning to the end, if they have such a capability and you give them some things, then may be their program that would normally take 9.5 years if it would otherwise take them 10 yrs to accomplish this task because of your help and if they don’t have the capability, they will never be able to do it and the proof of this is the fact that it has been 14 yrs for people to have taken drawings, but nothing has been done till now.

Hamid Mir: So then what is the black market, why is the IAEA is so scared of the black market and is saying that some scientists have links with the black market?

Samar: Yes , as I mentioned to you earlier, the black market can cut short the time for your program and if you would need 10 years to do something, then because of the black market you may be able to do it in 8 years if you can get some things from the black market. But if you are able to get some things from the market but you don’t have the capability for doing other things, then you cannot reach anywhere.

So this point needs to be understood that we have developed a capability over 40 years, we have 50,000 trained people who are working and who understand their work, we have machines, infrastructure, materials, we have our own uranium, and we have everything of our own.

If today I have to buy some steel from somewhere which is not available in Pakistan or if I have to buy some electronic components which are also used in a radio and which are not made in my country, so if I buy some of these components from the market instead of building everything myself, it will only save me some time, but if someone were to give me some nuts and bolts and four transistors and ask me to build an atom bomb, so I will not be able to do it.

Hamid Mir: Mr.Samar, after listening to your talk, a question would have come up in the minds of many viewers and the question is very genuine, that question I put in front of you, if the 1983 cold test was conducted by Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, if the atomic tests of 28th May 1998 were also conducted by Dr. Samar Mubarakmand, so then what did Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan do?

Samar: Look I have told you very clearly……

Hamid Mir: No, what was his role then?

Samar: His role was also of importance. We had designed the atomic bomb and manufactured it, we needed fuel for that, you can take the example that you have manufactured a motorcar for which we need petrol, so the fuel is enriched uranium, and Dr. Qadeer Khan had a very competent team of scientists, and most of them had gone there from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and Dr. Qadeer was the administrator of this team in Kahuta. And this team at Kahuta developed and installed the facilities, which are necessary for the enrichment of uranium.

So this is also one very important link in 15-20 equally important links needed for building an atomic bomb. So uranium itself is explored, refined and transformed into gaseous form by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and then this gaseous uranium goes to Kahuta where it is enriched which is also a difficult job and which is accomplished by the scientists of Kahuta, and there is a very big team of 10-12000 people who are working there, and after the uranium has been enriched, it is handed back to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission where it is converted into metal and then used as fuel in a bomb, which is also developed by PAEC.

Hamid Mir: Also please tell us what is difference between Ghauri and Shaheen missiles? It is commonly presumed that the Ghauri was the brainchild of Dr. A.Q.Khan?

Samar: Ghauri missile runs on liquid fuel. The entire family of Shaheen missiles, Ghaznavi, Abdali, Shaheen version I & II etc are all solid fuelled missiles. The complete system of solid fuel missiles is designed and developed in my organization, NESCOM; all these solid fuelled missiles are designed, developed and mass-produced in NESCOM. And the Ghauri missile program began in Kahuta but at present the warhead of Ghauri is also developed in NESCOM and is our responsibility because warheads of Shaheen system missiles or Ghauri or for fighter aircraft are all developed by NESCOM.

Hamid Mir: You remained associated with Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission for 40 years, now NESCOM has been established, what is the reason behind its establishment and what is its role?

Samar: Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission is a research institution and in research one thing is first created and tested and is then brought to such a level where it can be used and is ready to be mass-produced. But when you have to undertake mass production of a particular item, whether it is a missile of nuclear warheads, which you have to develop and produce in large numbers, and when they are produced in such a way that they can be used by the Army or the Air Force, for this purpose a dedicated and separate organization is always established, whose responsibility is to produce strategic weapons in large numbers.

Hamid Mir: Thank you very much Dr. Samar Mubarakmand.

Source: Pakistan Military Consortium

Hamid Mir, the author of the interview, is a top Pakistani reporter, head of the Geo TV Bureau in Islamabad. He has won a world-wide acclaim for his interviews with Osama bin Laden and Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, before and following 9/11. His new book about OBL is due to appear in Britain, later this year.

Cryptome – With little fanfare, Jose A. Rodriguez Jr, who heads the National Clandestine Service (NCS) — the spies, torturers, and terrorists of the CIA — had his cover lifted about a month ago. CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said the driving factor was his interest in publicly participating in minority recruitment events. The real reason could be he is interested in spending some time at his expensive home in a housing development in the northeast corner of Loudoun County, VA, with his wife Millie. He’s also retiring later this year after more than three decades with the agency.

The most important man in the U.S. spy game: Jose A. Rodriguez Jr

Rodriguez is the most important man in the U.S. spy game whose name you probably never knew. When he was mentioned publicly before now, he was referred to only as „Jose.“ However, we published an article about him on Wikipedia over a year ago.

Rodriguez became head of the CIA’s clandestine service in November 2004.

Jose Rodriguez is a native of Puerto Rico. Rodriguez apparently was a military attache — a MILGP or MILGRP (US Military Group) „commander“ (supposedly an Army colonel) — at the US Embassy in Argentina from 1994-1996. Officially a Military Group officer advises the US ambassador on military matters and is a liason between the US Government and the host country’s security and military forces (actually, a funnel for money, arms, and intelligence). US diplomats, even military officers such as the US naval attache in Venezuela, Lt. Commander John Correa, ousted last year for espionage against Venezuela, often are CIA operatives. The CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames once posed as a military officer, and it’s likely that Rodriguez was doing so in Argentina.

Besides recruiting the real spies (most of which are traitors to the host countries rather than Americans), CIA overseas agents (posing as diplomats in US embassies) aid US-puppet governments, no matter how repressive, and seek to overthrow independence-minded host governments (like Hugo Chavez’s), no matter how democratic.

During the tenure of Ernesto Samper as president of Colombia (Aug. 1994 to Aug. 1998), Rodriguez began serving as the CIA’s station chief in Bogota, Colombia. Rodriguez probably served as COS in Bogota sometime between 1996 and 1998. Soon after Samper became president, the CIA pressured him to assist them in their war, basically a turf war, against the Cali cocaine cartel. Possible enmity between Samper and Rodriguez later caused problems for former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as explained below.

Apparently the CIA tried to muscle in on the drug profits of the cartel and blackmail Samper to obtain influence for the CIA and/or the USA. (Is the CIA working for the US, for US business interests, for itself, for some other faction, to line its operatives‘ pockets — or all of the above?)

Regarding a 1997 incident, according to Jason Vest of The Nation magzine, Rodguez has been criticized by Agency officers for helping out a „friend“ arrested for drug offenses in Latin America. The true story is apt to be much more complicated than that. Rodriguez could claim he was acting in the line of duty by protecting a CIA asset (foreign „assets“ are foreign nationals who do the bulk of the CIA’s spy work) or investigation.

In 1999 Rodriguez was the chief of the large CIA station in Mexico with perhaps 500 agents.

Jose A. Rodriguez next became the chief of the Latin America Division of the Operations Directorate of the CIA, presumably back at the McLean, VA, headquarters. (Most CIA employees live in McLean and other small towns in Virginia, as well as Washington DC.) The Latin American division is considered obscure by CIA-watchers, but CIA fight-provocation among neighboring nations, and subversion within individual nations, was perfected there, notably in Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Savador in the Iran-contra era (1980s)

Provocation and regime-changing skills are especially desirable to the CIA in the Middle East and Latin America right now.

Jose Rodriguez assumed in about May 2002 the post of Director of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center (CTC), near the top of the CIA totem pole. He was at this job as George W. Bush putsch-making gathered steam in the wake of 9/11/2001. Rodriguez as D-CTC may have been one reason Henry Kissinger resigned (in Dec. 2002) as chairman of the commission investigating 9/11. Kissinger had been paid as a consultant (apparently in the period 2001-2002) by Ernesto Samper, and the 9/11 job would have involved interfacing with Rodriguez, an old Samper antagonist.

Jose A. Rodriguez was promoted to become the CIA’s Deputy Director for Operations in November 2004, succeeding Stephen Kappes. This is perhaps the CIA’s No. 2 position in terms of power and put him in charge of the CIA’s clandedestine (spying and dirty tricks) operations, including illegal renditions and operation of illegal „black hole“ prisons for Muslims. In this job Rodriguez had to sign off on all applications of „harsh interrogation“ methods (torture).

Rodriguez dropped out of sight soon after his appointment was announced in the media, but the CIA never reported any reassignment for him.

After the 2005 reorganization of the Intelligence Community under Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, Jose Rodriguez continued as the head of CIA clandestine operations. This is basically his old job (DDO) with a new title, Director of the National Clandestine Service, and new responsibilities to oversee day-to-day operations of all intelligence gathering by America’s human (more or less) agents.

This would include agencies besides the CIA, but not electronic data mining and other methods besides HUMINT.

On February 7, 2006, Rodriguez fired his successor as Director of the Counterterrorism Center, Robert Grenier, for not being „aggressive“ enough in dealing with terrorists (not vicious enough).

Rodriguez’s publicity shyness compared to his predecessors apparently was in deference to his wife’s desire to pursue a career as a physical trainer rather than any requirement of his job.

(Interestingly, there is another Jose A. Rodriguez, supposedly a professor at the University of Barcelona in Spain, who is a world-class expert on antiterrorist methods, especially the use of communications intercepted by the National Security Administration (NSA). This „professor“ is even more elusive than the NCS/CIA man.)

World Content News – Laut einem Bericht der Los Angeles Times ist die Zahl der zivilen Beschäftigten, die den Krieg im Irak und dessen Okkupation unterstützen auf inzwischen über 180.000 angestiegen und übertrifft damit die Zahl der im Irak stationierten Soldaten (160.000). Ca. 650 Firmen aus aller Welt haben lukrative Verträge mit der US-Armee abgeschlossen, um die Besetzung zu zementieren. Und mehr als 1.000 der oft unter ausbeuterischen Bedingungen angestellten Beschäftigten mussten inzwischen ihr Leben dafür lassen. Wer sind diese Firmen, welche leisten Söldner- oder Intelligenzdienste, wo sind ihre Standorte und welche stehen unter Waffen?

Im Internet wurde jetzt eine Liste mit über 1900 Vertragsabschlüssen „freigelassen“, deren Daten das Oberkommando der US-Armee (CENTCOM) im Rahmen des Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) herausrücken musste. Und erstaunlich: Aufgeführt sind nicht nur die Namen der Kontraktoren und deren Personalstärke, auch die Art der jeweiligen Dienstleistung, Bewaffnung, Einsatzort und Vertragsdauer sind penibel aufgeführt.

Eigentlich ein K.O.-Kriterium für jede Armee, deren Kriegserfolg wesentlich von der Sicherheit der Logistik abhängig ist – falls die Daten nicht bewusst in die Irre führen sollen. Es gibt aber Anzeichen dafür, dass die Liste, auch wenn sie nicht ganz vollständig ist, in ihrem detailierten Umfang eher versehentlich an die Öffentlichkeit gelangte. Die Redakteurin Susie Dow von ePluribus Media hatte die Zensus.Anfrage ins Rollen gebracht und dann die erhaltene Excel-Liste (Download hier) kurzerhand ins Internet gestellt. World.Content.News konnte nicht wiederstehen und hat sich (ohne Gewähr 🙂 über die Daten hergemacht.

Der Liste nach gab es Ende 2006 129.805 zivile Helfer im Irak (andere Quellen: 133.196), Mitarbeiter von Sub-Unternehmen nicht eingerechnet.

Nur ca. 26.000 stammen aus dem Irak selbst, 21.593 sind Angestellte von US-Firmen, der große Rest stammt aus Drittländern. Es gibt etliche Firmen, deren Verträge erst im nächsten Jahrzehnt auslaufen, die Dauer der Ausbildung irakischer Polzisten ist gar bis mindestens 2014 vorgesehen.

Neben den in den Medien des Öfteren hervorgehobenen kontingentstarken Firmen wie Blackwater (berüchtigte Sicherheits- und Söldnerfirma, die eng mit der CIA kooperiert), KBR (größtes Unternehmen im Irak mit 14.000 Mitarbeitern, Tochter der US-Sicherheitsfirma Halliburton, im Prinzip Cheney’s Privatarmee), Kulak (türkisches Bauunternehmen), DynCorp (Sicherheitsfirma, in der Liste ist der Auftrag mit „Design Build“ umschrieben), Prime Projects International (PPI, Dubai, Subvertragsunternehmer für Halliburton) und Erinys (große Sicherheitsfirma aus Nigeria) sind auch Zulieferer vermerkt, die keine Mitarbeiter direkt im Irak stationiert haben.

Die Top 30 Firmen (nach Anzahl der eingesetzten Mitarbeiter, alphabetisch)

77 CONSTRUCTION
AECOM
Al Musarie
Albany Associates
ALMCO
Al-Murtaja
AMEC EARTH & ENVIRONMENTAL INC
AUC
Batnaya Bureau
BLACKWATER
DAOUD & PARTNERS CO.
DynCorp
ECC
EOD TECHNOLOGIES
ERINYS INTL
Falcon Security
FIRST KUWAITI
FLOUR
GULF CATERING COMPANY
IPBD
ITSI
ITT
KBR
KULAK CONSTRUCTION
L3 COMMUNICATION
NOUR
PRIME PROJECTS INTERNATIONAL
SERKA GROUP
Trade Links
USIS INTERNATIONAL
VERSAR

Unter den Vertragspartnern finden sich auch etliche Global Player aus dem Rüstungsmarkt und Beraterfirmen wie McKinsey oder Bearing Point. Nach einer ersten Durchsicht seien hier noch kurz drei Unternehmen hervorgehoben, die besonderen Anlass zum Staunen bieten:

L3 COMMUNICATION. Ein in Europa relativ unbekannter und vielseitiger Rüstungskonzern, der u.a. die US-Armee mit optischer High-Tech-Ausrüstung beliefert. Ihm haben wir z.B. auch die ruckel- und vibrationsfreien Kameraaufnahmen der erschütterndsten Liveübertragung dieses Jahrhunderts aus dem „Fox News“-Hubschrauber zu verdanken. Ort des Geschehens: New York, 11. September 2001. Der erst 1997 gegründete Konzern hat unter der Bush-Regierung einen kometenhaften Aufstieg zu verzeichnen. Allein im Jahr 2006 erhielt das Unternehmen Regierungsaufträge im Wert von mehr als 3,1 Milliarden Dollar. Die Kontraktorenliste weist allein für diesen Konzern mehr als 190 Verträge aus, im Irak nehmen sie dabei überwiegend Geheimdienst- und Übersetzeraufgaben wahr.

Tabelle: Verträge mit Firmen, die im Irak geheimdienstliche Tätigkeiten ausüben (MA = Anz. Mitarbeiter)

Firma	Mission	MA	Standort	Laufzeit
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	10	WARRIOR	30-Jun-06
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	3	REMAGEN	30-Jun-06
L3 COMMUNICATION	INTELLIGENCE	11	Q-WEST	30-Jun-06
L3 COMMUNICATION	INTELLIGENCE	5	DIAMONDBACK	30-Jun-06
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	4	4ID	30-Jun-06
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	9	BUCCA	30-Jun-06
L3 COMMUNICATION	INTELLIGENCE	5	UNKNOWN	01-Sep-06
L3 COMMUNICATION	INTELLIGENCE	9	UNKNOWN	09-Mrz-07
AEGIS DEFENSE SERV.	SECURITY, INTEL	44	UNKNOWN	31-Mai-07
RDR INC	INTELLIGENCE	10	CLASSIFIED LOCATION	31-Jan-08
BLACKWATER SECURITY	WEAPONS INTELLIGENCE TRAINING	3	BLACKWATER	20-Mai-08
L3 COMM. (PRIME)	INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT	291	IRAQ	30-Jun-08
SCID	COUNTERINTELL.	82	UNKNOWN	21-Jan-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	3	TAL AFAR	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	5	RUSTAMIYAH	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	8	WARHORSE	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	2	BALAD	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	4	SHIELD	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	13	AL ASAD	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	2	VICTORY	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	24	INTERNATIONAL ZONE	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	11	MAREZ	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	9	RAMADI	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	50	CROPPER	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	3	FALCON	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	10	TAQQADUM	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	13	FALLUJAH	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	16	TAJI	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	2	TALLIL	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	13	ANACONDA	30-Jun-09
ISS-I (L3)	INTELLIGENCE	17	SPEICHER	30-Jun-09
SM CONSULTING INC	COUNTERINTELL.	2	BASRAH	12-Mai-11
SM CONSULTING INC	COUNTERINTELL.	2	BAGHDAD	12-Mai-11
L3 COMM.	LOAD, TROUBLESHOOT AND TRAIN INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS ON THE ASAS-L	1	STRIKER
TASMCO/RAYTHEON INTERNATIONAL W MPRI	INTELLIGENC AND INFORMATION DISSEMINATION SUPPORT	18	LIBERTY
L3 COMMUNICATION	HUMAN INTEL. SUPPORT	5	RAMADI

Die Privatisierung von Spionage boomt zur Zeit nicht nur im Irak, dass die CIA dabei geschasst wird und außen vor bleibt, lässt sich so wiederum auch nicht sagen, wenn man in Betracht zieht, dass z.B. ein gewisser Herr Charles Shanklin sowohl im Management der gewichtigen L3-Tochter Crestview Aerospace als auch in der CIA-Schlüsselfirma Tepper Aviation sitzt (1, 2), deren speziell ausgestattete Lockheed-Flugzeuge nicht nur wichtige Aufklärungsarbeit leisten, sondern auch verdächtigt werden, dass sie zuweilen für Entführungen und Waffenschmuggel eingesetzt werden. Bestimmte Flüge meist von Frankfurt aus nach Baku, die auch vom Eurpopaparlament untersucht wurden, dienten womöglich eher dem Güter- als dem Personentransport. Als möglicher Abnehmer gilt ein ehemaliger CIA-Agent und inzwischen Grande Senior des Schmuggels von Waffen, Drogen und Rohdiamanten: Farhad Azima, ein gebürtiger Iraner. Das Internet bietet reichlich Stories über seine Schmuggelgeschichten und Betrugsgeschäfte.

Zuletzt wurde seine ghanaische Fluglinie Johnson’s Air im November 2006 in Mogadischu gesichtet, als aus deren Boeing 40 Tonnen Waffen und Munition ausgeladen wurden, die für die islamischen Rebellen in Somalia bestimmt waren. Seine Flugzeuge sind auch regelmä0ige Besucher im belgischen Oostende gewesen.

Ein kapriziöser Schurken-Kreislauf: Die CIA beliefert Schmuggler, die diese Waffen an Rebellen weitergeben, welche dann anschließend von der CIA wieder bombardiert werden.

DYNAMIC AVIATION. Eine wirklich sehr dynamische Firma, die auf ihrer Webseite das volle Programm anbietet: Überwachung, Feindaufklärung, Brandbekämpfung und das Versprühen von Insektiziden aus der Luft. Sie ist auch eifrig in Afghanistan tätig und war 2005 sogar im Besitz einer militärischen Landerlaubnis (CALP) für die Air-Force Base in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, wo sich auch das Iraq Contracting Center befindet, das sich wiederum aus Verträgen mit L3-Communication speist. Der investigative Journalist Daniel Hopsicker („Welcome to Terrorland“) hat die Firmenleiter zudem in einem kürzlich erschienenen Beitrag als christliche Fundamentalisten entlarvt, die offenbar eng mit der CIA zusammenarbeiten (Pirates of the Caribbean: Christian fundamentalists & the CIA)

CIA und radikale Christen, wie geht das zusammen? Scheinbar sehr gut, wie WCN bereits berichtete. So operierte in Afghanistan eine gewisse Mission Aviation Fellowship, eine evangelikanische Dachgesellschaft der Fundamentalisten, mit einer kleinen Beech 200 mit dem Logo der Entwicklungshilfeorganisation Pactec. Eine optimale Tarnung für den Drogenschmuggel mit Rohopium. Ein Insider, dem das gar nicht gefiel, hatte 2005 ein einladendes Foto geschossen. Passende Entdeckung dazu: Auch die fliegenden Männer Gottes waren mit einer militärischen Landeerlaubnis ausgestattet.

AL JAZEERA. Die wohl heftigste Überraschung in dieser Liste. Der vorgeblich unabhängige arbeitende Nachrichtensender, von bösen Zungen schon auch mal als das Sprachrohr Al Kaidas bezeichnet, soll hintenrum mit den Besatzern des Iraks zusammenarbeiten? Vertragsnr. W91GXZ-06-M-0023, Laufzeit vom 29.09.06 bis 20.10.06, abgeschlossen mit der Al-Jazeera Towers Company lässt leider nicht erkennen, worum es sich bei diesem Deal handeln könnte, die Mission vermerkt leider nur ein UNKNOWN, an anderer Stelle steht „Contract Support“. Was sich dahinter verbirgt wäre wohl der Nachfrage wert – doch nicht etwa ein Joint Venture wegen der Schmierenkomödien (neuester Gig: „Target me – Target you“) aus den Al Sahab-Studios featured by IntelCenter? Hollywood war gestern ….

Tabelle: Private bewaffnete Dienstleister im Irak (Auswahl)

Firma	Mission	Anz. Waffen	Laufzeit
ERINYS INTL	SECURITY	1451	02. Jun 07
BLACKWATER	DIPLOMATIC SECURITY	670	01. Jun 07
EOD TECHNOLOGIES	MUNITIONS CLEARANCE	530	29. Dez 08
TRIPLE CANOPY	FIXED SITE SECURITY AND PSD	375	01. Dez 11
EOD TECHNOLOGIES	PERIMETER/TCP SECURITY	344
EODT	Internal Security	328	27. Aug 06
DAI	Internal Security	328	31. Dez 06
TETRA TECH EC, INC.	MUNITIONS CLEARANCE	282	29. Dez 08
SOC-SMG	Internal Security	261	19. Mai 07
Falcon Security	Base Security	259	30. Sep 05
Mabey Johnson	Internal Security	244	30. Sep 07
TETRA TECH EC, INC.	MUNITIONS CLEARANCE	232	29. Dez 08
SOC-SMG	Internal Security	224	29. Mrz 07
Al-Murtaja Company	Oil Sector Construction	222	05. Dez 06
EOD TECHNOLOGIES	MUNITIONS DEPOT OPERATIONS	216	29. Dez 08
Batnaya Bureau	Oil Sector Construction	215	16. Nov 06
SOC-SMG, Inc.	Force Protection	188	28. Apr 07
MPRI	Internal Security	187	15. Mrz 07
TETRA TECH EC, INC.	MUNITIONS CLEARANCE	164	29. Dez 08
TETRA TECH EC, INC.	MUNITIONS CLEARANCE	130	29. Dez 08
USIS INTERNATIONAL	LIFE SUPPORT	130	21. Feb 09
77 CONSTRUCTION	Life Support	130	28. Dez 10
DHL	Private Convoy Security	110	31. Okt 09
SPECIAL OPERATIONS COUNSELING/ SEC MANAG GRP	INTERNAL SECURITY COMPANY/UGANDUNS	109	23. Jan 07
TETRA TECH EC, INC.	MUNITIONS CLEARANCE	105	29. Dez 08
DOS/RONCO	HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION	78	01. Dez 08
AEGIS DEFENSE SERVICES	OPERATION/SECURITY	70	31. Mrz 07
CIVILIAN POLICE ASSISTANCE TRAINING TEAM	TRAIN IRAQI POLICE FORCE	70
AEGIS DEFENSE SERVICES	SUPPORT NATIONAL OPS/SECURITY	57	31. Mrz 07
ASARS	Phoenix Academy	49	14. Jul 07
ECCI	UNKNOWN	45	31. Mai 07
PARSONS INFRASTRUCTURE & TECHNOLOGY GROUP	LOGISTICAL SUPPORT	45	26. Jan 09
AEGIS DEFENSE SERVICES	SECURITY, INTEL	44	31. Mai 07
ERINYS INTL	SECURITY	43	30. Jun 07
BH DEFENSE	LIFE SUPPORT	41	01. Mai 08
ABC INCORPORATED	POLICE TRAINING	40	01. Jan 07
EOD TECHNOLOGIES	EOD	36
MOTOROLA AIEE	COMMUNICATIONS	33	31. Mrz 07
WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL INC	ELECTRICAL TRANSMISSION	25	01. Mrz 09
BEARING POINT	ECONOMIC GROWTH	25	01. Okt 09
ALMCO	Life Support	21	27. Jul 07
ERINYS INTL	USACE	20	02. Jun 07
AMEC EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL	RECONSTRUCTION	17	31. Aug 07
C-RAM	UNKNOWN	16
NAVAL STANDARD WORKFORCE CENTER	RESEARCH FOR IED ISSUES	15
MPRI	PERSONNEL SERVICES	14	30. Mai 07
SBIG	Personnel	14	31. Jul 07
EOD TECHNOLOGY INC	CONVOY SUPPORT SERVICES	13	01. Nov 07
Lincoln Group	COIN Instruction	12	01. Jan 07
ERINYS INTL	SUPPORT CONSTRUCTION OPS	12	31. Mrz 07
CONVENANT HOMELAND SECURITY SOLUTIONS LLC	SECURITY CANINE HANDLERS	12	28. Feb 08
CIVILIAN POLICE ASSISTANCE TRAINING TEAM	SECURITY	11
CPATT	IRAQI POLICE TRAINING	10	24. Mrz 14

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Clayton Hallmark – This is the only known public photograph showing a CIA plane on CIA property. The photo was taken at the CIA’s leased facilities at the Johnston County Airport in Smithfield, North Carolina, [Google map] which long has denied CIA involvement. The plane in the photo, with the tail number (FAA registration) N168D is shown between the blue headquarters building of Aero Contractors and a beige hangar.

Proof: N168D at the CIA’s leased facilitie at the Johnston County Airport

Also — rendition victims‘ attorneys, are you listening? — the photo provides conclusive proof that the „private company“ Aero Contractors Ltd. operates the CIA’s planes.

News media have routinely reported denials by ACL and the Johnston County Airport Authority of CIA operations — here is proof the denials are lies. This is the first proof of charges that won Dana Priest of the Washington Post a Pulitzer prize.

N168D in action: Malta August 12. 2005

The anti-torture group North Carolina Stop Torture Now (NC STN) has put up with arrests, threats, and long, boring stakeouts — and finally achieved success July 24, 2007, with this and other photos. Another photograph shows members of the NC STN group being arrested during an April 9, 2007, invasion of Aero’s compound. The photo shows the same beige hangar on the left, to verify the location of the recent shot of the N168D. Ironically, the people were arrested near the same location.

NC STN Arrests

Aero Contractors, the CIA’s torture-plane pilots, have flown N168D to Budapest, Hungary; Luqa, Malta; Kandahar, Afghanistan; Prague, Czech Republic; Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Ponta Delgada, Azores; Amman , Jordan ; Baku , Azerbaijan ; Baghdad , Iraq; and Ankara , Turkey. I have photos of the plane at these locations, but this is the first one on CIA turf.

Manufactured by Construcciones Aeronauticas S.A. (CASA) of Spain, the N168D is a twin-engine turboprop, model No. CN-235-300, serial No. C135. The CIA/Devon Holding & Leasing, Inc. has three other C-235 aircraft. Often used as a military transport, the plane can hold 51 troops (including rendition victims) or a military cargo that can be a couple of fighter engines or Land Rovers. It is usable on short and unpaved runways.

Devon Holding & Leasing, Inc.
The plane owner is one of several aviation shell companies set up by the CIA and private attorneys around the country. They have no employees except a lawyer on retainer and exist solely as a front for the CIA. (This is in contrast to air proprietaries like ACL, who ferry the bad guys of the CIA around.) Devon was incorporated by Mark E. Klass, now a judge at the Davidson County Hall of Justice in Lexington, NC. he address the FAA has for Devon is 129 W. Center St., Suite 2, Lexington, NC, also the address of attorney Carroll C. Wall.

Planes of Devon Holding have landed also at Camp Peary, VA (as once shown on the website of ISI Consulting), where the CIA operates its training facility known as „the Farm.“ Its planes have had „Civil Aircraft Landing Permits“ (CALPs) to land at U.S. military bases worldwide. Devon was taken off the CALP list for 2006, but this photo shows it is still on the job; and ACL is one of 10 companies still on the list.

Aero Contractors Ltd
Some alleged pilots of Aero Contractors are listed by actual names at Sourcewatch. These are among the 13 CIA agents named by the Munich public prosecutor in the 2003 kidnapping/torture of Lebanese-German Khaled el-Masri.

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Afrol News – Sudan is blaming the United States‘ Central Intelligence Agency(CIA), accusing the body of fuelling conflicts in troubled southern region of Darfur. Sudanese Interior Minister, Zubair Bashir Taha, spilled the beans by accusing CIA for smuggling weapons into the region.

Speaking to a crowd of youth organisations in the capital Khartoum, Mr Taha said the CIA wants to disrupt the demographics of Darfur. He further accused the United States of being responsible for prolonging the war and the death of thousands of people in both Darfur and Iraq.

The crisis in Darfur started in 2003 after an ethnic minority showed their anger against mistreatment in the hands of the Khartoum government. The government then decided to form the Janjaweed militia accused of killing the minority ethnic members.

It is estimated that more than 200,000 lives have been lost as a result of the Darfur crisis. Mr Taha’s accusations came barely a week after the US Special Envoy to Darfur, Andrew Natsios, sounded against the migration of Arab ethnic groups from the neighbouring countries for resettlement in West Darfur and other lands traditionally belonging to local African tribes. It was also alleged that Sudan has been secretly working with the CIA to spy on the insurgency in Iraq as evidenced by the cooperation between the US and the Sudanese regime.

But most people believe that the relations between the two countries goes beyond Iraq – Sudan has helped the US track down the turmoil in Somalia. Besides, Sudanese intelligence service is said to have helped the US to attack the Islamic Courts Unions positions in Somalia as well as locate al-Qaeda suspects hiding there.