Tuesday, November 20, 2012

DELTA FLIGHT ATTENDENT- HER 9/11 STORY

Note: We maintain an affiliate relationship with Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Linkshare to offer you well-researched and reliable resources that are selectively chosen and peer-reviewed by us, then labeled with the "Learn more" caption. Ten percent of all ad revenue is donated to the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO).


Order online

A story told by a flight attendant on Delta Flight 15, written following 9-11, reinstated my faith in humanity. The polarization of the American public, spawned by the aggressive Republican Primaries and final Republican-Democratic presidential campaign, caused us to splinter into ideological factions. However, this flight attendant's detailed account of how passengers reacted to the 9-11 attack rekindled my faith in that we all share a common purpose- democrats and republicans; born again Christians and atheists; pro-choice and pro-life; whites, blacks, Asians and Latinos; U.S. citizens or our Canadian neighbors- we all come together when our country is in peril. Here's her story:

"On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic. All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the cockpit, immediately, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I noticed that the crew had that "All Business" look on their faces. The captain handed me a printed message. It was from Delta's main office in Atlanta and simply read, "All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination."



Order online
No one said a word about what this could mean. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. The captain determined that the nearest airport was 400 miles behind us in Gander, New Foundland. He requested approval for a route change from the Canadian traffic controller and approval was granted immediately--no questions asked. We found out later, of course, why there was no hesitation in approving our request. While the flight crew prepared the airplane for landing, another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area. A few minutes later word came in about the hijackings.

We decided to LIE to the passengers while we were still in the air. We told them the plane had a simple instrument problem and that we needed to land at the nearest airport in Gander, New Foundland to have it checked out. We promised to give more information after landing in Gander. There was much grumbling among the passengers, but that's nothing new! Forty minutes later, we landed in Gander. Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM! .... that's 11:00 AM EST.



Order online
There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all over the world that had taken this detour on their way to the U.S.  After we parked on the ramp, the captain made the following announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have. The reality is that we are here for another reason." Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the U.S. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief. The captain informed passengers that Ground control in Gander told us to stay put.

The Canadian Government was in charge of our situation and no one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to come near any of the air crafts. Only airport police would come around periodically, look us over and go on to the next airplane. In the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were U.S. commercial jets.

Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we learned that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in DC. People were trying to use their cell phones, but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in Canada. Some did get through, but were only able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the lines to the U.S. were either blocked or jammed.

Sometime in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash. By now the passengers were emotionally and physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but everyone stayed amazingly calm. We had only to look out the window at the 52 other stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this predicament.


Order online

We had been told earlier that they would be allowing people off the planes one plane at a time. At 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next morning. Passengers were not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to this news without much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend the night on the airplane. "Gander had promised us medical attention, if needed, water, and lavatory servicing. And they were true to their word. Fortunately we had no medical situations to worry about. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.

About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th a convoy of school buses showed up. We got off the plane and were taken to the terminal where we went through Immigration and Customs and then had to register with the Red Cross. After that we (the crew) were separated from the passengers and were taken in vans to a small hotel. We had no idea where our passengers were going. We learned from the Red Cross that the town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people and they had about 10,500 passengers to take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander! We were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted when the U.S. airports opened again, but not to expect that call for a while.


Order online

We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all started. Meanwhile, we had lots of time on our hands and found that the people of Gander were extremely friendly. They started calling us the "plane people." We enjoyed their hospitality, explored the town of Gander and ended up having a pretty good time.

Two days later, we got that call and were taken back to the Gander airport. Back on the plane, we were reunited with the passengers and found out what they had been doing for the past two days. What we found out was incredible.

Gander and all the surrounding communities (within about a 75 Kilometer radius) had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They converted all these facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers. Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up.


Order online

ALL the high school students were required to volunteer their time to take care of the "guests." Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from Gander where they were put up in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women-only facility, that was arranged. Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were taken to private homes.

Remember that young pregnant lady? She was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24-hour Urgent Care facility. There was a dentist on call and both male and female nurses remained with the crowd for the duration.

Phone calls and e-mails to the U.S. and around the world were available to everyone once a day. During the day, passengers were offered "Excursion" trips. Some people went on boat cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in the local forests. Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests. Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the schools. People were driven to restaurants of their choice and offered wonderful meals. Everyone was given tokens for local laundry mats to wash their clothes, since luggage was still on the aircraft. In other words, every single need was met for those stranded travelers.


Order online

Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. Finally, when they were told that U.S. airports had reopened, they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single passenger missing or late. The local Red Cross had all the information about the whereabouts of each and every passenger and knew which plane they needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They coordinated everything beautifully. It was absolutely incredible.

When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everyone knew each other by name. They were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time. Our flight back to Atlanta looked li ke a chartered party flight. The crew just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling. Passengers had totally bonded and were calling each other by their first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.

And then a very unusual thing happened. One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make an announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that.  But this time was different. I said "of course" and handed him the mike. He picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had just gone through in the last few days. He reminded them of the hospitality they had received at the hands of total strangers. He continued by saying that he would like to do something in return for the good folks of Lewisporte.



Order online
He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide college scholarships for the high school students of Lewisporte. He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names, phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000!

The gentleman, a MD from Virginia, promised to match the donations and to start the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well.  As I write this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million and has assisted 134 students in college education.

I just wanted to share this story because we need good stories right now. It gives me a little bit of hope to know that some people in a far away place were kind to some strangers who literally dropped in on them. It reminds me how much good there is in the world.

In spite of all the rotten things we see going on in today’s world this story confirms that there are still a lot of good and Godly people in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward."

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion of Ad revenues generated on this site is donated to the AFIO. His ideas are his own and do not represent those of any organization he's a member of. We will publish your ideas and comments at no charge...for the good of the order! Contact us on the Secure Contact Form

AFGHAN VILLAGERS KILLING TALIBAN- A GROWING TREND?

Note: We maintain an affiliate relationship with Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Linkshare to offer you well-researched and reliable resources that are selectively chosen and peer-reviewed by us, then labeled with the "Learn more" caption. Ten percent of all ad revenue is donated to the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO).
Learn more
There are hints of a growing anti-Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, according to a research associate from the Institute for Conflict Management. On at least one occasion, villagers used nothing more than farming tools, sticks, stones, and even their bare hands against Taliban members. These acts of resistance are intermittent and unpredictable, at best, but there are some notable and recent incidents.



  • July 9, 2012: local residents fought Taliban militants and forced the latter to pull back from the eastern Paktia Province, when an estimated 400 Taliban attacked Mirazka District in the Province.
  • May 27, 2012: In Andar District of Ghazni Province, 11 Taliban were killed by villagers and another 15 were held hostage. No further information about the hostages is available in open sources.
  • April 12, 2012: Angry residents cut off a Taliban militant's ear after two children were killed and another two injured in a roadside blast in the Garmsir District of southern Helmand Province.
  • August 27, 2011: Residents in the Pirzada suburb of Ghazni city in Ghazni Province clashed with Taliban fighters who were attempting to forcibly collect zakat (alms) from locals. One Taliban terrorist was killed and another was injured during the attack.
  • August 22, 2011: A mob of villagers stoned to death a Taliban 'commander' and his body guard in the Nawa District of Helmand Province. The villagers turned on the two Taliban insurgents for the unjust and brutal killing of a local village elder.
Learn more
Resistance to the Taliban's extremist vision and one-time rule in Afghanistan is nothing new. As we all recall, the Northern Alliance is a military-political umbrella organization
composed of all ethnic groups of Afghanistan including Tajiks, Pashtuns, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmen and others, and it was created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in late 1996. This alliance fought continuously as a resistance force against the Taliban right up to the American intervention in the country in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, at which point it re-invented itself under the identity of the United Front. It was the United Front that eventually succeeded, at the end of December 2001, in retaking most of Afghanistan from the Taliban, with air support from the US led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Special Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Interestingly, Hamid Karzai was also an influential figure from the leading ethnic Pashtun tribe, who began a formidable armed uprising against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan at this stage. He fought off a Taliban attack on November 1, 2001, and subsequently secured control of parts of the crucial Kandahar Province - long thought to be the Taliban heartland. Although the rebellion led by Karzai was, at that time, in its infancy, it was welcomed by, and helped, the US, which had launched airstrikes in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001.

Learn more
Since Karzai's revolt in 2001, there have been reports of 26 major uprisings against the Taliban, across 21 Provinces, out of the total of 34 Provinces in the country - three each in Helmand and Nangarhar; two in Ghazni; and one each in Badghis, Baghlan, Faryab, Ghor, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Kunar, Kunduz, Laghman, Logar, Nuristan, Paktia, Paktika, Uruzgan, Wardak and Zabul. Some of the significant incidents in these earlier uprisings include:

January 27, 2010: A 60-year-old tribal elder Hajji Malik Osman, brought together the leaders of his 400,000-strong Shinwari tribe against the Taliban and concluded a written agreement to keep the Taliban out of six Districts in eastern Nangarhar Province.
  • November 17, 2009: War-weary villagers of Kunduz Province took up arms against the Taliban, sick of having the Taliban encroach on their once peaceful patch of country.
  • July 1, 2008: Civilians confronted a group of 12 Taliban fighters in Faryab Province, sparking a clash that left two Taliban fighters dead and sent the rest fleeing for their lives.
  • May 10, 2007: Local villagers fought a group of Taliban militants, who were trying to attack a Governmental Police post in the Sangin District of Helmand Province. The Taliban militants, including a 'local commander' were killed.
  • August 18, 2006: Two Taliban militants detonated an explosive device outside the compound of a local security official named Madad in the old Sharan area of Paktika Province, killing the official. While trying to flee the scene of the attack, the assassins were stopped by villagers and shot dead.
Learn more
Despite the campaign against them by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the progressively strengthening Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), as well as the growing popular resentment and resistance, the Taliban have, nevertheless, gained steadily in strength and intensity of operations since 2006, when they restored their campaigns with Pakistan's visible (though vociferously denied) support. Their campaigns peaked in 2010, even as the US led war against them intensified against projections of an imminent 'withdrawal' of western forces from the country, with a low estimate of 10,826 fatalities in that year (partial data compiled by the Institute for Conflict Management). A total of a least 48,676 persons, including 2,349 Afghan National Army (ANA) personnel; 4,157 Afghan National Police (ANP) personnel; 2,707 ISAF personnel; 13,314 civilians; and 26,149 Taliban have been killed in Afghanistan since 2007. There is some evidence, however, of a slowdown and a significant challenge to their dominance in wide areas of the country over the past months.
 
Learn more
There is growing concern among the Taliban leadership. On July 20, 2012, an unnamed Taliban source was quoted in the media, stating, "Taliban fighters used to control most of the Provinces, but now they are losing ground in areas like Helmand, Kunduz and more recently Kandahar, Zabul and Ghazni. They lost ground to tribal militias because they don't let people access basic services, especially school. That is what happened in Ghazni two months ago." An anti-Taliban fighter, Wali Mohammad, told the local newspaper, 8Subh, "The residents of Andar District [in Ghazni Province] are fed up with the restrictions imposed by Taliban. The Taliban had shut down the schools and bazaars and motivated the people to fight against the Government. To get rid of the Taliban clutch we have decided to stand against them." Significantly, an armed uprising by more than 250 men in the month of May had evicted the Taliban from 50 villages in the Andar District in Ghazni Province, which had previously been under tight Taliban control.

At least some of these 'uprisings', however, have a dark underbelly, and are more in the nature of turf wars within the Taliban, rather than an organized resistance ag
ainst the Islamist extremists. Many of these are led by former jihadi 'commanders' or members, who see an opportunity to consolidate the power of their own group or faction, particularly with a view to the inevitable struggle for dominance in the projected scenario after the 2014 'withdrawal' of US-ISAF troops from the country. 






Learn more

As President Barack Obama's 'deadline' for 'withdrawal' of the US Forces - and consequently, the accelerated withdrawal of other ISAF constituents as well - approaches, the uncertainties of the situation in Afghanistan can only multiply. The emergence of an unmanaged 'resistance', led by a mix of vigilante and dubious forces, adds just another 'unknowable' to an already explosive mix. While Kabul may hope that these forces will create increasing problems for the Taliban, it may end up grappling with another disruptive, ideologically uncertain, cluster, even as the gravest challenges to its authority come to a head in 2014. Tentative recognition of this problem and potential clearly exists in Kabul. There is still time for a firm initiative to bring these ambivalent factions into the sphere of Kabul's certain influence.

I believe there is a huge rift between the Taliban and al-Qaeda cultures. They are not  synonymous and their ideologies are not all that closely intertwined. Nor do they shae a common cause to topple Western governments and establish Sharia law in Western democracies. Many experts believe that America's entanglement in Afghanistan is predicated on the false assumption that defeating the Taliban will forestall further terrorist attacks worldwide. If America and NATO forces vacate Afghanistan and even begin talking with the Taliban, I feel al-Qaeda will continue their global dispersal and plan attacks on the U.S. and other Western democracies. Several experts, who I will not mention here, interviewed Taliban decision-makers, field commanders, and ordinary fighters, and learned much about the complex relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda.













 
These two experts found that, from the mid-1990s onward, the Taliban and al-Qaeda diverged far more often than they converged and both men believe this split creates an opportunity to engage the Taliban on two fundamental issues: renouncing al-Qaeda and guaranteeing that Afghanistan will not be a sanctuary for international terrorists. In fact, OSINT News wrote an article about how U.S.-Taliban peace talks could weaken al-Qaeda. Unfortunately, these two experts feel that it may be too late to find a political solution to the two fundamental issues, for certain aspects of the campaign in Afghanistan, especially night raids, the killings of innocent civilians, and attempts to fragment and decapitate the Taliban are having the unintended consequence of energizing the resistance, creating more opportunities for al-Qaeda, and helping it to attain its objectives.
 
Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion of Ad revenues generated on this site is donated to the AFIO. His ideas are his own and do not represent those of any organization he's a member of. We will publish your ideas and comments at no charge...for the good of the order! Contact us on the Secure Contact Form


Sunday, November 11, 2012

PETRAEUS RESIGNATION HIGHLIGHTS RIFT BETWEEN COUNTERINTELLIGENCE & LAW ENFORCEMENT

Learn more
Note: We maintain an affiliate relationship with Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Linkshare to offer you well-researched and reliable resources that are selectively chosen and peer-reviewed by us, then labeled with the "Learn more" caption. Ten percent of all ad revenue is donated to the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO).

The FBI began the investigation of CIA Director David Petraeus after receiving a complaint that his biographer Paula Broadwell was sending harassing e-mails to another woman close to him. During the investigation, other communications surfaced between Petraeus and Broadwell, a married mother of two. The woman who made the initial complaint and her relationship with Petraeus is unknown at the time of this posting. General Petraeus’ quick resignation emanates from his sense of obligation to the men and women working for the CIA and from a devotion to personal honesty and honor, which he broke. 



General Petraeus is unlike the other adultery-guilty leaders like Newt Gingrich, Larry Craig, David Vitter, John Ensign, Mark Sanford, Senator John McCain, Bob Livingston, Bill Clinton, President John F. Kennedy, Anthony Weiner…the list is endless. He didn‘t resort to lies, cover ups, deceptions and mendacity's, like the others…he simply fessed up to the truth and assumed all blame.

Personally, I don't think he should have resigned. First, neither Broadwell or the other woman she was emailing was a "Honey Trap", a CIA term for female foreign agents who befriend Americans and obtain vital classified information from them. Even if either woman turned out to be, and Petraeus found out about it, he would have privately informed CIA counterintelligence, assumed the role of a double agent and fed her false information to harm whatever foreign intelligence service she was working for. General Petraeus is well aware of the importance counterintelligence plays in  protecting secrets and in aggressively thwarting, penetrating, and deceiving hostile intelligence organizations to neutralize or even manipulate their operations. 




 
Learn more
I also wonder if the FBI’s underlying motive for the Petraeus investigation was to demonstrate their supremacy over the CIA on American turf. After all, for years there has been a battle between law enforcement (LE), like the FBI and counterintelligence (CI), like the CIA over who should take over domestic counter- intelligence. This battle between the LE and CI cultures has grown and the FBI may play a diminishing role in domestic surveillance activities. The CI professionals in the CIA say that the FBI’s LE culture cannot fight terrorism effectively by slapping the cuffs on and making arrests as soon as enough evidence is collected to prosecute effectively in court. The CI culture, which lacks the power to arrest, desires to postpone arrest and continue surveillance in order to gather ever more vital information about the suspects, their friends and visitors, strangers they meet, etc.

I wonder how much of this law enforcement mentality was behind the releasing of General Petraeus' extramarital affair. If there was a remote possibility that either Broadwell or the other woman were a possible "Honey Trap", this whole affair should not have been exposed so quickly and both women should have been put under intense surveillance... everywhere they went and everyone they met should have been collated and observed as well....until they were proven not guilty...which would have lessened the impact on General Petraeus.

Learn more
Does the General Petraeus affair highlight the division between the LE and CI cultures? I attended an AFIO seminar 6 years ago in Tyson Corner, VA, and listened to members of the Intelligence Community (IC) explain why domestic spying and counterintelligence should be conducted by the CIA counterintelligence community (CI) and not by the FBI (LE). During the all-day meeting, one FBI agent grew so angry that he stood up and began swearing (using 4-letter words) at the CI panel members.

I wonder if this on-going LE and CI culture clash may be behind the reason why the FBI released this information about Petraeus, simply because he was CIA Director. Even if this cultural divide didn't play a part, I wonder if some FBI brass are toasting the event at the local pub. I hope not, for it was this rift between the FBI and CIA counterintelligence that did NOT prevent 9/11 from happening. I believe the United States needs a dedicated domestic counterintelligence division, and it should be centered at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. I've written articles justifying that we permit the CIA to conduct counterintelligence inside America.  Excuse me whilst I duck.


Learn more
Paula Broadwell wrote a book about CIA Director Petraeus and we offer her book, "All In".  It describes his intellectual development as a soldier and his impact on the United States military, due to his strategic leadership. Broadwell was embedded with the general, his staff, and his soldiers on the front lines to chronicle his command in the crucible of war. She was allowed unprecedented access by Petraeus, his mentors, and his subordinates, and she draws on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews to tell the inside story of this commander's development and leadership from every vantage point. Things happen, and the more than professional relationship that developed led to his resignation.

Note: Please take the POLL: "Should Gen. Petraeus Have Resigned" in the upper right-hand margin.

Related Posts:
Formidable Counterintelligence Is Needed in America 
Senior Counterintelligence-Analyst Position Available
DHS Study- Create Separate Domestic Intelligence Agency
CIA Should Conduct Counterintelligence Inside America

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion of Ad revenues generated on this site is donated to the AFIO. His ideas are his own and do not represent those of any organization he's a member of. We will publish your ideas and comments at no charge...for the good of the order! Contact us on the Secure Contact Form