2008 Mumbai Attacks Plotter Says Pakistan’s Spy Agency helped plan attack

A Pakistani-American man who helped plot the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai told an Indian court on Monday that he had met throughout the process with two handlers from Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, an Indian prosecutor said. India has long sought to depose the man, David C. Headley, in hopes of establishing a direct link between the Pakistani government and […]

At Least 20 Killed by Taliban Attack In Pakistan

Taliban members cut their way through a fence in the campus perimeter to gain access to the students and faculty. Some victims were shot as they fled, and others were rounded up to be executed. Four of the suspected attackers were killed by security forces. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Gunmen slipped into a college campus under […]

Al-Qaeda Rebuilds, Awaits U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Lost amid all of the media focus on the Islamic State (IS) has been the focus on the threat al-Qaeda continues to present to the United States and the country’s security interests around the world. As the Afghanistan withdrawal policy was implemented in earnest last year, al-Qaeda largely slipped from the U.S. media radar, the faces […]

Peshawar and Kunar: The Hunt for Mullah Fazlullah

In the hours following their attack on a school in Peshawar on December 16, Pakistani terrorist group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issued a claim of responsibility and cited reprisal for the Pakistani military efforts to root out and destroy the group this past summer. Under the orders of Maulawi (Mullah) Fazlullah, gunmen disguised in Pakistani military uniforms […]

75th Ranger Regiment Soldiers Go Covert in Pakistan

With dramatis personae that include the CIA, Delta Force, DEVGRU, the Intelligence Support Activity, Pakistani Commandos, the Taliban, and spies from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), this story has the makings of a future Brad Thor bestseller. The only difference is, this story happened over the course of an eight-month period for a very small […]

India’s Secret Wars Part 5: Reforming the System

The following are a series of seven reforms proposed to eliminate corruption in Indian’s intelligence services, harmonize operations, and establish a system that is self-correcting and self-learning. 1. Establish an Intelligence Fusion Cell that works under the Prime Minister’s Office. One of the major problems in India’s intelligence services is harmonizing internal and external intelligence […]

India’s Secret Wars Part 4: A Troubled History

Currently at least one Intelligence Bureau officer is standing trial for extra-judicial killings. The charge is that he colluded with local police officers to stage a “terrorist encounter” as an excuse to execute four Muslim men in Gujarat in 2004. Between 2002 and 2006 it is alleged that the same group executed up to 20 […]

India’s Secret Wars Part 3: Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)

If the purpose of an intelligence service is to inform their nation’s leaders and prevent them from being surprised, then the Sino-Indian war of 1962 was perhaps India’s worst intelligence failure. While Indian military leaders had assumed that Chinese forces would come from the north if they decided to invade what is now Arunachal Pradesh, […]

India’s Secret Wars Part 2: Intelligence Bureau (IB)

India’s intelligence services are not simply a history, but rather a legacy, which they inherited from the British colonial empire. In the colonial years, the intelligence services were used primarily as a tool to suppress Indian nationalists. Human Intelligence was gathered mainly by the Central Intelligence Bureau, but also by, “Intelligence units of the armed […]

India’s Secret Wars Part 1: Pakistan, Sikhs and Corruption

With the possibility of a second war looming between India and Pakistan, the second Panthic committee consisting of Sikh separatists began to meet at the contrivance of Pakistan’s feared Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. After playing a decisive role in undermining democracy in Pakistan and ousting Benazir Bhutto, ISI again established links with Sikh insurgents […]

Weinstein Part 2: Initial Open-Source Video Analysis

Fox News released a quick post last week regarding open-source analysis of Weinstein’s video. The posting isn’t terribly detailed, but some of the highlights from Fred Burton at Stratfor, an open-source intelligence analysis company, and my reaction: 1) Weinstein’s clothing indicate he’s likely being held in colder climate, maybe underground. Much like one of the […]