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Revision Date 3/11/2025
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Date Posted by Synopsis
10/29/10 Pete Bostwick The UPS Cargo Plane Incident - Stratfor Global Intelligence - October 29, 2010 | 1537 GMT
Numerous U.S.-bound UPS cargo planes were grounded and several trucks stopped Oct. 29 after a suspicious package was discovered on board a UPS aircraft in London late Oct. 28. More than a dozen similar devices were subsequently found. Initial tests found explosives in only one of the devices.
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08/26/10 Gene Poteat AFIO National Board Statement on Lockerbie Bombing Deal - Gene Poteat, National President AFIO, Thu. 8-26-2010
To All AFIO Members:
Just over one year ago, the Scottish Government released convicted bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the man held responsible for blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Following Mr. al-Megrahi’s release, Scottish doctors and Government officials justified their actions by declaring that the Libyan intelligence officer would live no more than three months due to advanced prostate cancer. And yet, one year later, Mr. al-Megrahi is still very much alive.
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08/14/10 Pete Bostwick Underneath Lebanon - By MATTI FRIEDMAN, AP Sat Aug 14, 2:03 pm ET
MOUNT ADIR, Israel – With tensions mounting along their shared border, Israel's military says Hezbollah is moving fighters and weapons into the villages of south Lebanon, building up a secret network of arms warehouses, bunkers and command posts in preparation for war.
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07/13/10 Pete Bostwick Israeli_New_Trophy_Defense_Weapon------Awesome!!!!_Pete_B._7-13-2010
Great link to Video showing this new weapon.
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04/28/10 Pete Bostwick A Week in the War: Afghanistan, April 20-27, 2010 - April 27, 2010 | 1805 GMT
Kandahar and Marjah; Arghandab; Handing Over Security
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04/28/10 Pete Bostwick Technology Is Central To CIA's Strategic Plan - By: SIOBHAN GORMAN - APRIL 26, 2010 - WSJ
The CIA announced a five-year strategic plan that would invest heavily in new technologies to combat non-traditional threats like cyber attacks from overseas and gain better intelligence on rogue states like Iran.
The plan announced Monday also provides for quickly "surging" large numbers of CIA officers to hot spots around the globe such as the tribal areas of Pakistan or East Africa. Past agency plans haven't provided for such war-time demands.
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03/12/10 Pete Bostwick FARAH GOVERNOR LED ERADICATION (GLE) DAILY SITREP FOR MONDAY, 01 MARCH 2010
On 1 March 2010 the Farah 2010 GLE Campaign was conducted with 80 ANP personnel and seven tractors participating. Today, ANA was again absent from the force protection package. During this day's operations (sixth day of GLE), eradication efforts were again focused on Push t. Rod District with approximately 8.2 Hectares of poppy being eradicated.
Although the ANA was absent from operations, Major Rohulla, the S-3 of the 2nd BN, 101st Infantry BDE did attend the Post Operational Meeting held at 1630 hrs. Major Rohulla apologized for the ANA’s lack of participation for the past six days as planned with the GLE. Major Rohulla advised that one infantry platoon (30) soldiers, and five pickup trucks would be present tomorrow morning for operations rejoining force protection. Major Rohulla advised that upon the GLE moving to operate in new areas, then accordingly, the ANA would assign additional forces to the GLE Task Force. The Major stayed for the entire wrap up meeting and contributed significantly to today’s discussions.
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03/12/10 Pete Bostwick FARAH GOVERNOR LED ERADICATION (GLE) DAILY SITREP FOR TUESDAY, 02 MARCH 2010
On Tuesday, 02 March 2010, the Farah 2010 GLE Campaign was conducted with 80 ANP personnel and seven tractors participating together with the promised ANA contingent with 30 motivated ANA soldiers in five vehicles. Professionalism and close teamwork between the participating ANA and ANP units was the order of the day with a record 10.8 Hectares being eradicated in 32 small fields. This is the most poppy eradicated to date in this year’s GLE Campaign. During this day's operations, GLE, eradication efforts were focused on an area NE of Farah City and environs. No major problems were experienced on this day with the exception that several cultivators were damaged by the rocky soil.
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03/12/10 Pete Bostwick FARAH GOVERNOR LED ERADICATION (GLE) DAILY SITREP FOR WEDNESDAY, 06 MARCH 2010
On 6 March 2010 at 0850 Hours the ninth day of the Farah 2010 GLE Campaign began with 80 ANP personnel, 30 ANA soldiers and six tractors participating. Today, the ANA was again present for duty and served as the GLE Task Force’s force protection package. During this day's operations eradication efforts were focused on an area in Push T Rod District, South SE of Masaw town located approximately 8 kilometers NW of the Farah River, across the river from Farah City. On this day 12.3 Hectares of poppy were eradicated, in twenty-eight fields.
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03/12/10 Pete Bostwick FARAH GOVERNOR LED ERADICATION (GLE) DAILY SITREP FOR SUNDAY, 07 MARCH 2010
On 7 March 2010 at 0832 Hours, the tenth day of the Farah 2010 GLE Campaign began with 80 ANP personnel, 30 ANA soldiers and six tractors participating. ANA again participated in today’s operation. While the amount of poppy eradicated today was extremely low when compared with the results of the past three days, today’s effort should be looked upon as more of a cleanup and an attempt to complete the eradication mission in Push t Rod District. During this day's operations eradication efforts were focused on Push T Rod District, in areas S and SE of Masaw located approximately 7 kilometers NW of the Farah River, across the river from Farah City. On this day 4.3 Hectares of poppy were eradicated, in fifteen small fields, owned by 15 farmers.
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03/12/10 Pete Bostwick FARAH GOVERNOR LED ERADICATION (GLE) DAILY SITREP FOR MONDAY, 08 MARCH 2010
On Monday 8 March 2010 at 0820 Hours, the Farah GLE Campaign began with 80 ANP, 30 ANA, and seven tractors participating. Today’s operations were focused on the northern tier of Farah City Center District in an area located approximately 20 Kilometers NE of Farah City just west of HW 517 which runs parallel to the Farah River. The GLE Task Force encountered several major challenges this day including a public protest by local farmers with some violence in the target area, extensive use of irrigation water by farmers to flood fields and approaches to poppy fields and the use of a major irrigation canal which had been flooded to capacity in order to deny the GLE TF access to a very large isolated area located close to the Farah River where a large amount of poppy had been cultivated. In the latter occurrence a small bridge across the canal was also dismantled to deny access to the area by the GLE Task Force. On this day 8.1 Hectares were eradicated in 12 small fields belonging to 11 farmers.
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03/12/10 Pete Bostwick FARAH GOVERNOR LED ERADICATION (GLE) DAILY SITREP FOR WEDNESDAY, 10 MARCH 2010
On Wednesday, 10 March 2010 at 0830 Hours, the Farah GLE Campaign began with 80 ANP, 30 ANA, and seven tractors participating. Today’s effort was focused on the same general area as yesterday’s operations; an area located approximately 22 Kilometers NE of Farah City, west of HW 517 and along the Farah River. Aside from several farmers who yelled verbal abuse at the TF Commander, the GLE Task Force, with only one exception, did not encounter any major challenges this day, the exception being that local farmers continued to skillfully employ irrigation water from the Farah River to flood their poppy fields in a skillful manner significantly hindering GLE operations. Two bribery attempts by local farmers were also made today and both were refused. On this day 7.1 Hectares of poppy were eradicated in seventeen small fields belonging to fourteen individual farmers. Given the difficult operating conditions this should be viewed as a most respectable amount.
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02/09/10 Pete Bostwick Our Afghan intelligence failure - By: Richard Norton-Taylor - Tuesday 5 January 2010 16.00 GMT - guardian.co.uk
The CIA has been criticised for its ignorance of Afghanistan – but Britain's intelligence service is scarcely more competent.
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02/09/10 Pete Bostwick Fixing Afghanistan’s Intelligence - By: Joshua Foust - 1/22/2010 - Registan.net
The infamous Flynn paper, so-called for Major-General Mike Flynn, the senior military intelligence official in Afghanistan and primary author, has been rightly making waves since its publication earlier this month. In fact, I daresay Andrew Exum undersells its importance, though not necessarily for laudatory reasons.
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02/09/10 Pete Bostwick FRIENDLY FIRE - By: Ann Scott Tyson - Jan 31, 2010 - The Washington Post
Special Forces soldier from Las Cruces builds an alliance with Afghan tribesmen that becomes a strategy for making U.S. troops and the country safer.
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11/23/09 Pete Bostwick Afghanistan: The Evolution of a Strategy - December 2, 2009 | 2056 GMT; - STRATFOR TODAY
In many ways, U.S. President Barack Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan, unveiled in his Dec. 1 speech at West Point, seems consistent with Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s vision for the campaign. But the endgame has now been articulated, along with the strategy by which U.S. and NATO forces will attempt to achieve that objective — and, according to the plan, disengage from Afghanistan.
U.S. President Barack Obama articulated his strategy for Afghanistan Dec. 1 in a much-anticipated speech at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In it, he provided an endgame and an exit strategy for the U.S. and NATO mission there, and this is no small development. Following the 9/11 attacks, the United States scrambled to move forces into Afghanistan as quickly as possible, since it had little understanding of al Qaeda’s true capabilities. By necessity, little thought was given to a long-term strategy for the country — even as the Taliban largely declined to fight and withdrew into the rugged countryside. Despite some significant and hard-fought battles, they were hardly “defeated.”
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11/23/09 Pete Bostwick The Afghan-Pakistan Solution - DECEMBER 1, 2009, 8:31 P.M. ET; Section: OPINION By: PERVEZ MUSHARRAF WSJ
My recent trip to the United States has been an enriching experience, during which I had a very healthy discourse with the American public and an opportunity to understand their concerns about the war in Afghanistan. One question I was asked almost everywhere I went was, "How can we stop losing?"
The answer is a political surge, in conjunction with the additional troops requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Quitting is not an option.
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11/23/09 Pete Bostwick Exit Plan Critical to Afghan Buildup - NOVEMBER 17, 2009, Section: CAPITAL JOURNAL By: GERALD F. SEIB WSJ
Policy arguments in Washington sometimes take on an otherworldly feel -- and so it is with the public wrangling over Afghanistan policy.
Outside the walls of the Obama administration, the argument has been almost entirely about numbers: How many additional troops should be sent to Afghanistan? Should it be 10,000, 20,000 or 40,000? But inside the Obama administration, say those who actually have been involved, the debate has been much less about troop levels than commonly imagined. Instead, it has much more to do with ensuring that the American troop buildup, whatever its size, isn't open-ended.
Executive Washington Editor Gerald Seib explains what the Obama administration must now do to ensure that any America troop buildup is a prelude to Afghanistan taking over the security job itself.
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11/23/09 Pete Bostwick Understanding Afghanistan - Flashbacks October 31, 2001, By: Sage Stossel - The Atlantic
A selection of Atlantic articles on Afghanistan—written from the 1950s through the 1980s, during a time when the country was an important strategic pawn in the contest between the Soviet Union and the United States—may help to provide some background and perspective.
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(PB - AFIO Colleagues,
An article from the Wall Street Journal I found interesting. Thanks to former AG Michael Mukasey for acknowledging the value of national Intelligence, but also note his caution about Congressional attempts to restrain collection.)
One would think that the arrests last week of Najibullah Zazi, charged with plotting to bomb New York City subways-and of two others charged with planning to blow up buildings in Dallas, Texas, and Springfield, Ill.-would generate support for the intelligence-gathering tools that protect this country from Muslim fanatics. In Mr. Zazi's case, the government has already confirmed the value of these tools: It has filed a notice of its intent to use information gathered under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was specifically written to help combat terrorists and spies.
Nevertheless, there is a rear-guard action in Congress to make it more difficult to gather, use and protect intelligence-the only weapon that can prevent an attack rather than simply punish one after the fact. The USA Patriot Act, enacted in the aftermath of 9/11, is a case in point.
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4/23/09 Robert Clark E-mail forward: The truth be known-from seals regarding pirate incident - Source was not listed in e-mail
Note from a retired elite... This is how it really HAPPENED. I do wonder if the U.S. Government is going to Court Martial the Captain of the U.S. Navy Destroyer? Possibly, we do, indeed, have an empty suit in the Oval Office. This problem should have taken hours (at most), not days. A local police Swat Team would have been under less Restrictions. Believe, the empty suit in the Oval Office will very soon be able to "show what he's got" in a like type incident. Hope he does better (but don't hold your breath)!! God Help Us and protect our Men and Women in Uniform.
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2/25/09 Pete Bostwick BOLTON: A 'world turned upside down'? - Friday, 4/17/09 By: John Bolton
(PB - A commentary by John Bolton on our timid approach to dealing with pirates (Note: I often disagreed with Mr. Bolton's performance at the UN, but his direct and incisive approach is frequently useful, as I think it is, here)).
The Spanish Inquisition's reawakening and the unchecked rise of piracy off Somalia may not, at first glance, seem to have much in common. In fact, however, these phenomena represent an inversion of historic Western priorities and a decline in our collective resolve and instinct for self-defense.
Sunday's daring rescue of U.S. freighter Capt. Richard Phillips notwithstanding, the West's evident confusion is causing enormously dangerous consequences.
The shared element between excessive Spanish moralism, the contemporary version, and pirates with impunity is the concept of "universal jurisdiction" and how that concept has been recently transmogrified.
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2/20/09 Bob Clark Interesting recent article by Buchanan
"The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating," said President Obama, as he announced deployment of 17,000 more U.S. troops.
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