OPERATION DESERT DORM: Various press accounts say that a serving CIA officer has sued his former boss, a base chief at some unrevealed location, claiming that his career was derailed after he complained about her management style. The officer claims his base chief, “placed her personal needs of cooking, baking, socializing, entertainment, exercise and shopping above the needs of the mission.” In the lawsuit, the officer says his boss put people in danger by ordering them to transit conflict areas for shopping missions – apparently to support her penchant for cooking. According to reports, the CIA has filed a response, asking the court to dismiss the case. The Agency may have been sending a signal when they gave the disgruntled officer the pseudonym “James Pars” for the lawsuit. “PARS” is CIA lingo for efficiency reports. Mr. Pars accused his former boss of running her base “like a college dorm.” We bet the toga parties were awesome.
SHIPS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT: At the end of a 20-minute Facebook live session, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson seemed to put to rest speculation that recent tragic collisions at sea might be the result of cyber attacks. According to Navy Times, Richardson said, “To date…the inspections we’ve done shows no evidence of any kind of cyber intrusion.” It is perhaps a sign of the times that, to many people, hacking is a more plausible explanation than bad seamanship in the deadly accidents. An article in the U.S. Naval Institute News service this week said that the Navy’s investigation into possible cyber intrusion even has a code name, “Operation Orion Hammer.”
WHO’S ON FIST? Nick Warner, the head of Australia’s overseas intelligence agency, got himself in a bit of bother recently while on an official visit to the Philippines. Warner wrangled an appointment with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. During a photo op, both men smilingly executed a “fist bump” gesture. But since Duterte is also known for executing thousands of his own citizens – the photo op gesture appeared to some folks as a bit too chummy.
NO RESTROOM FOR THE WEARY: Last week we noted press accounts that the Secret Service had spent $60,000 on golf cart rental to support President Trump’s golf habit. Now comes word in USA Today that during his 18-day “working vacation” in Bedminster, NJ, the USSS plunked down $7100 to rent portable toilets. That might sound like a lot – but we understand they were high end port-a-Johns. Still, the news is jarring for an agency that is not flush with cash.
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
NETWORK NEWS: Not a day goes by when members of The Cipher Brief Network aren’t making news. Here are just a few examples from this week:
WHAT’S ON THEIR NIGHTSTAND? (Our contributors tell us about what they’re currently reading)
John McLaughlin, former Acting and Deputy Director of the CIA:
“I’m continuing to leaven my foreign policy reading with a rich menu from other disciplines. My latest is A Life in Letters, edited by Matthew Bruccoli. This is the personal and professional correspondence of F. Scott Fitzgerald. The letters are beautifully and artfully written and chock full of insights about the literary, theatrical, and occasionally political life of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, with insight into other authors such as Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, Sherwood Anderson, Willa Cather, and many others. “Something totally different,” as Monty Python used to say…”
SECURITY QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“Irrespective of how the overall U.S. government budget is reconciled, setting aside sufficient funds and providing program authority to the appropriate government agencies to assist and enable an Iraqi government to stabilize Iraq by being a good government for all of its citizens will be money well spent.”
– Frank Archibald, former Director, CIA National Clandestine Service
ADVISE AND DISSENT: Got any hot tips or cold cuts you’d like to share? Reach out to us at [email protected].
Search