Got a secret?
Welcome to the The Dead Drop. Each week we pass along news and gossip from the world of national security and intelligence. While the rest of The Cipher Brief is deadly serious, stop off at The Dead Drop for information that can be fun, intriguing or the kind of stuff that readers have a “need-to-know” to stay current on the news.
COMMANDOS IN SYRIA: General David Petraeus stirred up a little controversy this week during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The retired four-star offered recommendations for a strategy shift in the Middle East and suggested the U.S. play a larger role in Syria. The controversial part was when the General said “We’ve already put boots on the ground in Syria, special mission troops.” CENTCOM has said there are no U.S. troops in Syria. A Dead Drop source believes Petraeus was referring to SOF Operations that were run earlier this year to rescue hostages (missions that failed) and to capture or kill a key ISIS leader (mission success). That said, the source has been a strong advocate for using Commandos in other ‘ongoing' operations.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN. The Dead Drop hears that former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell is scheduled to be interviewed in a closed session next Monday before Congressman Trey Gowdy’s Benghazi Committee. Morell will be the most senior former government official to appear – until Hillary Clinton testifies in late October. The subject matter isn't new to Morell who included not one, but two, lengthy chapters about Benghazi in his book “The Great War of Our Time.” Morell has testified four times on Benghazi already, including one stint that lasted more than three hours before the House Intelligence Committee in 2014. Oddly, as far as The Dead Drop can tell – the Committee has not questioned Morell’s bosses at the time of the Benghazi attack – then-CIA Director General David Petraeus – and DNI Jim Clapper.
ALLEN’S WRENCHING DECISION: Apparently General John Allen got tired of being ignored. The highly-respected retired general is resigning his ISIS Crisis Czar post — reportedly unhappy with the Obama Administration’s “speak loudly and carry a small stick” approach to going after a threat that Allen said had to be destroyed. Sources tell us that Allen had privately been counseling a much more robust approach to the mission at hand. A source tells The Dead Drop that The White House, National Security Council, State Department and Pentagon were more reluctant warriors, however, and Allen felt isolated in dealing with what the administration calls “ISIL.” About a week ago, the Commander of U.S. Central Command, General Lloyd Austin, made news by admitting that only “four or five” of the 54 U.S.-trained Syrian soldiers were still in the fight against ISIS. With results like that, it may be hard for the Administration to find volunteers for another mission impossible – replacing John Allen.
NEW JOB, ANYONE? Among the candidates we’ve heard bandied about as potential successors to Allen are two Navy men, retired Navy SEAL VADM Bob Harward – who was Deputy CENTCOM Commander—and Obama fav Admiral Sandy Winnefeld who just stepped down as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. A possible civilian candidate? We hear Ambassador Ryan Crocker, or the aforementioned Michael Morell are also being considered. No word on whether they would want the task.
LOTS OF INFO, LITTLE FANFARE: Top national security experts were in Austin, TX last week at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library as the CIA officially released previously classified Presidential Daily Briefs from the Kennedy era. The Dead Drop is told that the event (that also highlighted the University of Texas at Austin’s powerhouse national security program) was a success, and drew some of the usual questions from the audience, as well as some ‘unusual' questions. Apparently an Austin-ite asked whether Johnson ordered the assassination of President Kennedy. While we’re told the answer wasn’t ‘Yes’, we can’t help but wonder whether that particular question would have been better directed toward the FBI’s Detective Mulder. Still, the de-classification was kind of a big deal in nerdy intelligence circles, especially as the public demands to know more about how the intelligence community operates post-Snowden.
SPEAKING OF MORE TRANSPARENCY: The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and Georgetown University co-hosted the second annual Kalaris Intelligence Conference this week under the theme ‘Succeeding in the Open’. The focus of conversation was to try and wrestle the thorny issues that come with trying to balance the public’s demands to know more while maintaining the integrity of keeping sources and methods a secret. The line up of speakers included some heavy-hitters like Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Director of NGA Robert Cardillo, and Georgetown Provost Dr. Robert Groves. Check out the entire list for the complete line-up. The Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly moderated one of the panels as did colleagues Eric Schmitt of The New York Times and J.J. Green of WTOP. The sessions are usually fantastic recruiting tools for students who are considering IC careers and this time was no different. Director Clapper made a plea for more math geniuses, policy gurus and analysts to migrate toward an IC career path.
HEROES UPDATE: Last week, we told you about a special operations officer who took a bullet while trying to rescue Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl a few years ago. We also told you about Remco, the K9 that died saving his life that night. It turns out there is incredible interest in the nation’s four-legged national security partners. In fact, dogs like Remco were honored by the Queen Elizabeth II Garden organization earlier this year. The McGarahan Award for Heroism was presented to James Hatch, Navy SEAL (retired) and some of the K9s like Thomek and Spike, dogs that died in the line of duty. The non-profit Queen Elizabeth II Garden, which honors British citizens who were killed in the 9/11 attacks and celebrates the relationship between the U.K and the U.S., put together a compelling video about the dogs and their unique mission.
BE THE FIRST TO GET THE DEAD DROP: If you want to be among the first to read The Dead Drop every week, sign up for your own DD delivery by going to thecipherbrief.com and clicking the Join the Community button in the upper right hand corner. Provide a name and email and consider yourself in the know. And of course, if you have your own Dead Drop intel to share, drop us a note at thedeaddrop@thecipherbrief.com
