Southampton. A Council-chamber.
Enter EXETER, BEDFORD, and WESTMORELAND.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616).  The Oxford Shakespeare.  1914.

"Once the orchestra starts to play, all you can do is hum along..."

Uri, quoted in Victor Ostrovsky's, THE OTHER SIDE OF DECEPTION, Harper Spotlight, New York. 316 (1995).

August 31

COURSE INTRODUCTION:
We will look at networks of trust, secrecy and deception as practiced by state-level actors in order to gain insight into current world events and human interrelationships at the more personal level of the individual. Although we will focus on American sources, we do so only because that material is more accessible to us than information from foreign sources. We recognize that many states are equally matched in these skills. We don't anticipate that there is a single "theory" of this subject and consequently we will make use of many case studies. If there are "theories," they may arise from research on the evolution and emergence of competition and cooperation and of inequalities of power and wealth. We will all take part in this research. There are four required books and two suggested books for this course.

ULTRA-VIOLET VISIBLE SECRET MARKS:
A bit of steganographic practice evidenced in passports, driver's licenses and currency.

PERSONAL INTRODUCTIONS:

BREAK

SCREENING: Errol Morris: THE FOG OF WAR - Robert McNamara - A Whole New Story. (107 minutes).

The Fog of War:
Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003, 107m).
Wikipedia synopsis. Sony Pictures synopsis. Discussion with Errol Morris.
Take note of his:
Eleven lessons of war.
Ten additional lessons.
Eleven lessons from the Vietnam war.
Visits to Cuba and Vietnam after the confrontations.

He mentions having been on the brink of nuclear war on three occasions:
1) The Cuban Missle Crisis (resolved).
2) The Vietnam War (faulty intelligence in the Gulf of Tonkin).
3) What was the third? The Liberty Incident?

FOR NEXT WEEK - Challenge 0:
FORMAT:

Prepare this as a PowerPoint or HTML document. Print it out on paper. Burn it into a CD. Copy it to a USB memory stick. Turn in the CD in a clear-front envelope along with the printout, all in a standard letter-size clear protective sleeve. Be prepared to present a summary (e.g. 3 minute teaser) of your research to the class from the USB memory stick. Do not present it from a CD as this is more difficult to set up. Keep a copy of your work as I will not return it.

CONTENT:

First email:

I chose "The Fog of War" as an introduction to the complexities of understanding world affairs as the differing perceptions, goals, plans, actions and states of mind of key players holding similar, conflicting or unknown interests.  Information, disinformation and misinformation influence decision-making and "realities" are consciously pitched, tweaked and spun differently to adversaries and to one's own, and often to oneself.  Call it "winning hearts and minds" call it simply, propaganda, interested parties generate and disseminate their own points-of-view in peacetime and in war itself.

Realizing that we've only just touched the surface of the "science" of propaganda, I'd like you to investigate the role of some specific propaganda campaign or technique in some specific region in what has been called "the Arab Spring."  It probably won't be easy to find information of this kind, since those who produce it generally don't want their activities to be known; but give it a try.  You might consult "psywarrior" or "Wikileaks," or perhaps you have your own sources of information.  Think about the logistics and materiality of a propaganda campaign.  How would leaflets, radio, television, postage stamps or the "media" be played?  What do you expect is going on that you cannot find clear evidence for?  If you were one of the "interested parties," how would you conduct the propaganda campaign?  How would you evaluate its effectiveness?

Please present your research (with sources identified) in digital form, as a PowerPoint or HTML document and burn it into a CD (the computers in Classroom #6 should be able to burn media).  Please print out your report (on paper) and include the hard copy, and CD in it's own envelope, all in a sleeve and bring it in on Wednesday.  Please be prepared to present the highlights of your work to the class for questions and discussion.

Remember, we are a class of 25, so that means your presentation must be much shorter than the work you turn in.  Aim for a 3 minute presentation!  You may want to prepare a shorter "presentation" version and bring it in on a USB stick which will be much easier to project for everyone.

KEEP COPIES OF EVERYTHING YOU TURN IN.  I WILL NOT RETURN YOUR ORIGINALS TO YOU.Next Wednesday should be interesting!

Second email:

In a sense, the challenge I assigned you is a warm-up exercise.  I want you to put yourselves in the position of an intelligence analyst charged with finding out what's happening to drive the "Arab Spring" and how each of the interest groups are using (or might use) propaganda to further their interests.  Who are the major players and what do you expect they will be doing to influence the outcome?  What are their strengths and weaknesses and how might one exploit them?

McNamara reveals a lot about networks of information, disinformation and misinformation during his time as Secretary of Defense.  Assume that what he warns against also applies to the leaders of other countries.

Interestingly, Julian Assange has just released ALL of the secret US cables.  That's 250,000 of them.  Check out this news release from Al Jazeera:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/09/201192134756911369.html
I'm sure CNN and other media will follow through. You might also look into the secret documents discovered in Ghadaffi's intelligence headquarters. Check out WikiLeaks and see what you can find regarding precursors to "the Arab Spring." Interesting stuff...

See what you can discover behind the veil of agency secrecy and self-imposed censorship in the news media.

Added September 9th: One line of investigation might be to look into the documents found in Ghadaffi's headquarters, see:
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/09/03/libya.west.spies/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Al Jazeera: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/20119320053377843.html

September 7

First half of Challenge 0 presentations:
The FOG OF WAR and the ARAB SPRING:

Prepare this as a PowerPoint or HTML document. Print it out on paper. Burn it into a CD. Copy it to a USB memory stick.

Round 1 and round 2 presentations:
We invite each of you to give three classroom presentations (in addition to this short one), one during the first half of the course (round 1), one during the second half of the course (round 2) and one final project presentation on the last day. Please suggest your round 1 topic to me, typed, on one sheet of paper, to be handed in next meeting. Please sign up for a presentation date.

Libya news from late Tuesday:
Large Libyan armoured convoy arrives in Niger
Libyan army convoys flee across Sahara carrying looted cash and gold
UPDATE 1-Libyan convoy with gold, cash crossed to Niger-NTC
NATO Loots Libyan Gold As Tripoli Falls
The Battle For Libya Is Almost Over... As Is The Battle For Its 144 Tons Of Gold
(144 tonnes of gold / 200 vehicles = ~ 3/4 tonnes per vehicle)

Short Participant Presentations on the "Arab Spring."

Selling War / Screening:
Special Features / Extra Scenes from Eugene Jarecki's WHY WE FIGHT:

1. Ike's Evolution (10 min).
2. The Missing "C" (5 min).
3. Frank Capra's Original "Why We Fight" (5 min).

Challenge 1: An Introduction to Cryptanalysis:
due on paper next Wednesday.
Remember to put yourself in the minds of the sender and recipient of the message
knowing the age, sex, education level and culture of the messengers.
What methods did you use to solve the decryption?
How long did it take you?

Go to this webpage to encrypt the following texts:
They are taken from page 83 in Anon's, FOUR WORKING PAPERS ON PROPAGANDA THEORY (1955) and refer to British propaganda.

• "The brilliant propagandist is the man who tells the truth," using Ché Guevara's cipher. (double encipherment of a monoalphabetic substitution cipher and a Vernam-type additive key. Since the key is too short, repeat it.).
• "or that selection of the truth which is requisite for his purpose," using the "Numerically Indexed Alphabetic Table" (row first, column second as in Ché's cipher). (a mononumeric cipher).
• Using the previous crossword puzzle solution from today's Duke Chronicle newspaper in the manner described on this page, encrypt the following text, "and tells it in such a way that the recipient does not think that he is receiving any propaganda". Consult our webpage on "Cryptology Applications." Use the "VERNAM Cipher - Lower-case ASCII" application (with the picture of the fancy key) to convert the plaintext to cryptotext with the key from the crossword puzzle. (a polyalphabetic cipher).
• Answer the question below the screen-shot of this application, in the orange window.
  

Decrypt these encrypted messages:

1. 1907 Encrypted Carthage Post Card - easiest
   (a monoalphabetic substitution cipher, hint: a variant of "pigpen")
2. 1906 Encrypted Cobelskill Post Card - not hard
   (a monoalphabetic substitution cipher hints are on the page)
3. 1907 Encrypted Coshocton Post Card - a bit of a challenge
   (a monoalphabetic substitution cipher hints are on the page)
4. June 25 Encrypted Santa Clara Post Card - a bit of a challenge
   (a monoalphabetic substitution cipher hints are on the page)
   
   

Excerpts from Eisehhower's Farewell Address in Part from WHY WE FIGHT.
Eisenhower's Farewell Address in Full (16 minutes)

Note: In his preliminary drafts, Eisenhower warned against the
"military-industrial-congressional" complex.
When he delivered the speech, he shortened this to the "military-industrial" complex.
In his preliminary drafts, he warned that,
"In congressional councils, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence..."
When he delivered the speech, he replaced "congressional" with "the councils of government."

Robert Giodano's WORD PATTERN FINDER

Cryptanalysis depends largely on guessed cribs and known patterns found in various languages.
Word frequency and letter frequency are clues that we may use later in this course.
The postcard monoalphabetic ciphers can be solved relatively easily by exploring cribs, and patterns in English words that you may recognize.
If the words are long and the patterns are complex, you may want to use a word pattern finder.
For example, lets assume that the pattern of symbols in a word is:
!@#$%!@#^&@* we can also express this pattern as
uhtsiuhtmpho or numerically as
123451236728 or alphabetically as
abcdeabcghbi
It doesn't matter what symbols we use, it is the pattern (the repetition of symbols) that is important.
Insert any of these patterns into the "pattern" box and press "find."

If you happen to know that the 5th letter is "y", enter this in the "known letter" box like this:
----y-------
and press "find."

September 14

Second half of Challenge 0 presentations:
The FOG OF WAR and the ARAB SPRING...
Aditya's link: The "Zenga Zenga" video.
Daphne's link: "Supercomputer Predicts Revolution."
Daphne's link: "A Full-Text Visualization of the Iraq War Logs."

Required Readings: First half of the semester:
This will involve comparing and contrasting the accounts of three double-agents arrested and serving time in the US for spying for the USSR, Cuba and Israel. These accounts were written by the counterintelligence personnel who were largely responsible for their capture. I will want you to pay attention to the personalities of those involved in these three stories, their motives and their methods, and the reactions to their arrest, trials, sentencing and imprisonment in the countries involved. The three "spies" are Ana Belen Montes, Jonathan Pollard and Robert Hanssen. The first two are featured in two of the books required for this course. Robert Hanssen is featured in the movie BREACH. Rent BREACH and watch it and the bonus features. I want you to choose one facet of the complex lives of these spies and counterspies and focus on that. Develop a thorough discussion and read and comment upon another participant's discussion. You may continue the conversations on these two threads.

Challenge 1: An Introduction to Cryptanalysis:
Solutions may be found by clicking on last week's description of the challenge or on the images of the postcard crypto texts.

Challenge 2: More Encryption, Decryption and Cryptanalysis:

Part A: (Hardcopy) Cryptanalysis:
Decrypt the following postcards on postcard webpage:
F) Hanford
G) Kingston
H) Toledo
I) Gray
J) London
Extra credit: If you read French or German you might try:
E) Neuchatel
K) & L) Tepi
Please hand in your solutions, on paper, along with your notes, I have found it easier to print out the images, or copy and paste them into a Word.doc and do your analysis "on the page."
Part B: (BLACKBOARD) On our Discussion Board. Just as we have the National Security Agency (NSA) monitoring communications, we have the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (GSA) monitoring the surface of the Earth. The first two discussion forums relate to Google Earth flights.
Part C: (Blackboard) Silks were issued to agents operating "behind enemy lines" so that they could be easily concealed, sewn into the lining of a shirt or jacket, or easily destroyed. Three British SOE silks are on this webpage.
On our Discussion Board, under the forum for each of the silks, post an encryption of a message of your choice. For the numeric silks, make sure to explain how to get from alphabetic characters to numeric digits designate which key to use and how to use it. Also provide a brief assessment of the security of the silk, assuming you are eavesdropping on the messages.
On our Discussion Board, under the forum for each of the silks, post a decryption of one message posted by a classmate.
To recap: You should post 3 cryptotexts, one encryption for each of the 3 types of silk, And, you should post 3 cleartexts, one decryption for each of the 3 types of silk, That's 6 postings in total.

September 21

Visualizations in intelligence: How do we use technology to transfer "knowledge" effectively under duress?
The "sand-table."

A closer look at the NSA, cryptography and PSYOPs.

The Ethics of Intelligence:
Our mission, is to look at espionage, cryptology and psychological operations from an anthropological perspective, taking into account the world-view, beliefs, values and behaviors of each adversary. This cross-cultural approach challenges us to "inhabit the minds of our opposition," to "know your enemy" as Robert McNamara has put it. From such a point-of-view we may find avenues to reduce conflict or to increase influence. You may agree or disagree with one side or the other's aims and objectives, but you are obliged, for your own well-being, to understand them. While we take a critical look at our own (American) operations, we do so with the belief that an informed citizenry is necessary for enlightened governance, and with the knowledge that other nations engage in similar practices with much less transparency.
International Intelligence Ethics Association

DVD: "The Mole," a "Special Feature" of BREACH - The Robert Hanssen Story(DVD 2007, 20 minutes).
DVD: "Spy School: Inside the CIA Training Program," a "Special Feature" of THE RECRUIT with Chase Brandon, CIA (DVD 2003. 16 minutes).
Video: TOP SECRET: "The National Security Agency" with Johnny Depp (VHS 1998, 50 minutes).

Some links for Chase Brandon:
"Collateral Brain Damage? The Hollywood Propaganda Ministry."
"Taking 'Intelligence' out of 'CIA'".
"CIA operative Chase Brandon."

Be reading the books on Jonathan Pollard and Anna Belen Montes...

September 28

Parker Kuivila on the two German postcards from Tepi, Austria:
Proceeding by cribs and letter patterns in words using software he wrote to compare ciphertext to a German dictionary.

In-Class Decryption Challenge: M-138-A and M-94 polyalphabetic substitution cipher devices...
Be reading the books on Jonathan Pollard and Anna Belen Montes...

Discussion Board for Next Week: Please don't forget to respond to the presenters...

Discussion Board for Next Week: "Investigating the Liberty Incident."

Review the following resources BEFORE entering into the discussions on the Liberty fora (forums?).

1. Recall McNamara's comments in "The Fog of War" about having been on the brink of nuclear war on three occasions. He only mentioned two of them...
2. BBC Documentary, "Dead in the Water," (synopsis). & "Dead in the Water" (1-hour video).
3. Peruse "LIBERTY: Ginor & Remez FOXBATS OVER DIMONA (2007)" materials our Course Documents page.
   
4. Peruse the NSA's online resources on "USS Liberty." The once "Top Secret" publication "Attack on a SIGINT Collector, the U.S.S. Liberty" is also available.
   

October 5

A "Hands-On" exercise with the Swiss NEMA (Neu Machine), an enhancement of the German Enigma.

October 12

First Paper on Double Agents due today in class.
Anna Belen Montes (TRUE BELIEVER), Jonathan Pollard (CAPTURING J.P.) and Robert Hanson (the movie BREACH):
This should be a written paper from 3-5 pages in length. I would like you to do a comparative "cost/benefit" analysis of each of these cases from the perspectives
of the double-agents, the counter-espionage agents, the US government and public and the adversarial government and public. What was gained, what was lost, and
what were the motivations (explicit and implicit) in each player?

Yellow-Dot-Code: Follow this link and others for an introduction and examples.

1. Find a color laser copier (or color laser printer) and obtain a printout from it noting the make and model of the machine, the serial number, the date and time of day.
2. Take a high-resolution photograph of the printout (preferably in daylight) or make a 1200 dpi scan of it in color.
3. Open that scanned or photo'd image in PhotoShop. Turn off the Red and Green color channels so you are looking only the Blue channel.
4. Zoom in until you see the faint gray dots. Select Image/Adjust/Levels and move the black triangle at the left of "Input Levels" to the right until the dots become clear. Click OK.
5. Hold down ALT and press PRINT SCRN to copy the black-and-white image of the Green channel.
6. Select File/New and then Edit/Paste to capture that black-and-white image of the Green layer to a new image in PhotoShop.
7. Discard the old image. You can now annotate the new image in color and print it out, etc.

I visited FedEx at 601 Ninth St, Durham this afternoon and noted the serial numbers of all five Canon C5045 copiers.
Beginning at the door and moving along the window they are: 827187319428, 818986449313 and 819386509316.
Making a U-turn and continuing back towards the door they are: 819786549321 and 818886449312.
Covertly reaching into the only blue recycling bin, ostensibly for some "scratch paper," I extracted the only color copy that was there.
I've posted the pattern that it contained and noted the repeats that I could see.
That gives us the approximate size of each encoded box although we don't yet know the boundaries of that box.
The dots look like they form diagonal patterns, but this is likely a coincidence, the result of the "plaintext."
How many discrete rows and columns are there in each encoded box? Try running a business card across the dots to see how they line up.
I counted 16 rows and 16 columns although some contained no dots. You should run a sanity check on this.
You should probably enlarge the image and draw a grid on it. Guess at the boundary. Guess at the orientation.
We know that the date (10.12.11) should appear somewhere. We know that all the serial numbers begin with "8". That's a start...

I've posted a forum on our discussion board where you may wish to report on which machines have, and which don't have, yellow-dot-codes.
Feel free to help one another by starting a thread for each particular machine...

I would like your cryptanalysis handed in on paper, with illustrations and sample printout, next Wednesday.
Good luck...

October 19

Color Copier Dot Codes
A Revolutionary War Code?
Currency Detection

For Next Week:
Please turn in, on paper, an in-depth summary of research on "currency detection." PhotoShop contains an scanning module that checks to see if an image being loaded is a picture of currency. If PhotoShop thinks the image is of currency, it issues a warning to the user, directs the user to an anti-counterfeiting website, and prohibits you from printing the image. There are lots of ways to defeat this, which would seem to argue that this is not a worthwhile deterrent, and while interesting, that is not the subject of the research I'd like you to do. The question I'd like you to propose answers to is this: How does PhotoShop know that the image is of currency? It will recognize currency of different countries, and even distorted and partial images. The algorithm, the method and procedure, is secret. Some people have tried a number of experiments to test various hypotheses on how PhotoShop may do this. Please review the research that you can find online (I've provided some links, but they are outdated). Based upon your research, what remaining hypotheses are still have not been rejected? What experiments might be done to test these hypotheses. If you feel comfortable doing some experiments to test PhotoShop's responses to various images, including ones you may have created with features similar to those you may find on currencies, please do so and report your results. You may also try to formulate an algorithm to do the same thing, and text that against some images.

October 26

A Revolutionary War Code?
Color Copier Dot Codes
Currency Detection

Catalog of Spy Tools...

The Battle of Algiers (1954-1962)
The battle took place from 1954 to 1962, at which time Algeria won its independence from France.
Saadi Yacef, who had been a leader in the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN) had been arrested as a terrorist and sentenced to death. 
Shortly thereafter Saadi Yacef wrote his memoirs and then came up with the idea for a film.
Gillo Pontecorvo, directed and co-wrote the film “The Battle of Algiers” which was made 3-4 years after the liberation.
Saadi Yacef co-produced the film and plays himself as the character El-Hadi Jaffar.
“The Battle of Algiers” (1966)...
Disk 3: “Remembering History” (2004) 69min. (Made 38 years after the film.)
Cut after the first 10 minutes:
after: "In France they taught me that my ancestors were Gauls, In Algeria they taught me that my ancestors were Arabs.")
Disk 1: “The Battle of Algiers” (1966)
Running time 120 minutes.

Written paper due next week (3-5 pages):
Yes, it is a disturbing film, but it is also realistic insofar as it accurately represents the strategies and tactics used in asymmetrical warfare and the film is show to intelligence officers of each adversary. The battle of Algiers that the film depicts can be interpreted as a propaganda war, a war to win the hearts and minds of the populace, fought not just with words, but force: threats, violence, guns and bombs. Many propaganda actions are carried out not simply for "home consumption" but to also influence international opinion abroad. Propaganda requires communication, so how have changing technologies influenced its dissemination and flow? How does this film provide insights into contemporary (or near contemporary) struggles? You may wish to focus on the present situation in the Middle East: the "Arab Spring," the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the Libya revolt against Gaddafi, the debate over the former IRA officer running for president of Ireland, or domestic demonstrations such as the "Tea Party" and "Occupy Wall street" sit-ins? It is difficult to dissect current events, but what would you look for beyond the radio or television "headline news?" There are lots of facets to this problem. Pick one and explore it. Remember, it's your perspective, your take on this that I'd like to read. Don't worry. I won't post your observations and arguments, but maybe we can discuss a bit about it next Wednesday...

November 2

The clandestine toy box: OSS WEAPONS (1943) introduced and published by John Brunner (1994),
The Darpa Shredder Challenge (thanks to Daphne Ezer for the heads-up!).
A "match" for the artisan who made the Nicolas Bion cipher disk.
The 1777 "Aspinwall cipher" from the American Revolutionary War.
Libya's new PM, Abdurrahim el-Keib, has ties to Alabama
History repeats itself? A repeat of the Iraq CIA/Chalabi connection (mentioned in FAIR GAME).
FBI Releases Russian Spy Ring documents

PROPAGANDA AND THE MOVING IMAGE:

As your future, at various times, enlists you as both a producer (campaign manager, public relations officer or advertising executive) and a consumer (part of the electorate or shopper in the marketplace) of propaganda, you need to be aware of the "purposive action" that you will encounter.

The Obama campaign: "Change" and "Glittering Generalities" (FM 33-5, p 12, 2-5b).
The presidential campaign in 1964 Johnson vs. Goldwater

We will screen TRIUMPH OF THE WILL by Leni Riefenstahl with a running commentary by Anthony Santoro (120 minutes).
In direct response to Riefenstahl's masterpiece, Frank Capra, directed a series of 7 films entitled "Why We Fight." See Wikipedia.

DUE November 9: prepare a 3-5 page detailed analytic commentary on the propaganda facets of Capra's "War Comes to America" referring specifically to the theories, strategies and tactics detailed in some of the publications on our Course Documents pages. I would recommend these, particularly the 1974 Field Manual:

1. Psychological Operations - Techniques and Procedures, Field Manual 33-5 (1974).
2. Psychological Operations - Techniques and Procedures, Field Manual 33-1-1 (1993).
3. Enlisting Madison Avenue (2007).

The themes, pitch, spin and audiences of the Riefenshahl and Capra films are different, but the techniques of the appeals are similar. Think about both the visual and sonic aspects of the narrative. How is a theme expressed visually or sonically? Depending on the specific purpose, which expressive mode serves best? How is composition, rhythm, contrast, lighting, perspective and camera angle used in the moving imagery? How is music, noise, rhythm, ambience, language, dialect and tonality used in the sound track? Perhaps some side-by-side comparisons would illustrate the similarities. , and timing used. How

DUE November 16: Your analytical reports on FAIR GAME and THE SISTERHOOD OF SPIES.
There is so much to be discussed among the issues raised by these two book, that instead of me assigning you with an investigative question for your analysis, I have decided to delegate that task to you. I am sure you have an individual reaction to the material and that collectively those reactions will be diverse. Generally, what are the implications of the revelations of these books for contemporary gender roles, individual freedoms, democracy, governance and politics? I'm sure you can think of additional questions. Focus on one and report on it in detail. With regards to FAIR GAME, use the book as your source, not the movie. You may wish to consult our "library" of "course documents."

November 9

Screening: FAREWELL
DUE November 16: next Wednesday, 3-5 pages:
What are the significant issues raised by revelations of the Farewell case? What are their implications for understanding USSR/US relations in the past, present and future?
Complement your exposure to the film by consulting other sources including excerpts from the book and the Cryptologic History Symposium paper on Italian intelligence during WW2.
How well did the screenwriter and director stick to the "truth" and what "artistic license" did they take and why?

Email me with your course topic proposal. Below are some strong suggestions:

1. The DARPA Shredder Challenge (why was the challenge issued at this time and to what end?) - Daphne
2. Real versus paper money in the American Revolution ("persuading people to accept paper") and in the new Libyan government - Aditya
3. Counterfeiting money to pay for clandestine operations and undermine your adversary, the history thereof from 1776 through WW2 to the present.
4. Deception and psychological operations in non-industrial societies (its relationship to the evolution of culture).
5. The "Layer" browser; how is it marketed to businesses to spy on us and to consumers as the next cool app?
6. Spielberg's MUNICH: Israel's reactions.
7. MISO, Military Information Support Operations word soup replaces PSYOPS. The propaganda of propagandizing.
8. EAGLE EYE, separating fact and fancy in the film.
9. Hollywood's roll in propagandizing the American way of life.
10. A Cryptographic challenge from the FBI.
11. Software that reports on the user's interactions with it (e.g. first person shooters with implanted "bugs" modified by Hamas, etc.).
12. The relevance of SLEIGHTS OF MIND to Intelligence operations.
13. Espionage and intelligence in popular culture (e.g. movies) across cultures.
14. Propaganda and deception in the acquisition and maintenance of individual and family wealth and privilege.
15. Chinese intelligence, past, present and future.
16. Russian intelligence, past, present and future.
17. Israeli intelligence, past, present and future.
18. An analysis of defectors and whistle-blowers in the intelligence community, internationally.
19. RSA and other Internet-based key management systems versus individualized One-Time-Pads, the current controversy.
20. Steganography today, the available software and how it works to hide information and track documents.
21. Critiques on the evolution of certain practices based upon specific titles among our Course Document books.
22. Original research on a topic related to your interests and knowledge.
23. Cryptanalysis theory and methods for the Enigma, M-94, M-209 and other cryptographic devices.
24. Reports on the usage, strengths, weaknesses and operations of specific cryptographic machines.
25. Stream ciphers.
26. Frequency jumping ciphers.
27. A critical review of PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS AMERICAN STYLE.
28. Exploits of AIR AMERICA (facts vs. film).
29. Stuxnet, current understandings of its origin, method of operation and repercussions. See our Course Documents.
30. Decoys and deceptions in international military & intelligence operations compared/contrasted with decoys and deceptions in marketing. Aerostar Military Decoys. Shape Military Decoys
31. Ethnographic theory and practice as elucidated by the university academy compared/contrasted with that commissioned by the CIA.
32. Unmanned Aerial Systems, the next phase beyond Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, their implications for intelligence, propaganda and destructive warfare.
33. TEMPEST See Cryptome: Tempest Timeline (older version), Cryptome: NSA Tempest Documents and our Course Documents.
34. Stage magicians in the service of intelligence and covert operations.

November 16

If you haven't already done so, please email me with your course project proposals.

The propaganda value of targeted killing: The strategy and tactics of assassination, focusing on the "Kidon" (bayonet) teams of the Israeli Mossad.
Screening: Peter Jennings on the Dubai assassination. (20 minutes). No time.
Screening: The Mossad, a BBC overview. (60 minutes). No time.
Screening: Steven Spielberg's "Munich." (2hrs 44min) 10:05 to 12:49
Wikipedia Commentary on "Munich," the film.

Course Documents readings:
HITLIST: London's "Contra Signal." (Complete, four pages.)
MOSSAD: Victor Ostrovsky's BY WAY OF DECEPTION. (Excerpts.)
MOSSAD: Victor Ostrovsky's THE OTHER SIDE OF DECEPTION. (Excerpts.)
MOSSAD: Thomas & Dillon's ROBERT MAXWELL. (Excerpts, including pp. 359 ff. on the failed assassination of Khalid Meshal.)

Some resources you may wish to consult include:

1. Dubai Police reports. Select "English" and search for "Mahmoud.".
2. Gulf News, "In Focus: Hamas Assassination."
3. Gulf News, "Dubai Police have released new CCTV footage and information on suspects involved in the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh."
4. You Tube, "Mahmoud Al Mabhouh Murder - Original 27 min Footage 1/3." Under "Watch all four" see parts 2/3 and 3/3.
5. You Tube, "Wikileaks: the assassination of Hammas leader Mahmud al-Mabhouh."

DUE November 30: In two weeks, Wednesday, 3-5 pages:
Assume the role of the officer responsible for the Dubai operation and prepare a pre-operation detailed budget & itenerary (including entry and exit logistics) as well as a post-operation evaluation of its consequences (in terms of practical as well as "propaganda" value and contingency plans for "damage control").

November 23

Thanksgiving recess

November 30

Please turn in your report on the Dubai operation. Was it easy to obtain information? Why? Why not?

Show-and-Tell: Some toys of the trade:

• Fialka
• M-209
• Hagelin BC-543

Course Evaluations

Surveillance in the news:

1. The Prosecutor's Management Information System (Promis) From WIRED: "The real power of PROMIS... (is that it) can integrate innumerable databases,... can turn blind data into information.. Information, when wielded with finesse, begets power. Converted to use by intelligence agencies, PROMIS can be a powerful tracking device capable of monitoring intelligence operations, agents and targets, instead of legal cases."
2. "Malls stop tracking shoppers' cell phones"
3. "The girl who dared to tweet about Gov. Brownback"

Screenings:

1. "The Real Agents," Oleg Kalugin (KGB, Fullbright Scholar), Melissa Boyle Mahle (CIA, Archaeologist), Peter Esrnest (CIA, International Spy Museum), a bonus feature in Phillip Noyce's, SALT, Columbia Pictures, 2010, Blu-Ray (10m).
2. "Is My Cell Phone Spying on Me?" a bouns feature in Steve Spielberg's, EAGLE EYE, Dreamworks, 2008 (12m).
3. Steve Spielberg's, EAGLE EYE, Dreamworks, 2008 (117m).

Short essay due next week, along with your course project and presentation:
Among our Course Documents, please read "POWER: Brian Hayden SECRECY, SUPREMACY & SUMPTUOUS FEASTS (2004)." Comment on the similarities and differences between small-scale secret societies and large-level (state) secret societies in contemporary society. Do those at the small scale offer insights into studying those at that are of a larger scale? Do those at the larger scale offer insights into studying those at that are of a smaller scale? How might these comparisons inform us in building a theory of the evolution of power, wealth and priviledge? How might this course be more effectively structured to examine these questions and to build theory?

December 7

Final Project Presentations

coffee_by_Tagirov.jpg

Please turn in a full (thorough) project with:
Your word.doc and powerpoint.ppt files burnt into a CD and in a sleeve. Your word.doc printed out on paper. Your cover sheet with an illustrative image (top) and executive summary (bottom). All tucked neatly into a plastic sheet-protector (see picture above).

Please present a shorter 7-minute "teaser" in class.
You want to "hook" your audience, so use some of what you've learned about propaganda. Think of movie-trailers for inspiration. In order to do this, I would suggest that you make a second, abbreviated, PowerPoint and rehearse the timing. There are 21 of us, and I'd like each of us to see the breadth of your research.

!!! No Final / Happy Holidays !!!