What's This? We're contracting out intelligence now? "IntelCenter" >>>

[Stephanie]

From the al-Zawahri article:

The video was al-Zawahri's first appearance since the airstrike and came 11 days after the latest audiotape by bin Laden. IntelCenter, a contractor working with U.S. intelligence agencies, said the video of al-Zawahri is new.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/zawahri_tape

Here's their site:

http://www.intelcenter.com/

The challenges facing professionals in the intelligence, counterterrorism and first responder communities grow exponentially as the ability of a few individuals to inflict mass casualties and destruction upon a civilian population continues to accelerate. Whether it’s through the use of biological agents, chemical weapons, dirty devices or hijacked airliners, the consequences of momentary success for the terrorist weigh heavily on our community.

It is impossible to prevent every act of terrorism. We are no sooner likely to wipe it out then we are to rid the world of hate and crime. We can, however, reduce the frequency with which it occurs. We can make the land that terrorists operate in hostile to their presence. When the inevitable day comes and an attack occurs, we can be ready to respond and save lives.

For the past 13 years, offerings from IntelCenter and its sister company, Tempest Publishing, have been designed to assist professionals in furthering this goal. All of our products are designed to achieve real results for the operator, analyst or first responder.

Our focus as a company is on studying terrorist groups and other threat actors and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it. We look at capabilities and intentions, warnings and indicators, operational characteristics and a wide variety of other points in order to better understand how to interdict terrorist operations and reduce the likelihood of future attacks.

The results of this work is then disseminated in a variety of Alert, Current Intelligence and Analytical Resource services. It also provides the foundation for our field books such as the "First Responder Chem-Bio Handbook." Our primary client base is comprised of military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the US and other allied countries around the world.

http://www.intelcenter.com/aboutus.html

[Lerkfish]

1. LOL! omigod, vonnegut couldn't even write something this bizarre.

[Stephanie]

2. um, isn't this what we spend billions on intelligence for?

why are we contracting this out to private companies?

[China_cat]

7. You can ask that

when you see the "voice in the clown" being outsourced? And around here, the utility meter reading has been outsourced.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Ben N. Venzke is the CEO, according to their "About Us" page...

He's also the CEO of Tempest Publishing, a company that specializes in anti-terror literature, training, etc...

[Stephanie]

4. oh great - look at this >

this is just dandy -

RADIOLOGICAL & NUCLEAR TERRORISM SPECIALISTS. Tempest Publishing is looking for specialists in radiological and nuclear terrorism (RN) for a new project. Individuals must have strong writing skills, a solid knowledge of the technical aspects of RN terrorism, and a practical understanding of how the situation relates to first responders. If interested, please send qualifications via email to [e-mail] or fax them to [phone].
http://www.chem-bio.com/

[Cooley Hurd]

5. Here's an interesting blog article about him:

http://www.williambowles.info/ini/ini-0335.html

<snip>
And another from an outfit called Intelcenter which purports to do “cluster analysis” (above) on the ‘international terror network’, which might be better described as a license to print money if anybody is gullible enough to actually pay this outfit money for their alleged expertise. Not surprisingly, it’s based in Alexandria, Virginia or ‘spook central', just off the DC Beltway. Headed by Ben N. Venzke, Intelcenter is typical of the dozens of companies that have sprung up in the wake of ‘international terror’. Before running Intelcenter, Venzke ran an outfit called Military Intelligence Professional Bulletin which has US military connections including a handy ‘how to’ on making your own bombs courtesy the US military! Who needs al-Qu’eda when you have the US military supplying all the necessary diagrams in a handy pdf!

Venzke tells us, straightfaced that

They are extremely good at operational security, and it is institutionalized throughout the organization
Pretty amazing intel considering they admit to knowing absolutely nothing about the organisation, that is if it actually exists.
</snip>

This stinks of an Allbaugh/Kerik/Guiliani-esque venture, doesn't it? x(

[Stephanie]

6. I'd like to know what we're paying them adn what they're tasked with

The fact that they're advertising for experts on the internet doesn't speak very well for them. License to print money, indeed. Guess I'll go check out their political donations. :evilgrin: