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Source: New Scientist.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Clinic shooting report depicts troubled suspect
Clinic shooting report depicts troubled suspect: "BAGHDAD — An American soldier who is accused of killing five fellow troops at a counseling center in Iraq had been unraveling for nearly two weeks, but the U.S. military lacked clear procedures to monitor him or deal with the deadly shooting spree once it began to unfold, a military report found.
The shootings at a U.S. base in Baghdad in May were the deadliest case of U.S. soldier-on-soldier violence of the six-year Iraq war. Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, was arrested and is the only person charged in the incident.The shooting deaths drew attention to the issues of combat stress and morale as troops have to increasingly serve multiple combat tours because the nation’s volunteer army is stretched thin by two long-running wars.
The extensive 325-page report, released Friday and obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, included detailed witness statements and paints a picture of a soldier less than two months from the end of his third deployment who began to show obvious signs of unraveling weeks before the clinic shootings.While all the names, including Russell’s, have been removed from the report, it refers to the person taken into custody as well as his unit, the 54th Engineer Battalion.The internal investigation was ordered by Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, who appointed an investigating officer to determine if policies regarding ‘service members who are believed to be at risk of harming themselves or others, were followed and adequate,’ said military spokesman Lt. Col. David Patterson.A criminal investigation by the military is ongoing.Elizabeth Ann Russell, the mother of the accused, told AP she had no comment, and the military did not answer requests for information as to Russell’s whereabouts and whether he was represented by legal counsel.In previous interviews,
Russell’s family described him as a kindhearted man who so loved his country that he joined the military. However, Russell’s father also wondered whether his son snapped under questioning by counselors, or feared that his career was over.Dozens of pages were redacted from the report, including key materials such as the criminal investigation report. The report was originally posted on the Web site of the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq.The U.S. military in Iraq said the ‘candid review’ is one of the tools used to prevent such incidents in the future, and Patterson said the military in Iraq had already implemented some of the investigation’s recommendations.The report describes a man whose problems were known and who received some counseling, yet at critical times did not appear to get the help he needed.Russell, who faces charges of murder and aggravated assault, was on his fourth visit to a mental health clinic in Iraq when the appointment was cut short because he became ‘verbally noncompliant,’ the report stated.
Clinic personnel then called the military police, who declined to arrest him and just ordered him returned to his unit.Less than an hour later, the report said he managed to grab a loaded M16 rifle from a fellow soldier and steal a white Ford Explorer SUV, before going back to the counseling facility.In the days leading up to the incident, many of Russell’s fellow soldiers had noticed that his behavior appeared to be ‘deteriorating,’ the report stated.According to one statement, Russell, who spent one of his tours in the western city of Ramadi during the height of the conflict there, said he was ‘sick and tired of life and believed everyone hated him.’On the morning of May 11, the day of the shooting,
Russell was taken by a member of his worried unit to the Camp Liberty Combat Stress Control Clinic, according to the report.The report said that although the unit knew of Russell’s suicidal thoughts at least three to four days prior to the incident, little appeared to have been done to effectively monitor him.‘There is no clear procedure or established training guidelines in any of the references for managing soldiers identified as ‘at risk’ for suicide or the proper way to conduct suicide watch,’ the report stated.According to the statement of one of the military police officers involved in the incident, he asked Russell’s company commander whether the sergeant had been on ‘unit watch’ and what that meant.The company commander said his roommate would try to keep an eye on him, but that they didn’t have a 24-hour watch on him until the morning of the shootings.‘I asked him why he had not been on 24 hour a day watch since he first communicated his suicidal thoughts and he replied: ‘I know this sounds bad but we don’t have the personnel available,’ ’ the statement read.A breakdown in communication also contributed to the deadly series of events.
One section of the report describes how units responding, instead of reacting immediately, had to meet up in person to coordinate their actions because radio communication was poor.Additionally, nobody alerted the counseling clinic that Russell had stolen a weapon and a vehicle, the report said.Although Russell told several people — including a chaplain and a worker at the counseling clinic — that he was contemplating suicide, others appeared to have doubts about the seriousness of the situation.The report was also critical of the military police who responded to the incident, saying they did not have enough policies to ‘warn and protect possible victims when informed of a credible threat.’The military has already implemented some of the report’s recommendations, such as a ‘command-wide review of behavioral health care services, updates to all suicide-prevention programs, training and appointing two behavioral health advocates per battalion, and executing new procedures for dealing with service members attempting and/or threatening suicide,’ Patterson said.
The U.S. military has become increasingly concerned about mental health in the ranks after a steady rise in suicides — which the Army says have increased worldwide from at least 102 in 2006 to 140 last year. As of April, the Army had reported at least 48 suicides.Thousands of other veterans are believed to suffer flashbacks, nightmares or fits of anger as they attempt to readjust to civilian life.———Associated Press Writers Kimberly Hefling in Washington and Schuyler Dixon in Dallas contributed to this report."
(Via Air Force Times - News.)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Maryland Scientist Arrested For Trying To Sell Nuclear/Satellite Secrets.
A Maryland scientist who worked for the Defense Department and other agencies has been arrested on espionage charges.
The Justice Department said Monday that 52-year-old Stewart David Nozette of Chevy Chase was charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to communicate, deliver and transmit classified information to an individual he believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer.
The complaint does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf violated U.S. law.
Nozette was arrested Monday by FBI agents. He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Washington on Tuesday.
UPDATE:
Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, October 19, 2009
Maryland Scientist Charged with Attempted Espionage
A Maryland scientist who once worked in varying capacities for the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been arrested for attempted espionage, David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director for the FBI’s Washington Field Office, announced today.
A criminal complaint unsealed today in the District of Columbia charges Stewart David Nozette, 52, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, with attempted espionage for knowingly and willfully attempting to communicate, deliver, and transmit classified information relating to the national defense of the United States to an individual that Nozette believed to be an Israeli intelligence officer. The complaint does not allege that the government of Israel or anyone acting on its behalf committed any offense under U.S. laws in this case.
Nozette was arrested earlier today by FBI agents and is expected to make his initial appearance tomorrow in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
"The conduct alleged in this complaint is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation’s secrets for profit," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
"Those who would put our nation’s defense secrets up for sale can expect to be vigorously prosecuted," said Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. "This case reflects our firm resolve to hold accountable any individual who betrays the public trust by compromising our national security for his or her own personal gain."
"The FBI is committed to protecting the nation’s classified information and pursuing those who attempt to profit from its release or sale," said Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director for the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
According to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Nozette received a Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences from MIT in 1983, and worked at the White House on the National Space Council, Executive Office of the President, in 1989 and 1990. He developed the Clementine bi-static radar experiment that purportedly discovered water on the south pole of the moon. Nozette also worked at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from approximately 1990 to 1999 where he designed highly advanced technology. At the Department of Energy, Nozette held a special security clearance equivalent to the Defense Department Top Secret and Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information clearances. Department of Energy clearances apply to access to information specifically relating to atomic or nuclear-related materials.
Nozette was also the President, Treasurer and Director of the Alliance for Competitive Technology (ACT), a non-profit corporation that he organized in March 1990. Between January 2000 and February 2006, Nozette, through his company ACT, entered into several agreements to develop advanced technology for the U.S. government. Nozette performed some of this research and development at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Virginia, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. From 1989 through 2006, Nozette held security clearances as high as Top Secret and had regular, frequent access to classified information and documents related to the U.S. national defense.
According to the affidavit, on Sept. 3, 2009, Nozette was contacted via telephone by an individual purporting to be an Israeli intelligence officer, but who was in fact an undercover employee of the FBI (UCE). During that call, Nozette agreed to meet with the UCE later that day at a hotel in Washington D.C. According to the affidavit, Nozette met with the UCE that day and discussed his willingness to work for Israeli intelligence.
Nozette allegedly informed the UCE that he had, in the past, held top security clearances and had access to U.S. satellite information. Nozette also allegedly said that he would be willing to answer questions about this information in exchange for money. The UCE explained to Nozette that the Israeli intelligence agency, or "Mossad," would arrange for a communication system so that Nozette could pass information to the Mossad in a post office box. Nozette agreed to provide regular, continuing information to the UCE and asked for an Israeli passport
According to the affidavit, Nozette and the UCE met again on Sept. 4, 2009, in the same hotel. During the meeting, Nozette allegedly informed the UCE that, although he no longer had legal access to any classified information at a U.S. government facility, he could, nonetheless, recall the classified information to which he had been granted access, indicating that it was all still in his head. In the meeting, Nozette allegedly asked when he could expect to receive his first payment, specifying that he preferred to receive cash amounts "under ten thousand" so he didn’t have to report it. At the conclusion of this meeting, Nozette allegedly informed the UCE, "Well I should tell you my first need is that they should figure out how to pay me . . . they don't expect me to do this for free."
On or about Sept. 10, 2009, undercover FBI agents left a letter in the designated post office box for Nozette. In the letter, the FBI asked Nozette to answer a list of questions concerning U.S. satellite information. The undercover agents also provided a $2,000 cash payment for Nozette. The serial numbers of the bills were recorded. Nozette retrieved the questions and the money from the post office the same day.
On or about Sept. 16, 2009, Nozette was captured on videotape leaving a manila envelope in the designated post office box in the District of Columbia. The next day, FBI agents retrieved the sealed manila envelope that Nozette had dropped off and found, among other things, a one-page document containing answers to the questions posed by the undercover agents and an encrypted computer thumb drive. One of answers provided by Nozette contained information classified as Secret, which concerned capabilities of a prototype overhead collection system. In addition, Nozette allegedly offered to reveal additional classified information that directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, and other major weapons systems.
Also on or about Sept. 17, 2009, undercover FBI agents left a second letter in the post office box for Nozette. In the letter, the FBI asked Nozette to answer another list of questions concerning U.S. satellite information. The FBI also left a cash payment of $9,000 in the post office box. Nozette allegedly retrieved the questions and the money from the post office box later that same day.
On or about October 1, 2009, Nozette was filmed on videotape leaving a manila envelope in the post office box. Later that day, FBI agents retrieved the manila envelope left by Nozette and found a second set of answers from him. The answers contained information classified as both Top Secret and Secret that concerned U.S. satellites, early warning systems, means of defense or retaliation against large-scale attack, communications intelligence information, and major elements of defense strategy.
This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with assistance from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
The prosecution is being handled by Trial Attorneys Deborah A. Curtis and Heather M. Schmidt, from the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Asuncion, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
The public is reminded that a criminal complaint contains mere allegations and that every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
LINKS:
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Colorado Sheriff: Balloon Boy Was A Hoax
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The parents who set off a worldwide drama by reporting their 6-year-old son was inside a flying saucer-like helium balloon hurtling over Colorado concocted the stunt to market themselves for a television show, a sheriff said Sunday.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said at an extraordinarily candid news conference that the boy, Falcon Heene, may not have even been hiding in the rafters of the family's garage during the intense five-hour search for him Thursday afternoon.
"For all we know he may have been two blocks down the road playing on the swing in the city park," the sheriff said.
Alderden said the parents Richard and Mayumi Heene "put on a very good show for us, and we bought it."
The sheriff said no charges had been filed yet, and the parents weren't under arrest. He said he expected to recommend charges of conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant.
Some of the most serious charges each carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The sheriff said if charges were filed, his office would seek restitution, but he didn't know the total cost of the rescue effort, which included military helicopters, a ground rescue and even a mounted posse. Officials also rerouted planes around the balloon's flight path and briefly shut down some flights from Denver International Airport.
Richard and Mayumi Heene were shopping at Walmart with their three sons as Alderden told reporters at the sheriff's station that the whole thing was a hoax.
Richard Heene said he's "seeking counsel," though it was unclear whether he was talking about hiring an attorney.
"This thing has become so convoluted," Heene told The Associated Press as tears welled up in his eyes.
He said his wife was holding together better than he was.
The sheriff said all three of the Heenes' sons knew of the Thursday hoax.
"Given the age of the children — 6, 8, 10 — I seriously doubt whether they will be facing any criminal charges," he said.
One of the boys told investigators he saw his brother get in the balloon's box before it launched.
Heene, a storm chaser and inventor, and his family have appeared on the reality show "Wife Swap." Alderden said the couple met in acting school in Hollywood. Richard Heene has described himself as an amateur scientist, but Alderden said Heene has only a high school education.
"He may be nutty, but he's not a professor," Alderden said. He said Richard Heene showed "no evidence of remorse" for the episode.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Alabama ANG F-16s in Amarillo
Haven't see any Vipers in Amarillo in along time. They stopped here for a gas and go - and then on to Nellis.
I'm guesing they were enroute to participate in Red Flag.
Thank's to Tac-Air for the access!
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