Good morning everyone. Enjoy your Sunday.
Good morning, everyone! Another neat thread!!!
William Casey made a long speech on George Washington's intelligence gathering and disinformation. I can't find it in my stuff, forget the book it is in, but the following is interesting, perhaps:
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on January 30:
1616 William Sancroft Archbishop (Canterbury)
1797 Edwin Vose Sumner Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1863
1816 Nathaniel Prentiss Banks Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1894
1822 John Basil Turchin [Ivan Turchinoff], Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
1829 Alfred Cummings Georgia, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1910
1841 Alfred Townsend George Civil War journalist, died in 1914
1882 Franklin Delano Roosevelt New Hyde Park NY, 32nd President (D) (1933-1945)
1885 John Henry Towers aviator/naval hero
1892 Charles Trowbridge Haubiel composer
1894 Boris III tsar of Bulgaria (1918-43)
1902 Sir Nikolaus Pevsner England, art historian (The Buildings of England)
1909 Saul David Alinsky Chicago IL, radical writer (John L Lewis)
1912 Barbara Tuchman US, historian/author (Pulitzer, Guns of August)
1914 David Wayne Traverse City MI, actor (Andromeda Strain, Adams Rib)
1914 John Ireland Vancouver BC, actor (Rawhide, Gunfight at OK Corral)
1915 John D Profumo England, politician (C)
1920 George Skibine Russian/US dancer/choreographer (Tragedy in Verona)
1922 Dick Martin Detroit MI, actor/comedian (Laugh-In, Carbon Copy)
1925 Dorothy Malone Chicago IL, actress (At Gunpoint, Night & Day, Peyton Place)
1927 Olof Palme Stockholm, PM of Sweden (1969-76, 1982-86) assassinated
1931 Gene Hackman California, actor (Bonnie & Clyde, Under Fire, Superman)
1933 Louis Rukeyser financial whiz (Wall Street Week, Channel 13)
1935 Richard Brautigan Tacoma WA, novelist/poet (Trout Fishing...)
1937 Boris Spassky USSR, world chess champion (1969-72)
1937 Vanessa Redgrave London, actress (Blow-Up, Julia, Orient Express)
1939 Eleanor Smeal femanazi/president (NOW)
1941 Dick Cheney (Representative-R-WY/George Bush's secretary of defense 1989-93/Vice President 2001- )
1942 Marty Balin Cincinnati OH, singer (Jefferson Starship-Miracles)
1951 Phil Collins England, singer/drummer (Genesis-Against All Odds)
1955 Judith Tarr US, sci-fi author (Isle of Glass, Ars Magica)
1973 Holly Noelle Roehl Miss Indiana-USA (1996)
free dixie hugs,duckie/sw
Had we been blessed with another son, his name would have been Patrick Henry. Instead of our salute went to Abigail Adams.
"There is nothing more necessary than good intelligence to frustrate a designing enemy, & nothing requires greater pains to obtain." --George Washington
George Washington's role as the first American intelligence chief has received far less attention than his numerous exploits as a military and political leader. Yet, without his skillful management of American intelligence activities, the course of the Revolutionary War could have been quite different.
Washington's first experience in intelligence collection came in 1753, when he was 21 years old. The British colonial government sent him to the Ohio Territory to gather information about French military capabilities. He was instructed to observe French forts, determine troop strengths, and try to ascertain French intentions and plans for responding to the expansion of British colonization into the region. During this mission, Washington showed himself to be a skillful elicitor. One of the things he did particularly well was to exploit the social environment of drinking sessions and meals with French officers to acquire useful intelligence.
In 1755, at the battle of Fort Duquesne during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), Washington learned a harsh lesson. His British commander, General Edward Braddock, did not bother to have his men collect intelligence on the enemy. As a result, Braddock's forces stumbled into aFrenchambush along the Monongahela River. They fought for more than three hours trying to extricate themselves from the trap, suffering a major military defeat. No doubt with this experience in mind, Washington wrote, "There is nothing more necessary than good intelligence to frustrate a designing enemy, & nothing that requires greater pains to obtain."1
During the Revolutionary War, Washington spent more than 10 percent of his military funds on intelligence activities. Two weeks after taking command of the Continental Army on 2 July 1775, he recorded his first expenditure for intelligence collection--$333 to an unidentified officer to travel to Boston and establish a network of agents to gather intelligence on enemy movements and intentions.
A year later, Washington established a unit known as Knowlton's Rangers, under the command of Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton, to carry out reconnaissance and raids against British facilities. This unit was the first American military intelligence organization; the US Army has characterized it as a historical parent of the modern-day Army Rangers, Special Forces, and Delta Force. The ill-fated American spy Nathan Hale was recruited from this early Ranger force.
But it was Washington's adroitness as a manager of agents and his skillful use of their reporting that best commend him as the Founding Father of American collection of foreign intelligence. In addition to managing countless spies around British forces' locations, he ran numerous agent networks inside British-controlled New York City and Philadelphia. His operatives provided daily reporting on British troop movements and often were able to report on the plans and intentions of enemy commanders.
After the British seized control of New York City in autumn 1776, Washington directed the activities of numerous spies there. Of particular note was the Culper spy ring, which comprised about 20 people. This network, established in the summer of 1778, was managed by Major Benjamin Tallmadge of the 2nd Connecticut Light Dragoons, who operated from an outpost on the Hudson River above the city. The Culper ring was the most professional of Washington's agent networks. It used code names, secret writing, enciphered communications, couriers, dead drops, signal sites, and specific collection requirements.
The most important piece of intelligence obtained through the Culper ring came in July 1780. A network member known to this day only as "Lady" reported that British General Sir Henry Clinton had decided to send British troops by sea from New York City to Newport, Rhode Island, to attack newly arrived French forces under General Rochambeau. The French troops had been at sea for two months, and Clinton wanted to attack them before they recovered from the trip.
Washington received this intelligence on the afternoon of 21 July and immediately drew up plans for a fictitious attack on New York City. He then had the "plans" delivered to a British outpost by a local farmer, who claimed to have found them on a nearby road. In the meantime, Washington also marched his army toward New York City to provide further "evidence" that he was preparing to launch an attack there. Faced with what he thought were Washington's attack plans--which were even signed by the American leader--and the readily discernible American Army movement, Clinton concluded that an attack was imminent and recalled troops then at sea to strengthen the city's defenses. "Lady's" intelligence and Washington's deception scheme thus saved the ailing French troops from probable defeat and enabled them subsequently to join with the understrength American Army.
In addition to the Culper ring, Washington had numerous other agents reporting on enemy activities in New York City. Among them were James Rivington, a prominent Tory newspaper publisher; Joshua Mersereau, his son John, and another relative; Hercules Mulligan and his brother Hugh; Army Captains (and brothers) John and Baker Hendricks; and two former counterintelligence agents--Nathaniel Sackett and retired Army Capt. Elijah Hunter. The latter became close to both General Clinton and Royal Governor William Tryon.
Another American spy, 1st Lt. Lewis J. Castigin, operated in a manner that was similar in some ways to the modus operandi of modern-day defense attaches. The British captured Castigan in January 1777 and subsequently paroled him. He then went to New York City, where he was permitted to move around freely. Castigan reported to Washington and other American military leaders on what he observed concerning British military strength and positions. Through social activities with British officers, he was able to glean advance information on their campaign plans. Washington spoke highly of Castigin's reporting.
Washington also ran several agent networks in British-occupied Philadelphia. Major John Clark managed these networks, which used such names such as "old lady" and "farmer" to describe individual agents. Lydia Darragh, acting as a lone agent, had members of her family carry information to Washington. Her social position gave her access to senior British officers, and her elicitation skills resulted in reliable advance notice of British troop movements. An entry in Washington's official expense account, dated 18 June 1778, listed $6,170 spent for secret services in Philadelphia.
In addition, Washington utilized individuals as spies for single, specific missions. One such agent, John Honeyman, was personally recruited by Washington to report on enemy capabilities at Trenton, New Jersey. Honeyman, an Irish immigrant and a weaver by trade, had previously informed the American leader that he was willing to assist the Revolutionary cause. In autumn 1776, Washington asked Honeyman to move to New Brunswick, New Jersey. Honeyman did so, entered the cattle business there, and supplied meat to British forces in the area. Washington arranged for him to be publicly denounced as a British sympathizer.
In mid-November, Washington tasked Honeyman to report on British activities around Trenton. Through his business dealings with the British and the Hessians (British-employed mercenary soldiers from the Hesse region in what is now Germany), and by underscoring his service on the British side in the French and Indian War, Honeyman was able to develop close relationships with--and elicit intelligence information from--British officers in Trenton, including their commander.
In mid-December 1776, Washington directed American forces to seize Honeyman; the order was implemented on 22 December. The "arrest" enabled Washington to debrief Honeyman on enemy activities and intentions in the Trenton area without compromising the fact that he was an American agent. He was also given false information to pass to the British after his "escape" from the Americans.
Honeyman reported that British troops had been sent to New York City for the winter, leaving only Hessian forces in Trenton. He also noted that the Hessian commander, Col. Rall, was an arrogant individual, contemptuous of American forces. The commander was lax about defensive preparations, had not ordered his men to build fortifications, and had a serious drinking problem. Honeyman also provided a map showing all enemy locations around Trenton.
After his "escape", Honeyman told the Hessians that he had seen the American winter quarters and found no signs of any troop movements. Washington, acting on Honeyman's intelligence and having sown the seeds of deception through Honeyman's remarks to the Hessians about American inaction, moved his forces across the Delaware River on Christmas night and launched a surprise attack the next morning. The Hessians were hung over from their Christmas partying, had no time to organize, and were quickly forced to surrender. While a minor triumph in military terms, the victory at Trenton came at a critical time for the American side and was a strategic victory in political and morale terms--thanks in large part to excellent intelligence work.
An exceptionally good slide show:
Louis Rukeyser was getting the boot from PBS and I emailed Roger Ailes to pick him up--and drop Geraldo Rivera.
Ailes replied via blackberry: "Lou's good, but Geraldo costs less and has better ratings."
After watching Fox News Channel's coverage of the Iraqi elections I was impressed by Geraldo Rivera's unstinting enthusiasm and buoyant optimism.
Juxtapose that with Ted Kennedy's and John Kerry's sour-note bleating on their rusty kazoos--history blasts past them on the Podunk platform.
History Channel tonight claims Stalin feared flying, flew only once, to one of those conferences where the West betrayed millions.
Fewer viewers frequent the sewer media; more and more Americans deeply appreciate the fearless service in defense of freedom by Poland.
And now Georgia doubles up its bet on the right side.
Plenty of room for assistance in Iraq by France, Germany, Russia, and China.
[crickets]
Jean Faux Kerry's appearance on Tim Russert's Meet the Press included (as Drudge illustrated) Kerry answering no and yes to the same question asked twice.
Had he ears to hear, Kerry would be a formidable politician.
Still giving aid and comfort to our enemies, he should be sentenced to a trip off the Chappaquiddick River bridge riding shotgun in the Ted Kennedy Straight Drinking Express.
