ENIGMA 2000 Newsletter - Issue 29

July 2005
Articles, newsreports and Items of interest :enigma2000-owner@yahoogroups.com

HJH’s E2k Watch

We continue with HJH’s informative column…………….

ID cards valuable in anti terrorism fight- even more so when sold to terrorists!

Sad but true, is the opinion of your trusty author, as he pores over the midnight website of E2K Watch. A report published in elconfidencial.com, which is a Spanish language website, based in Spain, and credited by its author to a report originating from the UCI, which is the Central Intelligence Unit of the Spanish Police. The report says that a batch of 300 blank Spanish National ID cards have been stolen from the Fabrica Nacional de Monada y Timbre. This organisation is equivalent to the Royal Mint, and is responsible for the printing of banknotes, passports and ID cards. The theft is reported to have taken place in November 2002. Around 40 are still missing, but we know where one was recovered, and it was in the possession of one Jamal Ahmidan, a Moroccan national arrested by Spanish police and alleged to have rented the house used to manufacture and store the Madrid bombs. Just to muddy the waters a trifle, he used a fake Belgian passport. According to the report, the ID card, for a resident alien, had the photo of Ahmidan, but the personal details contained therein were those of one Othman El Gnaout, another Moroccan national. He is likewise accused of complicity in the Madrid bomb attacks. Initial police suspicions were that they had discovered a forged ID card gang. Further enquiries proved otherwise, and the trail led to the Mint previously mentioned.

One wonders how UK Immigration Minister, Des Browne, has come to view the value, or otherwise, of national ID cards in the fight against terrorism. Or will that be a post election headache? Watch the NL guys!

SA MERCS MARK TIME! (pun intended!)

And now for the not so good news, the guys you didn't hear about who were jailed when Mrs. Thatcher’s little boy, Mark, got a slap and sent home early!

Well, there were 67 who did NOT get sent home. In fact, 64 of them were sentenced to 12 months jail. With the one-third remission for good behaviour, this meant that the 64 mentioned qualified for release straight away. That left 3. The two pilots, presumably on the grounds that they could do more damage if they got to a nearby Tiger Moth, got 16-month sentences. They will have to remain in custody until May 10^th. Number 67 is a Brit, named Simon Mann, and guess what, he got 7 years. This was later reduced to 4 years, but he remains in custody at this time. He is referred to by the author's South African source as the leader of the group. All, save Simon Mann, are said to be on South African passports.

E2K readers will, no doubt, recall the involvement of Mark Thatcher in this alleged coup plot. The story broke following the arrest of this group after the aircraft in which they were flying landed at Harare airport. (Presumably to take on wood!)

The allegations were that they were mercenaries who were on route to Equatorial Guinea to undertake a mercenary coup in that country.

Another source of the author, also South African based, says that a man, the usual unnamed source, has offered to pay the air fare for repatriating all the men concerned. They are currently in Harare's Chikurubi Prison, where they are serving sentences imposed having been convicted by a court in Zimbabwe with various minor offences. This is because, surprisingly, Zimbabwe has no anti mercenary laws. When (or should that read if) they arrive in South Africa, they face arrest and charge under that nation's anti mercenary laws.

So there you go guys, just make sure that should you enlist as a merc, you do so in an enlightened and liberal nation like Zimbabwe/Rhodesia.(Come back Sealous Scouts, all is forgiven!)

A better class of ETA !

It really is amazing the news items one trips across during the wee small hours when the world sleeps, and, as my late Dad used to say only owls, hookers, burglars and policemen are about. The last occupation this author has tried, only to find it much less stressful to write columns for web sites. (Only, of course, those frequented by such high-class readership as those who support E2K!)

From across the waves (that's sea, NOT HF!) comes news of that most unusual of beasts, but certainly no new species of life, the born again terrorist. The author is referring to ETA, that well known terrorist group who, in a bid to get a independent Basque homeland, happily bombed, murdered and maimed their way across Spain in recent years. They broke their 19-month period of relative inactivity recently, last year.. No one had died at their hands for 19 months. That, for a group responsible for 800 deaths in the past 30 years, is, this author would suggest, semi retirement!

However, 13 bombs in targets in no less than 9 Spanish cities is a co-ordinated attack by any standards, and certainly not indicative of the responsible organisation being a spent force. The strange thing is, that this time there were no casualties, only minor damage to property, although that, this author would say, is still terrorism. Bombs have a nasty habit of being very impersonal about whom they kill and maim. There is no bomb so smart as to only explode when no people are near it to die!

Be that as it may, things had not been going too well for ETA. A series of raids across North Spain and South West France (both countries share common land and borders with the Basque terrorists) a well co-ordinated and cross border police operations seized a haul of no less than six arms caches, amongst the weaponry seized were even surface to air missiles. Last October saw the arrest in Northern France of Mikel Albizu (aka "Antza") who is the political head of ETA, and his deputy, Soledad Iparraguirre(aka "Anboto") It is believed that the intelligence gleaned from these two led to the arrests, (almost 100,) and the arms seizures which took place shortly after their arrests. Following these events, it seemed possible that ETA had been neutralised. These latest attacks would seem designed to prove otherwise. The ample time allowed in the telephone warnings to police in these latest bomb attacks (as much as one hour in some cases.)seem intended to show what a different group they are in comparison to the Islamic militants who carried out the Madrid bombings of March 11^th. 191 people died in the space of the few minutes, which it took for the dozen random bomb attacks to take place that day. Nor should it be forgotten that in Spain, persons looked on in that country as experts in such matters, at first attributed responsibility to ETA, and in no uncertain terms. A former member of the Basque region's semi autonomous government, Joseba Arregi, said the following to the Guardian (UK news site.) It bears repeating verbatim. "ETA wants to give the idea that what they do is different-- to say'We are not like those people who kill indiscriminately. We could do a lot of damage. And if we do not, it is because we do not want to." Another quote, this time from Mr. Jose' Zapatero, leader of Spain's new government. "ETA knows it only has one destiny, and that is the end of violence and abandoning arms." This was said after the outrage in Madrid. ETA meanwhile, has new young blood coming on board. Will they think the same way? The author has his doubts. (Police and Army service do that to a man) 30 years and 800 deaths is a lot to forgive and forget, something Mediterranean folk, much as this author loves them, are not in the habit of doing The author's opinion, for what it is worth, is that ETA were so terrified by the outrages that were laid at their door, that they back pedalled so fast one could smell the rubber burning all over the Mediterranean! They thought the "midnight Knocks" which they had been carrying out for years, were coming home to roost. And up with that they would not put! HASTA LA VISTA, BABY!

Sharkhunters

From a stateside source, namely the "sharkhunters" net, comes some very disturbing news. The navy of the Chinese People's Republic, has, reportedly, been for some time acquiring nuclear submarines. These are, reportedly, from various sources. They are said to include Russia, and are, presumably, from many of the now redundant and badly neglected stocks of that country's large submarine fleet. This author has little knowledge of nuclear submarines, save that they do, as most of our readership are doubtless aware, in need of comprehensive and skilled regular maintenance. This they have certainly NOT been receiving, if recent reports from Russia are to be believed. Further to this, they are building up stocks of Cruise missiles with a range and performance comparable to the "Tomahawk" class.

With a view, no doubt, to trying out this new and sophisticated weaponry, they have been conducting "exercises in the South China Sea, centring on the straits which separate Mainland China from Taiwan. A more recent report, dated 060605, (date ring any bells, guys!) from "sharkhunters" tells of a fire breaking out aboard a conventional diesel powered submarine of the "MING" class. The vessel, said to have a pennant number in the "300" series, was submerged at the time. Obviously, she was forced to surface. A nearby Chinese navy vessel has since taken her in tow. She is understood to be en route to Hainan Island, her home base.

The "MING" class is a fairly old design, dating from the 70s. An improved type has been in service since 1987. This class of vessel is described as being 76 meters long, with a beam of 7;6 metres. Her displacement is given as 2,113 tons. She carries a crew of 57. As far back as 2003, another vessel in this class, pennant number 361 went down in the Yellow Sea with all hands. The only anomaly was that the crew numbered 70. This has given rise to speculation as to what the purpose of these extra crew was. One report, also from the USA and via "sharkhunters" has it that the vessel lost, # 361, was equipped with a French supplied sonar tracking system. It is described as being of the TR2225 passive type. As most readers will know, this is the type, which gives no sonar, infra red, or RF signature. Were the extra 14 hands training on this newly acquired system? Further, this author recalls an intelligence bulletin in the 80s that described a Russian full tracklaying vehicle, which was fully submersible, and capable of being deployed from a submerged vessel. Obviously, this is ideal for covert insertion of Special Forces teams. Can this have been the purpose? No details of crew casualties are available at this time, and another purpose for this submarine and allied naval activity may surely be sabre rattling to deter the US Navy, a formidable opponent by anyone's standards, from coming to the aid of Taiwan, should that nation dare to make a bid for full independence from mainland Red China. The Red Chinese seem to be ensuring the truth of their old curse "May you live in interesting times" Boring, it sure ain't!!!

Meanwhile, back at the castle

This author has frequently been surprised by some of the things which continue to emerge from the events of World War 2, although, given the long lasting effects which they had on our civilisation, (a term which I use loosely!) surprise is something to which most of us who have any knowledge or experience of those terrible years should long ago have become immune. Imagine then, the surprise which the author, and many others, felt, when a claim was recently made that Hitler's Nazi Germany did, in fact, develop and test a nuclear bomb.

The author, Rainer Karlsch, makes this claim ln a recently published book, entitled, somewhat unoriginally, Hitler's Bombe. (Hitler's Bomb.) This German historian puts forward the theory that in 1945, on March 3^rd. the Germans detonated a device in Thuringia, in Germany. Thuringia is a state in Germany which is bordered by Lower Saxony, Saxony Anhalt, Hesse, and Bavaria. Until the recent reunificaton of Germany, it was part of the German Democratic Republic, which came into existence in 1949. So powerful is this device said to have been that it destroyed land for some 500 square miles surrounding Ground Zero. Casualties are said to have been several hundred POWs and concentration camp inmates. Going further in his claims, Karlsch classifies the device as a "hybrid tactical nuclear weapon". The size is described as smaller than the US devices, which were dropped on Japan to end the war. He further states that he has unearthed evidence to support this claim.

This is more than the British Intelligence service were able to do at the end of the war, even with the several advantages of having most of the surviving German nuclear physicists and their staff in a POW cage in UK, the rooms of which were bugged, living quarters included. A recent interview given by some of the staff and scientists involved in this debrief of Hitler's bomb team in a historical documentary television programme, gave the general opinion that the Germans did not, at that time, have nuclear capability. Further, this author would suggest that had such a capability existed, at that stage of the war, there were far more lucrative targets than POWs and concentration camp prisoners. The advancing Red Army would have seemed a far more important target than helpless prisoners, who pose no threat at all. The radioactive content yielded by such a basic and crude device would have lasted for years following detonation, and been easily detected. Also, given that the Germans possessed, in the V2 rocket system, a proven, if somewhat unreliable, delivery system, would Hitler have been able to resist wreaking vengeance on London? Surely not!

Herr Karlsch's article is published in the "PHYSICS WORLD" magazine, and is co authored by Mark Walker. Perhaps we should all be grateful that the Germans failed to develop the nuclear bomb, for had they done so, Stalin may have reached nuclear capability just in time for the Korean War, given the amount of German weapon scientists whom he had captured. On the question of deciding whether or not to use such a device, this author can see such hand wringing and outpouring of conscience as those to which we are regularly subjected on Hiroshima Day. It is this author's contention that to see such as that had roles been reversed would be as likely as an erection in a eunuch's briefs!

The last word to Professor Dieter Hoffman of Berlin's Max Planck Institute for the History of Science."Karlsch revealed some very important details in his book, but I can't go along with the picture he constructs with those details-of a Nazi nuclear test." A further thought from your scribe. Had the Germans in WW2 developed such a weapon, this article would be in German, and we would, in all probability, not be pursuing our hobby, and certainly NOT on the internet!!!

Instant intel on E-Bay

Ask any experienced Special Forces operative, or for that matter, any experienced terrorist, what would be one of the most useful pieces of intelligence to assist in planning an operation, and they would probably say

The files outlining the response to whatever type of attack which was planned.. Be it hostage taking or kidnapping, or just a plain terrorist bomb outrage or murder, each type of attack has a file detailing the response of the civil police in the target country. Call out officers and which politician to contact, together with various highly confidential names and addresses of all these personnel, together with their telephone numbers. Throw in a few code words and authentication procedures and you have a fair picture of what is required to stop the opposition's response before it gets off the ground. So how exactly would one acquire such highly classified intelligence? Bribery? Phone tap? Computer hack?

Not if you live in Brandenburg in Germany. There you get on to e bay and buy a second hand police hard drive, just as one lucky, (and nameless) student recently did. (April 7, 2005) For the princely sum of 20 Euros, our lucky student got a 20GB hard drive, which was, until recently, the property of the Brandenburg Police. On it, according to a report in Der Spiegel, were the following: Police containment plans for specific incidences. The contact names and addresses of the crisis management team who is to respond to actions of this nature .

So who should have had access to this information. Such information is obviously highly classified and available to only the highest echelons of the security services and chief of police. Also on the distribution is the executive staff of the Interior Minister, Jorg Schonbohm. It is he who has initiated the inevitable high level enquiry to ascertain the cause for this catastrophic breach of security.

What he must ascertain is how did this hard drive ever come to be offered for sale in the first place. Recent research has discovered that the only means of guaranteeing that a harddrive can never disclose it's contents is by total physical destruction, given that state of the art information recovery software can retrieve data from even the most professionally wiped drives. Perhaps more worrying is the question as to whether this was just an act of gross negligence (in this author's opinion, bordering on the criminal!) or was it intentional, which would open up far more worrying scenarios. One possibility is that it was a deliberate attempt to weaken or destroy the internal secrity contingency plans of the state of Brandenburg, a state which, coincidentally, the new capital of the Federal Republic of Germany is located, and was, until fairly recently, in the Warsaw Pact sphere of influence, as capital of the German Democratic Republic, our good East German potential opponents in the Cold War. Have our old STASI comrades tired of driving taxis(our readership will doubtless recall that on getting into such a Berlin cab, on giving the former STASI driver one's name, one is immediately driven home!!!) This author, and countless others, is watching with great interest! Stay tuned guys!

Author's Note

The Sharkhunter net, although primarily concerned with submarine history, both WW2 U-boats and US Navy submarines, they also maintain an excellent current maritime affairs newspage and it can be found under shakhunter net

Being put into a search engine.(I used Mamma.com) As if to underline the potential seriousness of the situation which appears to be building up in the straits between the two Chinas, the latest report from "sharkhunters" has intelligence just in from their local source in that area that the latest submarines deployed to the area have been seen with Chinese Special Forces troops aboard. These are known as "Boomers" and are the equivalent of US Navy SEALS or British SBS. They are trained to be deployed from, if necessary, the forward torpedo tubes of submerged submarines, so obviously would have no requirement to use the track-laying vehicle mentioned earlier. This author has seen the "Sharkhunter" photos and they show personnel actually inside the bow tubes of a submarine. The vessel has the typical Soviet conning tower with the rectangular observation ports in a semi circle around the top of the conning tower. My gratitude to the "Sharkhunters" for their help in this, obviously, all copyright regarding their material and input remains in their domain. Any of our readers interested in the maritime side of life are strongly urged to visit and read their WebPages.

HJH.

Here’s an interesting aspect of world security sent to us via HJH from >SHARKHUNTERS - Official Worldwide Publication of U-Boat History www.sharkhunters.com

This is an excellent piece that offers some use of the cerebral apparatus – if any one can offer a translation of ‘Slick Willie’ we’d be obliged as E2k doubt it is the registered TM of a sportswear outlet.

>To: "sharkhunters"
>Subject: Conflict on the Pacific Rim
>Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2005 09:17:08 -0400
>
>We've read here on our HOT MAIL dispatches, of the ever increasing build-up
>on the Pacific Rim - the nuclear submarines the Chinese bought from the
>Russians; the sophisticated anti-ship missiles they've gotten from Russia
>meant to keep American carrier task forces far away from Taiwan; of the new
>cruise missiles (nuclear capable) they recently got from the Ukraine; of
>Taiwan testing their own (nuclear capable) cruise missiles and all the
>other dispatches we've posted.
>
>There can be no doubt that the Pacific Rim is heating up greatly. Don't
>forget that the Chinese have really sophisticated American weapons
>technology thanks to Slick Willie - and they have the huge amounts of cash
>necessary to pay for all their weapons thanks in large part to the massive
>influx of cash from a certain American super store.
>
>The Chinese now have the cash to pay for highly sophisticated weaponry;
>they have the technology from the USA (given by Willie) and from the former
>Soviet countries as well as from Iran that they can pay for - and they
>really REALLY want Taiwan back.
>
>It is our prediction and that of some of our agents in the Far East that
>China will go after Taiwan militarily in 2006, possible even in this year.
>They have more than enough troops and weaponry to overrun this little
>island; they have the sophisticated weaponry to stand off an American
>carrier task force both above and below the surface AND if they attack
>quickly and without warning, it will all be over before the USA can even
>begin to mount a defense. Once the Chinese are ashore and Taiwan is
>occupied - the ball game is over! There will be no Iraq and nobody in the
>world (other than the Taiwanese) will feel any effect and there will be
>attempt by the US or any other country to counterattack and drive the
>Chinese out. John Wayne and the cavalry will not come galloping over the
>hill to the rescue.
>
>In short, they have everything to gain, nothing to lose - and the
>capability to make it happen. Our prediction - China will invade Taiwan no
>later than sometime in 2006. We hope we're wrong, but we'd bet on the
>invasion.
>

>SHARKHUNTERS - Official Worldwide Publication of U-Boat History
> www.sharkhunters.com