Public Intelligence

The following leaflets are part of a collection (9.1 MB PDF) held at the U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Library at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  The leaflets were distributed to Allied troops in France and Italy from 1944-1945.

A report and presentation compiled by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law regarding controversial police powers recently introduced in the German state of Brandenburg including automated license plate searches, mobile phone localization and access to telecommunications data.

The term “counterinsurgency” (COIN) is an emotive subject in Germany. It is generally accepted within military circles that COIN is an interagency, long-term strategy to stabilise a crises region. In this context fighting against insurgents is just a small part of the holistic approach of COIN. Being aware that COIN can not be achieved successfully by military means alone, it is a fundamental requirement to find a common sense and a common use of terms with all civil actors involved. However, having acknowledged an Insurgency to be a group or movement or as an irregular activity, conducted by insurgents, most civil actors tend to associate the term counterinsurgency with the combat operations against those groups. As a result they do not see themselves as being involved in this fight. For that, espescially in Germany, the term COIN has been the subject of much controversy.

In a turn of events worthy of a spy novel, the German government said Monday that it had begun an investigation into reports that classified blueprints for its new billion-dollar foreign intelligence headquarters had been stolen. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the intelligence agency had established a commission working under “high pressure” to look into whether plans for its new headquarters in Berlin had been taken and, if so, how far-reaching the security breach had been. “The government is keenly interested in clarifying the situation quickly,” Mr. Seibert said, adding that it took the matter “very seriously.”

Social broadcasting — posting or sending audio and video content to members of a social network — allows people to share multimedia material using Internet-based technologies. In Germany, OSC has observed that major political parties — hesitant to campaign on the Internet for fear of losing control over their messages — have nevertheless begun to use Internet social networks and video portals as a communication tool. New smaller parties without an established financial or voter base also appear to prioritize Internet-based campaigning. For example, Germany’s Pirate Party won a better-than-expected 2% in the 2009 national election primarily through making use of Internet-based communications.

The blogs selected and profiled in this guide are, at the time of this report, among the most well-known German-language political blogs and were selected for inclusion based on an assessment of several indicators, which are detailed in the methodology statement. The blogs profiled here are among Germany’s most influential independent political blogs and therefore have some potential to shape public opinion and debate on political issues in Germany. However, it should be noted that, given the challenges in establishing linkage between online content and realworld interactions and events, the degree of influence of blogs is difficult to quantify.

During running battles with police, demonstrators torched a police armoured car, chained themselves to stretches of line, tried to undermine tracks by kicking out stones and fought with officers in woodland leading to the train in a day of tense drama. The head of Germany’s Green Party, Claudia Roth, was among those last night involved in a sit-down protest on the road to Gorleben as police appealed for calm. Costs for policing for the train which left a nuclear fuel reprocessing France on Friday has already gone over the £50 million. The security operation to ensure the cargo of reprocessed fuel from nuclear power stations in Germany reaches its destination is one of the biggest ever mounted with 17,000 police officers on duty.

Lebanese newspaper Al Diyar reported Thursday that a former Lebanese army officer who is suspected of spying for Israel has fled Lebanon. The man is currently in Frankfurt, the report said. The suspect, Rasan al-Jud, is suspected of aiding Israel with the help of employees at Alfa, the state-owned mobile telecom company. Lebanese security forces were searching for four other suspects – all technicians from the company – who have also fled Lebanon, the newspaper reported.

Bundeskriminalamt German Federal Police Forensic Analysis of Cell Phones and SIM Cards, 2008.

Three main reason used for retaining U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe:

* Russia could turn bad and still has a lot of nonstrategic nuclear weapons
* Symbol of continued U.S. commitment to NATO: provides trans-Atlantic glue
* Other countries on NATO’s southern periphery are developing weapons of mass destruction

Deutschland (DEU) wird auch zukünftig eine wichtige Rolle – insbesondere in Europa – einnehmen, um seiner sicherheitspolitischen Verantwortung in der Staaten-gemeinschaft gerecht zu werden. Das DEU Engagement wird deshalb nicht hinter den aktuellen Stand zurück fallen, sondern sich eher ausweiten und verstärken. DEU wird der Zusammenarbeit in NATO, EU und VN auch weiterhin große Bedeutung beimessen. Außerdem muss es sich ggf. auch an kurzfristig zusammentretenden Koalitionen beteiligen können, um Bedrohungen vorzubeugen und ihnen rechtzeitig dort zu begegnen, wo sie entstehen.

Oas Weißbuch 2006 und die Konzeption der Bundeswehr (KdB, 09.08.2004) bilden unverandert die Grundlage für die Bundeswehrplanung. Um auch künftig ihre Aufgaben in einem breiten Spektrum erfolgreich wahrzunehmen, braucht die Bundeswehr zeitgemaf!, e und zukunftsorientierte Fahigkeiten, reprasentiert durch gut ausgebildetes und motiviertes Personal, wirtschaftliche Verfahren sowie belastbare Strukturen. Oer Bundeswehrplan zielt dabei auf einen ausgewogenen Fahigkeitsaufwuchs im gesamten Fahigkeitsspektrum für die Eingreif-, Stabilisierungs- und UnterstOtzungskrafte im Zuge des streitkraftegemeinsamen Ansatzes der Transformation der Bundeswehr.

Der jährliche Bundeswehrplan (BwPlan) legt die ressortinterne Grundlage für die weiteren Schritte zur Haushaltsaufstellung. Der Bedarf in den Kategorien Versorgung, Personal, Organisation, Betrieb, Rüstung und Infrastruktur wird in seiner finanzplanerischen Dimension erfasst, auf die konzeptionellen Vorgaben abgestimmt, fähigkeitsorientiert bewertet und am vorgegebenen Finanzrahmen gemessen. Der BwPlan ist das Instrument, mit dem der Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr seine gesamtplanerische Verantwortung einschließlich Priorisierung von Bedarfsforderungen zur Auftragserfüllung wahrnimmt. Die Inspekteure und Leiter der zivilen Abteilungen/Stäbe unterstützen dabei im Rahmen ihrer jeweiligen Verantwortung.

Mission of the Bundeswehr
•Ensure Germany‘s action-taking capabilityin the field of foreign policy
•Contribute to Stability on a European and global scale
•Ensure national securityand defence and help defend allies
•Promote multinational cooperation and integration

Wie aile Behörden des Bundes und der Lander sind auch die Dienststellen der Bundeswehr nach Art. 35 Abs. 1 GG verpflichtet, zu Gunsten anderer Bundes-, Landes- und Kommunalbehörden Amtshilfe zu leisten. Voraussetzung ist jeweils ein ausdriickliches und hinreichend konkretes Ersuchen der zu unterstützenden Behörden. Die Initiative für Amtshilfeleistungen der Streitkrafte geht somit niemals von der Bundeswehr aus.