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A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. Some of the covert operations are also clandestine operations which are performed in secret and meant to stay secret, though many are not.
In politics, diplomacy and export control, dual-use items refers to goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications.
China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, doing business internationally as Norinco Group, and known within China as China Ordnance Industries Group Corporation Limited, is a Chinese state-owned defense corporation that manufactures commercial and military products. Norinco Group is one of the world's largest defense contractors.
Lekem, an acronym for ha-Lishka le-Kishrei Mada, was an Israeli intelligence agency headed by Benjamin Blumberg (1957–1981), and Rafi Eitan (1981–1986). It collected scientific and technical intelligence abroad from both open and covert sources, particularly for Israel's nuclear program. It was disbanded in 1986 following the arrest of Jonathan Pollard for espionage on behalf of Israel. Pollard was a United States Navy intelligence employee in the Naval Antiterrorist Alert Center in Washington, D.C. He was paid for delivering large amounts of classified documents to Lekem agents. Pollard was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Armimex was a state–owned Bulgarian company with a full license for export, import and re–export of all types of weapons, ammunition and special products for the army and the police.
American support for Ba'athist Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War, in which it fought against post-revolutionary Iran, included several billion dollars' worth of economic aid, the sale of dual-use technology, military intelligence, and special operations training. The U.S. refused to sell arms to Iraq directly due to Iraq's ties to terrorist groups, but several sales of "dual-use" technology have been documented; notably, Iraq purchased 45 Bell helicopters for $200 million in 1985. Of particular interest for contemporary Iran–United States relations are accusations that the U.S. government actively encouraged Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to invade Iran, supported by a considerable amount of circumstantial evidence and generally regarded as the conventional wisdom in the Arab world, but several scholars and former U.S. government officials deny that any such collusion occurred, and no direct documentary proof of it has been found.
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Cyrus Hashemi was an Iranian arms dealer linked to the Iran-Contra affair, Brokers of Death arms case, and 1980 October Surprise theory. Robert Dreyfuss claimed Hashemi was a CIA and Mossad agent; Hashemi sued Dreyfuss and Lyndon LaRouche, whose Executive Intelligence Review had accused Hashemi of being linked to the alleged "funding of Iranian terrorism in the United States," with the case dismissed in June 1983 due to Hashemi's failure to respond to legal documents. Hashemi died from acute myeloblastic leukemia July 1986 in London.
The 'Brokers of Death' arms case was a US trial in the 1980s relating to the attempted shipment of $2.5bn worth of US-made arms to Iran; it was described by the Los Angeles Times in 1986 as "the largest arms conspiracy prosecution ever brought by the Justice Department". The case was dropped in January 1989 after the prosecution said it could not prove the defendants did not believe their dealings were officially sanctioned. The planned deals were being arranged at the same time as the White House was secretly seeking to arrange arms sales to Iran, in what became known as the Iran-Contra affair; some evidence indicated that defendants were aware of these efforts.
Joseph F. King is a former senior US Customs agent and criminal justice academic. He served for 33 years as a Special Agent in the United States Customs Service's New York office. He is an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
The defence industry sector of India is a strategically important sector in India. India has one of the world's largest military forces with a strength of over 14.4 lakh active personnel. It has the world's largest volunteer military of over 51 lakh personnel. The total budget sanctioned for the Indian military for the financial year 2021 is ₹4.78 lakh crore. It has the third largest annual defence budget behind USA and China. It is the second largest defence importer behind Saudi Arabia making up 9.2% of global arms import. India has a domestic defence industry of which 80% is government owned. The public sector includes DRDO and its 50 labs, 4 defence shipyards, 12 defence PSUs. India has a new defence procurement, acquisition and manufacturing policy to reduce imports and enhance domestic manufacturing.
David Locke Hall is a highly decorated former Assistant United States Attorney, Naval Intelligence officer, and author.
References
- ↑ Shiffman, John, Operation Shakespeare: The True Story of an Elite International Sting, Simon and Schuster. http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Operation-Shakespeare/John-Shiffman/9781451655162
- 1 2 "Arms dealer key to deal on U.S. hikers?". msnbc.com. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ↑ "Iranian convicted in arms smuggling case deported". Fox News. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- 1 2 "US Export enforcement document". Department of Justice. May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
- ↑ "Busted Iranian Arms Agent Tells of War Prep". ABC News. 2 December 2009.
- 1 2 Shiffman, John (14 March 2012). "U.S. deports Iranian arms broker arrested in 2007 sting". Reuters.com. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ↑ Avag, Robert. "Case Study - Inventive U.S. Sting Operation Catches Iran-Based Military Equipment Smuggler | Institute for Science and International Security". isis-online.org. Retrieved 10 May 2018.