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Kaboom! State Dept. finally gives explosive answer (via WND)

My latest article gets top-of-the-page visibility. See “Kaboom! State Dept. finally gives explosive answer” via WND. -- S.P.

Bureau boss overseeing shipments has Benghazi connections

The State Department bureau tasked with secretly sending to embassies plastic and liquid explosives operates under the guidance of Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick F. Kennedy, whom a congressional panel last year separately found to be largely responsible for security lapses in Benghazi, WND has learned.

A series of WND articles recently exposed the purchase and international transport of many hundreds of pounds of plastic, sheet and linear explosives along with thousands of containers of high-energy liquid explosives.

Weeks after a State official laughed in response to WND’s inquiry, the department belatedly reacted to a follow-up request for information about how, where and by whom the blasting equipment will be used.

Read more at WND.com...

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WND: U.S. Prepares for Casualties in Africa

My latest from WND:

The extrication of U.S. Special Forces injured in African military ventures soon will provide contractors with an additional revenue stream, now that the Obama administration plans to keep such vendors on stand-by, 24/7, for cross-continent airborne mobilization.

While the Pentagon’s reliance on private vendors to support international military operations is nothing new, plans to station such providers specific to such a large swath of Africa does deviate from prior procurement actions.

The Trans-Sahara Short Take-Off and Landing Airlift Support initiative will rely on outside assistance in the event that soldiers of U.S. Special Operations Command-Africa sustain traumatic medical emergencies, thereby requiring urgent transportation out of hostile zones.

Read more at WND.com...

USAID Still Seeks Contractors for Syrian Operations

Private contractors capable of helping the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) prepare for potential future actions in Syria still are being sought by the agency.

USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) last week extended until Dec. 28 the deadline for Personal Service Contract (PSC) applications for two positions based in Turkey:  OTI Country Representative-Syria (Solicitation #SOL-OTI-13-000010) and OTI Deputy Country Representative-Syria (Solicitation #SOL-OTI-13-000011).

USAID in 1994 created OTI:

as a distinct operating unit within USAID to help local partners advance peace and democracy in priority conflict-prone countries. Seizing critical windows of opportunity, OTI works on the ground to provide fast, flexible, short-term assistance targeted at key transition needs.

Both solicitations provided an extensive overview of general OTI goals and functions, but provided few specifics about Syrian activities other than to say the Country Representative, as a member of the:

Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA)/OTI Middle East (ME) Regional Team, reports to the OTI Regional Team Leader, and is based in Turkey. There may be substantial travel to countries in the region if/when conditions allow.

[The] principal responsibility will be development, oversight and management of DCHA/OTI's Syria country program. The incumbent will be called upon to represent OTI's mission and programs to senior-level government officials, in-country visitors, senior officials from other international organizations, bilateral donors and local government officials.

The Deputy Country Representative's principal responsibility simply "is to support the OTI Country Representative in the development, oversight, and management of the DCHA/OTI Syria country program."

The pay range for the Country Representative is $84,697 - $110,104, whereas the deputy slot offers $71,674 - $93,175.

FOR FURTHER REPORTING ON THE U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PLEASE VISIT THE MONITOR'S USAID PAGE.

U.S. Seeks New Means of Predicting Internet Growth Overseas, from Albania to Zimbabwe

The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is looking for a contractor capable of developing a new analytical model to predict Internet usage and growth in thirty-two foreign nations, from "A" (Albania) to "Z" (Zimbabwe).

The agency, which runs U.S. government-funded international broadcasting systems such as Voice of America and Radio Sawa and Alhurra Television of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, said in a Statement of Work (Solicitation #BBG50-R-11-0020) that existing models for predicting growth are inadequate. The SOW said those models solely focus on specific technology sectors rather than the Internet in its entirety:

The ultimate goal is to estimate, using empirical data, the expansion of the number of unique individuals using the Internet on a weekly basis in these markets over the next five years. While various organizations have produced such estimates and prejections for sub-segments of the Internet market, such as mobile Internet use or fixed line broadband, BBG requires estimates of the growth of the entire Internet market, regardless of platform, including use via public access facilities.

Although the BBG attempted to justifiy why it wants a new predictive model, it did not specify why it needs -- nor what it intends to do -- with such a new mode of analysis. The agency said it would apply the model to Internet usage in the following nations: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam,  Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The BBG said the selected contractor should be able to complete the work within an eight-week period. It did not offer an estimated cost of the project.