Reported Israeli spy aboard USS Albuquerque (SSN-706) being held in brig in Norfolk.

May have passed classified Tomahawk cruise missile information to Israel prior to military attack on Iran.

Aug. 9, 2006 -- A U.S. Navy sailor is reportedly under investigation by Navy authorities with spying for Israel and desertion. On July 29/30, WMR reported on the largely forgotten last Israeli spy in the military, Lt. Col. Jeremiah Matysse, an intelligence officer in Texas who deserted to Israel but was returned to the U.S. in 2000.

Navy Fire Control Technician Petty Officer Third Class Ariel J. Weinmann, who served on board the USS Albuquerque (SSN-706), a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine, was detained by federal authorities at Dallas-Fort Worth airport after returning from Mexico City. Weinmann was listed as a deserter in July 2005. He is now being held in the Norfolk Naval Station brig. Navy authorities have been reluctant to release the name of the country involved in the espionage case. The Middle East newspaper Al Watan, is reporting that the country in question is Israel. The Jerusalem Post is referring to the Al Watan story in today's edition. The Norfolk media is suggesting a Russian connection to the case. However, as noted in this editor's book, "Jaded Tasks," there are strong connections between Israeli intelligence and the global Russian-Ukrainian Mafia.

Reported Israeli spy aboard USS Albuquerque (SSN-706) being held in brig in Norfolk. May have passed classified Tomahawk cruise missile information to Israel prior to military attack on Iran.

Weinmann allegedly met his intelligence handlers and passed them classified information in three locations: Manama, Bahrain; Vienna, Austria; and Mexico City. Because of his rating, Weinmann would have had access to classified information on the Tomahawk cruise missile system. Weinmann enlisted in the Navy in July 2003. The classified data was contained on a Navy laptop computer that Weinmann took with him when he deserted.

Israel's intelligence interest in the Tomahawk is significant. Currently, the Israeli Navy has three German-built Dolphin class diesel electric submarines that are Popeye Turbo cruise missile capable. Israel's submarine deployment strategy is to keep one submarine on standby in Haifa (now likely deployed due to Hezbollah rocket attacks), one in the Red Sea and supported out of an Israeli support base in the Dahlak Archipelago in Eritrea, and one in the Persian Gulf that is on standby for an attack on Iran.

WayneMadsenReport

Aug. 9, 2006 -- The latest theft of personal data belonging to the Veterans Affairs Department is worse than originally reported. Data, including medical information, on 38,000, not the originally reported 20,000 veterans, was stolen from a Unisys contractor office in Reston, Virginia. As previously reported by WMR, the pandemic of thefts of personal data is part of a covert and illegal operation to populate Total Information Awareness surveillance databases. It was also revealed that there were two other thefts of personal data from the VA in May of this year and last year. The thefts resulted in the loss by VA employees in Minneapolis and Indianapolis of personal data on over 16,000 veterans. Senators Harry Reid, John Kerry, and Patrick Leahy are urging that Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson be fired. Pennsylvania Republican Senator Rick Santorum has rushed to Nicholson's defense. Data theft chart updated.

WayneMadsenReport