IntelCenter
Encyclopedia
IntelCenter is a United States company, founded in 1993. It is based near Washington, D.C.
, in Alexandria, Virginia
.
The company "is a private contractor working for intelligence agencies". Its stated purpose is to "study terrorist groups and other threat actors and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it. We look at capabilities and intentions, warnings and indicators, operational characteristics and a wide variety of other points in order to better understand how to interdict terrorist operations and reduce the likelihood of future attacks."
IntelCenter has a sister company, Tempest Publishing. The company's CEO is Ben N. Venzke.
IntelCenter offers "Qaeda" tapes for sale on its website.
IntelCenter has not revealed how it acquires these videos or explained the discrepancies of the As-Sahab and IntelCenter logos.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
.
The company "is a private contractor working for intelligence agencies". Its stated purpose is to "study terrorist groups and other threat actors and disseminating that information in a timely manner to those who can act on it. We look at capabilities and intentions, warnings and indicators, operational characteristics and a wide variety of other points in order to better understand how to interdict terrorist operations and reduce the likelihood of future attacks."
IntelCenter has a sister company, Tempest Publishing. The company's CEO is Ben N. Venzke.
Al-Qaeda tapes
IntelCenter has provided several video tapes to the Western press that show professed al-Qaeda members, including the following.- April 2006: A video featuring Qaeda no. 2 Ayman al-ZawahiriAyman al-ZawahiriAyman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian physician, Islamic theologian and current leader of al-Qaeda. He was previously the second and last "emir" of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, having succeeded Abbud al-Zumar in the latter role when Egyptian authorities sentenced al-Zumar to life...
, in which he said the US military had "seen only 'loss, disaster and misfortune' in Iraq". It "was first obtained by IntelCenter".
- In June 2006, a video of "20th hijacker" Fawaz al-Nashimi, who died in a shootout in Saudi Arabia in 2004, "was released by IntelCenter".
- On 30 September 2006, an 18-minute al-Qaeda tape in which Al-Zawahiri called BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
"a deceitful charlatan". It was "made available" by Intelcenter.
- On 2 October 2006, IntelCenter and Venzke were again referenced as a source in an article detailing a silent Al Qaeda video recently released in which two 9/11 hijackers, Mohamed AttaMohamed AttaMohamed Mohamed el-Amir Awad el-Sayed Atta was one of the masterminds and the ringleader of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, crashing the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.Born in 1968...
, and Ziad Al-JarrahZiad JarrahZiad Samir Jarrah was one of the masterminds of the September 11 attacks who served as the hijacker-pilot of United Airlines Flight 93, crashing the plane into a field in a rural area near Shanksville—after a passenger uprising—as part of the coordinated attacks.After a wealthy and secular...
, read their last wills and testaments.
- 27 April 2007: A file picture "released by the IntelCenter of leading Al-Qaeda operative in Afghanistan Abu Laith al-Libi during an interview". As-Sahab logo on picture. (From a video.)
- On 4 July 2007, an al-Zawahiri video was "provided by al-Qaeda's As-SahabAs-SahabThe As-Sahab Foundation for Islamic Media Publication , is the media production house of al-Qaeda, used to relay the organization's views to the world...
Media to ... IntelCenter". Another US-based intelligence group, SITESITE InstituteThe Search for International Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group is an organization that tracks the online activity of terrorist organizations. The SITE Institute was founded in 2002 by Rita Katz and Josh Devon, who had left the Investigative Project...
, "said it had obtained the tape ahead of its release on the internet by militant web sites". The video was "first reported by IntelCenter and SITE".
- On 11 September 2007, a "video" of bin Laden with an IntelCenter credit appeared on the news. The visuals consisted of a still picture of Osama (similar to, or the same as, the "frozen" image on the video "provided" by SITESITE InstituteThe Search for International Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group is an organization that tracks the online activity of terrorist organizations. The SITE Institute was founded in 2002 by Rita Katz and Josh Devon, who had left the Investigative Project...
to Associated Press on 7 Sept. 2007). The video also contained footage of Waleed al-ShehriWaleed al-ShehriWaleed Mohammed al-Shehri was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11, which was crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks....
, one of the 9/11 hijackers. See also Sept 11 2007 Osama bin Laden videoSept 11 2007 Osama bin Laden videoThe Sept 11 2007 Osama bin Laden video appeared five days after the September 6, 2007 Osama bin Laden video, on the sixth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. It is the second video produced by As-Sahab purportedly featuring a eulogy by Osama bin Laden to 9/11 hijacker Waleed al-Shehri.In the...
.
- 14 September 2007: A video of a dead US pilot, bearing the insignia of the "Islamic State of Iraq", an al-Qaeda affiliate. It "was first obtained by IntelCenter".
- 2 April 2008: An online audiofile, in which Al-Zawahiri called the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
an enemy of Islam, was released via IntelCenter by As-SahabAs-SahabThe As-Sahab Foundation for Islamic Media Publication , is the media production house of al-Qaeda, used to relay the organization's views to the world...
(according to IntelCenter).
IntelCenter offers "Qaeda" tapes for sale on its website.
Question of authenticity
Neal Krawetz did an image-compression analysis of the As-Sahab and IntelCenter logos on "a 2006 al Qaeda video of Ayman al-Zawahiri". He originally told Kim Zetter of Wired News that the logos had "the same error levels and that this indicated they were added at the same time" (Zetter's words). IntelCenter boss Venzke subsequently denied that his organization had added the As-Sahab logo. He commented: "just because the error levels are the same for two items in an image, that doesn't prove they were added at the same time, only that the compression was the same for both items when they were added" (Zetter's words). Krawetz then went back on his original statement, saying that "the error levels on the IntelCenter and As-Sahab logos are different and that the IntelCenter logo was added after the As-Sahab logo" (Zetter's words again).IntelCenter has not revealed how it acquires these videos or explained the discrepancies of the As-Sahab and IntelCenter logos.
External links
- IntelCenter Official Corporate Site