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Welcome to the official Monday Morning News Kick Off post on got geoint? We hope everyone had a restful weekend and are ready to tackle another week of holiday parties, year-end reviews and 2010 planning. As always, there is never a shortage of defense-, intelligence- and GEOINT-related news. Today, we cover a wide swath of news including stories about climate change and defense, Blackwater losing a CIA contract and what we know about Bin Laden’s location. Fire up that second cup of coffee and read on!

Pentagon, CIA Eye New Threat: Climate Change
Global warming is now officially considered a threat to U.S. national security. For the first time, Pentagon planners in 2010 will include climate change among the security threats identified in the Quadrennial Defense Review, the Congress-mandated report that updates Pentagon priorities every four years. The reference to climate change follows the establishment in October of a new Center for the Study of Climate Change at the Central Intelligence Agency. The projections lead us to believe that severe weather events will increase in intensity in the future, perhaps in frequency as well. Check out the full NPR story here.

CIA Cancels Blackwater Drone Missile-Loading Contract
The CIA has canceled a contract with US private security firm Blackwater for its operatives to load bombs onto drone aircraft in Pakistan and Afghanistan. CIA Director Leon Panetta wanted such work to be done by the organization’s own employees only, officials said. The New York Times revealed the existence of the secret contract with Blackwater, renamed Xe, in August. On Thursday, the paper also reported that Xe employees had been involved in “snatch-and-grab operations” in Iraq. Xe, based in North Carolina, changed its name from Blackwater after several of its employees were accused of killing 17 civilians in a shooting incident in Baghdad in September 2007. Read the full BBC story here.

Where’s Bin Laden?
The U.S. still does not know the location of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said there has been no good intelligence on where the al-Qaeda leader is hiding for “years.” He said bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the North Waziristan area of Pakistan, an area where the government of that country has not had a presence “in quite some time.” Gates said moving into that area is solely up to the Pakistani military, adding the U.S. will help in any way possible. Read more from the LA Times here.

Muslim Radicalization Gains Momentum in US
Long-feared by US intelligence, Muslim radicalization is gaining momentum in the United States, hit by a spate of recent cases featuring youths recruited and trained overseas for jihad, analysts say. The latest case — five US nationals arrested in Pakistan Wednesday on suspicion of plotting an attack — deepened concern that militant Islamist groups are successfully enlisting potential attackers inside the United States, much as they have in Britain. Read the full AFP article here.

ODNI to Offer 2nd Annual Summer Seminar for College Students Interested in Intelligence Community Careers
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced last week that it will again offer about 40 highly motivated graduate students and college seniors an opportunity to study with currently serving intelligence analysts and other experts. The National Security Analysis & Intelligence Summer Seminar, a reprise of the first such program the ODNI held last summer, is planned for July 13 through July 24 in Washington, D.C. The intensive, residential seminar will include lectures, field trips to agencies and work on substantive topics under the direction of Intelligence Community analysts, academics and other professionals. Career opportunities will be highlighted. Students who are selected and approved will receive secret-level security clearances for the duration of the seminar. Learn more here.

Happy Monday!!

Tags: Bin Laden, Blackwater, CIA, CIA and Blackwater, CIA and Climate Change, Defense Secretary Gates, GEOINT, ODNI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Osama bin Laden, USGIF