Author Archives: L

On This Day — President Ronald Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya (January 7 1986) [Timeline]

Posted on January 7, 2024 by L

“I cannot rule out that Libya, in some way, is responsible for the ‘La Belle Disco’ bombing. But I must say that such hasty blame regarding Rome and Vienna, for which Libya had immediately been made responsible, did not prove … Continue reading →

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On This Day — Can you solve this 1953 Nuclear Mystery? [TOP SECRET H-Bomb Doc Lost]

Posted on January 6, 2024 by L

“We want to know every step he [US physicist John Archibald Wheeler] had taken, persons with whom he had talked, whether he had gone home after receiving the document, how he had gone to the train, whether he had called … Continue reading →

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On This Day — French Captain Alfred Dreyfus Is Convicted of Treason (January 5 1895) [Politicization of Intelligence]

Posted on January 5, 2024 by L

“Officers new to counterintelligence and overwhelmed by the scope of what they need to learn often ask the same question: ‘Where do I start?’ The best place might be the Dreyfus affair.” The Lessons for Counter-Intelligence of the Dreyfus Affair CIA … Continue reading →

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Obituary — Journalist John Pilger Dies Aged 84

Posted on January 1, 2024 by L

“The hysteria over the release of the so-called Lockerbie bomber reveals much about the political and media class on both sides of the Atlantic, especially Britain. From Gordon Brown’s ‘repulsion’ to Barack Obama’s ‘outrage’, the theatre of lies and hypocrisy … Continue reading →

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The Second-oldest profession [The Discovery of the Wheel]

Posted on December 31, 2023 by L

“Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. ‘Go, look over the land,’ he said, ‘especially Jericho.’ So, they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.”Book of Joshua [2:1 (NIV)] December … Continue reading →

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On This Day — Benazir Bhutto Is Assassinated (December 27 2007) [If Intelligence Agencies cannot solve the murder of a prime minister, what is it they can do? ]

Posted on December 28, 2023 by L

“The people of Pakistan had rejected bigotry and prejudice in electing a woman Prime Minister. It was an enormous honor, and an equally enormous responsibility… I had not asked for this role; I had not asked for this mantle. But … Continue reading →

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If Words Could Talk. [The history and geopolitics of words]

Posted on December 27, 2023 by L

“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” Ludwig WittgensteinTractatus Logico-Philosophicus December 27 2023 — In most European countries, the education system is falling apart. This is not limited to STEM area. Classical languages (Greek and Latin) … Continue reading →

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On This Day — The Good Traitor — Remembering George Blake (November 11 1922 — December 26 2020)

Posted on December 26, 2023 by L

“Communism was an ideal which, if it could have been achieved, would have been well worth it. I thought it could be, and I did what I could to help it, to build such a society. It has not proved … Continue reading →

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On This Day — CIA COS Richard Welch Is Assassinated in Athens (December 23 1975) [UPDATE — Learning from Aristotle]

Posted on December 23, 2023 by L

“The CIA and the Ford White House quickly saw Welch’s murder as a political windfall. At a time when the CIA was under assault from Congress and Bush’s nomination was in peril in the Senate, there was now a dead … Continue reading →

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On This Day — Pan Am Flight 103 disintegrates over Lockerbie (December 21 1988) [UPDATE — BBC : “Lockerbie bombing: The ultimate detective story?”]

Posted on December 21, 2023 by L

“Operation El Dorado Canyon (1986) turned out to be a more decisive blow against Libyan-sponsored terrorism than I could ever have imagined. There were revenge killings of British hostages organized by Libya, which I bitterly regretted. But the much-vaunted Libyan … Continue reading →

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