“All mistakes originate with people’s acting like experts thoroughly familiar with a subject, and looking down with an air of superiority on others.”
Yoshida Kenkō — Tsurezuregusa (ca. 1330)
July 25 2021 — To celebrate the 2020 Summer Olympics, a group of Japanese artists decided to replace the traditional flags of countries by a typical samurai. The result is fun and seems childish. But make no mistake. Much intelligence went into writing the profile of these warriors. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“Once the pursuit of truth begins to haunt the mind, it becomes an ideal never wholly attained.We can never achieve absolute truth but we can live hopefully by a system of calculated probabilities.”
Agnes Meyer Driscoll
July 24 2019 — Agnes Meyer Driscoll (July 24, 1889 – September 16, 1971), known as Miss Aggie or Madame X, was an American cryptanalyst during both World War I and World War II. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today
“Some are worried it signals that North Korean might be planning some type of operation, alerting its spies by sending the coded broadcast. But for that to be true, North Korean agents would have had to have been listening at the right time to take down the message, and how would they have known it was coming?
Numbers haven’t been broadcast for 16 years, so have agents really spent the last decade and a half listening just in case something came across? It is possible they could have been alerted that such a message was about to be broadcast, but then when why not send the message contents over whatever communications channel was used for such an alert?”
Martyn Williams — 38 North
July 23 2016 — The broadcast on July 15 2016 was the first number sequence aired by Pyongyang in over 16 years. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“How do you remove the wrapping from a gift you’ve been given? How do you unpack the stories that are shared with you in order to discover what’s contained within — what most people refer to as the ‘moral’ or the ‘message’? There are many ways to do this. There is no one, ‘right’ way.”
The Art of Unpacking Stories — Mitch Ditkoff
June 29 2021 — The time has come to unpack the mysteries. Four years ago, I coined the expression “Havana Syndrome” which implied a link between the (then) recent Havana attacks and the old story of the Microwave Syndrome in Moscow. Considering the known facts, it seemed plausible that the ‘diplomats’ posted in Havana were the victims of a spying operation using microwaves. This hypothesis was ridiculed at the time but today, it is regarded as the most likely theory by the US academy of Science and the Intelligence Community. In this post, I will address two difficulties that have never been discussed during the last four years. The plausible answers to these puzzles appear to point to a well-defined, and highly plausible scenario. If correct, this explanation has far reaching consequences.
UPDATE (July 9 2021) — Hiding Microwave Attacks in Plain Sight — Here is certainly a fair question. If the US Intel Community suspects microwave attacks against their people, why don’t they install spectrum analyzers in the homes and offices of U.S. diplomats. Although it is certainly a good idea, the devil is always in the detail. And you can be sure that the culprits will not make it easy for these attacks to be detected. In this update (at the end of this post), I suggest an old trick that may have gone forgotten…
UPDATE (July 12 2021) — At Long Last, Spy Agencies Turn to Scientists — During the Trump administration, the State Department commissioned the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to examine Havana syndrome. Its report concluded that a microwave weapon was a likely cause of many of the episodes but was hampered in part because of a lack of access to information. Scientists were not given the full range of material collected by the intelligence agencies. The National Security Council, working with the C.I.A. and the director of national intelligence, has established a pair of outside panels to study Havana syndrome. Outside scientists with security clearances will be able to view classified intelligence to better understand what may have caused the brain injuries.
UPDATE (July 19 2021) — On Friday, The New Yorker magazine revealed that two dozen U.S. intelligence officers, diplomats and other officials in Vienna have reported symptoms similar to those of Havana syndrome. The new cases are confirmed by the US State Department, which said it was “vigorously investigating”.
UPDATE (July 23 2021) — According to the Wall Street Journal, CIA Director William Burns has tapped a veteran of the agency’s hunt for Osama bin Laden to head the ‘Havana Syndrome’ task force. Follow us on twitter: @Intel_Today
“The fact that people didn’t evacuate or get the warnings suggests that something is going wrong. If you’ve got some information about what risk you’re at and you can understand it, you can take action to protect yourself. These floods were huge. Probably they were like a fantasy or a kind of science-fiction movie for people.”
Hannah Cloke — Professor of hydrology at Reading University
July 20 2021 — Belgium and Germany knew that huge floods were coming. Yet, the early warnings were not passed to the population. Scientists believe that this ‘monumental failure of the system’ is directly to blame for the death of at least 200 people in Germany and Belgium. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“We cannot have a leadership vacuum at an agency as important to the United States as the FBI. It is time that this difficult chapter in the agency’s history is brought to a close.”
President Bill Clinton — White House press conference (July 19 1993)
Sessions served as the 4th FBI director from 1987 to 1993, when he was dismissed by President Bill Clinton.
July 19 2020 — On July 19 1993, President Clinton dismissed FBI Director William Sessions. Clinton’s decision was based on a report by outgoing Attorney General William P. Barr. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“The fact that people didn’t evacuate or get the warnings suggests that something is going wrong. If you’ve got some information about what risk you’re at and you can understand it, you can take action to protect yourself. These floods were huge. Probably they were like a fantasy or a kind of science-fiction movie for people.”
Hannah Cloke — Professor of hydrology at Reading University
July 20 2021 — Belgium and Germany knew that huge floods were coming. Yet, the early warnings were not passed to the population. Scientists believe that this ‘monumental failure of the system’ is directly to blame for the death of at least 200 people in Germany and Belgium. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“How do you remove the wrapping from a gift you’ve been given? How do you unpack the stories that are shared with you in order to discover what’s contained within — what most people refer to as the ‘moral’ or the ‘message’? There are many ways to do this. There is no one, ‘right’ way.”
The Art of Unpacking Stories — Mitch Ditkoff
June 29 2021 — The time has come to unpack the mysteries. Four years ago, I coined the expression “Havana Syndrome” which implied a link between the (then) recent Havana attacks and the old story of the Microwave Syndrome in Moscow. Considering the known facts, it seemed plausible that the ‘diplomats’ posted in Havana were the victims of a spying operation using microwaves. This hypothesis was ridiculed at the time but today, it is regarded as the most likely theory by the US academy of Science and the Intelligence Community. In this post, I will address two difficulties that have never been discussed during the last four years. The plausible answers to these puzzles appear to point to a well-defined, and highly plausible scenario. If correct, this explanation has far reaching consequences.
UPDATE (July 9 2021) — Hiding Microwave Attacks in Plain Sight — Here is certainly a fair question. If the US Intel Community suspects microwave attacks against their people, why don’t they install spectrum analyzers in the homes and offices of U.S. diplomats. Although it is certainly a good idea, the devil is always in the detail. And you can be sure that the culprits will not make it easy for these attacks to be detected. In this update (at the end of this post), I suggest an old trick that may have gone forgotten…
UPDATE (July 12 2021) — At Long Last, Spy Agencies Turn to Scientists — During the Trump administration, the State Department commissioned the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to examine Havana syndrome. Its report concluded that a microwave weapon was a likely cause of many of the episodes but was hampered in part because of a lack of access to information. Scientists were not given the full range of material collected by the intelligence agencies. The National Security Council, working with the C.I.A. and the director of national intelligence, has established a pair of outside panels to study Havana syndrome. Outside scientists with security clearances will be able to view classified intelligence to better understand what may have caused the brain injuries.
UPDATE (July 19 2021) — On Friday, The New Yorker magazine revealed that two dozen U.S. intelligence officers, diplomats and other officials in Vienna have reported symptoms similar to those of Havana syndrome. The new cases are confirmed by the US State Department, which said it was “vigorously investigating”. Follow us on twitter: @Intel_Today
“There must be a kernel of morality also to international behaviour. Of course, nations must place their own interests high on the list of considerations informing their international relations. But the amorality which decrees that might is right can not be the basis on which the world conducts itself in the next century.“
Nelson Mandela — Cape Town (June 13 1999)
July 18 2020 — Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on July 18, Mandela’s birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on July 18 2010. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“The FBI didn’t want to hear about anything but a missile or a bomb, because otherwise there was no FBI case. Their conduct was disturbing from the very beginning.”
Chuck Grassley — Chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee onadministrative oversight –Washington Post (May 9 1999)
July 17 2021 — Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA 800) was a Boeing 747-100 which exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996. On November 17 1997, the FBI formally ended its 16-month investigation into the crash of TWA flight 800. FBI agents concluded there was no evidence it was a criminal act. The similarities between the tragedies of Flight TWA 800 and Pan Am 103 are stunning. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_Today
