Breaking News — Ex-US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld dies at 88

“Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.”

 United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld — news briefing (February 12, 2002)

June 30 2021 — Former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, one of the main architects of the Iraq and Afghan wars, has died at the age of 88. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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June 30 2021 — International Asteroid Day [Tunguska — June 30 1908]

“We really need an internationally agreed and coordinated strategy for the development of asteroid litigation technology and very importantly the implementation of procedures for an emergency deflection scenario.”

Alan Harris

June 30 2019 — Asteroid Day (also known as International Asteroid Day) is an annual global event which is held on the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event that took place on June 30, 1908, the most harmful known asteroid-related event on Earth in recent history. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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Havana Syndrome — Chris Carter [X-Files] : “I Believe the Havana Syndrome and your government denied it.” [Intel Today : What was the motive of these attacks? Here is a plausible scenario.]

“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. Follow us on twitter: @Intel_Today

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40 Years Ago — The Hafte Tir Bombing (June 28 1981) [Pompeo, Tehran and a Mysterious Murder in the Netherlands]

“Today, the Iranian Quds Force conducts covert assassination operations in the heart of Europe.”

Mike Pompeo — US Secretary of State (May 21 2018)

Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi

June 28 2018 — Mike Pompeo’s claim that the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is carrying out “assassination operations in the heart of Europe” [See video below at the 9:28 mark] has bewildered security experts and Iranian exiles, who are unaware of any evidence. Of course, Pompeo could be lying as he did repeatedly when he was CIA Director. But, in this case, we do not even know what story he has been spinning? Explanation. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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Two Years Ago — NYT Apologizes For Misreporting On Skripal Incident [UPDATE — TV Series : The Salisbury Poisonings]

“Which story is worse? (…) The answer is they’re both as bad. In both scenarios, an utterly false picture of what happened in Salisbury was given to the skeptical President to twist his arm into taking action he didn’t want to take. As they say, when in a hole, better stop digging.”

Rob Slane — The Blogmire

June 9 2019 — First, The New York Times told us that CIA Director Gina Haspel had showed President Trump some (fake) pictures of dead ducks and sick children to persuade him to retaliate against Russia for the Skripals’ poisoning. Two months later, the New York Times journalist claims that he made a mistake. Such pictures do not — of course — exist. And now, the readers are asked to believe that Haspel showed some pictures of ‘actual nerve agent victims’ who were never anywhere near Salisbury to persuade Trump to take the strongest action. Seriously? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Remembering Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870 (USTICA – June 27 1980)

“We still hope the truth will come out. We know that very probably the plane was struck down by a missile. Too many people have been keeping this secret for too long but we will not give up until we know everything that happened.”

Daria Bonfietti

flight870
The remains of Itavia Airlines flight 870

June 27 2019 — When the passenger jet crashed, the immediate theory was that it was a tragic accident caused by some kind of mechanical or structural failure. Then, there was the suggestion that terrorists could have planted a bomb, but that theory was also rejected. And then, the truth came out. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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On This Day — “Ich bin ein Berliner” (June 26 1963) [2021]

“Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was ‘Civis Romanus Sum’. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ … All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!'”

U.S. President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin (June 26 1963)

Kennedy’s ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech was watched by West Berliners

June 26 2019 — The speech is considered one of Kennedy’s best, both a notable moment of the Cold War and a high point of the New Frontier. It was a great morale boost for West Berliners, who lived in an enclave deep inside East Germany and feared a possible East German occupation. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — The First NSA Defection : William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell (June 25 1960) [2021]

“The United States Government is as unscrupulous as it has accused the Soviet Government of being. Our main dissatisfaction concerned some of the practices the United States uses in gathering intelligence information … deliberately violating the airspace of other nations … intercepting and deciphering the secret communications of its own allies … Perhaps United States hostility towards Communism arises out of a feeling of insecurity engendered by Communist achievements in science, culture and industry.”

William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell — The first NSA whistleblowers

 

NSA defectors William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell at the Moscow press conference announcing their defection, July 1, 1960.

June 25 2020 — The National Security Agency faced a terrible crisis in the summer of 1960 when two cryptologists disappeared on vacation. On June 25 1960, Mitchell and Martin left the U.S. for Mexico. They traveled from there to Havana and then sailed on a Russian freighter to the Soviet Union. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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The search for the “Fifth Man” — Spooks and Chess Players [UPDATE — Intel Today Analysis Quoted in Top Russian Newspaper]

“They began a mad search for enemies inside the organisation itself – seeking to find more hidden traitors who could be used to explain why MI5 kept failing to do its job properly. It was the search for the “Fifth Man” – to go with the other four already exposed, Burgess, McLean, Philby and Blunt.”

spy-chess

February 15 2017 — A story about the legendary — and sometime hilarious — incompetence of MI5 caught my attention. The whole piece is worth reading, but I will just focus on the following allegation: “The assistant of a MI5 Director was communicating with the Russians through his Correspondence Chess Games”.  Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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Remembering Alan Turing (23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) [UPDATE — Alan Turing £50 note enters circulation]

“A new inquiry is long overdue, even if only to dispel any doubts about the true cause of his death—including speculation that he was murdered by the security services (or others). I think murder by state agents is unlikely. There is no known evidence pointing to any such act. However, it is a major failing that this possibility has never been considered or investigated.”

 Peter Tatchell — Human Rights advocate

June 7 2019 — Alan Turing was a mathematician, cryptographer and pioneer of computer science who possessed one of the greatest brains of the 20th century. His life was one of secret triumphs shadowed by public tragedy. It has been estimated that his work shortened the war in Europe by more than two years and saved over fourteen million lives. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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