35 Years Ago — Remembering Arrow Air Flight 1285 (December 12 1985)

Posted on December 12, 2020 by L

“Hours after the crash the Islamic Jihad – a Shiite Muslim extremist group – claimed it destroyed the plane to prove [its] ability to strike at the Americans anywhere.”

UPI — Anonymous caller to a French news agency in Beirut

The “Silent Witness” Arrow Air Flight 1285 memorial at Gander Lake, with a DC-8 taking off in the background

December 12 2020 — On the morning of December 12 1985, shortly after take-off from Gander en route to Fort Campbell, Arrow aircraft 1285 crashed, and burned about half a mile from the runway, killing all 248 passengers and 8 crew members on board.  Investigators blamed icing. But many experts think otherwise. Was it really an accident? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — CIA Director John Brennan Defends Torture Methods (December 11 2014) [2020]

Posted on December 11, 2020 by L

“Torture has perhaps saved some at the expense of honor, by uncovering thirty bombs, but at the same time it has created fifty new terrorists who, operating in some other way and in another place would cause the death of even more innocent people.”

Albert Camus

Former CIA Director John Brennan

December 11 2020 — On December 11 2014, speaking at CIA headquarters, John Brennan conceded that some CIA officers used “abhorrent” interrogation techniques. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Remembering Gary Webb “DARK ALLIANCE” (August 31 1955 – December 10 2004)

Posted on December 10, 2020 by L

“Dark Alliance, the San Jose Mercury News’s bombshell investigation into links between the cocaine trade, Nicaragua’s Contra rebels, and African-American neighborhoods in California, remains one of the most explosive and controversial exposés in American journalism.”

The Intercept

December 10 2020 — On December 10 2004, investigative journalist Gary Webb died of two .38 caliber gunshot wounds to the head. The coroner ruled the death a suicide. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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Four Years Ago — Who Tortured Giulio Regeni to Death? And Why? (January 25 2016) — UPDATE : Italy charges 4 Egyptian security agency officials over Regeni’s murder

Posted on December 10, 2020 by L

“On 7 January 2016, just a month after the union meeting, Mohamed Abdallah denounced Regeni to the authorities (…) because his questions were not about street vendors … and had other intentions. The Egyptian government placed Regeni under investigation, but decided after a few days that his research was of no interest to National Security.”

The Guardian (October 4 2016)

giulio-regeni
Giulio Regeni, a 28-year-old doctoral researcher at Britain’s Cambridge University, disappeared in Cairo in January 2016 and his body was later discovered in February by the Cairo-Alexandria highway. His body showed extensive marks of torture and the Egyptian security services have been suspected in the killing due to Regeni’s research into trade union organising.

January 25 2019 — Giulio Regeni (15 January 1988 – 1st or 2nd February 2016) was a PhD student at Girton College, Cambridge, researching Egypt’s independent trade unions. On January 25 2016, Regeni was abducted. Regeni’s mutilated corpse was found in a ditch alongside the Cairo-Alexandria highway on the outskirts of Cairo on February 3, 2016. Why was he tortured and murdered? Why a botched investigation? Was he a spy? For whom? Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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RUMINT — DCIA Gina Haspel to Step Down After Election. Who will run Biden’s CIA? [UPDATE — Still no front-runner…]

Posted on December 10, 2020 by L

“A couple of people at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence would have to go, absolutely. Probably Gina Haspel would have to go, too. Gina is a good woman, but she would have to go.”

Michael Hayden — Former CIA and NSA Director General

OCTOBER 26 2020 — According to rumors, CIA Director Gina Haspel (64) intends to step down and  retire after the 2020 US election. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Did the CIA Kill Father Louis Thomas Merton? (December 10 1968) [2020]

Posted on December 10, 2020 by L

“The very thoughts of a person like me are crimes against the state. All I have to do is think, and immediately I become guilty.”

Father Louis Merton —  A Signed Confession of Crimes against the State

The Dalai Lama was 33 years old when he met father Merton. “I often describe him as a very, very strong bridge between Catholic tradition and Buddhist tradition,” says the Dalai Lama reflecting on his meeting with him.

December 10 2020 — Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood and given the name Father Louis. In the years since his death, Merton has been the subject of several biographies. Fifty years later, his death remains mysterious. In 1997, James W. Douglass claimed that Merton had been assassinated by agents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In 2016, theologian Matthew Fox made a similar claim. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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Remembering CIA Historian William Blum (March 6, 1933 – December 9, 2018) [2020]

Posted on December 9, 2020 by L

“William Blum was at the forefront of critical debate and analysis of US foreign policy. He combined honesty and Truth with carefully documented analysis. His important legacy will live.”

Michel Chossudovsky (December 10, 2018)

December 9 2020 — Independent journalist and author William Blum died on Sunday December 9 2018 at the age of 85 in Virginia. Blum’s books “Killing Hope” and “Rogue State” were widely praised for their detailed history of recent U.S. foreign policy. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — US Senate report calls CIA torture tactics “deeply flawed” (December 9 2014) [2020]

Posted on December 9, 2020 by L

“One of the most memorable details from The Report is Jones’ insistence on access to a printer, and how many safes were in his office. He later told a lawyer that this was because documents kept mysteriously disappearing from the CIA server. In March 2014, then-CIA Director John Brennan denied the claims, calling them ‘beyond the scope of reason.’ However, a few months later the CIA Inspector General’s report backed up claims that the CIA repeatedly hacked Senate computers in an effort to stop the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report.”

Isabel Crabtree — Esquire (December 7 2019)

December 9 2020 — On December 9 2014, a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report revealed that the CIA’s interrogation of terror suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was more brutal than it told the White House or public. The so-called “CIA torture report” called CIA tactics “deeply flawed.” Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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Three Years Ago — The Havana Syndrome : Sonic Attacks or Microwave Weapons?

Posted on December 8, 2020 by L

“What we’ve said to the Cubans is: Small island. You’ve got a sophisticated intelligence apparatus. You probably know who’s doing it. You can stop it. It’s as simple as that.”

Rex Tillerson — US Secretary of State  (December 6 2017)

December 8 2017 — US officials briefed on the investigation no longer use the term “sonic attack”. The weird noises heard by the victims are believed to be a consequence and not the cause of this suspected attack on US diplomats — actually spies — by a foreign government. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Pan Am Flight 214 Crashes. Lesson Learned?(December 8 1963)

Posted on December 8, 2020 by L

“Aviation investigations are replete with accident scenarios that couldn’t happen. And given the lack of bomb evidence so far, neither scenario has been ruled out, officials said. First is the possibility that the doomed plane’s front section, which has a history of structural fatigue cracks and must undergo regular inspections, simply unzipped from the rest of the plane as weakened structural frames gave way.”

TWA 800 — Washington Post (August 1 1996)

December 8 2020 — Pan Am Flight 214 was a scheduled flight of Pan American World Airways from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Baltimore, Maryland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On December 8, 1963, the Boeing 707 serving the flight crashed near Elkton, Maryland, while en route from Baltimore to Philadelphia, after being hit by lightning, killing all 81 on board. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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