“He [Francis Gary Powers ] performed his duty in a very dangerous mission and he performed it well, and I think I know more about that than some of his detractors and critics know, and I am glad to say that to him tonight.”
CIA Director Allen Dulles (March 1964)
Glienicke Bridge prisoner exchange depicted in the Bridge of Spies movie, where Soviet spy Rudolf Abel was exchanged for American pilot Francis Gary Powers
“The competing messages, according to officials in attendance, also reflect cultural differences between the FBI and the CIA. The bureau, true to its law enforcement roots, wants facts and tangible evidence to prove something beyond all reasonable doubt. The CIA is more comfortable drawing inferences from behavior.”
The Washington Post — Russiagate (Dec. 10, 2016)
On February 4 2019, CIA Molly Hale went digital. A few days later, she answered a first question: What are the differences between the FBI and the CIA? Molly’s answer is fine but I thought a joke would explain a bit better the cultural differences between these two agencies! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading
“A healthy distrust is helpful, but being overly suspicious is a hindrance.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel (February 8 2019)
“The Bundesnachrichtendienst is the sole foreign intelligence service of the Federal Republic of Germany. As such it reports directly to the Federal Chancellery.
The mission of the Bundesnachrichtendienst is to provide the Federal Government with fast and comprehensive information. Since nothing goes out-of-date quite as fast as up-to-date information, the security policy parameters within which the Bundesnachrichtendienst operates are constantly changing. We live in a multipolar world. Globalization intensifies mutual dependencies worldwide.
Present-day crises and conflicts are often highly dynamic and require rapid action from policymakers. New conflict types and conflict scenarios dominate the international arena.”
Scope of Work — BND Official website (2017)
The Headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service or the BND Headquarters is the headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) of Germany, and is located at the Chausseestraße in the Mitte district in the centre of Berlin. With 260,000 m² it is the world’s largest intelligence headquarters, somewhat bigger than the CIA headquarters at Langley, and Berlin’s second largest building, after Berlin Tempelhof Airport.
On Friday February 8 2019, Chancellor Angela Merkel inaugurated the new, fortress-like Berlin headquarters of the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence service. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading
“It was a remarkably good aim if you consider that the bomb was fired 250 yards [across Whitehall] with no direct line of sight. Technically, it was quite brilliant and I’m sure that many army crews, if given a similar task, would be very pleased to drop a bomb that close. You’ve got to park the launch vehicle in an area which is guarded by armed men and you’ve got less than a minute to do it. I was very, very surprised at how good it was. If the angle of fire had been moved about five or ten degrees, then those bombs would actually have impacted on Number Ten.”
Peter Gurney — Head of the Explosives Section of the Anti-Terrorist Branch
The Downing Street mortar attack was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on February 7 1991. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading
“I really do want Kryptos to remain secret – the plain text, the final section of Kryptos, I would prefer for it to remain secret indefinitely. (…) I would think that every artist would aspire to making an artwork that is not transient. It’s a permanent visual, auditory, conceptual statement. And I did Kryptos with all those things in mind. And one – as an artist, one would prefer to have that piece continue giving rather than have it understood right off the bat and then more or less ignored. And so this has lived way beyond all of my expectations, you know, at 30 years in retaining a secret that it has, and that’s the magic.”
Jim Sanborn (January 30 2020)
February 6 2020 — NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly spoke with Jim Sanborn, creator of a cryptographic puzzle sculpture called “Kryptos” located at CIA headquarters, about his decision to release a third and final clue. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading
“The UN working group on arbitrary detention has concluded that Mr Assange is arbitrarily detained. The working group’s view differs from that of the Swedish authorities. We will forward a reply to the working group tomorrow. It will be more clear tomorrow why we reject the working group’s conclusions.”
Anna Ekberg — Spokesperson for the Swedish Foreign Ministry
“The process has been going on for 18 months, the UK government has made submissions to the working group so it has accepted its authority. What signal does it send that the UK and Sweden would ignore this UN body? It would completely destroy its authority. Are they willing to set that precedent? Egypt has not accepted its findings with regard to the detention of its former president [Mohammed Morsi] – is that the standard the UK wants to hold?”
WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson
Four years ago on this day (February 5 2016), a UN panel published its findings which concluded that Julian Assange was “arbitrarily detained” by the UK. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading
“To this day, Barbara [Robbins] is the youngest officer memorialized on our Wall. She was the first American woman to die in Vietnam and the first woman in our Agency’s history to make the ultimate sacrifice. Nine women since then have fallen in service to our mission. Today we remember them all, with great love and great admiration.”
CIA Director Leon Panetta — Memorial Ceremony (2011)
“Dear Molly, Could you tell us how many stars on the Memorial Wall are known to represent women? Regards, Intel Today”
Intel Today — Question to Molly Hale (February 4 2019)
“In our HQs lobby, a wall w/black stars carved into white marble stands as a humble memorial to our fallen officers. There are currently 129 stars; 91 are unclassified. Out of those, 11 represent women”
Molly Hale — March 22 2019
On February 4 2019, CIA Molly Hale went digital. I could not resist firing the very first question on Twitter! How many CIA women are honoured by a star on the CIA wall? A few weeks later, we got the answer to that question… And much more! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading
“I do believe this to be a personal issue, but since it is an object of discussion, I would just as soon have you know what I know. I started to think about it and to put pieces together. There was more and more information, and it began to make more sense to me.”
Madeleine Albright — U.S. Secretary of State (February 4 1997)
Many journalists have credited Madeleine Albright for her “Read My Pins” diplomacy.
On February 4 1997, U. S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she had received information that two grandparents may have been Jewish and may have perished in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Seriously? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading
“Many believe one of the reasons the Italian judges went after the CIA RDI [Rendition, Detention, Interrogation] and [former CIA Officer] Sabrina De Sousa in the Abu Omar case was the USMC and USG accountability failures and arrogance.”
Mark Fallon — International Security Consultant & Author (February 4 2018)
“Get rid of the videotape. If it were mine, I would get rid of it.”
US Captain Chandler Seagraves — Electronic-warfare officers
The “Strage del Cermis” (Italian for “Massacre of Cermis”), named for the mountain ridge where the bodies were recovered, claimed the lives of eight Germans, five Belgians, three Italians, two Poles, one Dutch citizen, and one Austrian.
On February 3 1998, a U.S. Marine Corps jet on a low-level training flight sliced through steel wires supporting a cable car near the ski resort of Cavalese in the Italian Alps, sending a gondola plunging to the ground. All 20 people inside the gondola were killed. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading
Dossier — Definition : Collection of papers containing information on a particular event, or on a person such as a criminal or a spy. [Collins English Dictionary]
Origin — Late 19th century. From French: a file with a label on the back from dos back. [Latin dorsum]
Example — “The Steele dossier, also known as the Trump–Russia dossier, is a private intelligence report …”
February 2 2020 — There is no doubt that blogging is a wonderful and powerful technique to report on current investigations. But this modern tool has also some drawbacks. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading
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