On This Day — Stern Gang Bombs Cairo-Haifa Train (February 29 1948)

“In the ever-controversial history of Palestine, a special place is reserved for Avraham Stern. The leader of the eponymous “gang” – its Hebrew name meant “Fighters for the Freedom of Israel” – was shot and killed in February 1942 after masterminding a wave of terrorist attacks on British targets with the goal of securing Jewish independence in the holy land.”

Ian Black — The Guardian (April 23 2014)

February 29 2020 — On February 29 1948, the Stern Gang bombed the Cairo-Haifa train north of Rehovot, killing 28 British soldiers and wounding 35. On March 31 1948, the group mined the same train near Binyamina, killing 40 civilians and wounding 60. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Remembering Olof Palme (January 30 1927 – February 28 1986) [2020]

“This is an open wound in Swedish society. It is extremely important that this is solved.”

Sweden Prime Minister Stefan Lofven (May 2018)

“The Anti Apartheid Conference in Stockholm, it is suggested by our Swedish Sources in Uppsala, would present the ideal opportunity to take the necessary action against Mr. Palme and it would be possible to ensure that the action be attributed to other groups.”

South Africa Military Intelligence Report (October 15 1985)

“Reading and thinking about Palme makes you wonder who you are. And who you might have been, but weren’t. And where your moral courage went when it was needed. You ask yourself what power drove him – golden boy, aristocratic family, brilliant scion of the best schools and the best cavalry regiment – to embrace from the outset of his career the cause of the exploited, the deprived, the undervalued and the unheard?”

 David Cornwell (John le Carré ) — Olof Palme Award acceptance speech (January 30 2020)

February 28 2019 — The murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme on February  28 1986 shocked Sweden and had a great impact across Scandinavia. If we can solve today the mystery of the 1961 murder of UN Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld, then surely we must be able to identify the killers of Prime Minister Olof Palme. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Crypto AG — Was Boris Hagelin Jr. Murdered by the CIA? [UPDATE – BND Boss : “The number of deaths surrounding Crypto AG is disproportionately high.”]

“My son Boris Jr., who met a tragic death in 1970, had an inventive mind, and his contributions when the post-war CX-type was  designed  were  very  important.”

The Story of Hagelin-Cryptos — Boris Hagelin (1981)

“Even the vice president of the BND assumed that Boris Hagelin Jr. was not the victim of an accident. It was an intelligence murder.”

Intelligence expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom [1]

The Hagelin family in 1962. In front: Boris Hagelin, his wife Annie and their daughters. Back, from left to right: Boris Jr., Karl Wilhelm and Carl. Courtesy from Sixten Svensson [Copyright]

February 14 2020 — A decade ago, I argued that Crypto AG had rigged the equipment used by diplomats around the world allowing US Intelligence Agencies to decode in real-time their messages. This week,  Swiss public broadcaster SRF Rundschau, German public broadcaster ZDF and the Washington Post have confirmed many details of the story after gaining access to a classified, comprehensive CIA history of the operation codenamed “Thesaurus” and later “Rubicon”. There are many issues to discuss. I will address them one at the time. In this post, I will review the suspicious circumstances regarding the death of Boris Hagelin Jr. just a few months after the Swiss Company was sold to the CIA. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Allen Dulles Becomes First Civilian Director of Central Intelligence (February 26 1953) [2020]

“President Dwight Eisenhower, named Allen Dulles CIA Director. Dulles’ forte was overthrowing governments and he was quite good at it. With coups in Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954) under his belt, Dulles was riding high in the late Fifties and moved Cuba to the top of his to-do list.”

Former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern

“I will splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the wind.”

President John F. Kennedy (ca. April 20 1961) [1]

February 26 2020 — Allen Welsh Dulles was an American diplomat and lawyer who became the fifth, but first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), and its longest-serving director to date. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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The CIA Book of Honor — Star 121 : Mark S. Rausenberger (November 7, 1967 – May 23, 2016)

“There are now 125 stars on our Memorial Wall, each representing a life that is dear to us, and will be for all time. We remain forever devoted to them, as they were to us. And we will strive to make them proud of us, as we are of them.”

CIA Director Mike Pompeo — May 22 2017

“During the time I wrote this diary, I was a Sergeant and a Medic in the U.S. Army. My main function in the military was as a Medic and a Treatment NCO. This is a multi task job. I was certified to suture, do inor surgeries, dispense medication, triage patients, and a lttle bit of everything else. I worked the medical side of the house as well as leading and supervising other medics.”

A Somalia Journal — Mark S. Rausenberger (1995)

On May 22 2017, the Central Intelligence Agency held its 30th annual memorial ceremony. The ceremony began in 1987 and is attended each year by hundreds of employees, retirees, and family members of those who died in service with the CIA. Eight stars were added to the Memorial Wall in 2017, bringing — at the time — to total number to 125.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Dag Hammarskjöld — US, UK and South Africa still withholding crucial information [UPDATE : Will the UN finally investigate Crypto AG?]

“Information of the type requested is the missing link that makes the present picture incomplete, and its conspicuous absence from the record means that conclusions about the cause of the crash cannot yet be reached. South Africa, the UK and the US must be almost certain to hold important undisclosed information.”

Tanzanian lawyer Mohamed Chande Othman — UN Report (October 8 2019)

Dag Hammarskjold

October 10 2019 — In a report released on Monday (October 7 2019) by current secretary-general António Guterres, Tanzanian lawyer Mohamed Chande Othman wrote that he will need more time to finish his review of the case because US, Britain and SA  are not responding to his questions.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Book Review — The Coldest Warrior [Dr Frank Olson]

“The most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface.”

CIA assassination manual (1953)

“In other words, the Memorandum of Understanding, in your judgment, gave authority to the CIA to make decisions to give immunity to individuals who happened to work for the CIA for all kinds of crimes, including murder.”

Question from Senator Bella Abzug to CIA general counsel Lawrence Houston (1975)

“He was letting them know that he was marching to a different drummer and you couldn’t do it back then. He was a man who was profoundly, profoundly distressed about what he was learning… And he was dangerous. Back then, if you thought somebody was detrimental to the cold war, you had no problem dealing with them.”

American journalist Seymour Hersh

February 23 2020 — In his new book, acclaimed espionage author Paul Vidich tells the story of a CIA officer tasked to investigate a cold case from the 50s: the mysterious death of Dr. Charles Wilson, an Army bio-weapons scientist. Does the plot ring a bell? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Face Trial For Corruption [UPDATE : Date set for October 5 2020]

“Sarkozy has to give back the money he accepted from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We financed his campaign and we have the proof… The first thing we’re demanding is that this clown gives back the money to the Libyan people.”

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi — March 2011

March 29 2018 — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to face trial for corruption and influence peddling. “Rien ne va plus” for Nicolas Sarkozy. Hard evidence of Libyan funding are quickly piling up. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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50 Years Ago — Remembering Swissair Flight 330 (February 21 1970)

“330 is going down. Goodbye everybody.”

Co-pilot Armand Etienne — February 21 1970 1:34

“Bern threw a ‘cloak of silence’ over the case.”

Swiss Investigator Robert Akeret

“The secret deal was ‘immoral’ and in breach of legal principles, but it was justified for strategic reasons. This might be absolutely shocking, but the reward was that there were no more attacks.”

Pr. Jean Ziegler

swiss330

Wreckage from the Swissair plane that crashed in a forest in Würenlingen

On 21 February 1970 — a cold and wet Saturday — Swissair Flight 330, bound for Tel Aviv, crashed shortly after take-off from Zürich. 38 passengers and nine crew died in the tragedy. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — CIA Aldrich Ames Arrested by FBI in Arlington, Virginia (February 21, 1994) [2020]

“I knew quite well, when I gave the names of our agents in the Soviet Union, that I was exposing them to the full machinery of counter-espionage and the law, and then prosecution and capital punishment.”

Former CIA Aldrich Hazen Ames

Aldrich Ames is arrested outside his home in Virginia

On February 21 1994, CIA officer Aldrich Hazen Ames was arrested by the FBI in Arlington, Virginia on espionage charges. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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