The Afghanistan Papers — The Origin of the Opioid Epidemic [Remember Mike Flynn?]

Posted on December 14, 2019 by L

“Does opium defy the laws of economics? Historically, no. In 2001, prices surged tenfold from 2000, to a record high, after the Taliban all but eliminated opium poppy cultivation across the Afghan territory under its control.”

Antonio Maria Costa —  Op-ed in the Washington Post (April 25, 2007)

“No foreign challenge has had a more direct impact on American families and communities…than the flow of opioids and other drugs into our country. That’s why the CIA is going to invest more heavily in our counter-narcotics effort abroad to combat this terrible threat, one that has killed far more Americans than any terrorist ever has.”

CIA Director Gina Haspel (September 24 2018)

“An intelligent enemy is better than a foolish friend.”

Afghan proverb

For nearly two decades of fighting in Afghanistan, U.S. leaders have sounded a constant refrain: “We are making progress.” Government interview records obtained by The Washington Post after a three-year legal battle show otherwise. This should hardly be a surprise. Just take a good look at the Afghan opium production: 90% of the world’s heroin is made from opium grown in Afghanistan. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — US Staff in Moscow Warned to Avoid PAN AM 103 (December 13 1988) [2019]

Posted on December 13, 2019 by L

“There was a real push in the embassy community to make sure that everybody was aware that there had been a terrorist threat made, and that people flying Western carriers going through Frankfurt should change their tickets.”

Karen Decker — Consular Official at the Moscow US Embassy (November 30 1989)

On December 13 1988, William Kelly, the Moscow US embassy administrative counsellor, drafted a memo addressed to “All Embassy Personnel” and posted on the staff notice board the next day. “Sometimes, during the next two weeks, there would be a bombing attempt against Pan Am airliner flying from Frankfurt to the United States.” On December 21 1988, Pan Am 103 — a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York — exploded over Lockerbie. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — Remembering Arrow Air Flight 1285 (December 12 1985) [2019]

Posted on December 12, 2019 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

“An in-flight fire that may have resulted from detonations of undetermined origin brought about catastrophic system failures.”

Four (of nine) members of the CASB dissenting Opinion

“Governments lie. They do it all the time. And, much as we’d like to believe otherwise, the US government is no exception. There were times when we may have believed otherwise. But after Vietnam and Watergate, we know better.”

Ted Koppel — “The USS Vincennes: Public War, Secret War.” (July 1, 1992)

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

December 12 2019 — 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 Continue reading →

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On This Day — CIA Director John Brennan Defends Torture Methods (December 11 2014) [2019]

Posted on December 11, 2019 by L

“In a limited number of cases, agency officers used interrogation techniques that had not been authorized, were abhorrent and rightly should be repudiated by all.”

CIA Director John Brennan (December 11 2014)

“No evidence that terror attacks were stopped, terrorists captured or lives saved through use of EITs”

Senator Diane Feinstein — Tweet (Dec. 11 2014)

Former CIA Director John Brennan

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 Continue reading →

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On This Day — Did the CIA Kill Father Louis Thomas Merton? (December 10 1968) [2019]

Posted on December 10, 2019 by L

“Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.’’

Pope Francis — Address to the US Congress (2015)

“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

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. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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15 Years Ago — Remembering “DARK ALLIANCE” : Gary Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) [2019]

Posted on December 10, 2019 by L

“Authentic journalism is telling people something that the government doesn’t want them to know.”

Gary Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004)

“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

“I was you once. Gary, I started down this road. Though nowhere near as far as you are. When they saw I wasn’t gonna stop, they ‘controversialized’ me. Do you have any idea what I’m talking about? They make *you* the story. And you have a history of schizophrenia, you’re a liar, you’re a homo, you beat your dog, you’re a pedophile, it doesn’t matter if none of it’s true. The point is no one remembers what you found. They remember you and you’re nuts. You cease to exist.”

‘Fred Weil’ — Kill the Messenger

December 10 2019 — 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 Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 9, 2019 by L

“In a limited number of cases, agency officers used interrogation techniques that had not been authorized, were abhorrent and rightly should be repudiated by all.”

CIA Director John Brennan (December 11 2014)

“No evidence that terror attacks were stopped, terrorists captured or lives saved through use of EITs”

Senator Diane Feinstein — Tweet (December 11 2014)

“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)

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 Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 9, 2019 by L

“The thesis in my books and my writing is that anti-American terrorism arises from the behavior of U.S. foreign policy. It is what the U.S. government does which angers people all over the world.”

William Blum

“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)

“The newspapers were filled with pictures of happy relatives of the victims of the December 21, 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. A Libyan, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, had been found guilty of the crime the day before, January 31, 2001, by a Scottish court in the Hague, though his co-defendant, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted. At long last there was going to be some kind of closure for the families. But what was wrong with this picture? What was wrong was that the evidence against Megrahi was thin to the point of transparency.”

William Blum — Everything you know is wrong

December 9 2019 — 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 Continue reading →

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Two Year Ago — The Havana Syndrome : Sonic Attacks or Microwave Weapons?

Posted on December 8, 2019 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)

“On and on it goes, one distortion after another, most taken from industry’s propaganda playbook.”

Microwave News (December 6 2019)

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 Continue reading →

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

Posted on December 8, 2019 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 2019 — 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 Continue reading →

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