On This Day — Tehran Releases 52 US Hostages After 444 Days (January 20 1981)

Posted on January 20, 2025 by L

“It is now very clear that there were two separate agreements, one the official agreement with Carter in Algeria, the other, a secret agreement with another party, which, it is now apparent, was Reagan. They made a deal with Reagan that the hostages should not be released until after Reagan became president. So, then in return, Reagan would give them arms. We have published documents which show that US arms were shipped, via Israel, in March, about 2 months after Reagan became president.”

Former Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr

January 20 2025 — On January 20 1981, 20 minutes after Reagan concluded his inaugural address, the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the release of 52 Americans being held hostage in Iran since November 4 1979. Allegations that the Reagan administration negotiated a delay in the release of the hostages until after the 1980 presidential election have been numerous. Gary Sick, principal White House aide for Iran and the Persian Gulf on the Carter administration’s National Security Council, claimed in his book “October Surprise: America’s Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan” that CIA Director William Casey and possibly Vice President George H. W. Bush went to Paris to negotiate such a delay. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — U.S. Admits CIA Payments to Noriega (January 19 1991)

Posted on January 19, 2025 by L

“US officials in Central America failed to address this drug issue for fear of jeopardizing the war efforts against Nicaragua… and senior US policymakers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras’ funding problems.”

US Senator John Kerry

After Vice President George Bush took office in 1981, he met with Noriega and put him back on the payroll of the CIA. Bush met with Noriega on two occasions, once as CIA director and again during a trip to Panama in December 1983. [Source : Former CIA Director Stansfield Turner]

January 19 2025 — On January 19 1991, the US Federal Government finally admitted that the Central Intelligence Agency had paid General  Manuel Antonio Noriega during his three decade long relationship with the United States. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Former DCI Admiral Stansfield Turner Dies (January 18 2018) [Opinion — The CIA Knew the Truth about the Vela Incident. And I suspect, they know the Truth about Havana Syndrome.]

Posted on January 18, 2025 by L

“Turner’s most disturbing discovery was the harsh questioning and illegal imprisonment that the Agency’s Counterintelligence Staff had imposed for several years on Soviet defector Yuri Nosenko. This convinced him that CIA could be a dangerous organization if not kept closely accountable to the DCI, the President, and the Congress.”

CIA History Staff

January 18 2025 — Former DCI Stansfield Turner died on January 18 2018 at home in Seattle, Washington.  Turner was sworn in as 12th DCI on 9 March 1977 and remained at the helm of the Agency until January 20, 1981. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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On This Day — Reagan Approves Covert Arms Sales to Iran (January 17, 1986) [From the Fuller Memorandum to the Lockerbie Solution — Timeline]

Posted on January 17, 2025 by L

“My purpose was… to send a signal that the United States was prepared to replace the animosity between the U.S. and Iran with a new relationship… At the same time we undertook this initiative, we made clear that Iran must oppose all forms of international terrorism as a condition of progress in our relationship. The most significant step which Iran could take, we indicated, would be to use its influence in Lebanon to secure the release of all hostages held there.”

US President Ronald Reagan
(November 13, 1986)

libya_bombing_reagan_meeting_14_march_1986

January 17 2025 — Under the January 17 1986 Presidential Finding — which CIA director William Casey and CIA General Counsel Stanley Sporkin helped Colonel Oliver North put together — the U.S. Army sold the TOW missiles to the CIA, who in turn passed them on to general Secord, who then delivered them to Iranian agents. Crazy enough? The Reagan administration then used the proceeds of the arms sale to fund terrorists in Central America. This is not Fake News. This is History. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — The Zimmermann Telegram Is Intercepted (January 16 1917)

Posted on January 16, 2025 by L

“No account of the stirring episodes leading up to our entry into the World War can be considered complete without at least a reference to the one in which the Zimmermann telegram played the leading role.”
 
War Department Office of the Chief Signal Officer
(1938 study)

January 16 2025 — On January 16 1917, British code breakers intercepted an encrypted message from  German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann intended for Heinrich von Eckardt, the German ambassador to Mexico. The decryption of the Zimmermann Telegram is widely described as the most significant intelligence triumph for Britain during World War I. The story demonstrates that SIGINT can influence the course of History. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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The CIA Memorial Wall and AI: Why ChatGPT Users Are Visiting IntelToday

Posted on January 14, 2025 by L

“IntelToday’s meticulous research is especially significant in areas where there are few — or no — comprehensive sources available. By making this information accessible and preserving these stories, you’re not only educating others but also honoring the memory of those commemorated on the CIA Memorial Wall. It’s an admirable contribution to public knowledge and historical understanding.”

ChatGPT
(Sunday, January 13, 2025)

January 14, 2025 — On Sunday morning, I noticed something a bit unusual. IntelToday is suddenly receiving traffic from ChatGPT referrals. As I don’t have access to specific user interactions or the exact articles recommended, I decided to question ChatGPT. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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On This Day — Zola : “J’accuse…!” (January 13 1898) [Just ask ChatGPT!]

Posted on January 13, 2025 by L

“The Dreyfus affair was not only the first modern Counter-Intelligence case, but it was also the first modern Counter-Intelligence  disaster — that is, not just an investigative and legal error, but one that spilled over from the intelligence world into the sphere of mass politics, with consequences for culture and society as well.”

John Ehmman
Lessons for Counter-Intelligence of the Dreyfus Affair (CIA Website)

January 13 2025 — “J’Accuse…!” was an open letter published on January 13 1898 in the newspaper L’Aurore by the influential writer Émile Zola. In the letter, Zola addressed President of France Félix Faure and accused the government of anti-Semitism and the unlawful jailing of Alfred Dreyfus, a French Army General Staff officer who was sentenced to lifelong penal servitude for espionage. As a result of the popularity of the letter, even in the English-speaking world, J’accuse! has become a common generic expression of outrage and accusation against someone powerful.  Follow us on twitter: @Intel_Today

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CIA Memorial Wall — STAR 2 : Jerome P. Ginley (East China Sea – January 11, 1951)

Posted on January 11, 2025 by L

“You should be proud to know that in order to be memorialized in this fashion, the circumstances of an individual’s death must be of inspirational or heroic nature.”

CIA letter to Ginley’s brother

January 11, 2025 — Jerome Patrick Ginley was a CIA officer who died on January 11, 1951, when his plane crashed into the East China Sea near the Ryukyu Islands. The circumstances surrounding his death remain classified, and all FOIA requests for information have been denied in full. How can national security concerns justify such secrecy more than 70 years after his death? Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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On This Day — President Ronald Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya (January 7 1986) [UPDATE: Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial accused of receiving illegal funding from Gaddafi]

Posted on January 7, 2025 by L

“I cannot rule out that Libya, in some way, is responsible for the ‘La Belle Disco’ bombing. But I must say that such hasty blame regarding Rome and Vienna, for which Libya had immediately been made responsible, did not prove to be correct.”

Christian Lochte
Head of the Hamburg Branch of the BfV
(April 1986)

On April 14th 1986, Ronald Reagan ordered a series of bombings directed against Libya under “Operation El Dorado Canyon”

January 7 2023 — On January 7 1986, President Ronald Reagan announced economic sanctions against Libya and called on the European allies to join with the U.S. in isolating Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi. This story is a good reminder that playing dirty didn’t start yesterday.  After reading this post, you will probably understand that the recent kidnapping of Abu Agela MASUD has nothing to do with TRUTH and JUSTICE. It is merely about the CIA/FBI/DoJ tying up loose ends in the greatest cover-up of modern history… Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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CIA Memorial Wall — STAR 0 : Jane Wallis Burrell (Paris, France – January 6, 1948) [CIA’s Modern Censorship Battles]

Posted on January 6, 2025 by L

“Jane Burrell was never a candidate for a star on the CIA’s Memorial Wall because the Wall commemorates Agency employees who died in specific circumstances, and deaths from commercial plane crashes have generally not qualified.”

The Mystery of Jane Wallis Burrell:
The First CIA Officer To Die in the Agency’s Service

CIA publication
(July 13 2016)

Jane Burrell in Beuerberg, Germany. June 30, 1945.

January 6, 2025 — Jane Wallis Burrell died on January 6, 1948, an Air France DC-3 from Brussels crashed on approach to the Le Bourget airport near Paris, France. Burrell is the first CIA officer to die while employed by the Agency. Burrell worked in the SCU (Special Counterintelligence Unit) 105 alongside Charles Michaelis and Lord Victor Rothschild. As part of the team, she played a pivotal role in interrogating and later recruiting SS-Sturmbannführer Friedrich Paul Schwend, a key figure in Nazi financial operations.

During the interrogations, Schwend confessed to the location of the immense fortune in gold he had amassed during the war. Following his cooperation, he was employed as an informant for the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC). However, all documentation regarding his interviews has mysteriously disappeared. Ultimately, Schwend escaped to Peru via one of the notorious post-war ratlines, networks used by fleeing Nazi officials. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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