On This Day — The Beirut Barracks Bombings (October 23, 1983) [2019]

Posted on October 23, 2019 by L

“Though he never said so explicitly, he [President Ronald Reagan] ended America’s military commitment to a strategic mistake that was peripheral to America’s interests. Three-and-a-half months after the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. military personnel — and after repeatedly pledging not to do so — Reagan ordered the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Lebanon.”

Foreign Policy

“Beirut wasn’t sensible and it never did serve a purpose. It was goofy from the beginning.”

General Colin Powell

“We still do not have the actual knowledge of who did the bombing of the Marine barracks at the Beirut Airport, and we certainly didn’t then.”

Caspar Weinberger — Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration from 1981 to 1987 (September 2001)

The Beirut barracks bombings were terrorist attacks that occurred on October 23, 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon, during the Lebanese Civil War when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF)—killing 241 U.S. and 58 French servicemen, six civilians, and the two suicide bombers. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Microwave Spying — Leon Theremin & “The Thing” [UPDATE : CIA Microwave Cavities on display at the Crypto Museum]

Posted on October 22, 2019 by L

“Theremin did some of his best scientific work while imprisoned by one of the most repressive regimes of the 20th century. This brilliant scientist crossed path with the CIA more than once — to our detriment.”

Benjamin R. Fisher — CIA History staff

“History certainly isn’t averse to irony. Seventy-plus years later, descendents of a device invented by the Soviet Union to eavesdrop on its Western enemies are being flogged in an internal catalog of a U.S. intelligence organization.”

Maurits Martijn — The Correspondent (December 2015)

Clara Rockmore & Leon Theremin. Rockmore was a classical violin prodigy and a virtuoso performer of the “Theremin”, the grandfather of all electronic musical instruments.

May 28 2018 — Once upon a time, the Russians relied for many years on a technology unknown to the Americans to spy on the US ambassador in Moscow. The device — known as “The thing” — was the brainchild of an extraordinary genius: Leon Theremin.

I have long suspected that “Microwave Spying” was still a tool on the shelf of the modern spies. In the aftermath of Snowden’s revelations, Der Spiegel published a catalogue of surveillance technologies used by the NSA and CIA to eavesdrop on foreign spies and diplomats.

And indeed, these documents show that the U.S. Intelligence is using products — with names like LOUDAUTO and ANGRYNEIGHBOR — against foreign embassies. Those devices are generally considered as direct successors of Leon Theremin’s brilliant invention. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — El Aro Massacre (Colombia – October 22 1997) [2019]

Posted on October 22, 2019 by L

“There are repeated accusations that the recordings were made by the British agency MI6, friends of Juan Manuel Santos, in a ruse against me.”

Former Colombia President Alvaro Uribe

“A cada cerdo le llega su San Martín.”

(Every pig will get his Saint Martin)

“The investigation involving Álvaro Uribe has serious implications for the independence of Colombia’s justice institutions, as well as the ongoing efforts to uncover the full truth about the powerful political networks that backed paramilitary death squads during Colombia’s decades-long conflict.”

Open Democracy (October 21 2019)

Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe is being investigated for his alleged participation in the ‘El Aro’ massacre which took place in the Department of Antioquia while he was governor.

October 22 2018 — The El Aro massacre (Spanish: Masacre del Aro) was a massacre in Colombia which occurred on October 22, 1997 in the municipality of Ituango, Department of Antioquia. 15 individuals accused of being leftist supporters of FARC were massacred by paramilitary groups with support from members of the Colombian Army. Perpetrators also raped women, burned down 43 houses, stole cattle and forcibly displaced 900 people. Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe is investigated due to his alleged participation in the massacre that took place in the Department of Antioquia while he was governor. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Pablo Neruda Awarded Literature Nobel Prize (October 21 1971) [Was Neruda a KGB Agent?]

Posted on October 21, 2019 by L

“Neruda is the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language”

Gabriel García Márquez — Nobel Prize in Literature 1982 

“A poet closer to death than to philosophy, closer to pain than to insight, closer to blood than to ink. A poet filled with mysterious voices that fortunately he himself does not know how to decipher.”

Federico García Lorca –Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director ( 5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) [quoted by Rene de Costa in “The Poetry of Pablo Neruda”]

“And you’ll ask: why doesn’t his poetry
speak of dreams and leaves
and the great volcanoes of his native land?
Come and see the blood in the streets.”

Pablo Neruda — I explain a few things

“Today in #SpyHistory – The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to former KGB agent and Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, 1971.”

The Spy Museum — Tweet (October 21 2018)

October 21 2019 — Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician. On October 21 2018, The Spy Museum tweeted: “Today in – The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to former KGB agent and Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, 1971.” Really? Where is the evidence that Neruda was a KGB agent? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Meet CIA Papyrophile in Chief Mike Morell

Posted on October 20, 2019 by L

“Listen. I work for the CIA. I am not a spy. I just read books! We read everything that’s published in the world. And we… we feed the plots – dirty tricks, codes – into a computer, and the computer checks against actual CIA plans and operations. I look for leaks, I look for new ideas… We read adventures and novels and journals. I… I… Who’d invent a job like that? ”

Joe Turner (Robert Redford) — Three Days of the Condor  (1975) 

October 20 2019 — A recent interview of former CIA (acting) director Mike Morell — regarding the Trump “whistleblower” — reminded me that papyrophilia is a widespread disease among agency officers.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Remembering CIA Whistleblower Victor Marchetti (December 23, 1929 – October 19, 2018)

Posted on October 19, 2019 by L

“The real reason for the official secrecy, in most instances, is not to keep the opposition (the CIA’s euphemistic term for the enemy) from knowing what is going on; the enemy usually does know. The basic reason for governmental secrecy is to keep you, the American public, from knowing — for you, too, are considered the opposition, or enemy — so that you cannot interfere. When the public does not know what the government or the CIA is doing, it cannot voice its approval or disapproval of their actions. In fact, they can even lie to you about what they are doing or have done, and you will not know it.”

Victor Marchetti — Propaganda and Disinformation: How the CIA Manufactures History 

“There exists in our world today a powerful and dangerous secret cult. This cult is patronized and protected by the highest level government officials in the world. Its membership is composed of those in the power centers of government, industry, commerce, finance, and labor. It manipulates individuals in areas of important public influence – including the academic world and the mass media. The Secret Cult is a global fraternity of a political aristocracy whose purpose is to further the political policies of persons or agencies unknown. It acts covertly and illegally.”

Victor Marchetti — The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence

Former CIA officer Victor Marchetti.

October 19 2019 — Victor L. Marchetti, Jr. was a former special assistant to the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and a prominent critic of the United States Intelligence Community and the Israel lobby in the United States. Marchetti died on October 19 2018 at his home in Ashburn, Virginia. He was 88. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Black Monday (October 19 1987) [2019]

Posted on October 19, 2019 by L

“Many people remember the events leading up to October 19, 1987. Unfortunately, very few of them recall the specifics. When many people talk about the dramatic drop in the overall stock market, they either blame a single cause (portfolio insurance) or treat the market fall as if it were something that came from out of the blue. Far from being a lightning strike or an act of God, the crash was a single event caused by a complex series of interconnected events.”

Black Monday — The Motley Fool

“That (the 1988 US shoot down of Iran Air Flight 655), in itself, generates a sequence of events that comes back to haunt us. So it’s interesting to look at these in hindsight. We used to look at them as kind of discrete events, not tied to each other, and seen in a vacuum. But from a distance, I think we can see more of a pattern.”

Vincent Cannistraro — Director of Intelligence Programs for the U. S. National Security Council (1984 to 1987)

October 19 2019 — In the morning of October 19 1987, two U.S. warships shelled an Iranian oil platform in the Persian Gulf in response to Iran’s Silkworm missile attack on the Sea Isle City. The stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6 percent in value, its largest single-day percentage drop. The day became known as “Black Monday”. In a FRONTLINE interview, Former CIA Vincent Cannistraro explained his view on the whole affair going from the Iran-Contra scandal (November 3 1986) to the shoot down of Iran Airbus 655 (July 3 1988), and eventually to the Lockerbie tragedy (December 21 1988). Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Norway & Russia — Former Border Inspector Behind Bars in Moscow on Charges of Espionage [UPDATE XI : Rumours of spies swap]

Posted on October 18, 2019 by L

“Frode must come home, and Norwegian authorities must do what they can to get him out. It is not a good signal when such a positive and distinguished bridge-builder like Frode is arrested, it is not a good sign.”

Kirkenes town Mayor Rune Rafaelsen

“Once again we see the effects of big politics hitting us here locally, and we demand an end to that!”

Father Torbjørn Brox Webber

“I would not characterise the case as a global attack on bilateral relations. We have a relationship with Norway which develops in different areas. These kind of things happen, and it is uncomfortable, [but] our national legislation provides for adequate measures.”

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (December 28 2017)

Frode Berg, a 62 retired border inspector, was arrested by Russian security service agents in downtown Moscow on December 5th 2017. He is jailed  in isolation at the high-security Lefortovo prison.

Berg was allegedly caught receiving classified material about the Russian Navy that he is accused of planning to hand over to Norwegian and U.S. intelligence agencies. Berg claims that he was duped into working for Norway’s national intelligence agency.

On October 30 2018, the Moscow City Court has upheld the expanded arrest until December 5 2018. On Friday (November 30 2018), the court decided to prolong his arrest for another two months. On January 30 2019, the Moscow City Court has extended Berg’s detention until April 5 2019. On April 16 2019, Frode Berg has been sentenced to 14 years, as requested by the prosecutor.

UPDATE (October 18 2019) — On this day next week, Frode Berg could be a free man.  Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — Russia Spy Richard Sorge Arrested in Tokyo (October 18 1941) [2019]

Posted on October 18, 2019 by L

“Richard Sorge’s brilliant espionage work saved Stalin and the Soviet Union from defeat in the fall of 1941, probably prevented a Nazi victory in World War II and thereby assured the dimensions of the world we live in today.”

Larry Collins

“The spies in history who can say from their graves, the information I supplied to my masters, for better or worse, altered the history of our planet, can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Richard Sorge was in that group.”

Frederick Forsyth

“Somehow, amidst the Bonds and Smiley’s People, we have ignored the greatest of 20th century spy stories – that of Stalin’s Sorge, whose exploits helped change history.”

US Journalist Carl Bernstein

“The (Richard Sorge secret) documents clearly indicate and give a warning about the fact that state institutions tend to hide facts in critical occasions.”

Naoki Ota — Sorge Incident specialist and a professor emeritus of Tokai University (August 2018)

On October 18, 1941, Richard Sorge was arrested in Tokyo. He was hanged on November 7 1944, at 10:20 Tokyo time in Sugamo Prison. A number of famous personalities — from General Douglas MacArthur to James Bond’s father and former MI6 Ian Fleming — considered him one of the most accomplished spies. Sorge is proof that one spy can alter the History of our world. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Al Capone Convicted of Income Tax Evasion (October 17 1931) [2019]

Posted on October 17, 2019 by L

“They can’t collect legal taxes from illegal money.”

“Capitalism gives all of us a great opportunity if we seize it with both hands and hang on to it.”

“A smile can get you far, but a smile with a gun can get you further.”

“All I ever did was sell beer and whiskey to our best people. All I ever did was supply a demand that was pretty popular. Why, the very guys that make my trade good are the ones that yell the loudest about me. Some of the leading judges use the stuff.”

Chicago gangster Al Capone

On October 17, 1931, Chicago gangster Al Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and later sentenced to 11 years in federal prison, ending his control of the Chicago underworld. Aren’t you glad that the era of mafia politicians and corrupt law officers is finally over? I mean… Almost over.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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