On this Day — Mata Hari Is Executed (October 15 1917) [2019]

Posted on October 15, 2019 by L

“A harlot? Yes, but a traitor, never!”

Phrase attributed to Mata Hari during the trial

“Death is nothing, nor life either, for that matter. To die, to sleep, to pass into nothingness, what does it matter? Everything is an illusion.”

“I had long since lost any illusion of being loved for who I was and now accepted, with clean conscience, flowers, flattery, and money that fed my ego and my false identity.”

Mata Hari

Margaretha Zelle alias Mata Hari (1906)

Margaretha Geertruida “Margreet” MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 1876 – 15 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan. She was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. On October 15 1917, she was executed by firing squad in France. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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The Spying Game — Is ‘No Rules’ the New Rule? [2019 — POLL]

Posted on October 14, 2019 by L

Tom Bishop (Brad Pit) — Ah, Jesus Christ, you just… You don’t just trade these people like they’re baseball cards! It’s not a fucking game!

Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) —  Oh, yes it is. It’s exactly what it is. And it’s no kid’s game either. This is a whole other game. And it’s serious and it’s dangerous. And it’s not one you want to lose.

Spy Game (2001)

“Although no one had written them down, they were the precepts we all understood… By the time they got to Moscow, everyone knew these rules. They were dead simple and full of common sense…”.

Tony Mendez  — The Master of Disguise

 “There was only one rule: to win.”

Oleg Kalugin — Former major-general in the KGB

 “We are drifting as a society into what can be fairly described as a post-truth world…where there is no longer a basic understanding of what objective facts are.”

General Michael Hayden — Former CIA and NSA Director

October 14 2019 — American and Russian intelligence services have long held a gentlemen’s agreement — often referred to as Moscow rules — that limited how they engaged with each other. Under these rules, they agreed not to attack each other physically and not to engage in certain types of activities. In the light of recent events (from Salisbury to Havana), one can only wonder if the spooks are still playing the old game by these rules? Several former CIA officers/agents kindly offered to explain their view on this important issue.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Apartheid Foreign Minister Pik Botha Dies [Lockerbie Conspiracy]

Posted on October 13, 2019 by L

“Had he known of the bomb, no force on earth would have stopped him from seeing to it that flight 103, with its deadly cargo, would not have left the airport. The minister is flattered by the allegation of near omniscience.”

Botha’s spokesman Roland Carroll

“Had we been on 103 the impact on South Africa and the region would have been massive. It happened on the eve of the signing of the tripartite agreements.”

Pretorius Official Statement

October 12 2018 — Pik Botha served as his country’s foreign minister for 17 years until the end of the apartheid era in 1994.  He died last night at the age of 86. The German newspaper Die Zeit claimed that Pik Botha intended to fly on Pan Am 103 but had been warned off. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Two Years Ago — CIA Director Pompeo Delivers Opening Keynote at 2017 Conference on Ethos and Profession of Intelligence

Posted on October 13, 2019 by L

“As a large government organization, eliminating barriers to action is a never-ending challenge for us, one that most of my predecessors faced as well. Porter Goss, who’s serving on one of our panels today, noted the problem during his tenure as CIA Director under President George W. Bush.”

Mike Pompeo — CIA Director

October 10 2017 — The following text is the transcript of the speech delivered by Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo at the Conference on the Ethos and Profession of Intelligence at George Washington University on October 4, 2017. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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35 Years Ago — The Brighton Bombing (October 12 1984) [Understanding the Lockerbie Solution]

Posted on October 12, 2019 by L

“Mrs. Thatcher will now realise that Britain cannot occupy our country and torture our prisoners and shoot our people in their own streets and get away with it. Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always. Give Ireland peace and there will be no more war.”

IRA Statement (October 13 1984)

 “The only sorrow of the Brighton bombing is that Thatcher escaped unscathed.”

Steven Patrick Morrissey — English singer, songwriter and author

Margaret Thatcher and husband Denis leave the Grand Hotel following the bombing.

October 12 2019 — On October 12 1984, Patrick Magee made an audacious attempt to kill Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet by exploding a bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the Conservative Party Conference. The Prime Minister was unharmed but five people were killed in the attack and many more injured. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Christine Grahame MSP : “Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied” [Lockerbie]

Posted on October 11, 2019 by L

“In the meantime, yet to be completed and sent to the Crown Office is the separate police-led Sandwood inquiry into the actions at the time of police, prosecutors and forensic officials. The inquiry, which is investigating claims of attempts to pervert the course of justice prior to the Camp Zeist trial, started in 2014. Pronouncements have been made on its imminent conclusion, which has been much postponed. Although the SCCRC could conclude its findings without that report, I have no doubt that it would be difficult for it to fully conclude without it. Sandwood’s—to be kind—slow progress is cause for concern, because 30 years on, justice delayed is justice denied for the people of Lockerbie, the Syracuse students, every other one of the 270 who died and their families and friends—and, perhaps, even the Megrahi family.”

Christine Grahame MSP (October 2 2018)

“I found it quite upsetting. The man is obviously very ill and he is desperate to see his family – absolutely desperate to see his family – so, whatever it takes, that’s the priority. He did tell me things I can’t discuss with you. But I am absolutely more convinced than ever that there has been a miscarriage of justice.”

Christine Grahame MSP (May 2009)

October 11 2019 — Christine Grahame has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament since its inception in 1999. Grahame has been outspoken in her view that the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing is unsafe and represents a miscarriage of justice. Grahame has lodged several questions and motions on this scandalous case in the Scottish Parliament and continues to be involved with campaign groups on the matter. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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80 Years Ago — Einstein Letter to Franklin Roosevelt (October 11 1939) [Manhattan Project]

Posted on October 11, 2019 by L

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

“The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking…the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.”

“I made one great mistake in my life-when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made but there was some justification — the danger that the Germans would make them.”

Albert Einstein

Einstein and Szilard re-enact discussion of letter to FDR for 1946 documentary Atomic Power

October 11 2019 — On October 11 1939, Alexander Sachs, Wall Street economist and longtime friend and unofficial advisor to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, met with the President to discuss a letter written by Albert Einstein the previous August.  Einstein had written to inform Roosevelt that recent research on fission chain reactions utilizing uranium made it probable that large amounts of power could be produced by a chain reaction and that, by harnessing this power, the construction of “extremely powerful bombs” was conceivable.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — James Bond “From Russia With Love” Premiere in London (October 10 1963) [2019]

Posted on October 10, 2019 by L

 “… the film is highly immoral in every imaginable way; it is neither uplifting, instructive nor life-enhancing. Neither is it great film-making. But it sure is fun.”

Richard Roud — The Guardian  (October 11 1963)

“Fleming found he had a love for espionage, and combined with his support for all things British, provided purpose to his life. But after WWII ended, he found himself at loose ends, and took a job with a newspaper. He hated the drudgery that went with the position, and often found himself daydreaming while admiring a picture of Jamaica near his desk. After several vacations to the island, he decided to move there permanently and, drawing on his family’s income, built a home for himself. He called it ‘Goldeneye.’ Fleming told friends he had always wanted to write a spy novel…and now with time on his hands, he did exactly that.”

Ian Fleming: The Man Behind the Most Famous Spy — CIA Website (May 2018)

October 10 2019  — From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond film series produced by Eon Productions, as well as Sean Connery’s second role as MI6 agent James Bond. The film premiered on October 10 1963 at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Dag Hammarskjöld — US, UK and South Africa still withholding crucial information

Posted on October 10, 2019 by L

“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

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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On This Day — Che Guevara Is Executed (October 9 1967) [2019]

Posted on October 9, 2019 by L

“The true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.”

“The only passion that guides me is for the truth… I look at everything from this point of view.”

“I had a project for my life which involved 10 years of wandering, then some years of medical studies and, if any time was left, the great adventure of physics.”

“I have a wish. It is a fear as well – that in my end will be my beginning.”

Che Guevara (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967)

A 1960 photo taken by Alberto Korda of Guevara in a beret became iconic and has since appeared on countless posters and T-shirts.

On this day in 1967, socialist revolutionary and guerrilla leader Che Guevara was killed by the Bolivian army. He was 39. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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