Belgium — Intel Oversight Committee Annual Report Released

Posted on December 19, 2019 by L

“Since the exception [special methods] is nowadays used so often, it is no longer exceptional.”

Belgium — Intel Oversight Committee Annual Report (December 2019)

“Brussels has now overtaken Vienna when it comes to the density of so-called intelligence services from outside the EU.”

Peter Gridling — Head of Austria’s domestic intelligence agency (June 2018)

“Belgium may seem an unlikely destination for a Chinese agent. In fact, it’s a den of spies, according to domestic intelligence agency State Security (VSSE). It says the number of operatives is at least as high as during the Cold War, and Brussels is their chessboard.”

How Belgium Became Europe’s Den of Spies and a Gateway for China — Bloomberg (November 28 2019)

The Belgian Intelligence Oversight Committee has just released its Annual Report. A few items and one conclusion caught my attention.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

Posted in Belgium | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Australia — Is Wang Liqiang a Chinese Spy or a Fraudster?

Posted on December 18, 2019 by L

“Wang obviously is not a Chinese secret agent. Wang’s lies are grossly unprofessional and demonstrated an extremely shallow understanding of the Chinese intelligence establishment.”

Weng Yanqing — Former deputy director of Taiwan’s Military Intelligence Bureau

In November 2019, Wang Liqiang sought political asylum in Australia. Wang claims to be a spy who was involved in the People’s Republic of China’s intervention in the affairs of Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan (ROC). Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Wang Liqiang | Tagged , | Leave a comment

General Mike Flynn sentencing set for January 28 2020

Posted on December 17, 2019 by L

“Mr. Flynn accuses the government of suppressing certain information and alleges improprieties regarding the circumstances leading up to his guilty plea — including allegations of misconduct by the FBI, [Department of Justice], and the Special Counsel’s Office — that, in his view, call into question the entire investigation, raise ethical concerns, warrant findings of civil contempt, and demand dismissal.

Mr. Flynn, however, fails to explain how most of the requested information that the government has not already provided to him is relevant and material to his underlying offense—willfully and knowingly making materially false statements and omissions to the FBI.”

Judge Emmet Sullivan (December 16 2019)

December 17 2019 —  General Mike Flynn will be sentenced on January 28 2020 for lying to the FBI — almost exactly three years after committing that crime on January 24 2017. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

Posted in General Mike Flynn | Tagged | Leave a comment

Horowitz Report — Of Sumo Wrestlers and FISA Courts

Posted on December 16, 2019 by L

“To know and to act are one and the same.”

Bushido, the Soul of Japan — Inazo Nitobe [1905]

“It [FISC] is a kangaroo court with a rubber stamp.”

Russell Tice — Former National Security Agency analyst

“It is incredibly hard to get a FISA.”

Former FBI Director James Comey (December 15 2019)

The Horowitz Report is damning, damning, damning. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has discovered more than a dozen “significant errors” in the FISA applications the FBI needed in order to investigate members of Trump’s inner circle. Scholars, MSM journalists, prominent lawyers and top officials are shocked. Give me a break! These hypocrites have known for years that the FISA courts were kangaroo courts with a rubber stamp. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

Posted in Horowitz Report, Russiagate | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

On This Day — Adolf Eichmann Sentenced to Death by Hanging (December 15 1961) [2019]

Posted on December 15, 2019 by L

“I will leap into my grave laughing because the feeling that I have five million human beings on my conscience is for me a source of extraordinary satisfaction.”

SS officer Adolf Eichmann

Adolf Eichmann in his cell in Galami Prison in Israel as he awaits his trial.

On December 15 1961, Adolf Eichmann — one of the primary organizers of the Holocaust — was sentenced to death. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

Posted in Adolf Eichmann, MOSSAD | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Afghanistan | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Lockerbie | Tagged | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Arrow Air Flight 1285, Aviation Disasters | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in CIA, Iraq War, John Brennan, Torture | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in CIA | Tagged | Leave a comment