Havana Syndrome — Pesticide may have caused diplomats’ illness. Really? [UPDATE : Better than the Crickets’ Theory but still implausible]

Posted on October 3, 2019 by L

“We report the clinical, imaging and biochemical evidence consistent with the hypothesis of over-exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors as the cause of brain injury.”

Canadian Study (September 2019)

“It took us many months to get to this conclusion, and there is lots of research to be done still, but this is the beginning of an answer to what happened, we think. There is a lot we don’t know about how much we can expose people to these chemicals and what are toxic levels, or if the damage in the brain is reversible. But it’s not called a neurotoxin for nothing. The hint is in the name.”

Dr. Alon Friedman — Professor of neuroscience at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia

“Do the results known to me fully support that the signs / symptoms occurring in US embassy personnel were solely due to cholinergic neurotoxicity? No, not completely.”

James Giordano PhD — Departments of Neurology and Biochemistry Georgetown University — Email to Intel Today (September 20 2019)

September 25 2019 — According to a new study commissioned by the Canadian government, fumigation against mosquitoes may have caused Canadian diplomats — and family members — to fall ill. Neither the diplomats nor the federal government consider the just-released report from Dalhousie University’s Brain Repair Centre as a conclusive answer. I am sceptical. On one hand,  the Dalhousie report confirms that Canadian diplomats suffered brain injuries while posted in Havana. But in many ways, it brings more questions than answers. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — The Tlatelolco Massacre (October 2 1968)

Posted on October 2, 2019 by L

“The situation will be under complete control very shortly.”

Fernando Gutiérrez Barrios (Head of Mexican Federal Security) — Message to the CIA (September 26 1968)

“The horrific nature of the Tlatelolco killings was made worse by the fact that, as a policy, it seemed to achieved its aims – the student movement was crushed, hopelessness prevailed, and the PRI had consolidated its power. A key part of this was suppression of the idea that the massacre ever happened at all – the official death toll remained under 30.”

Felix Bazalgette  — El Grito: the film banned for revealing the truth about Mexico in 1968

51 years ago on this day, a group of student protesters were gunned down in the middle of a square in Mexico City. At the time, authorities tried to cover up the true scale of what happened, but the Mexican government has now accepted it was a state crime.

In 2002, President Vicente Fox appointed Ignacio Carrillo Prieto to prosecute those responsible for ordering the massacre. In 2006, former President Luis Echeverría was arrested on charges of genocide. However, in March 2009, the genocide charges against Echeverria were dismissed.

Despite the ruling, prosecutor Carrillo Prieto said he would continue his investigation and seek charges against Echeverria before the United Nations International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Gadhafi Target of U.S. Disinformation (October 2 1986 — Bob Woodward) [2019]

Posted on October 2, 2019 by L

“Your White House, specifically your national security adviser, constructed an operation whereby the free press in this country was going to be used to convey a false story to the world, namely that Qaddafi was planning new terrorist operations.”

New York Times (October 3 1986)

“There is a wonderful book that you might read… And the title of it is from a quote from Winston Churchill: ‘In time of war, the truth is so precious, it must be attended by a bodyguard of lies.’ ”

Secretary of State George P. Shultz (October 3 1986)

libya_bombing_reagan_meeting_14_march_1986

14 March 1986 — Reagan Strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi

On October 2 1986, the Washington Post published an extraordinary story whiten by legendary journalist Bob Woodward: “Gadhafi Target of Secret U.S. Deception Plan”. Under orders from the White House, the US Intelligence Community was planting false information in the US media.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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TRUMP WHISTLEBLOWER: CHOICE OF LAWYER RAISES SUSPICIONS

Posted on October 1, 2019 by L

“That [Mark] Zaid is involved in this case leads me to believe that the CIA whistleblower is either an idiot who has no idea what he’s gotten himself into or he’s been directed to make his ‘disclosure’.”

Former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou

“The CIA advised that on February 24, 2003, it was contacted by Mark Zaid and Roy Krieger. They told the CIA on February 24 that a client of theirs [Jeffrey Sterling] had contacted them on February 21, 2003, and that that client, that unnamed client at the time voiced his concerns about an operation that was nuclear in nature, and he threatened to go to the media.”

Ashley Hunt — FBI witness at the Jeffrey Sterling trial

“Because he just formed a new whistleblower group with John Napier Tye, there as been renewed interest in allegations an FBI Agent made during the Jeffrey Sterling case about attorney Mark Zaid. But there was actually a second detail regarding Zaid released just after the trial that has not been publicly reported: Zaid was interviewed by the FBI, twice, and was even interviewed before Sterling himself was.”

Marcy Wheeler aka Emptywheel

Mark S. Zaid is a Washington DC attorney, with a practice focus on national security law.

In a piece posted on the Consortium News website, former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou points out that it is totally odd for the CIA “whistleblower” to have hired Mark Zaid. I could not agree more.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Three Years Ago — Dead Man Diary : Sarkozy 2007 Presidential Election Campaign Funded by Gaddafi

Posted on September 30, 2019 by L

“A further 3 million euros was purportedly transferred by a son of Gaddafi before the final 2 million was sent by Abdullah Sanussi, the then head of Libyan intelligence service.”

MEDIAPART

sarkoGada

September 28 2016 –French news website ‘Mediapart’ has uncovered hard evidence documenting the funding of Sarkozy’s presidential campaign (2007) by Colonel Gaddafi. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Remembering CIA Rachel A. Dean (April 10 1981 – September 30 2006) [2019]

Posted on September 30, 2019 by L

“Rachel was a warm and compassionate young woman, and an officer of unbounded potential. We miss her still and will remember her always. She is our 87th star.”

CIA Director General Michael V. Hayden — May 21 2007

“From the start, Rachel was a hard worker, with a warm and caring personality. Her colleagues described her as the glue that held the team together. She was always eager to volunteer for an extra task.”

CIA Website

The Memorial Wall is a memorial at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service. There are 133 stars carved into the white Alabama marble wall. At least eleven represent women.

September 30 2019 — Rachel Alexandra  Dean was a support officer who joined CIA in January 2005. She died on September 30 2006 in a car accident while on temporary duty in Kazakhstan. She was 25. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Former CIA Chief of Disguise : “No Priest, No Peace Corps & No Journalist”

Posted on September 29, 2019 by L

“Peter Kornbluh of the invaluable National Security Archive has called Posada [Luis Posada Carriles] a CIA-created Frankenstein, and the historical record indicates that Kornbluh may be low-balling it. This is a guy who disguised himself as a priest to break jail in Venezuela, where he was being held in connection with the Cubana bombing [Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 ], and the first thing he did was go to El Salvador and help Ollie North run the re-supply program that eventually would become the Iran-Contra scandal.”

Thus Passed a True American-Made Terrorist — Esquire (May 23 2018)

Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chief of Disguise, takes a look at spy scenes from a variety of television shows and movies and breaks down how accurate they really are. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Two Years Ago — New York Times vs. CIA : “An Old Debate Wrapped in New Clothes” [UPDATE — Trump Whistleblower Is CIA Officer]

Posted on September 27, 2019 by L

“Because it’s a military operation, I don’t think we can completely treat the people who run it purely as intelligence operatives. It moves into a different realm in the discussion as far as I’m concerned. It’s not like you’re exposing a wide undercover operation in Afghanistan. You’re writing about something that is generally done by the military, which I think means that the cloak of secrecy that usually we all allow for the CIA is a little more complicated.”

Dean Baquet — Executive Editor of the New York Times

“As the nation’s dominant news organization, The Times deserves, and gets, intensive scrutiny for how it has handled that story. The grades, clearly, are mixed. Its role in the run-up to the Iraq War has been rightly and harshly criticized. (…) But it’s certainly a healthy sign that The Times’s top editor and some of its key reporters are not only grappling with these issues, but are willing to do so publicly. In an era in which “trust us” — on the part of both the government and the media — hasn’t worked out too well, this discussion couldn’t be more important for American democracy and for We the People.”

Margaret Sullivan — Former Public Editor of The New York Times

“The Obama administration accidentally revealed the name of the CIA’s top official in Afghanistan [Greg Vogle] in an email to thousands of journalists during the president’s surprise weekend trip to Bagram Air Field.”

WASHINGTON (AP)

September 20 2017 — Amy Fiscus, the NYT national security editor, has just explained why The Times published the name of a C.I.A. official last month. The story is obviously reigniting an old debate. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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20 Years Ago — Belgium Most Wanted Fehriye Erdal Is Arrested [September 26 1999]

Posted on September 26, 2019 by L

“Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx and Interior Minister Patrick Dewael survived a storm of criticism over the disappearance of Turkish militant Fehriye Erdal during a Parliament debate on Monday night. (…) Questioned how it was possible that Erdal was allowed to live for six years above the Brussels office of the DHKP-C — which is included on the EU and US list of banned terrorist organisations — the answer was simple: that the group was only considered a terrorist organisation in Belgium since last week following the Brugge Court ruling.”

Belgium News (March 7 2006)

Fehriye Erdal

Fehriye Erdal (born 25 February 1977) is a female political activist from Turkey. She was one of the three DHKP-C members allegedly involved in the assassination of a Turkish businessman, Özdemir Sabancı and two of his employees on 9 January 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey. Belgium is a country often associated with surrealism. The story of Fehriye Erdal is a case in point. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Stanislav Petrov Saves the World from Nuclear War (September 26 1983)

Posted on September 26, 2019 by L

“The siren howled. But I just sat there for a few seconds, staring at the big, back-lit, red screen with the word ‘LAUNCH’ on it.”

Colonel Stanislav Petrov

Stanislav Petrov, a former lieutenant colonel for the Soviet Air Defence Forces, is credited with correctly recognizing a false alarm while manning an early-warning missile defense system, thereby averting a Soviet retaliatory strike and nuclear war.

On September 26 1983 — just three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 — Stanislav Petrov was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile had been launched from the United States, followed by up to five more.

Petrov judged the reports to be a false alarm and his decision is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in large-scale nuclear war. Investigation later confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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