One Year Ago — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo : “US Government Determined to Change the Behavior of Ayatollah Khomeini”

Posted on November 6, 2019 by L

“Today, Secretary Mnuchin and I will discuss one of the many lines of effort to achieve these fundamental changes in the Iranian regime’s behavior as directed by the President. While important, these economic sanctions are just a part of the U.S. Government’s total effort to change the behavior of the Ayatollah Khomeini, Qasem Soleimani, and the Iranian regime.”

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo (November 2 2018)

“Lots of luck with that.”

General Michael Hayden — Former NSA & CIA Director (Tweet – November 2 2018)

On November 2 2018, the Trump administration held a briefing on reimposing sanctions on Iran. Secretary of State Pompeo said that the sanctions are “just a part of the U.S. Government’s total effort to change the behavior of the Ayatollah Khomeini.” Let us just say that the former Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran is simply making no bones about the U.S. sanctions. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Two Years Ago — Gordon Brown : “UK Misled Over Iraqi WMDs”

Posted on November 6, 2019 by L

“Given that Iraq had no usable chemical, biological or nuclear weapons that it could deploy and was not about to attack the coalition, then two tests of a just war were not met: war could not be justified.”

Gordon Brown — Former UK Prime Minister

“Propaganda and deception is not, it would appear, the sole preserve of non-western states; it is alive and well in western democracies.”

Piers Robinson (The Guardian — August 2016)

Gordon Brown

Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown

November 5 2017 — Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote that US intelligence — which challenged the extent of Iraq’s WMD stockpile — was not shared with the UK before it joined the Iraq War. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Three Years Ago — Why the CIA & MI6 Love to Hate Putin

Posted on November 6, 2019 by L

“With the majority vote for Brexit against the strong preference of Scotland and Northern Ireland for remain, we have shown ourselves quite capable of inflicting potentially fatal harm to our national stability all by ourselves. Why would we need Russia to do it for us?”

The Guardian — 1st November 2016

“Putin has become a symbol of national sovereignty in its battle with globalism. That turns out to be the big battle of our times. As our last election [2016] shows, that’s true even here [in the US].”

Christopher Caldwell

“We have been here in St. Petersburg for about a week now. And virtually every person we have met on the street says what they respect about you is they feel that you have returned dignity to Russia, that you’ve returned Russia to a place of respect. You’ve been in the leadership of this country for 17 years now. Has it taken any sort of personal toll on you?”

Megyn Kelly — Interview with President Vladimir Putin

November 6 2016 — Here is a simple question: Why on earth are Western Intelligence Agencies — and their servile media — spending so much time and energy to depict Russian President Vladimir Putin as an evil monster? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Robert Gates Becomes 15th CIA Director (November 6 1991) [Test your “Spy Knowledge” with our 2019 CIA Directors Quiz!]

Posted on November 6, 2019 by L

“If Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us anything in recent history, it is the unpredictability of war and that these things are easier to get into than to get out of.”

Former CIA Director Robert Gates

cia-logo-floor

November 6 2019 — Robert Gates was nominated to become the Director of Central Intelligence (head of the CIA) in early 1987. He withdrew his name after it became clear the Senate would reject the nomination due to controversy about his role in the Iran-Contra affair. Gates was nominated again for the position by President George H. W. Bush on May 14, 1991. This time, he was confirmed by the Senate on November 5, and sworn in on November 6 1991.

How much do you know about spy agencies? Take this quiz to find out your knowledge of the CIA Directors. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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KRYPTOS Week 2019 — The Solution of Section II

Posted on November 5, 2019 by L

“And having thus chosen our course, without guile, and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts.”

Abraham Lincoln — Address to congress (July 4th, 1861)

Kryptos is a sculpture by the American artist Jim Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia. Of the four parts of the message, the first three have been solved. The last part of the message remains as one of the most famous unsolved code in the world.

The ciphertext on the left-hand side of the sculpture (as seen from the courtyard) of the main sculpture contains 869 characters in total (865 letters and 4 question marks). The right-hand side of the sculpture comprises a keyed Vigenère encryption tableau, consisting of 867 letters. In our last post about KRYPTOS, we learned how to break a Vigenère code. In this post, we finish the job regarding the entire section II. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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40 Years Ago — Ayatollah Khomeini declares US “The Great Satan” (November 5 1979)

Posted on November 5, 2019 by L

“In this revolution, the Great Satan is America that gathers around other devils blatantly… If we see the US, this great Satan, raising chain and bringing the devils together around him, it is because the US grip over our country and our resources curtailed.”

Ayatollah Khomeini (November 5 1979)

In a speech delivered on November 5 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini used the term “Great satan” to describe the United States. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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KRYPTOS Week 2019 — How to Break a Vigenère Code

Posted on November 4, 2019 by L

“I genuinely enjoyed working on the Kryptos ciphers. Professional cryptographers almost certainly could have broken these codes much faster, and would have used superior methods. But I doubt that they would have derived as much satisfaction as I have. I didn’t use any computers to decrypt the Kryptos codes–just pencil and paper, some common sense, and a lot of perseverance. Using a computer would have cheated me out of the feeling of accomplishment that I obtained, because I have found that often in life the journey itself can be more gratifying than arriving at the final destination. Mountains are not climbed nor marathons run merely to reach a geographical location–there are much easier ways to accomplish these feats–but as personal and spiritual challenges to the participants.

When confronted with a puzzle or problem, we sometimes can lose sight of the fact that we have issued a challenge to ourselves–not to our tools. And before we automatically reach for our computers, we sometimes need to remember that we already possess the most essential and powerful problem solving tool within our own minds.”

David Stein — CIA Analyst (Directorate of Intelligence)

Kryptos is a sculpture by the American artist Jim Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia. Of the four parts of the message, the first three have been solved. The last part of the message remains as one of the most famous unsolved code in the world.

The ciphertext on the left-hand side of the sculpture (as seen from the courtyard) of the main sculpture contains 869 characters in total (865 letters and 4 question marks). The right-hand side of the sculpture comprises a keyed Vigenère encryption tableau, consisting of 867 letters. Today, we will learn how to break the so-called section II of this ciphertext. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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40 Years Ago — Iranian students storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran (November 4 1979)

Posted on November 4, 2019 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

“During my research, I spoke to several of the former hostages. I was deeply moved by the response of one in particular. After listening to the evidence, he said simply: ‘I don’t want to believe it. It’s too painful to think about it.’ Painful it is. But the rest of us are obliged to think about it. Hard.”

Gary Sick — Retired Naval Captain who served on Ford’s, Carter’s, and Reagan’s National Security Council

November 4 1979 — Iranian students storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran

On November 4 1979, a group of Iranian college students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days. The hostages were released just minutes after American President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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KRYPTOS Week 2019 — Introduction : Sculpture Dedication Ceremony at the CIA (November 3 1990)

Posted on November 3, 2019 by L

“Maybe you’re mistaken–maybe this first part of the Kryptos code is really not a polyalphabetic Vigenere Tableau after all–maybe it’s a different type of code entirely. Or maybe it is a Vigenere code, but it’s been double or triple encoded–or maybe it was encoded backwards or maybe …”

David Stein — CIA analyst (Directorate of Intelligence)

November 3 2019 — Kryptos is a sculpture by the American artist Jim Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia. Of the four parts of the message, the first three have been solved. The last part of the message remains as one of the most famous unsolved code in the world. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — The Iran – Contra Scandal (November 3, 1986) [2019]

Posted on November 3, 2019 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

On November 3 1986, the Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa exposed the Iran–Contra scandal. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. They hoped, thereby, to fund the Contras in Nicaragua while at the same time negotiating the release of several U.S. hostages. Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. This affair is usually regarded as one of the most important scandals in US modern history.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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