Animal Spies & Warriors — Operation Acoustic Kitty

Posted on July 21, 2019 by L

“They slit the cat open, put batteries in him, wired him up. The tail was used as an antenna. They made a monstrosity. They tested him, and tested him. They found he would walk off the job when he got hungry, so they put another wire in to override that. Finally, they are ready. They took it out to a park bench and said: ‘Listen to those two guys. Don’t listen to anything else – not the birds, no cat or dog – just those two guys!’ (…) They put him out of the van, and a taxi comes and runs him over. There they were, sitting in the van with all those dials, and the cat was dead.”

Victor Marchetti — Special assistant to the Deputy Director of the CIA

“The environmental and security factors in using this technique in a real foreign situation force us to conclude that for our (intelligence) purposes, it would not be practical.”

CIA Project Acoustic Kitty — Final Report

Acoustic Kitty was a CIA project launched by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology, which in the 1960s intended to use cats to spy on the Kremlin and Soviet embassies. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_TODAY Continue reading →

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Barcelona Terror Attacks — Imam was CNI Informant [UPDATE]

Posted on July 20, 2019 by L

“The imam did, in fact, stay in Belgium, but he was not known to the judicial authorities.”

Thierry Werts — Spokesman of the Office of the Public Prosecutor

Satty

November 18 2017 — Abdelbaki Es Satty — the Imam from the small Catalan town of Ripoll who headed the jihadist cell behind the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils in mid-August 2017 — was an informant for Spain’s National Intelligence Center (CNI). Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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CIA — The Language of Espionage : Lockerbie & The CIA Darkest Blunder [UPDATE]

Posted on July 19, 2019 by L

“We’re investing in foreign-language excellence as a core attribute for our officers. We’re strengthening our language training to ensure that our people are more capable and better attuned to the cultures in which they operate.”

CIA Director Gina Haspel

“[Our officers’] accomplishments demonstrate the powerful advantage gained by intelligence officers with true command, true proficiency in a foreign language. These are men and women who, because of their language ability, have an incisive understanding of what they see and hear in their assigned country.”

Former CIA Director David Petraeus presenting the Foreign Language Excellence Award, April 20, 2012.

“Language is the window through which we come to know other peoples and cultures; mastery of a second language allows you to capture the nuances that are essential to true understanding… This is not about learning something that is helpful or simply nice to have. It is crucial to CIA’s mission.”

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta addressing the Foreign Language Summit, December 8, 2010.

Working in the shadow will probably not improve your communication skills. But a recent piece posted on the CIA website demonstrates that the Agency is completely incapable of articulating even the simplest message.  In the spooky world of espionage, language skills matter greatly. Here is the story of a CIA linguistic blunder that is still haunting the Agency. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — President Clinton Fires FBI Director (July 19 1993)

Posted on July 19, 2019 by L

“We cannot have a leadership vacuum at an agency as important to the United States as the FBI. It is time that this difficult chapter in the agency’s history is brought to a close.”

President Bill Clinton — White House press conference (July 19 1993)

Sessions served as the 4th FBI director from 1987 to 1993, when he was dismissed by President Bill Clinton.

On July 19 1993, President Clinton dismissed FBI Director William Sessions. Clinton’s decision was based on a report by outgoing Attorney General William P. Barr.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Los Angeles Times : “Congress is rushing to make the CIA less accountable”

Posted on July 18, 2019 by L

“You’re exactly right. Barbara Bush perpetuated the lie that Philip Agee’s revelations led to Dick Welch’s murder. It wasn’t true, and Agee successfully sued Bush and got a retraction. IIPA was passed based on a lie.”

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou — Tweet replying to Intel Today (July 13 2019)

June 23 1982 — President Reagan tells a good Irish joke before signing the IIPA at the CIA Headquarters

The CIA is urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would make it a criminal offence to reveal the identity of CIA operatives working in the US. Critics of the draft law say it will hobble free speech and discourage whistleblowers from revealing crimes committed by the CIA. The Los Angeles Times has published an editorial on this matter. Here are my comments. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — Remembering Dr David Kelly (May 14, 1944 – July 17, 2003)

Posted on July 17, 2019 by L

“Some people are natural conspiracy theorists. I’m not. Maybe this is a weakness — an indication of a readiness to accept the official version of events and not to see evil plots lurking in the background. But after reading Miles Goslett’s masterful book about the supposed suicide of the weapons expert Dr David Kelly in 2003, I am more persuaded than ever that the authorities have not told us the whole truth about this tragic case.”

Stephen Glover — April 28 2018

“We have lots of evidence … No coroner in the land would reach a verdict of suicide as Lord Hutton did.”

Dr Stephen Frost

“After Kelly had committed suicide, one of the things that kept the whole thing going was Andrew [Gilligan]’s assurance that this was absolutely what Kelly had told him. It wasn’t until the Hutton inquiry itself that Andrew [Gilligan] finally conceded that this might not have been the case. (…) But it is sad that ten years on, we are still seeing a determination to shoot the messenger when scandals are exposed, rather than dealing with the substantive points raised.”

Dominic Ponsford (July 2013)

The death of Dr David Kelly in 2003 is one of the strangest events in recent British history. This scrupulous scientist — an expert on weapons of mass destruction — was caught up in the rush to war in Iraq. He felt under pressure from those around Tony Blair to provide evidence that Saddam Hussein was producing weapons of mass destruction. Dr Kelly seemed to have tipped into sudden depression when he was outed as a source for Andrew Gilligan. I do not know whether Kelly committed suicide or whether  he was suicided. Either way, it is rather obvious that Tony Blair is responsible for his death. Yet, it is Kelly who wrote Blair’s epitaph: “Here lies a liar.” Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — US Detonates First Nuclear Weapon (July 16 1945)

Posted on July 16, 2019 by L

“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”

Robert Oppenheimer

Mushroom cloud seconds after detonation of the Gadget.

On July 16 1945, the US detonated the world’s first nuclear weapon, a plutonium-based device, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Trinity, as the test was known, was successful. Three weeks later, a second successful detonation took place — over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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The CIA Book of Honor — Stars 82 & 83 : Christopher Glenn Mueller and William “Chief” Carlson

Posted on July 16, 2019 by L

“IN HONOR OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY”

Memorial at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia

“The bravery of these two men cannot be overstated. Chris and Chief put the lives of others ahead of their own. That is heroism defined.”

Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet (May 2004)

July 16 2019 — Currently, there are 133 stars carved into the marble of the CIA Memorial Wall: 93 are unclassified. Who are those men and women? When did they die? Why are they honoured by a star? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — The Heroes & Villains of the Montreal Protocol (July 15 2018)

Posted on July 15, 2019 by L

“The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is effective and working. Since the entry into force of this multilateral environmental agreement, there has been tremendous progress in global efforts to repair the ozone layer. As a consequence, there are now early signs that we are on the road to recovery of this precious life-support system.”

Kofi Annan — September 16 2006

“If the emissions were to persist, then we could imagine that healing of the ozone layer, that recovery date, could be delayed by a decade.”

Dr Stephen Montzka — US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — May 2018

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

Upton Sinclair — American writer (Pulitzer Prize 1943)

Data from an NOAA study shows that emissions of CFC-11 — as calculated using two different models — rose after 2012, even though production was supposedly phased out. (NOAA)

July 15 2019 — As we mark the 3 year anniversary of our blog, let us take a look at the stories we posted on July 15 2016, 2017 and 2018. And never forget. History must be lived forwards, but it can only be understood backwards.

July 15 2018 — The Montreal Protocol is an extraordinary success and a testimony of what humankind can achieve when there is a universal will to fight for its survival. According to computer simulations, the recovery of the ozone layer in the mid-latitudes and the Arctic was anticipated around 2050 — five years later than previously estimated — while in Antarctica, recovery is expected by about 2065, about 15 years later than the previous estimate.

However, according to a recent study, published in Nature on May 16 2018, the atmospheric level of trichlorofluoromethane — also known as CFC-11 — is not declining as quickly as expected. And this is bad news because CFC-11 is a ozone-depleting chemical banned by the Montreal Protocol. Scientists with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration believe that someone is releasing thousands of tons of CFC-11 in the atmosphere.  Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Two Years Ago — CIA Director Pompeo “We Must Steal Secrets With Audacity!” (July 15 2017)

Posted on July 15, 2019 by L

“I got a call from the President one afternoon back in April. He wanted to talk about some disturbing images that were coming in from Syria. I’m sure you saw many of them yourselves — scenes of innocent civilians writhing in agony, the apparent victims of a chemical weapons attack.”

CIA Director Mike Pompeo (July 11 2017)

Mike Pompeo waits to be sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

July 15 2019 — As we mark the 3 year anniversary of our blog, let us take a look at the stories we posted on July 15 2016, 2017 and 2018. And never forget. History must be lived forwards, but it can only be understood backwards.

July 15 2017 — On July 11 2017, CIA Director Mike Pompeo was the keynote speaker at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) dinner, and was afterward interviewed by Charlie Allen, a senior intelligence adviser at INSA. Director Pompeo talked about his goals for the CIA and national security threats, including ISIS, North Korea and Iran. Other topics included Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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