On This Day — UN Panel : “Julian Assange Is Arbitrarily Detained” (February 5 2016) [2019]

Posted on February 5, 2019 by L

“The UN working group on arbitrary detention has concluded that Mr Assange is arbitrarily detained. The working group’s view differs from that of the Swedish authorities. We will forward a reply to the working group tomorrow. It will be more clear tomorrow why we reject the working group’s conclusions.”

Anna Ekberg — Spokesperson for the Swedish Foreign Ministry

“The process has been going on for 18 months, the UK government has made submissions to the working group so it has accepted its authority. What signal does it send that the UK and Sweden would ignore this UN body? It would completely destroy its authority. Are they willing to set that precedent? Egypt has not accepted its findings with regard to the detention of its former president [Mohammed Morsi] – is that the standard the UK wants to hold?”

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson

On Friday February 5 2016, a UN panel published its findings which concluded that Julian Assange was “arbitrarily detained” by the UK. Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador in August 2012 and has remained in the Embassy of Ecuador in London since then. On July 27 2018, Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno said that he had begun talks with British authorities to withdraw the asylum for Assange. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Questions About the CIA? Just Ask Molly Hale!

Posted on February 4, 2019 by L

“Meet Molly Hale. She’s been the CIA’s public voice since 2002, responding to faxes, phone calls, emails, and snail mail sent to the Agency. Now she’s going digital.”

CIA Website (February 4 2019)

February 4 2019 — Today CIA Molly Hale went digital. I could not resist firing the very first question on Twitter! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Palestine National Congress Appoints Yasser Arafat Chairman of the PLO (February 4 1969)

Posted on February 4, 2019 by L

“The report contains strong evidence, in my view conclusive evidence, that there’s at least 18 times the level of polonium in Arafat’s exhumed body than there should be. It’s what killed him. Now we need to find out who was holding the gun at that time. I would point to him being given a fatal dose. I don’t think there’s any doubt at all.”

David Barclay — British forensic scientist

“I want to find out who did it and their motive for doing it.”

Zahwa Arafat — Daughter of the late PLO Chairman

Yasser Arafat was appointed leader of the PLO on February 4 1969 at the meeting of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in Cairo. Arafat continued to be PLO leader for 35 years, until his death on November 11 2004. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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DNI Dan Coats : “U.S. Faces Toxic Mix of Threats”

Posted on February 4, 2019 by L

“The United States faces a toxic myth — mix  — of threats.”

Dan Coats — Director of US National Intelligence (January 29 2019)

On January 29 2019, Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The United States faces a “toxic mix of threats,” Coats said. His last comment caught all my attention. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — Madeleine Albright Discovers Her Jewish Roots (February 4 1997)

Posted on February 4, 2019 by L

“I do believe this to be a personal issue, but since it is an object of discussion, I would just as soon have you know what I know. I started to think about it and to put pieces together. There was more and more information, and it began to make more sense to me.”

Madeleine Albright  — U.S. Secretary of State (February 4 1997)

Many journalists have credited Madeleine Albright for her “Read My Pins” diplomacy.

On February 4 1997,  U. S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she had received information that two grandparents may have been Jewish and may have perished in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Seriously? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — The Cavalese Cable Car Disaster (February 3 1998) [2019]

Posted on February 3, 2019 by L

“Many believe one of the reasons the Italian judges went after the CIA RDI [Rendition, Detention, Interrogation]  and [former CIA Officer] Sabrina De Sousa in the Abu Omar case was the USMC and USG accountability failures and arrogance.”

Mark Fallon — International Security Consultant & Author (February 4 2018)

“Get rid of the videotape. If it were mine, I would get rid of it.”

US Captain Chandler Seagraves — Electronic-warfare officers

The “Strage del Cermis” (Italian for “Massacre of Cermis”), named for the mountain ridge where the bodies were recovered, claimed the lives of eight Germans, five Belgians, three Italians, two Poles, one Dutch citizen, and one Austrian.

On February 3 1998, a U.S. Marine Corps jet on a low-level training flight sliced through steel wires supporting a cable car near the ski resort of Cavalese in the Italian Alps, sending a gondola plunging to the ground. All 20 people inside the gondola were killed. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Just a Song — “The People We Love”

Posted on February 3, 2019 by L

“This morning I’m going to tell the people I love
Oh, how they’re important to me every moment
Sweet words are better than a beautiful requiem
And tell them it’s important
And say it as long as it’s time. (…)
Find the phrases, find the time
Let them change our bitter hours into poems”

Jean-Jacques Goldman — The People We Love

“It’s much easier to hate. Anonymously, hiding all alone…”

Speaking to an enemy has never been an easy task. But surely, talking to our friends should not be difficult? And yet, in these days of Facebook posts, Twitter, and Instagram, no one seems to have any time left to talk… So go tell them how much you care! Throw a bunch of flowers around! Just a [French] song today…  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Who is MI6 Officer Pablo Miller?

Posted on February 2, 2019 by L

“During this time (1999) Sergei Skripal [a senior Russian intelligence officer] was recruited by Pablo Miller, head of British intelligence in Tallinn working under the cover of first secretary of the British embassy in Estonia.”

Itar-Tass news agency — March 2000

Pablo Miller — aka Antonio Alvarez de Hidalgo — was an MI6 agent. He worked as first secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours on 13 June 2015 for service to British foreign policy.

Today, Pablo Miller is at the center of three major stories: The Skripals’ poisoning in Salisbury, the Steele dossier against Donald Trump and the very murky Integrity Initiative organization.

Who is really Pablo Miller? I know that much. He was my neighbor in Bogotá, Colombia, from 2006 to 2009. Dangerous place… What was he doing there? Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Russia Intelligence Chiefs Visit Washington to Meet American Spooks

Posted on February 2, 2019 by L

“Sergey Naryshkin was here [in the United States]. He held consultations with his counterparts. Joint struggle against terrorism was discussed. We maintained contact in 2014 during the Sochi Olympics. Of course, we consider joint work this year, during the FIFA World Cup finals.”

Anatoly Antonov — Russian ambassador in Washington

“We periodically meet with our Russian intelligence counterparts for the same reason our predecessors did — to keep Americans safe. (…) When those meetings take place, you and the American people should rest assured that we cover very difficult subjects in which American and Russian interests do not align. Neither side is bashful about raising concerns. We vigorously defend America in these encounters and pull no punches — we never will.”

CIA Director Mike Pompeo — Letter  to Senator Charles E. Schumer (February 1 2018)

February 2 2018 — The director of Russia’s foreign intelligence SVR, Sergey Naryshkin, and the director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, have visited the United States last week for consultations with their US counterparts to discuss counter-terrorism issues. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Two Years Ago — Gina Haspel Selected to be Deputy Director of CIA

Posted on February 2, 2019 by L

“Gina is an exemplary intelligence officer and a devoted patriot who brings more than 30 years of Agency experience to the job. She is also a proven leader with an uncanny ability to get things done and to inspire those around her. We are fortunate that someone of her intellect, skill, and experience will be our Deputy Director. I know she will do an outstanding job, and I look forward to working with her closely in the years ahead.”

Mike Pompeo — CIA Director

“I am especially concerned by reports that this individual [Gina Haspel] was involved in the unauthorized destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, which documented the CIA’s use of torture against two CIA detainees. My colleagues Senators Wyden and Heinrich have stated that classified information details why the newly appointed Deputy Director is ‘unsuitable’ for the position and have requested that this information be declassified. I join their request.”

US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (February 8 2017)

Gina Cheri Haspel (born October 1 1956) is an American intelligence officer. She joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1985. In February 2017 she was appointed by President Donald Trump as Deputy Director of the CIA. She is the “first female career CIA officer” to receive that appointment, although she is the second woman, as Avril Haines had been appointed by Barack Obama in 2013. Haspel ran a “black site” CIA prison located in Thailand in 2002.

February 2 2017 — Gina Haspel is the first female career CIA officer to be named deputy director. Haspel has an extensive overseas experience, including several stints as chief of station at outposts abroad. In Washington, she has held several top senior leadership positions. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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