Two Years Ago — From Watergate to… GoldenGate?

Posted on January 12, 2019 by L

“When spies get angry, they call reporters and arrange discreet chats in parking garages. The last president who entered the Oval Office with this much dislike and distrust of the IC was Richard Nixon—and we know how that worked out for him.”

John R. Schindler — Former NSA and professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College

“I can tell you right now Brennan is an asshole. I have known all these people for years. Clapper is — sort of — a better guy but not a rocket scientist. The NSA guys are fucking morons. You know the trouble with all of those guys is that the only way they are going to make it to a board, or two, and get hired (…) to deliver some fat cat contracts is if Hillary stayed in.”

Seymour Hersh [Phone interview]

25ep

January 12 2017 — A classified document presented last week to President Obama and President-elect Trump included allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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5G — Will European Countries Ban Huawei? [UPDATE : Poland arrests Huawei worker on allegations of spying for China]

Posted on January 12, 2019 by L

“Perhaps, the most puzzling part of the [Belgian Intelligence Services] report is what it does not mention. Although most countries are extremely concerned about China investments in their Telecom infrastructure, the Belgian report is silent on this issue. Why, on earth, why?”

Intel Today – November 30 2018

“Given the massive cybersecurity and national security risks, the only responsible decision is for Berlin to follow the Australian, New Zealand, and U.S. lead and ban Chinese providers from the German 5G network. In doing so, Europe’s strongest economy would send a crucial signal to the rest of the European Union members that are grappling with the same decision.”

Thorsten Benner — Director of the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin (December 9 2018)

“The UK needs to take decision on the extent to which we are going to be comfortable with Chinese ownership of these technologies.”

MI6 chief Alex Younger (December 3 2018)

“Huawei shares with the Chinese state intimate and extensive knowledge of the foreign telecommunications systems it is involved with.”

General Michael Hayden — Former head of the U.S. National Security Agency

December 5 2018 — The United States, Australia and New Zealand have already blocked Huawei from building their new 5G networks on security grounds. On Wednesday (Dec. 5), Britain’s BT Group said it would rip Huawei equipment from its core telecom network. Canada is also likely to ban Huawei.

On Friday (Dec. 7), it was reported that Japan is expected to ban government use of products made by Huawei and ZTE over cybersecurity concerns.

So, why on earth has Europe been silent on this critical issue for so long? What are they waiting for? I am afraid that it will all depend on Germany’s decision. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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On This Day — US Surgeon General Report Links Tobacco and Cancer (January 11 1964)

Posted on January 11, 2019 by L

“We don’t smoke that shit. We just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and stupid.”

R.J. Reynolds executive’s reply when asked why he didn’t smoke according to Dave Goerlitz, lead Winston model for seven years for R.J. Reynolds. [1] 

“Global cigarette use seems to have peaked at about 6 trillion cigarettes sometime after the turn of the new millennium, but the deadly effects of this epidemic will still be felt for decades — even if global use continues to decline. Only about 100 million people died from smoking in the 20th century, whereas several times that are likely to die in the present century, even if current rates of smoking fall dramatically.”

Robert N. Proctor — History Department, Stanford University

“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)

On January 11 1964, a U.S. surgeon general’s report unequivocally linked tobacco products and lung cancer. Although scientists had established the link two decades earlier, the cigarette lobby worked hard to first dismiss and later downplay the evidence. Last year, scientists at the National Toxicology Program have discovered and reported clear evidence linking cellphone to cancer. How long will it take for governments to act responsibly? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Germany — BfV to enlarge “Department Two” by 50 percent in 2019

Posted on January 11, 2019 by L

“On numbers, I won’t comment. They are secret. But my goal for the department on right-wing extremism is that it approach the size of our largest department that works on Islamist terrorism.”

Thomas Haldenwang — President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt fur Verfassungsschutz)

Thomas Haldenwang — President of the BfV

Thomas Haldenwang, the new head of the Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency — has revealed that more resources will be allocated to Department II which is charged with the surveillance of right-wing extremists. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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TOP INTEL TODAY 2018 STORIES — #1 : “Exclusive Q&A with Carla Ortiz from Ghouta, Syria”

Posted on January 11, 2019 by L

“I can say the following very confidently. Many officials in our Western governments have really no knowledge of the truth! This is what is so scary. Our decision-makers have been deceived either by misinformation or lies provided by their Intelligence Agencies regarding this conflict.”

Carla Ortiz — Interview with Intel Today (May 23 2018)

Carla Ortiz in Douma (Ghouta), Syria — May 2018

January 11 2019 —  Today, we end our review of the top 10 stories that the readers of INTEL TODAY have consulted the most in 2018. These stories have attracted more than hundred thousand visitors and reached almost every single country on earth! Most of our visitors come from the Five Eyes countries — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States — Hong Kong (China), as well as Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands France, and … Belgium; surely a reminder that Brussels in now regarded as a city of spies due to its alleged highest density of spooks anywhere in the world.  Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Two Years Ago — Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Takes Many Secrets to His Grave

Posted on January 10, 2019 by L

“With what is happening in the U.S. and the possible instability that is going to come in U.S. policy you needed a voice of reason and pragmatism that had some heft to it. He was that voice. Losing that voice is going to make it more likely that any mishap or miscalculation by the Trump team will beget a more unreasonable, more radical, more potentially destructive response by the Iranian regime.”

Abbas Milani — Director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University

“Several commentators have interpreted the (1988) prison massacres as part of the power struggle by Rafsanjani’s faction to remove Montazeri as successor to the dying Khomeini. It is alleged they urged the killings in the knowledge that the more humane heir-apparent would earn the Supreme Leader’s wrath by objecting. This would make Rafsanjani a prime suspect.”

Geoffrey Robertson QC

epa03610273 Iran's former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani attends the annual meeting of the Experts Assembly in Tehran, Iran, 05 March 2013. The assembly is the highest clergy body in the country which is even authorized to supervise the activities of the country's supreme leadership. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Iran’s former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

January 10 2017 — Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died on Sunday (January 8 2017) at the age of 82. A U.S. State Department official described Rafsanjani ‎as a “prominent figure” throughout the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran. “We send our condolences to his family and loved ones,” the official said in a statement. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Top 10 CIA Moments of 2018 — And The Top Blunder is…

Posted on January 10, 2019 by L

“There have been only two kinds of CIA secret operations: the ones that are widely known to have failed—usually because of almost unbelievably crude errors—and the ones that are not yet widely known to have failed.”

Edward Luttwak

The CIA has posted a short video of the “Top 10 CIA Moments of 2018”.  The video is totally boring and offers strictly zero information. This being said, one would at least conclude that the boys, and girls, from Langley are on safe ground. One would be wrong. They managed to blunder big time once again! Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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TOP INTEL TODAY 2018 STORIES — #2 : “WORMWOOD — Seymour Hersh : Frank Olson was a man profoundly distressed about what he was learning… And he was dangerous.”

Posted on January 10, 2019 by L

“Morris makes a persuasive case that there’s sinister stuff to be unraveled here, and that the CIA is the only organization that can shed light on its former actions. As Harry Huge, one of the Olson family lawyers, notes in a blithely shocking observation, one of the biggest injustices in the U.S. is that you can only sue the government for negligent death, not murder. Frank Olson’s death is clearly just one piece of a puzzle that stretches much, much further into the murkiness of history.”

Wormwood: Obsession, Lies, and a CIA Coverup — The Atlantic

“But don’t you know how wonderful it is to not have an ending? I think you’re really wrong to want this pretty little thing bowed up and tied. It’s wonderful to not have an ending, it is. (…) It is a terrible story.”

American Journalist Seymour Hersh

“Hersh is right about one thing: The [Frank] Olson case is a ‘win’ for the CIA, because they didn’t want to tell anyone what happened, and now they won’t have to. But they can’t stop Eric [Olson] from spiraling ever downward in his quest. After a certain point, obsession becomes the drug.”

Wormwood Finale Recap: Remember Me — Andrew Lapin

January 10 2019 —  We continue our review of the top 10 stories that the readers of INTEL TODAY have consulted the most in 2018. These stories have attracted more than hundred thousand visitors and reached almost every single country on earth! Most of our visitors come from the Five Eyes countries — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States — Hong Kong (China), as well as Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands France, and … Belgium; surely a reminder that Brussels in now regarded as a city of spies due to its alleged highest density of spooks anywhere in the world. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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5G — Belgian Politicians Welcome Chinese Spies… And Trash Environmental Laws

Posted on January 9, 2019 by L

“Perhaps, the most puzzling part of the Belgian Intelligence Services report is what it does not mention. Although most countries are extremely concerned about China investments in their Telecom infrastructure, the Belgian report is silent on this issue. Why, on earth, why?”

Intel Today – December 3 2018

“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)

The three wise monkeys are a pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.  In the Western world, the phrase is often used to refer to those who deal with impropriety by turning a blind eye.

January 9 2019 — The head of Belgian telecoms operator Proximus was summoned on Wednesday morning to a meeting with Prime Minister Charles Michel and members of his government.  Trading in Proximus shares was suspended today at the opening until the company releases a statement. What is going on? Follow us on TWITTER: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Pompeo, Tehran and a Mysterious Murder in the Netherlands [UPDATE — Intel Today Analysis Confirmed]

Posted on January 9, 2019 by L

“Today, the Iranian Quds Force conducts covert assassination operations in the heart of Europe.”

Mike Pompeo — US Secretary of State (May 21 2018)

“It’s unlikely to be true. There is no evidence to back the claim that currently they are carrying out such operations in Europe.”

Iraj Mesdaghi — Sweden-based Iranian political activist

“I suspect that the murder of Mohammad Reza Kolahi is the background of Pompeo’s surprising allegation.”

Intel Today (June 28 2018)

Mohammad Reza Kolahi Samadi

June 28 2018 — Mike Pompeo’s claim that the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is carrying out “assassination operations in the heart of Europe” [See video below at the 9:28 mark] has bewildered security experts and Iranian exiles, who are unaware of any evidence. Of course, Pompeo could be lying as he did repeatedly when he was CIA Director. But, in this case, we do not even know what story he has been spinning? Explanation. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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