“Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.’’
Pope Francis — Address to the US Congress (2015)
“The very thoughts of a person like me are crimes against the state. All I have to do is think, and immediately I become guilty.”
Father Louis Merton — A Signed Confession of Crimes against the State
Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood and given the name Father Louis. In the years since his death, Merton has been the subject of several biographies. Fifty years later, his death remains mysterious. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAYContinue reading →
“The risks at stake are profound and represent a fundamental threat to our sovereignty. They should be a concern to all those who share democratic values.”
Alex Younger – MI6 Head
MI6 Director Alex Younger
December 9 2016 — Alex Younger, the new head of MI6 , says that the scale of the terrorism threat to the UK is unprecedented. UK intelligence and security services have disrupted 12 terrorist plots since June 2013. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAYContinue reading →
“ The Bundesnachrichtendienst is the sole foreign intelligence service of the Federal Republic of Germany. As such it reports directly to the Federal Chancellery.
The mission of the Bundesnachrichtendienst is to provide the Federal Government with fast and comprehensive information. Since nothing goes out-of-date quite as fast as up-to-date information.
The security policy parameters within which the Bundesnachrichtendienst operates are constantly changing. We live in a multipolar world. Globalization intensifies mutual dependencies worldwide. Present-day crises and conflicts are often highly dynamic and require rapid action from policymakers. New conflict types and conflict scenarios dominate the international arena.”
Scope of Work — BND Official website (2017)
Bruno Kahl — BND President
The BND (German: Bundesnachrichtendienst) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Chancellor’s Office. Its headquarters are in Pullach near Munich, and Berlin (planned to be centralised in Berlin by 2016, with about 4,000 people). The Bundesnachrichtendienst has a flat management hierarchy. The President and the Vice Presidents are supported by an executive group. The directorates and departments are composed of working units and teams. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_TodayContinue reading →
“Scientists determined that it was part of the bomb’s timing device and traced it to its manufacturer – a Swiss company that had sold it to a high-level Libyan intelligence official.”
William Barr, US acting Attorney General — US accuses Libyans of Lockerbie bombing (November 14 1991)
The Lockerbie trial is the most disgraceful miscarriage of justice in Scotland for 100 years. Every lawyer who has read the judgment says ‘this is nonsense’. It is nonsense.”
Robert Black QC FRSE – Professor Emeritus of Scots Law in the University of Edinburgh and best known as the “Architect of the Lockerbie Trial”
“I regard the Lockerbie verdict against Megrahi as a ‘Grand Monument to Human Stupidity’. Indeed, the written opinion of the Lockerbie judges is a remarkable document that claims an ‘honoured place in the history of British miscarriages of justice.’ If the [SCCRC] Commission accepts the application for a full review, the infamous Zeist verdict doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving.”
INTEL TODAY — July 5 2017
December 7 2018 — Former US Attorney General William Barr is President Trump’s leading candidate to replace former AG Jeff Sessions as head of the Justice Department – a choice which may come within days according to the Washington Post. You got to be fucking kidding me? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAYContinue reading →
“When the time comes, I would like to be able to have that stroke of lucidity which would permit me to ask forgiveness of God and of my brothers in humanity, forgiving wholeheartedly, at the same time, whoever my killer might be. May we meet each other again, happy thieves, in paradise, should it please God.”
French Father Christian de Chergé
On Friday January 26 2018, Pope Francis received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Pope Francis allowed the Congregation to enact the decrees of beatification of the 19 martyrs of Algeria, including the seven monks of Tibhirine. The circumstances of their kidnapping and death remain controversial. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_TodayContinue reading →
“What we’ve said to the Cubans is: Small island. You’ve got a sophisticated intelligence apparatus. You probably know who’s doing it. You can stop it. It’s as simple as that.”
Rex Tillerson — US Secretary of State (December 6 2017)
December 8 2016 — US officials briefed on the investigation no longer use the term “sonic attack”. The weird noises heard by the victims are believed to be a consequence and not the cause of this suspected attack on US diplomats — actually spies — by a foreign government. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAYContinue reading →
“We had operational successes, most importantly regarding Pretoria’s nuclear capability. My sources collectively provided incontrovertible evidence that the apartheid government had in fact tested a nuclear bomb in the South Atlantic in 1979, and that they had developed a delivery system with assistance from the Israelis.”
CIA clandestine service officer Tyler Drumheller
“A panel of scientists carefully selected by the Carter White House produced a report in 1980 that did not rule out a test, but said the probability of its being something other than a test was more likely. That conclusion is now derided by nearly all independent observers who have studied and reported on the issue.”
Leonard Weiss — Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (August 3 2018)
U.S. Vela satellite
December 8, 2016 — A CIA-sponsored panel of well-respected scientists concluded that a mysterious flash detected by a U.S. Vela satellite over the South Atlantic on the night of September 22 1979 was likely a nuclear test, according to a contemporaneous report published today for the first time by the National Security Archive and the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAYContinue reading →
“Aviation investigations are replete with accident scenarios that couldn’t happen. And given the lack of bomb evidence so far, neither scenario has been ruled out, officials said. First is the possibility that the doomed plane’s front section, which has a history of structural fatigue cracks and must undergo regular inspections, simply unzipped from the rest of the plane as weakened structural frames gave way.”
TWA 800 — Washington Post (August 1 1996)
December 8 2018 — Pan Am Flight 214 was a scheduled flight of Pan American World Airways from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Baltimore, Maryland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On December 8, 1963, the Boeing 707 serving the flight crashed near Elkton, Maryland, while en route from Baltimore to Philadelphia, after being hit by lightning, killing all 81 on board. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAYContinue reading →
“Unlike the Cold War, it’s about who is going to be the global leader – first with the biggest economy, and out of that will come political influence. But then secondarily – who is the most innovative economy and creating the industries of the future. Ultimately it’s an economic and technological competition.”
Michael Vickers — Former Head of Pentagon Intelligence (November 21 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
“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
November 30 2018 — In their first report published since 2011, the VSSE — Belgian intelligence and security agency — raises the issue of Chinese espionage. Better late than never! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAYContinue reading →
“There is no reasonable basis in the trial court’s judgment for its conclusion that the purchase of the items [clothes that were found in the wreckage of the plane] from Mary’s House [in Malta] took place on 7 December 1988.”
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
“Al-Megrahi was released from prison in 2009 and sent back to Libya on compassionate grounds because of advancing cancer. Public outrage was sparked. Al-Megrahi lived with his cancer for a few years (…) One cannot help but wonder whether the outrage over his release might be tempered if those angry individuals were to seriously examine the suspicious eyewitness testimony that led to Al-Megrahi’s conviction in the first place. My examination has led me to seriously wonder: Is the Lockerbie bomber still out here?”
Professor Elizabeth F. Loftus — Memory (2013)
“Tony Gauci did not spontaneously mention the Christmas lights in his first statement. It is possible that his statement in court was influenced by the officers suggestion during subsequent questioning that the lights may have been lit. Based on Tony Gauci’s response when first questioned about the Christmas lights, his account would support the 23rd November. In dating the memory I think the weather records are far more important.”
Psychology Professor Tim Valentine (Email to Intel Today)
Q: Do you remember what the weather was like when the man came to the shop?
A: When he came by… It wasn’t raining. But then it started dripping, not very much. It was not raining heavily. It was simply — it was simply dripping, but as a matter of fact, he did take an umbrella…
Q: Did he?
A: He bought an umbrella.
The Lockerbie Trial Transcripts — Page 4741
Tony Gauci — Lord Fraser described the Maltese shopkeeper whose testimony was central in securing a conviction against Abdelbasset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, as “not quite the full shilling” and “an apple short of a picnic”. In 2008 the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC Ref 23:19) found that US$2 million had been paid to Tony Gauci and US$1 million to Paul Gauci under the US Department of Justice “Rewards for Justice” programme.
The trial court’s judgment concluded that the purchase of the items [clothes that were found in the wreckage of the plane] from Mary’s House [in Malta] took place on December 7 1988. The date was crucial as Megrahi is known to have been on the island that day. There is one problem. That date is obviously wrong!
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