CIA Director Nominee — “As the Haspel Nomination Looms, the World Is Watching”

Posted on April 24, 2018 by L

“In the interest of transparency, I must tell you that I know Gina Haspel and Jose Rodriguez personally. I don’t like them and they don’t like me. Indeed, after my conviction for blowing the whistle on the CIA’s torture program, and three or four days before I left for prison, Rodriguez tweeted at me. ‘Don’t drop the soap,’ he said, showing the kindness, elegance, and class for which he was known in the Agency. I responded, ‘Jose, I’m on the right side of history and you are not.’ That pretty much has defined our relationship over the long term.”

Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou

John Kiriakou is a former CIA counterterrorism officer and a former senior investigator with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. John became the sixth whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act – a law designed to punish spies. He served 23 months in prison as a result of his attempts to oppose the Bush administration’s torture program. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Lockerbie & Pan Am 103 : The Truth at Last?

Posted on April 24, 2018 by L

“After writing about the “ravers” who regularly turn up at lectures to claim that President Bush/the CIA/the Pentagon/Mossad etc perpetrated the crimes against humanity of 11 September, I received a letter this week from Marion Irvine, who feared that members of her family run the risk of being just such “ravers” and “voices heard in the wilderness”.

Far from it. For Mrs Irvine was writing about Lockerbie, and, like her, I believe there are many dark and sinister corners to this atrocity. I urge anyone who is aware of government lies over Flight 103 to come forward.”

Robert Fisk

Mandela visiting Megrahi — aka the ‘Lockerbie bomber’ — in prison. Many thanks to my friend John Ashston who took the picture.

April 24 2017 — The family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi — the only person ever convicted for the Lockerbie bombing — will launch a bid to appeal against his conviction. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Salisbury Incident — Alexander Shulgin Statement at the OPCW

Posted on April 24, 2018 by L

“The lie always fears the truth, for the truth is the most terrifying weapon against lies. Let us, therefore, turn to the naked facts which demonstrate how insolently and clumsily the British government is disseminating the insinuations regarding the Skripal case.”

Alexander Shulgin — Head of Russian delegation at the OPCW

Alexander Shulgin is ambassador to the Netherlands and Russia’s representative at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

The following is the unofficial translation of the statement made by Alexander Shulgin, the head of Russian delegation at the OPCW, at that body’s April 18 2018 Executive Council meeting at the Hague.   The text was provided by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Netherlands. Follow us on twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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109 Military Leaders Protest Gina Haspel Nomination as CIA Director

Posted on April 23, 2018 by L

“If the record shows that Ms. Haspel played any role in carrying out, supervising, or directing any form of torture or detainee abuse, or the destruction of evidence relating to these activities, we urge you to reject her nomination.”

Military Leaders Letter to US Senate (April 23 2018)

“Our group does not dispute Ms. Haspel’s competence and experience as a CIA operative. But when the moment came to make the hard choice, the right choice, the choice that required more courage and strength of character, Ms. Haspel failed.”

General Charles C. Krulak — Former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps

“Gina [Haspel] has her defenders. Some on the left. Some who are very reputable people. They depict her as being very competent, thorough, and professional. But no one ever accused the Nazis of being sloppy, inept, and amateurish. They were accused of war crimes.”

Larry Beinhart

April 23 2018 — 109 retired military officers representing the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard have sent a letter to the US Senators expressing concern over the nomination of Gina Haspel as CIA director. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Norway — Former Border Inspector Behind Bars in Moscow on Charges of Espionage (UPDATE)

Posted on April 23, 2018 by L

“Frode must come home, and Norwegian authorities must do what they can to get him out. It is not a good signal when such a positive and distinguished bridge-builder like Frode is arrested, it is not a good sign.”

Kirkenes town Mayor Rune Rafaelsen

“Once again we see the effects of big politics hitting us here locally, and we demand an end to that!”

Father Torbjørn Brox Webber

“I would not characterise the case as a global attack on bilateral relations. We have a relationship with Norway which develops in different areas. These kind of things happen, and it is uncomfortable, [but] our national legislation provides for adequate measures.”

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (December 28 2017)

February 6 2018 — Frode Berg, a 62 retired border inspector, was arrested by Russian security service agents in downtown Moscow on December 5th 2017. He is jailed  in isolation at the high-security Lefortovo prison.

On February 2, the Lefortovo District Court in Moscow  ordered that Frode Berg should remain in jail until May 5 2018.

Berg was allegedly caught receiving classified material about the Russian Navy that he is accused of planning to hand over to Norwegian and U.S. intelligence agencies. He denies the charges.

Update (April 23 2018) — Berg broke his silence and now claims that he was duped into working for Norway’s national intelligence agency. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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CIA Director Nominee Gina Haspel — Agency Spin Doctors Working Round-The-Clock

Posted on April 23, 2018 by L

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

William Shakespeare

“It’s completely unacceptable for the CIA to declassify only material that’s favorable to Gina Haspel, while at the same time stonewalling our efforts to declassify all documents related her involvement in the torture program. The CIA has not been forthcoming, and Senators Wyden, Heinrich and I have again asked for declassification of relevant documents. All told there have been at least five requests for more information, but so far none has been provided. Senators and the public need to know more about her record.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein (April 20 2018)

“They are basically running a full-on propaganda campaign but withholding the information that the American people need to be able to make an informed decision about this nominee’s fitness for the job.”

US Senator Martin Heinrich

“Try to get a job in a Fortune 500 company when you’re known to have destroyed evidence. We can’t have a public or private sector where we just say ‘Well, I was just following orders.’ Golly day! Do you want that person to be director of the CIA?”

General Charles Krulak — Retired Marine Corps commandant & former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

“Nothing but love for my friends at CIA, but this campaign by an intel service to forcefully push for the confirmation of its own (seemingly qualified) political nominee is beyond strange. Will they similarly amplify bad news stories & internal dissent? ”

Josh Campbell — Former FBI Agent (April 22 2018)

Gina Haspel — the current Deputy Director of the CIA and de facto its ‘acting’ Director — is using the Agency staff and resources to lie about her past in order to save a very criticized nomination. Ignore for a moment the role she played in the CIA torture program and her decision to destroy the incriminating evidence. Just ask yourself a simple question. Should this ‘public servant’ be allowed to use public funds to promote her own image? This propaganda campaign run by the CIA on taxpayers’ funds to promote a political nominee is wholly inappropriate. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — CIA : “Climatological Research as it Pertains to Intelligence Problems”

Posted on April 22, 2018 by L

“For 250 years most of the world suffered major economic and political unrest which could be directly or indirectly attributed to the climate of the neo-boreal era. Another Little Ice Age would cause hundreds of millions of deaths around the world and cause massive social unrest.”

CIA REPORT 1974

“I was horrified by what I found. Global warming really has become a new religion. Because you cannot discuss it. It’s not proper. It is like the Catholic Church.”

Dr Ivar Giaever — 1973 Physics Nobel Prize (2015 Mainau Nobel Conference)

April 22 2017 — A Central Intelligence Agency report from 1974 warned Earth’s “climate is returning to that of the neo-boreal era… an era of drought, famine, and political unrest in the western world.” Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Salisbury Incident — 101 Questions That Journalists Should be Asking About the Skripal Case

Posted on April 22, 2018 by L

“If there are any journalists with integrity and inquisitive minds still living in this country, I would be grateful if they could begin doing their job and research the answers to these sorts of questions by asking the appropriate people and authorities.”

Rob Slane

“UK senior civil servants — both in the FCO and Home Office — remain sceptical of the Kremlin guilt in the Skripal case. Indeed, cui bono fuisset?”

Intel Today (April 19 2018)

British journalist Rob Slane has compiled four lists of questions regarding the Salisbury incident. With his kind permission, I repost these questions on this blog. Perhaps, we can pull “a Pompeo”? Just kidding… (In the aftermath of the Khan Shaykhun tragedy, the CIA Director claims that he assembled a ‘crack team’ of 200 experts and solved the case in 24 hours.)

While Theresa May has blamed the Kremlin for the attack, others — including Alex Salmond and Jeremy Corbyn — have called for the UK Government to provide some evidence that Vladimir Putin’s regime is behind the poisoning of the Skripals. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — US to seek No-Fly Zone West of the Euphrates

Posted on April 21, 2018 by L

“I see almost nothing positive that can come from implementing a no-fly zone at the current time over Syria. Conversely, the potential to make a bad situation worse is very, very high.”

John Kuehn — Professor of military history at the US Army Command and General Staff College

“A no-fly zone is currently being discussed in the Pentagon. A no-fly zone would be toe-to-toe with the Russkies to see who would blink first.”

Former CIA Analyst Phil Giraldi

Philip Giraldi — Former CIA Analyst

April 2017 — There are “rumours” that the U.S. wants to establish a no-fly zone in Syria. A trusted source told us that this is quite a bit more serious than just “rumours”. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Studies in Intelligence — “To Resist Disinformation, Learn to Think Like an Intelligence Analyst”

Posted on April 21, 2018 by L

“Do You Really Need More Information? The US Intelligence Community invests heavily in improved intelligence collection systems while managers of analysis lament the comparatively small sums devoted to enhancing analytical resources, improving analytical methods, or gaining better understanding of the cognitive processes involved in making analytical judgments.”

Psychology of Intelligence Analysis — Richards J. Heuer

“They should think about how they make judgments and reach conclusions, not just about the judgments and conclusions themselves.” Dr. Richards J. Heuer

Preston Golson, currently chief of communications for CIA’s Directorate of Digital Innovation, and Matthew F. Ferraro, who previously worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and CIA, have just published a short but interesting commentary piece regarding “Fake News” in the last issue of “Studies in Intelligence”. In my opinion, the authors raise a very good point. In a world of Fake News, critical thinking matters and should be taught! Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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