“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
On July 19 1981 President Ronald Reagan met with French President Francois Mitterrand in Ottawa, Ontario at an economic summit. Mitterrand informed Reagan about the “Farewell Dossier”.
August 18 2016 — Not everyone will agree with Ed Luttwak’s analysis which is undoubtedly a tad unfair. There is no doubt that the Farewell Operation was an extraordinary successful operation. And yet everyone suspected everyone of lying about it. It just seemed too good to be true. Follow us on Twitter:@INTEL_TODAY
“Sarkozy has to give back the money he accepted from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We financed his campaign and we have the proof… The first thing we’re demanding is that this clown gives back the money to the Libyan people.”
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (March 2011)
After becoming president in 2007, Sarkozy welcomed Gadhafi to France with high honors later that year.
September 30 2016 — French news website ‘Mediapart’ has uncovered hard evidence documenting the funding of Sarkozy’s presidential campaign (2007) by Colonel Gaddafi.
UPDATE (March 1 2021) — Today, a Paris court found French former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced him to one year in prison and a two-year suspended sentence.
UPDATE (September 30 2021) — Today, Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to one year in prison for illegal campaign financing in his failed 2012 re-election bid.
UPDATE (May 11 2023) — France’s financial crimes prosecutors (PNF) said Sarkozy and 12 others should face trial over accusations they sought millions of euros in financing from the regime of then Libyan leader Gaddafi for his ultimately victorious campaign.
UPDATE (August 25 2023) — Sarkozy to face 2025 trial over alleged Libya funding
“Many could argue – and did – that Mike Deuel and the others who died in Laos died for naught, that their efforts failed to sway events. But tough the mission ultimately failed, their grit is still quietly celebrated at Langley by the aging few who knew them, particularly those from the agency class of 1961. They remember Deuel not as a casualty of war, but the standard-bearer of their class and generation.”
The Book of Honor Ted Gup
Michael M. Deuel & Michael A. Maloney
October 12, 2025 — On October 12, 1965, an Air America Sikorsky UH-34 helicopter crashed during takeoff from a pad near Saravane (now Salavan), Laos, resulting in the deaths of the pilot, Capt. Richard H. Liebert, the co-pilot, Franklin D. Smith, and CIA officers Mike Deuel and Michael A. Maloney. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today
“Good morning, I just spoke with VP/ NSA and he would strongly prefer the report not be disseminated. Thanks for understanding.”
DNI Email (SECRET) PDB Briefer (Feb. 10, 2016)
October 8, 2025 — A recently declassified CIA report from Biden’s 2015 visit to Kyiv shows Ukrainian officials quietly frustrated by what they saw as double standards on corruption. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today
“Our confidential source ascertained (…) that the bombing of the Cubana Airlines DC-8 was planned, in part, in Caracas, Venezuela, at two meetings attended by Morales Navarrete, Luis Posada Carriles and Frank Castro. (…) A confidential source all but admitted that Posada and [Orlando] Bosch had engineered the bombing of the airline.”
FBI Declassified Reports
Luis Clemente Faustino Posada Carriles (born February 15, 1928) — nicknamed Bambi — is a Cuban exile militant and former Central Intelligence Agency agent. Carriles is considered a terrorist by the Government of Cuba, among others; he is widely considered responsible for the bombing of Cubana flight 455, which killed 73 people.He was a long-time member of the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations described by the FBI as “an anti-Castro terrorist umbrella organization”.
October 6 2025 — Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 was a Cuban flight from Barbados to Jamaica that was brought down on 6 October 1976 by a terrorist bomb attack. All 73 people on board the Douglas DC-8 aircraft were killed. Several CIA-linked anti-Castro Cuban exiles and members of the Venezuelan secret police DISIP were implicated by the evidence. Scholars continue to reexamine the extent of U.S. intelligence agencies’ knowledge or involvement, or whether there was complicity by omission. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“All but one of the DNA components which make up that profile are present in [RARDE Forensic Expert] Allen Feraday’s DNA profile. (…) This component is unsuitable for interpretation purposes since a large number of individuals from any population might be expected to match it.”
SCCRC Report on Lockerbie
Lockerbie evidence: PI/449 and PK/206
July 1, 2025 — Some so-called “Lockerbie experts” — including former FBI officials — have hailed the recent DNA evidence as a major forensic breakthrough. In reality, it is nothing of the sort. In CIA parlance, this case has just gone from SNAFU to full-blown FUBAR — and fast. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today
“What came to be known as the Space Race between the United States and the USSR began in 1957 when the Soviets launched the first satellite, Sputnik.”
President John F. Kennedy
Special Message to Congress on Urgent National Needs (May 25, 1961)
October 4 2025 — On October 4 1957, the Soviet Union launched SPUTNIK-1 into an elliptical low Earth orbit. It was a 58 cm (23 in) diameter polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennas to broadcast radio pulses.
Its radio signal was easily detectable even by amateurs, and the 65° inclination and duration of its orbit made its flight path cover virtually the entire inhabited Earth. This surprise success precipitated the American Sputnik crisis and triggered the Space Race, a key part of the Cold War. The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“If the facts are confirmed and if the effects are indeed caused by a physical device, I find the microwave explanation far more likely than a sonic attack.”
US Spies & the Havana Syndrome
INTEL TODAY (October 3 2017)
October 3 2025 — On October 3rd 2017, INTEL TODAY coined the expression “Havana Syndrome” which is now universally used, both by mainstream media and the research community. In the same piece, I suggested for the very first time that microwave attacks, conducted for espionage, were the most likely explanation. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“There is a wonderful book that you might read… And the title of it is from a quote from Winston Churchill: ‘In time of war, the truth is so precious, it must be attended by a bodyguard of lies.'”
Secretary of State George P. Shultz (October 3 1986)
14 March 1986 — Reagan Strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi
October 2 2025 — On October 2 1986, the Washington Post published an extraordinary story written by legendary journalist Bob Woodward: “Gadhafi Target of Secret U.S. Deception Plan”. Under orders from the White House, the US Intelligence Community was planting false information in the US media. As a result of this scandal, the use of the word ‘disinformation’ became mainstream in the English language. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“The United Nations Security Council’s resolute response to Iraq’s unprovoked aggression has been without precedent. Since the invasion on August 2nd, the Council has passed eight major resolutions setting the terms for a solution to the crisis.”
George H. W. Bush US President Address to the United Nations (October 1st 1990)
October 1, 2025 — On October 1st 1990, US President George H. W. Bush condemned the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Many ‘Lockerbie experts’ have suggested and continue to argue that the “switch” from Iran & Syria to Libya occurred at that time as the result of realpolitik. This is nonsense! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
Intel Today 