On This Day — Pan Am Flight 103 disintegrates over Lockerbie (December 21 1988) [UPDATE — BBC : “Lockerbie bombing: The ultimate detective story?”]

Posted on December 21, 2023 by L

“Operation El Dorado Canyon (1986) turned out to be a more decisive blow against Libyan-sponsored terrorism than I could ever have imagined. There were revenge killings of British hostages organized by Libya, which I bitterly regretted. But the much-vaunted Libyan counter attack did not and could not take place. There was a marked decline in Libyan-sponsored terrorism in succeeding years.”

Margaret Thatcher
The Downing Street Years
(Memoirs 1993, pp 448-9)

December 21 2021 — On December 21 1988, N739PA — the Boeing 747 aircraft operating the transatlantic leg of Pan Am Flight 103 — broke up in flight over Scotland. All 243 passengers and 16 crew died as well as 11 residents of Lockerbie. This horrific crime has been called the world’s biggest unsolved murder. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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35 Years Ago — US Staff in Moscow Warned to Avoid PAN AM 103 (December 13 1988) [History of passenger bookings for Pan Am 103]

Posted on December 13, 2023 by L

“There was a real push in the embassy community to make sure that everybody was aware that there had been a terrorist threat made, and that people flying Western carriers going through Frankfurt should change their tickets.”

Karen Decker
Consular Official at the Moscow US Embassy
(November 30 1989)

December 13 2023 — On December 13 1988, William Kelly, the Moscow US embassy administrative counsellor, drafted a memo addressed to “All Embassy Personnel” and posted on the staff notice board the next day. “Sometimes, during the next two weeks, there would be a bombing attempt against Pan Am airliner flying from Frankfurt to the United States.” On December 21 1988, Pan Am 103 — a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York — exploded over Lockerbie. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

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Remembering John Le Carré (October 19 1931 – December 12 2020) — [Who won the Cold War?]

Posted on December 12, 2023 by L

“Reading and thinking about Palme makes you wonder who you are. And who you might have been, but weren’t. And where your moral courage went when it was needed. You ask yourself what power drove him – golden boy, aristocratic family, brilliant scion of the best schools and the best cavalry regiment – to embrace from the outset of his career the cause of the exploited, the deprived, the undervalued and the unheard?”
 
David Cornwell
Olof Palme Award acceptance speech
(January 30 2020)

(October 19, 1931 – December 12, 2020)

December 13 2023 — David John Moore Cornwell — also known by the pen name John le Carré — died of pneumonia at the Royal Cornwall Hospital on December 12 2020. He turned down all literary honors, but accepted the 2019 Olof Palme Prize. His magnificent acceptance speech is a reminder that Olof Palme’s words and deeds still inspire people to commit to democracy, human rights and peace. His murder must be solved. We owe him that much. Today, perhaps more so than ever before, “one must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.” Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Remembering Gary Webb “CIA & Cocaine DARK ALLIANCE” (August 31 1955 – December 10 2004)

Posted on December 11, 2023 by L

“I was you once. Gary, I started down this road. Though nowhere near as far as you are. When they saw I wasn’t gonna stop, they ‘controversialized’ me. Do you have any idea what I’m talking about? They make *you* the story. And you have a history of schizophrenia, you’re a liar, you’re a homo, you beat your dog, you’re a pedophile, it doesn’t matter if none of it’s true. The point is no one remembers what you found. They remember you and you’re nuts. You cease to exist.”

Fred Weil
Kill the Messenger

December 10 2023 — On December 10 2004, investigative journalist Gary Webb, the Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who broke the story of the CIA’s involvement in the importation of cocaine into the U.S., died of two .38 caliber gunshot wounds to the head. Quite logically, the coroner ruled the death a suicide. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Did the CIA Kill Father Louis Thomas Merton? (December 10 1968) [UPDATE : Is ChatGPT pro-establishment oriented?]

Posted on December 10, 2023 by L

“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

The Dalai Lama was 33 years old when he met father Merton. “I often describe him as a very, very strong bridge between Catholic tradition and Buddhist tradition,” says the Dalai Lama reflecting on his meeting with him.

December 10 2023 — 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. In 1997, James W. Douglass claimed that Merton had been assassinated by agents of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In 2016, theologian Matthew Fox made a similar claim. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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5 Years Ago — Remembering CIA Historian William Blum (March 6, 1933 – December 9, 2018)

Posted on December 9, 2023 by L

“William Blum was at the forefront of critical debate and analysis of US foreign policy. He combined honesty and Truth with carefully documented analysis. His important legacy will live.”

Michel Chossudovsky
(December 10, 2018)

December 9 2023 — Independent journalist and author William Blum died on Sunday December 9 2018 at the age of 85 in Virginia. Blum’s books “Killing Hope” and “Rogue State” were widely praised for their detailed history of recent U.S. foreign policy. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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60 Years Ago — Pan Am Flight 214 Crashes (December 8 1963) Lesson Learned? [Update : Was the story of Air India Flight 301 used to write the Lockerbie script?]

Posted on December 8, 2023 by L

“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 2023 — 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_TODAY

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On This Day — Air India Flight 182 Warning Report Is Discredited (December 6 2007) [UPDATE : Is ChatGPT run by Western Intelligence Agencies?]

Posted on December 7, 2023 by L

“Mr. Bartleman misled the families of the victims and the commission.”

Former CSE officer
Pierre Lecompte
(December 6 2007)

1985-06-10 VT-EFO Air India EGLL.jpg
The aircraft involved, VT-EFO, seen on 10 June 1985, less than two weeks before the tragedy

December 7 2023 — At the time of the tragedy, James Bartleman was in charge of the intelligence analysis and security branch of Foreign Affairs. In May 2007, Bartleman told the inquiry that he has seen a secret report warning that Flight 182 was targeted by terrorists. On December 6 2007, Pierre Lecompte, a former official with the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), testified that such report never existed. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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75 Years Ago — Did Richard Nixon Frame Alger Hiss? [December 6 1948 – The Pumpkin Papers]

Posted on December 6, 2023 by L

“As to whether Nixon would actually have gone as far as to frame Hiss, the later record includes disquieting instances of forgery or planting false information.”

The Arrogance of Power:
The Secret World of Richard Nixon 

Anthony Summers

Richard M. Nixon (L) speaking at the testimony in which Whittaker Chambers accuses Alger Hiss of securing important U. S. documents which were turned over to a Russian agent. (Photo by James Whitmore/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

December 6 2023 — Ever since Alger Hiss’s perjury prosecution in 1949-1950, it has become a virtual consensus that “the Baltimore documents… were evidence of betrayal of U.S. diplomatic information to a foreign power, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.” But were these papers really so damning? Were they actually genuine? And is the case really closed as the CIA claims?  One thing is certain. The case remains controversial, important and relevant to current issues. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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10 Years Ago — Remembering Nelson Mandela (July 18, 1918 – Dec. 5, 2013) [Mandela and Lockerbie]

Posted on December 5, 2023 by L

“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
(July 18, 1918 – Dec. 5, 2013)

December 5 2023 — On August 5 1962, Mandela was posing as a chauffeur when his car was stopped at a roadblock by the police in the eastern city of Durban. Three decades later, on February 11 1990 Mandela walked out of prison and embarked on a decade of historic endeavor. Mandela spent almost 30 years in jail just for being a decent man. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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