OPCW Fact-Finding Mission Visits Second Site in Douma, Syria

Posted on April 30, 2018 by L

“Today, the FFM team carried out a visit to a second location in Douma. It also collected samples at this site. These samples will be brought back, together with other samples, to the OPCW laboratory in Rijswik. They will be split and dispatched for analysis by the OPCW designated labs.”

OPCW Fact-Finding Mission — April 25 2018

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — 25 April 2018 — The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) deployed to Damascus on 14 April 2018 to gather facts in connection with the reported use of chemical weapons in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic on 7 April 2018. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Forensic science — FBI Bullet-Lead Technique Dead Wrong

Posted on April 29, 2018 by L

“For over thirty years, FBI experts testified about comparative bullet lead analysis (CBLA), a technique that was first used in the investigation into President Kennedy’s assassination. CBLA compares trace chemicals found in bullets at crime scenes with ammunition found in the possession of a suspect. (…) Although the FBI eventually ceased using CBLA, the Bureau’s conduct in first employing the technique and then defending it after it was challenged provides an insight into how forensic science sometimes works.”

Paul C. Giannelli

“We cannot afford to be misleading to a jury. We plan to discourage prosecutors from using our previous results in future prosecutions.”

Letter from Dwight E. Adams — then FBI lab Director — to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III

Forensic Analysis: Weighing Bullet Lead Evidence assesses the scientific validity of CABL, finding that the FBI should use a different statistical analysis for the technique and that, given variations in bullet manufacturing processes, expert witnesses should make clear the very limited conclusions that CABL results can support. The report also recommends that the FBI take additional measures to ensure the validity of CABL results, which include improving documentation, publishing details, and improving on training and oversight.

Since the 1960s, testimony by representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in thousands of criminal cases has relied on evidence from Compositional Analysis of Bullet Lead (CABL), a forensic technique that compares the elemental composition of bullets found at a crime scene to the elemental composition of bullets found in a suspect’s possession. Different from ballistics techniques that compare striations on the barrel of a gun to those on a recovered bullet, CABL is used when no gun is recovered or when bullets are too small or mangled to observe striations. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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CIA — Gina Haspel Assumes Role of Acting Director

Posted on April 29, 2018 by L

“I want to extend my sincere congratulations to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and I look forward to working with him and the rest of President Trump’s national security team.”

Gina Haspel — CIA Acting Director (April 26 2018)

April 26 2018 — Mike Pompeo has been confirmed as the new US Secretary of State. Deputy Director Gina C. Haspel is assuming the role of Acting Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — The New Chiquita Papers : “Records Identify Banana Executives who Bankrolled Terror in Colombia”

Posted on April 29, 2018 by L

“Even after outside attorneys warned in February 2003 that it must stop payments to the outlaw paramilitary organization, Chiquita continued to pay the AUC for another 16 months. Until that point, Chiquita’s strategy, set forth by senior executives in Cincinnati, was to just let them sue us, come after us.”

The Chiquita Papers collection — National Security Archive — George Washington University

April 29 2017 — Ten years ago, Chiquita Brands International became the first U.S.-based corporation convicted of violating a U.S. law against funding an international terrorist group: the paramilitary United Self-defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Wolf Blitzer : “Moral Issue? There Is a Lot of Jobs at Stake!”

Posted on April 28, 2018 by L

“Your really–REALLY–must watch this exchange between Rand Paul and Wolf Blitzer on the bombing of Yemen. I am speechless…”

Professor Dave Collum

Wolf Blitzer has a major concern: Stopping the $1.1 billion U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia could result in fewer jobs for arms manufacturers. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Chomsky : “CIA Targeting of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks is Disgraceful Act”

Posted on April 28, 2018 by L

“We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks. This is a matter that’s gone beyond anything I’m aware of. We have professionals that have been in the security business of the United States for many years that are shocked by the number of leaks and some of them are quite serious. So yes, it is a priority. We’ve already begun to step up our efforts and whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail.”

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

April 28 2017 — US prosecutors are considering — and perhaps preparing — charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for revealing sensitive government secrets. In an open letter published by the Washington Post, Assange wrote that the CIA director is waging war on truth-tellers. Noam Chomsky offers a few comments regarding this very controversial move from Trump’s administration. Glenn Greenwald warns journalists that they could be next. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Syria — A Commentary on the Khan Shaykhun Chemical Attack Intelligence

Posted on April 27, 2018 by L

“This distinguishes this case (Salisbury) from that in Syria, where it could be determined that the sarin used in Khan Sheikhun most probably came from Syrian army stocks due to contamination in the investigated warfare agents and by means of comparative samples.”

Stefan Mogl — Former Spiez Lab (OPCW) Scientist

High quality photograph of the crater identified in the White House report as the source of the sarin attack. The dispenser looks like a 122 mm pipe like that used in the manufacture of artillery rockets. Notice a fractured seam that was created by the brittle failure of the metal skin when the pipe was suddenly crushed inward from above.

France has assessed that the Syrian armed forces and security services perpetrated a chemical attack using sarin against civilians in Khan Sheikhoun on 4 April 2017. Let us try to understand the ‘evidence’ behind this assessment. Follow us on Twitter: Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Lockerbie : An open letter from Dr Jim Swire

Posted on April 27, 2018 by L

“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”

Dr Jim Swire

April 27 2017 — This week, the family of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi — the only person ever convicted for the Lockerbie bombing — will launch a bid to appeal against his conviction. Dr Jim Swire — who lost his daughter in the tragedy — sent me a letter that I reproduce here with his kind permission. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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Two Years Ago — Professor Ahmadreza Djalali Arrested in Iran On Espionage Charges

Posted on April 27, 2018 by L

“The indisputable fact is that Dr. [Masoud] Ali-Mohammadi was martyred on January 12, 2010, at least three months before European agents approached me in the spring of 2010. This was even mentioned in the TV program based on my montaged statements, which prove that the accusations against me are contradictory lies. How could I be accused of giving information about someone who was martyred four months earlier?”

Professor Ahmadreza Djalali — Letter written in mid-January 2018

Professor Ahmadreza Djalali was arrested on April 26 2016. In the fall of 2017, he was sentenced to death. Here is the last letter Djalali wrote to all who have supported him over the last two years. Follow us on twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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CIA Director Nominee Gina Haspel — Agency Spin Doctors Working Round-The-Clock (UPDATE: WashPost Open Letter)

Posted on April 26, 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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