SEXPIONAGE: From Russia with Love [2018]

Posted on February 3, 2018 by L

“Every westerner who goes to Moscow knows that some girl may get into his bedroom, but people continue to get trapped… It’s human nature, I suppose.”

Phillip Knightley, author of “The Second Oldest Profession — Spies and Spying in the Twentieth Century”

“[The ghost-written book] got me right, it has got me emotionally right. There’s one word I don’t like: ‘Ruining my life may not seem very important to some, considering what I was, just a pretty scrubber…’ I wanted them to change it to ‘tart.’ ‘Scrubber’ implies someone who can’t talk properly and wears horrible clothes, but I always spoke well and had good clothes. I’ve always had a bit of class to me. I’m sure Jack Profumo wouldn’t have gone out with a scrubber. Perhaps they should have written ‘just a pretty nobody.’”

Christine Keeler — Interview by Simon Hoggart about her second autobiography (The Observer – March 13, 1983)

keeler

Lewis Morley’s 1963 portrait of Christine Keeler became an iconic image of the cold war.

The long, distinguished and surprisingly varied list of known KGB entrapment victims since World War II proves that no category of western resident in Moscow has been immune from the charms of Soviet “swallows” and “ravens”.  “Honey traps” may indeed be a Russian specialty, but let us not forget that, just like hacking, all Intel Agencies are using the old technique. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Russia Intelligence Chiefs Visit Washington to Meet American Spooks

Posted on February 2, 2018 by L

“Sergey Naryshkin was here [in the United States]. He held consultations with his counterparts. Joint struggle against terrorism was discussed. We maintained contact in 2014 during the Sochi Olympics. Of course, we consider joint work this year, during the FIFA World Cup finals.”

Anatoly Antonov — Russian ambassador in Washington

“We periodically meet with our Russian intelligence counterparts for the same reason our predecessors did — to keep Americans safe. (…)

When those meetings take place, you and the American people should rest assured that we cover very difficult subjects in which American and Russian interests do not align.

Neither side is bashful about raising concerns. We vigorously defend America in these encounters and pull no punches — we never will.”

CIA Director Mike Pompeo — Letter  to Senator Charles E. Schumer (February 1 2018)

The director of Russia’s foreign intelligence SVR, Sergey Naryshkin, and the director of the FSB, Alexander Bortnikov, have visited the United States last week for consultations with their US counterparts to discuss counter-terrorism issues.

Lieutenant-General Igor Valentinovich Korobov — the head of Russia’s military intelligence better known as the GRU — also came to Washington.

A senior U.S. intelligence official based in Moscow was called back to Washington for the meeting.

The joint visit represented an exceptionally high-level Russian intelligence presence in Washington. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Gina Haspel Selected to be Deputy Director of CIA

Posted on February 2, 2018 by L

“Gina is an exemplary intelligence officer and a devoted patriot who brings more than 30 years of Agency experience to the job. She is also a proven leader with an uncanny ability to get things done and to inspire those around her. We are fortunate that someone of her intellect, skill, and experience will be our Deputy Director. I know she will do an outstanding job, and I look forward to working with her closely in the years ahead.”

Mike Pompeo — CIA Director

“I am especially concerned by reports that this individual [Gina Haspel] was involved in the unauthorized destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes, which documented the CIA’s use of torture against two CIA detainees. My colleagues Senators Wyden and Heinrich have stated that classified information details why the newly appointed Deputy Director is ‘unsuitable’ for the position and have requested that this information be declassified. I join their request.”

US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (February 8 2017)

Gina Cheri Haspel (born October 1 1956) is an American intelligence officer. She joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1985. In February 2017 she was appointed by President Donald Trump as Deputy Director of the CIA. She is the “first female career CIA officer” to receive that appointment, although she is the second woman, as Avril Haines had been appointed by Barack Obama in 2013. Haspel ran a “black site” CIA prison located in Thailand in 2002.

February 2 2017 — Gina Haspel is the first female career CIA officer to be named deputy director. Haspel has an extensive overseas experience, including several stints as chief of station at outposts abroad. In Washington, she has held several top senior leadership positions. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This day — Ayatollah Khomeini Returns to Iran (February 1 1979)

Posted on February 1, 2018 by L

“You will see we are not in any particular animosity with the Americans. [The Islamic Republic of Iran] will be a humanitarian one, which will benefit the cause of peace and tranquillity for all mankind. (…) It is advisable that you recommend to the army not to follow [Shah’s prime minister Shapour] Bakhtiar.”

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini — Letter to US President Jimmy Carter (January 29 1979)

On January 17 1979, the Shah left the country, never to return. Two weeks later, on Thursday February 1st 1979, Khomeini returned in triumph to Iran, welcomed by a joyous crowd estimated by the BBC to be of up to five million people. The communications between Khomeini and the president Jimmy Carter’s administration during the last two weeks of January 1979 remain largely classified and — not surprisingly — highly controversial. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Just One Pic — The Shot That Shocked the World (February 1 1968)

Posted on February 1, 2018 by L

 “Hearing something a hundred times isn’t better than seeing it once”

Chinese proverb

“Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation.”

Eddie Adams — American journalist and photographer

On February 1st 1968, Saigon police chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan shot Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém to the head. The execution was captured by American photographer Eddie Adams.  This picture became a powerful  anti-war icon. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Germany — Constitutional Complaint Lodged Against BND Law

Posted on February 1, 2018 by L

“The law allows the foreign intelligence agency to spy on journalists abroad almost without restrictions and to share the information with other secret services. This is an unacceptable restriction of press freedom, which is why we are supporting the affected parties in their court action.”

Christian Mihr — Executive Director of RSF Germany

“That’s not so easy to answer from where we sit. But we have no interest in investigating journalists on the whole. Neither domestically nor abroad. We are searching for information that is relevant to our security and looking for people who are planning evil deeds. It can’t be avoided that these people sometimes communicate with others who are less suspicious.”

Bruno Kahl — BND President

The BND [Bundesnachrichtendienst] acts as an early warning system to alert the German government to threats to German interests from abroad. It depends heavily on wiretapping and electronic surveillance of international communications.

The so-called “BND law” makes distinctions between journalists from EU countries and journalists from non-EU countries. Journalists who are citizens of non-EU countries can be legally subjected to surveillance by the BND without a court order [The Bundesnachrichtendienst is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany] if it is in the “interests of Germany.” As part of the case, the plaintiffs also launched a social media campaign entitled “No trust, no news.” Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — Former MOSSAD Chief : “Israel’s Biggest Threat Is Potential Civil War, Not Iran.”

Posted on February 1, 2018 by L

“If a society crosses a certain line in its division and hatred, then it is a real possibility to see a phenomenon like a civil war.”

Tamir Pardo — Former Mossad chief

tamir-pardo

Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo

February 1 2017 — The most pressing threat to Israel is not Iran, but rather the increased polarization within Israeli society, former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo said in a rare public appearance since leaving office. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today. Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — WHITE HOUSE : “CIA Back to the National Security Council”

Posted on January 31, 2018 by L

“Bannon’s role is a radical departure from any National Security Council in history.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Mike Pompeo waits to be sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Mike Pompeo waits to be sworn in as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

On Monday (30 January 2017), White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that the CIA will be added to the NSC. Follow us on  Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — The Lockerbie Trial Verdict [January 31 2001]

Posted on January 31, 2018 by L

“The case was largely based on this inside guy [Libyan defector Abdul Majid Giaka]. It wasn’t until the trial that I learned this guy was a nut-job and that the CIA had absolutely no confidence in him and that they knew he was a liar. The CIA and the FBI kept the State Department in the dark. It worked for them for us to be fully committed to the theory that Libya was responsible.”

Michael Scharf —  Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law

“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

On January 31, 2001, the Scottish Court in the Netherlands rendered its verdict in the Pan Am 103 bombing trial. The court found one of the two Libyan defendants, Al Amin Fhima, not guilty and he was immediately returned to Libya where he received a hero’s welcome.

It found the other defendant, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, guilty of murder and sentenced him to a minimum of 20 years imprisonment in Berlinie prison in Scotland. The verdict did not, however, implicate those higher up in the Libyan government, nor did it rule out the possible involvement of Iran in the bombing.

Moreover, although the decision to convict Al-Megrahi was unanimous, the judgment indicates that it had been a close call, with the three judges acknowledging that the prosecution’s case had “uncertainties and qualifications” and that key witnesses had repeatedly lied.

Indeed, portions of the judgment read as though the text had been drafted for a “not proven” verdict, which is used under Scottish law when the court is convinced of guilt but the evidence does not rise to the level of “beyond reasonable doubt.”

Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Wormwood — Why Did The CIA Murder US Army Scientist Frank Olson?

Posted on January 30, 2018 by L

“The most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface.”

CIA assassination manual (1953)

“What Wormwood tries to do is tell a story about how we know what we know and how reliable is that knowledge.”

Errol Morris — Documentary Director

“You think that finding the answer to this is gonna restore the path of your own life. But how can it possibly do that if you’ve lost yourself along the way?”

Eric Olson (Wormwood)

 

Wormwood is a 2017 American six-part docudrama miniseries directed by Errol Morris and released on Netflix on December 15, 2017. The series follows a scientist who participates in a secret government biological warfare program.

In the final chapter, Seymour Hersh states that he believes the CIA murdered Frank Olson. Although, he has a source that backs up this story, Hersh refuses to speak out because the story would expose how his source acquired the necessary information.

Hersh claims he knows what Frank did that got him killed.  But he does not reveal it. In this post, I suggest the most likely explanation. As always, your feedback is welcome!

Follow us on Twitter:  @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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