Should You Trust The New York Times and Its Official Sources?

“The evidence of a possible Libyan link, first reported publicly this week by the French newsmagazine L’Express, was confirmed and detailed by American officials involved in the investigation of the Pan Am bombing.”

MICHAEL WINES — The New York Times (October 9 1990)

Howard R Teicher proposes “to shame France into joining in some action… White House might have to go around the [French] civilian government and rely on military to military channels… as political channels have failed earlier this year.”

“Given the stated desire of some French general officers to cooperate with us against Gadhafi, we might actively encourage them to sell the proposal to their civilian leadership.”

Around this day – DDI Richard Kerr and Tom Twetten are sent to the White House to explain what the CIA could do “to apply psychological pressure on Gaddafi”.

Twetten said it would be no problem for the CIA “to plant false stories in publications abroad” to unnerve Gadaffi.

National Security Council  Letter — Operation VECTOR ( August 7 1986)

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. I will add that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”

Thomas Jefferson — Reply to John Norvell (1807)

Michael Wines is a national correspondent for The New York Times and writes about voting and other election-related issues. Since coming to The Times in 1988, he has covered the Justice Department, the American intelligence community, the White House, the 1992 presidential campaign, Congress, the environment and, for nearly 15 years, news and life in Russia and surrounding states, southern Africa and China. Before coming to The Times, he was a reporter in the Washington bureau of The Los Angeles Times. [NYT]

On October 9 1990, Michael Wines penned a very important story. According to American Government investigators involved in the Pan Am 103 inquiry (Lockerbie), Libyan intelligence agents were the culprits who had assembled and planted the bomb that destroyed the plane.

In a recent post — LOCKERBIE — Dirty Tricks & Tribulations in Senegal — I provided all the documents related to the February 1988 arrests of two Libyan citizens in Dakar: Police records, interviews, precognitions, CIA cables, decisions of justice, etc… These original documents allow us to check unambiguously the veracity of the information reported by Michael Wines in his crucial piece.

The conclusion is as inescapable as it is horrifying. Nearly every single piece of information in this NYT article is factually mistaken. Moreover, the reasoning is deeply flawed.

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One year Ago — Bob Woodward: “Trump Dossier Is a Garbage Document. Intelligence Chiefs Should Apologize to Trump”

“To your request of my opinion of the manner in which a newspaper should be conducted so as to be most useful, I should answer, ‘by restraining it to true facts and sound principles only.’ Yet I fear such a paper would find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits, than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. I will add that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. He who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false.”

Thomas Jefferson — Reply by the U.S. President to John Norvell, 1807

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January 24 2017 — On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox New Sunday,” veteran journalist Bob Woodward said the unverified dossier about President-elect Donald Trump and Russia is a “garbage document”. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

Posted in CIA, CIA Briefing, CIA Director, Leon Panetta, Michael Hayden, Michael Morell, Philip Giraldi, Putin, Russia, Trump, Trump Dossier | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wormwood — Searching the Truth to the Bitter End

“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 (Episode 6), Seymour Hersh states that he believes the CIA murdered Colonel 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. He claims he knows what Frank did that got him killed.  But he will not reveal it. At least, not now…

Next Tuesday, I will suggest the most likely reason behind the decision to execute Colonel Frank Olson. Stay tuned!

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Breaking News — Former CIA Jeffrey Sterling Released to a Halfway House [UPDATE]

“Sterling’s case drew nationwide attention because the Obama-era Department of Justice unsuccessfully tried to force the reporter, James Risen, to divulge the identity of his sources for ‘State of War’, a book in which he revealed the CIA had botched a covert operation against Iran’s nuclear program. Risen reported that instead of undermining the Iranians, the CIA had provided them with useful information on how to build a nuclear bomb.”

The Intercept — Peter Maass (January 19 2018)

“We welcome the forthcoming release of Jeffrey Sterling into a halfway house, but hope that he can be reunited with his family soon. His conviction was a breach of First Amendment protections. Simply being in contact with a journalist does not amount to espionage and should not incur imprisonment.”

Margaux Ewen — RSF North America Director  (Reporters Without Borders)

“Just like the CIA primary mission is to protect the Agency, the New York Time primary mission is to protect the Time. And so when this hit the fan — so to speak — Jeffrey was on his own.”

Former CIA John Kiriakou

On Christmas eve, I told you that former CIA Jeffrey Sterling could be released from jail early this year. I am happy to report that this prediction came true. Today — January 16 2018 — Jeffrey Sterling was released from prison to a halfway house, ahead of the original end date of his 3.5 year prison sentence on June 14, 2018.  Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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On This Day — Nixon Announces Vietnam Peace Agreement (January 23, 1973)

“We have found that our friend, the Republican nominee, our California friend, has been playing on the outskirts with our enemies and our friends both, he has been doing it through rather subterranean sources. Mrs Chennault is warning the South Vietnamese not to get pulled into this Johnson move.”

President Johnson — Phone call to Senator Richard Russell

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President Richard M. Nixon meeting with national security adviser Henry A. Kissinger in the Oval Office. (Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library, Photo collections, Master Print File with Staff Individuals)

On January 23 1973, President Richard Nixon announces that Henry Kissinger and North Vietnam’s chief negotiator, Le Duc Tho, signed an agreement to end U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. The official cease-fire, along with the release of all American prisoners of war, is to go into effect on January 28, though troops would remain in Vietnam until the fall of Saigon in 1975. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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One Year Ago — French Minister of Defence Acknowledges the Death of 6 DGSE Officers

“I remember a violent discussion regarding Libya with Vladimir Putin near the end of 2011. We had obtained — thanks to Russia’s vote — that the UN would impose a no-fly zone and that we would take no further actions. Then Gaddafi was killed. Putin accused us to have lied to him and show total disrespect for International Law. I cannot say that he was wrong.”

François Fillon

Former French Prime Minister (17 May 2007 – 16 May 2012) and  front-runner for the 2017 presidential election

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Jean-Yves Le Drian — French Minister of Defence

January 22 2017 — Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs under President François Hollande since 2012, has officially acknowledged the death of six DGSE officers during the last year. According to France 24, these DGSE officers were acting as advisors for General Haftar. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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TOP INTEL TODAY 2017 STORIES #2 : “NSA Hacked French President’s House”

“Keith Alexander (Director of the NSA) told me he was disappointed because he never thought we would detect them and he even added: You guys are good.”

“In the Intelligence World, you have some allies. You don’t have friends.”

Bernard Barbier –Director of the DGSE Technical Division from 2006 to 2013

NSAFrench

“French newspaper ‘Le Monde’ just published an article confirming that the NSA hacked the Élysée Palace during the 2012 Presidential campaign.” This post was first published on September 4 2016. The piece was so popular that several French TV channels covered the story during their evening News. The recorded interview of Bernard Barbier ‘disappeared’ for a few days but eventually came back and remains available to this day.

RELATED POST: INTEL TODAY — Top 10 Stories of 2017

I will not pull a “Chomsky” analysis on this story, but ask yourself what would have happened if the shoe had been on the other foot? Worse, can you imagine the furor of the US media if the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service had been caught hacking the White House?

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India — Former Head Spook Denounces Kafkaesque AADHAAR Database

“I have come across any number of stupidities, fallacies, misconceptions, notions, whims and fancies regarding Aadhaar. Possibly the only Kafkaesque stipulation I have yet to encounter is the need to have an Aadhaar number in order to apply for an Aadhaar number.”

K.C. Verma — Former head of India’s external intelligence agency (Research and Analysis Wing)

“Rarely do former intel chiefs and I agree, but the head of India’s RAW writes #Aadhaar is being abused by banks, telcos, and transport not to police entitlements, but as a proxy for identity– an improper gate to service. Such demands must be criminalized.”

Edward Snowden — January 21 2018

K.C. Verma — Former head of India’s external intelligence agency (RAW)

Threatening in India appears to have become a standard business practice. Telecom operators threaten users with disconnection of service if they fail to link their Aadhaar card to their mobile numbers. Banks are also threatening account closures.  Without sharing your Aadhaar number you can no longer get a ‘sim card’, an insurance, a bank account, or a delivery of goods shopped online. And, even if you had an old bank account or insurance policies (whether private or from government companies ) you can not keep them without sharing your Aadhaar ID number. Welcome to the dystopian world of “1984” ! Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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CIA Director Mike Pompeo Top 10 Lies — #1 : “We don’t do it to help American businesses.”

“What is the recent flap regarding Echelon and U.S. spying on European industries all about? We’ll begin with some candor from the American side. Yes, my continental European friends, we have spied on you. And it’s true that we use computers to sort through data by using keywords. Have you stopped to ask yourselves what we’re looking for? ”

James Woolsey — Former CIA Director

“We’ll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false.”

William Casey, CIA Director 1981-1987 (Attributed)

In this semi-serious series running the gamut of dramatic emotions, we shall look into obviously incorrect statements made by the current Director of the CIA. Some of these stories will make you laugh, others will make you upset. We hope that all will make you think. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today Continue reading →

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Spy Schools: How the CIA, FBI and Foreign Intelligence Secretly Exploit America’s Universities [UPDATE : VIDEO]

“Kenneth Moskow is one of a long line of CIA officers who have enrolled undercover at the Kennedy School, generally with Harvard’s knowledge and approval, gaining access to up-and-comers worldwide. For four decades the CIA and Harvard have concealed this practice, which raises larger questions about academic boundaries, the integrity of class discussions and student interactions, and whether an American university has a responsibility to accommodate U.S. intelligence.”

 Daniel Golden —  Investigative journalist

A new book documents how US foreign and domestic intelligence agencies use — and perhaps exploit — higher education and academe for spy operations. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY Continue reading →

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