On This Day — Remembering the Bombing of Cubana Flight 455 (October 6 1976)

Posted on October 6, 2024 by L

“A15 — CIA code name for Posada Carriles — is not a typical kind of ‘boom and bang’ individual. He is acutely aware of the international implications of ill-planned or overly enthusiastic activities against Cuba.”
Former CIA handler Grover Lythcott
***
“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 2024 — 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. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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On This Day — Pan Am Flight 103 disintegrates over Lockerbie (December 21 1988) [UPDATE — Last call for Lockerbie ‘victims’ to sign up for trial]

Posted on October 5, 2024 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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On This Day — Soviet Union Launches SPUTNIK (October 4 1957)

Posted on October 4, 2024 by L

“On 4 October 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the Sputnik-1 earth satellite into space—an achievement that stunned the American public and press, but not the U.S. policy and intelligence communities. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reported the advancements that led to this landmark launch to President Eisenhower, providing him with the strategic advantage to guide the U.S. response.”

CIA Website

(October 4 2017)

October 4 2024 — 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

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007 Years Ago — And thus a new syndrome was born… (Havana Syndrome – October 3 2017) [UPDATE : Congress and FBI Misled by the CIA?]

Posted on October 3, 2024 by L

“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 2024 — 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

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On This Day — Gaddafi Target of U.S. Disinformation (October 2 1986 — Bob Woodward) [Disinformation Goes Mainstream]

Posted on October 2, 2024 by L

“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)

libya_bombing_reagan_meeting_14_march_1986
14 March 1986 — Reagan Strikes on Tripoli and Benghazi

October 2 2024 — 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

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On This Day — US President George H. W. Bush condemns Iraq’s takeover of Kuwait at UN (October 1 1990) [Lockerbie & The Tehran Conspiracy Theory]

Posted on October 1, 2024 by L

“Two months ago, in the waning weeks of one of history’s most hopeful summers, the vast, still beauty of the peaceful Kuwaiti desert was fouled by the stench of diesel and the roar of steel tanks. Once again the sound of distant thunder echoed across a cloudless sky, and once again the world awoke to face the guns of August.
But this time, the world was ready. 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.”

US President George H. W. Bush
Address to the United Nations
(October 1st 1990)

October 1 2021 — 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

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40 Years Ago — Stanislav Petrov Saves the World from Nuclear War (September 26 1983) [UPDATE]

Posted on September 26, 2024 by L

“The siren howled. But I just sat there for a few seconds, staring at the big, back-lit, red screen with the word ‘LAUNCH’ on it.”

Colonel Stanislav Petrov

Stanislav Petrov, a former lieutenant colonel for the Soviet Air Defence Forces, is credited with correctly recognizing a false alarm while manning an early-warning missile defense system, thereby averting a Soviet retaliatory strike and nuclear war.

September 26 2023 — On September 26 1983 — just three weeks after the Soviet military had shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 007 — Stanislav Petrov was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile had been launched from the United States, followed by up to five more.

Petrov judged the reports to be a false alarm and his decision is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in large-scale nuclear war. Investigation later confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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Reflection on the Role of the U.S. Vice Presidency

Posted on September 25, 2024 by L

“The vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm piss.”

John Nance Garner

Ms. Lauren Bacall perched atop a piano being played by Vice President Harry S. Truman. (National Press Club in Washington — February 10, 1945.)

September 25, 2024 — Winter is coming soon, and I have decided to embark on a fun project: writing a short book on the early days of the CIA. President Harry Truman created the agency in 1947 to help the U.S. better understand and respond to two major emerging threats: communism and the nuclear age. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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CIA Annual Ceremony — 50th Anniversary of the Memorial Wall (May 17, 2024) [UPDATE — Earliest known photo of the CIA Memorial Wall]

Posted on August 30, 2024 by L

“We never take for granted the safety of our people, and we go to great lengths to prepare for every eventuality. But danger is part of the job, and it has never deterred us from our vital mission…From our very first operation, CIA has never shied away from the difficult, the demanding, or the dangerous.”

CIA Director Bill Burns
May 17, 2024

May 20 2024 — On May 17, 2024, the Central Intelligence Agency held its annual ceremony to remember, honor, and celebrate courageous CIA officers who died serving their country. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the CIA wall, which was carved in July 1974. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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CIA Annual Ceremony — 50th Anniversary of the Memorial Wall (May 17, 2024) [UPDATE — PBS NewsHour : ‘Every star’s a life’: The personal stories behind the stars on the CIA Memorial Wall]

Posted on August 23, 2024 by L

“We never take for granted the safety of our people, and we go to great lengths to prepare for every eventuality. But danger is part of the job, and it has never deterred us from our vital mission…From our very first operation, CIA has never shied away from the difficult, the demanding, or the dangerous.”

CIA Director Bill Burns
May 17, 2024

May 20 2024 — On May 17, 2024, the Central Intelligence Agency held its annual ceremony to remember, honor, and celebrate courageous CIA officers who died serving their country. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the CIA wall, which was carved in July 1974. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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