“The FBI interrogators knew nothing about how science is done, and they saw routine academic activities as criminal. (…) The charges against me were not only false, they were laughable.”
Physicist Xiaoxing Xi — Temple University
2020 Andrei Sakharov Prize
Professor Xiaoxing Xi, of Temple University, is a 2020 recipient of the APS Andrei Sakharov Prize.
April 27 2021 — The FBI is harassing innocent Chinese-American scientists and this ongoing witch-hunt could have disastrous consequences for U.S. fundamental research. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“I think we should think of the CIA as a national asset that must be preserved as a vital part of our defense system. . . It is important that the American people understand the intricate job the CIA is doing in an increasingly complex world. It is essential we have the support of the American People.”
George H.W. Bush — Speech in San Antonio, Texas, 1978
November 30 2021 — George H.W. Bush’s tenure as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) marked a turning point for the Agency as it came out of a period of great controversy. He is credited with restoring focus and boosting morale, and he remains one of the most beloved directors in the Agency’s history. George Bush is the only former Director of Central Intelligence to become President. Follow us on TWITTER: @INTEL_TODAY
“A daily newspaper cannot publish for 200 years without getting some things wrong. This one has made its share of mistakes.”
The Guardian (May 7 2021)
The Guardian — World Chess Championship 2021 webpage
November 29 2021 — On Sunday, I decided to watch the third game of the World Chess Championship 2021 between reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. Although I do not trust The Guardian when it comes to intelligence matters, I thought that the online UK newspaper could at least report accurately a chess game. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today
“We want to know every step he [US physicist John Archibald Wheeler] had taken, persons with whom he had talked, whether he had gone home after receiving the document, how he had gone to the train, whether he had called anyone, how long he had been at each place, what he did with the document at every step and, in fact, his actions should be traced minute by minute.”
J. Edgar Hoover — FBI Files
John Archibald Wheeler in the early 1950s. This portrait was also Wheeler’s FBI file photo.
November 29 2020 — In January 1953, US physicist John Archibald Wheeler lost a document on an overnight train from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. Physics professors lose papers every day. But this one was highly secret. The six-pages document was the blueprint of the first US thermonuclear bomb. The FBI special agents assigned to the investigation were given almost unlimited resources to uncover the fate of the TOP SECRET document. All of their efforts were to no avail. The document was never seen again. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.”
Romeo and Juliet — William Shakespeare
November 28 2021 — The World Health Organisation has flagged the new SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529. The WHO has been naming coronavirus variants after the Greek alphabet and the next available letter was ‘Nu’. So why is it named Omicron? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“If this would have been a suicide, it would have been very difficult to accomplish. There was motive to kill him. He knew the deepest, darkest secrets of the cold war. Would the American government kill an American citizen who was a scientist, who was working for the CIA and the army, if they thought he was a security risk? There are people who say: ‘Definitely.’”
Stephen Saracco — Retired New York assistant district attorney(2019)
November 28 2021 — 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, legendary American journalist 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
“No one acts alone without orders in the FBI. We had clear goals which were clearly given to us in every document we received from anyone. If a police organization wished for us to provide them ‘proof’ of guilt, then they told us in many ways of their absolute belief that the perpetrators were those individuals they had already arrested. If the president of the United States tells the country in the national news that Dandeny Munoz Mosquera is one of the most feared assassins in the history of the world, then every agent knows that he must provide information to support that statement. If leaders decide without concern for foundation of truth then most people will follow them.”
Fred Whitehurst — Former FBI Chemist (Email to Intel Today)
November 27 2020 — Avianca Airlines Flight 203 was a Colombian domestic passenger flight from El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá to Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali. Avianca Flight 203 crashed over the municipality of Soacha on November 27, 1989. Allegedly, the plane was destroyed by a bomb. This explanation is however much disputed by experts today. Colombian journalists Pablo Correa, Sergio Silva and retired US Newton Center attorney Thomas Hoffman share the 2017 Simon Bolivar Prize (Category: Investigative journalism) for their outstanding work on the true story of AVIANCA Flight 203. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“We will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of what and who is behind these incidents.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken
(October 27 2021)
October 28 2021 — On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally announced the establishment of a new cyber bureau at the State Department to help tackle cyber and emerging technology diplomatic issues. Blinken also made a cryptic reference to the ‘Havana Syndrome pandemic’ which seems to indicate that he may make an important announcement very soon, possibly today. Follow us on twitter: @Intel_Today
“If some double agent told the KGB the Americans were alert to Line X and were interfering with their collection by subverting, if not sabotaging, the effort, I believed the United States still could not lose. The Soviets, being a suspicious lot, would be likely to question and reject everything Line X collected. If so, this would be a rarity in the world of espionage, an operation that would succeed even if compromised. Casey liked the proposal.”
Gus W. Weiss
November 25 2021 — Dr Gus W. Weiss was a White House policy adviser on technology, intelligence and economic affair and worked primarily on national security, intelligence and concerns on technology transfer to communist countries. Weiss died on November 25, 2003 under what the UK newspaper The Independent has characterized as “mysterious circumstances”. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY
“Johnny Micheal Spann led one of our teams into Afghanistan, then under the sway of a dictatorship aligned with global murder. There, he tracked the authors and allies of terror. There, while fighting for the future of the American people, he fought to bring a better future to the Afghan people. And it was there, one evening, that he said he would gladly risk his life if he could help make the world a safer place for his wife and children. As we know, those were much more than words. Our battle with terrorism will be long and difficult. But those who have taken Mike from us cannot prevail. And they will not. Not while a single decent person—who not only loves liberty, but is ready to protect it—stands against them.”
Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet (May 31 2002)
“IN HONOR OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY”
November 25 2020 — Currently, there are 135 stars carved into the marble of the CIA Memorial Wall: 91 are unclassified. Who are those men and (at least 11) women? When did they die? Why are they honoured by a star? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY