Britain’s Intelligence Service: well the last ten years have been a bit bumpy. It used to be very clear who the enemy was, and so also it was clear what the job was. And then we got caught out … We were meant to be fighting a worldwide movement. Let’s just say we got a bit careless about distinguishing between people who would like to do terrible things and people who were actually doing them … An apparatus of bad practice that is out of control. Salting the Battlefield 2014 starring Bill Nighy & Helena Bonham-Carter & Rupert Graves & Ralph Fiennes & Ewen Bremner & James McArdle & Judy Davis & Felicity Jones & Valeria Vereau & Saskia Reeves et al, director David Hare, prime minister
The war on drugs can be shown to be even more of a farce in that the very ones who are bringing the drugs into the country are those in the intelligence service. The Corbett Report, 19 The CIA Ships in the Drugs, James Corbett online 2007
Ever since the Second World War the American Government had been using the CIA to manipulate and overthrow the governments of many other countries … The dual state … had to be kept secret from the people … From the 1950s onwards the CIA rigged elections, destabilised governments through fake information, and organised violent coups in Italy, Greece, Syria, Iran, Guatemala, South Vietnam, Indonesia and Chile. In all, the United States ran covert operations to overthrow 66 foreign governments. In 26 cases they succeeded. Adam Curtis, Can’t Get You Out of My Head V: The Lordly Ones ***** BBCiplayer 2021
The Soviet Union was about to collapse: it was a colossal failure of the whole Western system of Intelligence. ibid.
John le Carre: In a country whose power had collapsed, leaving only a drab decaying reality all around, the spies had managed to recreate a magical world where they could go anywhere they wanted, bug, burgle and even assassinate without any fear of judgment or control, just like in the empire. ibid.
The world’s worst nightmare: a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. But hidden in the desert is an atom bomb factory the West helped build and it belongs to Israel. One man exposes an international conspiracy of silence. He’s up against one of the most feared secret services in the world. And they won’t stop till they’ve got him. Nuclear Secrets IV: Vanunu and the Bomb
He risked a heavy prison sentence to take photos of what he’d seen. ibid.
Mossad would be coming after him. ibid.
‘Israel could have up to 200 atom bombs.’ ibid. UK expert
There was a long list of Western countries who would be very embarrassed if Vanunu’s story ever got out. ibid.
The next day Israel denied the allegations. ibid.
The Sunday Mirror printed pictures of Vanunu and ridiculed his story. ibid.
The Sunday Times finally decided on publish on October 5th. ibid.
Curiously, the world’s press didn’t want to know. ibid.
For eleven years Vanunu was in solitary confinement. ibid.
Stalin … based his absolute power on his secret police, the NKVD, then the largest intelligence service in the world. Secrets of War s1e27: Stalin’s Spies
Joseph Stalin consolidated his grip on the Soviet state by utilizing the newly powerful secret service as his personal instrument of control. Secrets of War s1e38: Cold War: Inside the KGB
The British used stealth and cunning to match the Axis powers. Secrets of War s1e39: British Secret Intelligence in WWII
MI6 was joined by a web of secret agencies. ibid.
MI6 had purchased an old Bletchley Park mansion … a sharp team of brilliant scholars, linguists and mathematicians … but code-breaking alone would not be enough to win the war. ibid.
SOE’s early missions in the war were often plagued by failure. ibid.
London: For decades cunning games of espionage have been played out on the city’s streets: assassinations, treason and betrayal. Secrets of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, PBS 2014
Today, MI6 has over 3,200 officers operating across the globe. ibid.
Espionage work is neither loud nor high profile. ibid.
London: [Georgi] Markov desperately tries to work out how he’s been poisoned; the only strange thing he can remember happening is at a bus stop on the way to work that morning … ‘prodded him with an umbrella’ … a tiny round pellet the size of a pinhead … Ricin. ibid.
2006: dissident Alexander Litvinenko is fatally poisoned at the Millennium Hotel in London when his tea is laced with Polonium 210. ibid.
I want a card on every radical person in this country. J Edgar 2011 starring Leonardo DiCaprio & Judi Dench & Armie Hammer & Naomi Watts & Josh Lucas & Ed Westwick & Dermot Mulroney & Damon Herriman & Jeffrey Donovan & Zach Grenier et al, director Clint Eastwood, Hoover’s commentary
Halfway between Baltimore and Washington DC is a hidden city: the headquarters of the National Security Agency, NSA. The Spy Factory, PBS 2009
But was NSA doing its job before the 9/11 attacks? ibid.
NSA has turned its giant ear to listen in on America. ibid.
The equivalent of twelve filing cabinets of new information for every American citizen every year. ibid.
This programme is about spies, the tools of their trade and the innocent people they’ve spied on … All this is the work of British Intelligence … We show how Britain’s secret servants are beyond control sidestepping the law and invading our privacy. World in Action: Defending the Realm, ITV 1991
The ease with which confidential information can be grabbed from a remote screen. ibid.
I want to talk to you about your time as an investigator on the Octopus murders. American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders I: The End, investigator to journalist, Netflix 2024
You’re going to get yourself killed. ibid. journalist to investigator
Christian told me this story about this journalist [Danny Casolaro] who died under mysterious circumstances in the early ’90s. ibid. investigator
Danny had stumbled upon a computer software scandal that led him to a series of high-profile crimes that he said would rewrite US history … Danny called this conspiracy The Octopus. ibid.
Inslaw case: The complex and confusing still-developing case that involves improper conduct by high level Justice Department officials. ibid. Dan Rather
Inslaw … makes software for law enforcement agencies. ibid. commentary
Firm’s Owners Tell Of Ordeal At Hands of Justice Dept. ibid. newspaper article
Thousands of pages of research materials … International crimes starting with the Inslaw case. ibid. investigator
A federal judge could lose his job because he made a ruling against the government. ibid. original footage
Why did the Department of Justice do this? ibid. investigator
That started a process of Bill [Hamilton of Inslaw] and Danny talking every day [investigator] … One of the things about Bill, he used to work at the NSA. ibid.
He starts looking into these powerful people connected to the Reagan administration. ibid.
They are clearly covering something up. What is it? ibid.
Some of the same people kept appearing: Earl Brian. ibid.
If I have an accident, don’t believe it. ibid. brother reports Danny’s warning
Authorities report they found no papers in his room or in his car. ibid.
Was a reporter killed for investigating the government? ibid. TV news
Danny was this suburban dad and all of a sudden he is in this international intrigue. American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders II: The Trap Door, family
Michael told Danny that the PROMIS scandal actually started with Ronald Regan stealing the 1980s election, the so-called October Surprise. ibid. investigator
The hostages from the American Embassy were released hours after he [Reagan] was sworn in. ibid.
Earl Brian made the election happen and he wanted his payoff. There was some kind of deal made in the Justice Department. And the source code for PROMIS was awarded to Earl Brian. ibid.
A backdoor into the software … They wanted to sell PROMIS to other governments and spy on what they were tracking. ibid.
Danger Man told me that the promised software modification was just one tentacle of a larger Intelligence operation in southern California. Here at the Cabazon Indian Reservation a team of gun runners, gamblers, and covert Intelligence operatives would find sanctuary from all state laws. ibid.
Dr John Philip Nichols and the crew that hung about the Reservation … There were only about 26 members of the Cabazon tribe. ibid.
The Wackenhut Corporation has been the shadow CIA for many years. ibid. man in the know on TV
There was also two Contra generals from Nicaragua. They had automatic weapons, machine-guns, semi-automatic weapons and night goggles … Why there? ibid.
June 27 2017: Michael Riconosciuto has finally been released. 26 years earlier Michael gave an affidavit describing his role in hacking the PROMIS software. 8 days later he was arrested on drug charges. American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders III: The Game
They all met the same fate: there’s just too many people dead in this case. ibid. Michael
No matter which direction Danny went in, he hit drugs. ibid. investigator of government as drugs supplier
BCCI is accused of dirty dealing around the world. ibid. TV news
A web of thugs and thieves who roam the earth with their espionage. ibid. investigator
These 8 men came together in the 1950s: Richard Helms, Theodore Shackley, George H Bush, George Pender, Ray Cline, E Howard Hunt, John Philip Nichols, William Casey, Thomas Clines … The Octopus: which moves money and power around the world. ibid.
He [Danny] was talking about how he needed to complete the book and get it published. American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders IV: The Monster, investigator
There must be a full, thorough, impartial, hard-hitting investigation. ibid. Elliot Richardson
Danny was right about so many things. ibid. investigator