Video: Robert Levinson was on an unapproved intelligence-gathering mission:
An American man who disappeared in Iran more than six years ago had been working for the CIA in what U.S. intelligence officials describe as a rogue operation that led to a major shake-up in the spy agency.
Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent, traveled to the Iranian island of Kish in March 2007 to investigate corruption at a time when he was discussing the renewal of a CIA contract he had held for several years. He also inquired about getting reimbursed for the Iran trip by the agency before he departed, according to former and current U.S. intelligence officials.
After he vanished, CIA officials told Congress in closed hearings as well as the FBI that Levinson did not have a current relationship with the agency and played down its ties with him. Agency officials said Levinson did not go to Iran for the CIA.
But months after Levinson's abduction, e-mails and other documents surfaced that suggested he had gone to Iran at the direction of certain CIA analysts who had no authority to run operations overseas. That revelation prompted a major internal investigation that had wide-ranging repercussions, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The CIA leadership disciplined 10 employees, including three veteran analysts who were forced out of their jobs, the officials said.
Puppet Masters
UNITED NATIONS -- Chemical weapons were probably used in four locations in Syria this year, in addition to the confirmed attack near Damascus in August that forced the government to abandon its secret chemical stockpile, U.N. inspectors said in a report released Thursday.
The experts, led by Swedish professor Ake Sellstrom, examined seven alleged chemical weapons attacks and said it lacked information to corroborate the allegations at two locations.
The inspectors' limited mandate barred them from identifying whether the government or opposition fighters were responsible for any of the attacks.
Thursday's report said evidence indicated chemical weapons were probably used in Khan al Assal outside Aleppo, Jobar in Damascus' eastern suburbs, Saraqueb near Idlib in the northwest, and Ashrafiah Sahnaya in the Damascus countryside. In two cases, it found "signatures of Sarin."
The experts, led by Swedish professor Ake Sellstrom, examined seven alleged chemical weapons attacks and said it lacked information to corroborate the allegations at two locations.
The inspectors' limited mandate barred them from identifying whether the government or opposition fighters were responsible for any of the attacks.
Thursday's report said evidence indicated chemical weapons were probably used in Khan al Assal outside Aleppo, Jobar in Damascus' eastern suburbs, Saraqueb near Idlib in the northwest, and Ashrafiah Sahnaya in the Damascus countryside. In two cases, it found "signatures of Sarin."
© Fox410
Donald Black
Donald Black
By the time Donald Black retired Oct. 1 following his arrest on suspicion of child molestation and steroid possession, his actions had resulted in at least 10 payouts by the county, most of them involving excessive force allegations, according to a spreadsheet provided to The Sacramento Bee in response to a Public Records Act request. The largest payout - $1.5 million - went to a woman who had a 3-inch chunk of flesh taken out of her calf by Black's then-K-9 partner. In another case, according to a court complaint, Black and another deputy allegedly terrified a man during a traffic stop by pointing an unloaded pellet gun at his head and pulling the trigger.
Black, who was arrested by Nevada County authorities in September, retired from the department before the conclusion of two internal administrative investigations initiated by his arrest.
Even some who are familiar with Black's controversial history expressed shock at the $2 million total payout - and questioned how a deputy who had become such a financial liability managed to keep his job.
"It's utterly amazing.... This guy is off the charts," said local attorney Stewart Katz, who represented the man awarded $90,000 in the pellet gun incident.
© AFP Photo / Adalberto / Roquue
Tourists visit the Playa Giron Museum, dedicated to the Bay of Pigs combats 50 years ago, at the Bay of Pigs, in the Matanzas province, Cuba, on April 17, 2011.
Tourists visit the Playa Giron Museum, dedicated to the Bay of Pigs combats 50 years ago, at the Bay of Pigs, in the Matanzas province, Cuba, on April 17, 2011.
Over 50 years after the Bay of Pigs invasion went awry, the US federal government is still attempting to keep secrets about the failed overthrow of the Cuban government, with an Obama administration lawyer arguing this week to keep a document classified.
The National Security Archive, a private research institution, has sought to force the government to hand over the fifth of a five-volume internal account of the Bay of Pigs. The four earlier volumes were released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Penned by a CIA staff historian in the years between 1973 and 1984, the final document chronicles - and presumably critiques - the CIA's own investigation of how the invasion went wrong.
In 1961, not long after the Cuban revolution had ousted Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, a US ally, American lawmakers were growing nervous about the new Fidel Castro-led government. In a plan organized under President Eisenhower and authorized by President Kennedy, the CIA trained Cuban exiles to act as a paramilitary force that would usurp Cuban troops at the Bay of Pigs in a surprise attack.
The plot fell apart for a variety of reasons, with many of the 1,500 CIA-trained Cubans killed before they could rush past the beach. The Castro government, strengthened in its resolve after the victory, solidified its socialist stance.
Yet the CIA's interpretation of the events remains shrouded in secrecy. Assistant US Attorney Mitchell P. Zeff told the US Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, the second highest court in the nation, that "the passage of time has not made it releasable."
© Jana Birchum
And who are these "bad guys"? The enemy-du-jour of the powers-that-be.
The authorities blamed 9/11 on "radical Muslims." They blamed the Boston Marathon, Sandy Hook and Aurora, Colorado massacres on "gun nuts" and "extremists."
The mainstream media have not yet admitted that these atrocities were false-flag operations. They are too recent. People would be too angry.
But mainstream journalists and historians do admit the truth about past false-flags.
During the Cold War, Western governments and media blamed the Operation Gladio massacres in Brabant, Belgium and Bologna, Italy on "anti-American leftists". . . just as they blamed the fake Gulf of Tonkin attack on the North Vietnamese. Today, everyone admits that these were all false-flag operations commanded by the US military.
During Operation Ajax - the CIA's overthrow of Iran's prime minister Mossadeq in 1953 - CIA operatives repeatedly committed mass murder and falsely blamed Mossadeq supporters. They blew up mosques, targeted religious leaders for assassination, machine-gunned crowds, then scattered thousands of leaflets claiming Mossadeq was responsible.
Former CIA operative Kermit Roosevelt has admitted to committing these murders and spreading these lies. CIA documents released this year confirm the Agency's role in the atrocities.
Swift response by the Russian president to Canada's move to claim seabed under the North Pole and surrounding waters.
The firm Russian move came after Ottawa indicated it is mapping the Arctic seabed with a view to claiming the North Pole seabed as Canadian. This puts Canada at odds with Russia which argues the underwater Lomonosov Ridge is linked to the Siberian land mass.
At stake for both countries - and others with Arctic claims such as Denmark - are vast untapped oil and gas reserves.
'I would like you to devote special attention to deploying infrastructure and military units in the Arctic,' Putin told a defence ministry meeting on Tuesday. 'Next year, we have to complete the formation of new large units and military divisions.'
© Dozhd' TV Russia
Russia is developing this promising region more and more actively, the country is returning to it and should have here all levers for the protection of country's security and national interests.
Russia is developing this promising region more and more actively, the country is returning to it and should have here all levers for the protection of country's security and national interests.
At stake for both countries - and others with Arctic claims such as Denmark - are vast untapped oil and gas reserves.
'I would like you to devote special attention to deploying infrastructure and military units in the Arctic,' Putin told a defence ministry meeting on Tuesday. 'Next year, we have to complete the formation of new large units and military divisions.'
Some 2000 veterans of World War II were lobotomized by the VA. While tragic, it's not a scandal.
The story was broken yesterday by WSJ as part of a series called "The Lobotomy Files: Forgotten Soldiers."
The story was broken yesterday by WSJ as part of a series called "The Lobotomy Files: Forgotten Soldiers."
A hard hitting mini film by film maker Charles Shaw, properly titled RELEASE US, highlights the riveting and horrid reality of America's thin blue line.
500 innocent Americans are murdered by police every year (USDOJ). 5,000 since 9/11, equal to the number of US soldiers lost in Iraq.
In 1994 the US Government passed a law authorizing the Pentagon to donate surplus Cold War era military equipment to local police departments.
In the 20 years since, weaponry designed for use on a foreign battlefield, has been handed over for use on American streets...against American citizens.
The "War on Drugs" and the "War on Terror" replaced the Cold War with billions in funding and dozens of laws geared towards this new "war" against its own citizens.
This militarization of the police force has created what is being called an "epidemic of police brutality" sweeping the nation.
© Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images
Footage shown by North Korea's KCTV and released by South Korea's Yonhap news agency shows Jang Song Thaek being removed from a Politburo meeting.
Footage shown by North Korea's KCTV and released by South Korea's Yonhap news agency shows Jang Song Thaek being removed from a Politburo meeting.
The truth, needless to say, is probably not that Jang was killed for "half-heartedly clapping," as the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency claims in a lengthy explanation for the execution. More likely, this is perhaps a way for Kim to consolidate his power within a large, inscrutable bureaucracy that's dominated by much older and more experience cadres who may have resisted the young upstart's leadership.
The highly public purge of Jang has been unprecedented from the beginning. North Korea has had plenty of political purges in its history, but never like this; they've been done quietly, behind the scenes. But state media denounced Jang earlier this week, publicly condemning him and listing his alleged crimes. The entire front page of the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper was dedicated to Jang's ouster on Monday; so was a special broadcast on North Korean state TV that showed troops arresting Jang in the middle of a politburo meeting.
Turning this high-level political purge into such a national display is totally without precedent for North Korea. That may give us some clue as to what happened and why Kim would order his own uncle put to death.
© Flickr CC
Glenn Greenwald defended his work against sharp Twitter criticism.
Glenn Greenwald defended his work against sharp Twitter criticism.
And one of those fascinating wormholes just opened on Twitter as super neo-journalist Glenn Greenwald and 9/11 whistleblower Sibel Edmonds exchanged a series of increasingly vitriolic and accusatory tweets over Edmonds' latest blog on Boiling Frogs Post: BFP Breaking News - Omidyar's PayPal Corporation Said To Be Implicated in Withheld NSA Document.
In it, Edmonds claims that Greenwald's soon-to-be financial partner and backer - PayPal billionaire Pierre Omidyar - was, in effect, a knowing partner with NSA spying and financial data-mining efforts:
The 50,000-pages of documents obtained by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden contain extensive documentation of PayPal Corporation's partnership and cooperation with the National Security Agency (NSA), according to three NSA veterans.However, Edmonds also writes:
To date, no information has been released as to the extent of the working relationship and cooperation between the two entities - NSA and PayPal Corporation.
Comment: The author may benefit from learning about psychopaths and ponerology. "One phenomenon all ponerogenic groups and associations have in common is the fact that their members lose (or have already lost) the capacity to perceive pathological individuals as such, interpreting their behavior in a fascinated, heroic, or melodramatic way. The opinions, ideas, and judgments of people carrying various psychological deficits are endowed with an importance at least equal to that of outstanding individuals among normal people. The atrophy of natural critical faculties with respect to pathological individuals becomes an opening to their activities, and at the same time a criterion for recognizing the association in concert as ponerogenic. Let us call this the first criterion of ponerogenesis."