The glamorization of intelligence work began with Ian Fleming’s James Bond series in the later 1950s. Fleming, a veteran of MI6, the British foreign intelligence agency. invented a spy who appealed The U.S. sales of Bond novels skyrocketed in March 1961 when President John Kennedy disclosed he was a fan. Spies were now seen as...
Tag: CIA
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RIP: Jerrold Post, CIA Profiler Who Said Trump Was a ‘Malignant Narcissist’
From Peter Eisner at SpyTalk. A veteran Washington reporter, Eisner interviewed Post for his podcast (with Jonathan Winer) Unconventional Threat. The Q&A with Post, reprinted in the SpyTalk piece, is well worth reading Here is guide to understanding how an intelligence agency assesses a political leader. Post had created the Center for the Analysis of Personality...
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As Trump Cabal Plots a Coup, Rubio Defends Haspel at CIA
CIA director Gina Haspel (Credit: Politico) This subtext of this POLITICO story is: how does Senator Marco Rubio stand up to President Trump’s attempt to hinder the transition to President-Elect Biden? He doesn’t. Rather than criticize the president, the Florida Republicans is defending Trump’s next target: CIA director Gina Haspel. After President Trump “terminated” Defense...
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The Assassination of Che Guevara, According to the CIA
Guevara was the charismatic leader of the Cuban revolution, who sought to inspire the poor people of Bolivia to rebel. They weren’t inspired, and the CIA was on his trail. Fifty-three years ago, at 1:15 p.m. on October 9, 1967, Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara was executed in the hills of Bolivia after being captured by...
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‘Last Narc’: How the CIA Did Business With Drug Traffickers
Former Newsweek correspondent and best-selling author Elaine Shannon tries but doesn’t quite succeed in taking down Amazon’s series “The Last Narc.” In an extended take out for SpyTalk, Shannon quotes an impressive series of former U.S. officials who scoff at the premise of the series. But neither she nor her sources mention the story of...