In September 2001 the USA was attacked by letters containing the phrases 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' infected with anthrax being sent through the post. Five people died, 18 more were injured, and 35000 were forced to take precautionary antibiotics. Official reports suggested that the anthrax was released by the Muslim al-Qaeda terrorist movement, but investigations by forensic scientists at the FBI revealed that the sender of the poisoned letters was most likely a member of the American CIA, probably trying to encourage support for President Bush's 'war on terrorism' by spreading terror and paranoia throughout the western world directed at the more fundamental Islamic countries.
The FBI's conclusion was further proved when on the 17th of June, 2003 the head of the British intelligence service, MI5Ms Manningham-Buller, warned that an attack on a Western city was 'only a matter of time', and went on to say 'We are faced with a realistic possibility of a form of unconventional attack that could include chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN)'. 'It is only a matter of time before a crude version of a CBRN is launched on a Western city.' Clearly indicating that to date no such terrorist attack had taken place, and that the FBI were correct in their finding that the Anthraxattack had been carried out by a member of the CIA, though suggesting that he was not a rogue criminal at all. Research Anthrax Killer
George Blake (born George Behar) was a Dutch-born British KGB spy. He was born in 1922 at Rotterdam. After serving with the Dutch resistance he joined the British Royal Navy and in 1944 joined the SIS. In 1949 he was posted to South Korea and upon the outbreak of the Korean War was interned by the invading North Korean forces. In 1951 he defected to the Russians, and volunteered to work as a Soviet Spy, being assigned the KGB codename Diomid. Information supplied by Blake to the Soviets enabled them to eliminate the entire Western intelligence force in East Germany between 1953 and 1955. Blake also informed the Russians about the American CIA intercept tunnel built from West to East Germany, and designed to intercept Soviet communications - a tunnel which the CIA believed to be a success until the truth was revealed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union some forty years later. Blake was identified following information provided by the Polish defector Michal Goleniewski in 1961. Sentenced to forty-two years in jail, Blake escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison after serving five years and travelled to East Berlin and from there to Moscow. Research George Blake
James Carney was an American Air Force sergeant, who as a linguist and communications specialist served at Tempelhof airport in West Berlin. He spied for the German Democratic Republic under the code name 'Kid', informing the GDR of how the US communications system in Germany was able to pinpoint dozens of vulnerable WarsawPact targets within minutes of the outbreak of war. In 1984 he fled to the GDR after his lover died in mysterious circumstances, and in 1990, following a long period of depression and anxiety, he returned to the USA in the company of the CIA where he was sentenced to thirty-eight years in prison. Research James Carney
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th president of the USA from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. A son of the millionaire Joseph P Kennedy, he was born in 1917 and served with distinction in the navy during the Second World War. In 1953 he entered politics as the Democratic representative for Massachusetts. In 1953 he married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier. In 1960 he ran for president, beating Richard Nixon by a narrow margin to become the first Catholic president of the USA. Following his bungled attempt to invadeCuba he instructed the CIA to assassinate Fidel Castro. This also failed and resulted in the placing of Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba in 1962. Kennedy backed down, and the Soviets removed their missiles, and in 1963 a Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty was signed between the USA, Britain and the USSR. On the 22nd of November 1963, while being filmed for television as he drove through Dallas in an open car Kennedy was shot through the head by a sniper, and killed.
Despite controversy surrounding the killing, the undoubted assassin was Lee Harvey Oswald, who was himself shot and killed whilst in police custody awaiting trial. However, there are numerous theories as to whether the CIA or the KGB ordered the killing. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, and the publication of KGB files it is clear that the Soviets did not have a hand in the killing, as for another secret service, the matter is one for conjecture. Research John F Kennedy
Anthrax (also known as splenic fever, malignant pustule or wool-sorter's disease) is a bacterial disease (a form of pneumonia) of sheep and cattle transmittable to humans, caused by Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax occurs in humans as an acute infection of the skin, causing the so-called 'malignant pustule'. There is also a pulmonary form known as 'wool-sorters' disease', and occasionally intestinal anthrax infection is seen. Anthrax generally attacks persons who work with hides, hair or wool, but may be spread by infected bristles in shaving brushes. The skin lesion is a black ulcerating vesicle, the patient being ill, and developing septicaemia within a few days unless treatment is given. The death rate is comparatively high; the pulmonary and intestinal forms are generally fatal. Anthrax is used in biological warfare as the bacteria can be stored for as much as 25 years before it dies. In September 2000, the USA was attacked by letters infected with anthrax being sent through the post by a CIA agent. Research Anthrax
Camp X was a secret British SOE base for training then neutral America in the art of sabotage and terrorism during the Second World War. The base was established in Canada on the shore of LakeOntario, without the knowledge of the Canadian government. From Camp X developed the American CIA. Research Camp X
The Cold War was the name given to the stand-off between the Soviet Union and her allies (The WarsawPact) and the USA and her allies (NATO) following the end of the Second World War. As the Second World War ended America wanted to continue through Germany and invade the USSR, replacing the Communist government with one more harmonious with American economic interests. This desire for invasion and regime change continued for many years, with the Soviets developing more and more nuclear weapons as a deterrent (aided by hundreds of sympathisers - spies - in Britain, Germany and America who supplied technology secrets to the Soviets, not for money but out of sympathy for the Soviet ideals) until America achieved her aims with the 'peaceful' collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s - which subsequently led to civil wars in the former Soviet Republics, the emergence of large gangs or organised criminals and anything but peace in the former Soviet Union. War was probably avoided by the colossal intelligence
gathered by both sides during the standoff, the SovietKGB having spies within the British MI6 and CIA and the British and Americans having spies within the SovietKGB. Research Cold War
In November 1977 the Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta - Delta Force -, the USA's specialist anti-terrorist and hostage rescue unit came into being. The driving force behind Delta Force was Colonel Charles Beckwith, a Special Forces officer who had been extremely impressed by Britain's SAS during an exchange tour in the early 1960s. For several years he badgered the Pentagon into setting up a similar unit in the US Army. Selection for the new unit was very much SAS style, with hard physical, mental and psychological challenges weeding out nine out of 10 applicants. Once selected, the successful candidate is sent on a five month 'Operators' course, where he is introduced to the many and varied skills; than an anti-terrorist commando is expected to master. These include assault tactics, hostage management, communications, observation using the latest high-tech equipment, climbing, small boat work and parachuting.
Since the majority of Delta Force candidates are from Special Forces or Ranger units they already possess many of these skills, but even so they learn a lot before moving to their operational troop. Delta Force is organised into operational squadrons, each squadron is broken down further into troops. Marksmanship is a prime requirement in Delta Force and Force members train up to four hours a day, five days a week. Such intensive training leads to very high shooting standards: Delta snipers are expected to make nine first-round hits out of 10 at 1,000 yards, and score every time at 600 yards. Like other elite counter-terrorist units, Delta Force has built its own 'House of Horrors' which simulates various kinds of combat situations, from hostage taking to aircraft hijacks. Hijacks are a favourite terrorist activity, so Delta Force has practised assaults on airliners, and regularly runs training exercises at New York's KennedyAirport and at other large international gateways. Delta receives terrorist intelligence from US Government organisations such as the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the FBI, and from contacts with other anti-terrorist units around the world. Its members also make exchanges with the British SAS, Germany's GSG-9, the French GIGN and other similar units.
Delta Force was set up in less than a year, becoming operational in the middle of 1978. Just over a year later, the Force was alerted to a possible rescue mission as the US Embassy in Teheran was seized and the embassy staff held hostage. This was far from the mission they had trained for: penetrate hundreds of miles into hostile territory, making an assault in the middle of a major city and then getting clear with 100 or more freed hostages.
Months of intensive training went into 'Operation Eagle Claw' as the rescue mission was called, planned for the 25th of April. It was to involve Delta Force, Special Forces units from Germany, US Marine Corps helicopter Pilots, US Navy helicopters and ships and US Air Force air support. The mission was a disaster, although through no real fault Of the men who took part. Command and control of the many disparate parts of the rescue operation were shambolic. The big MH-53 helicopters could not cope with the desert sand, and there were not enough of them. After three had broken down the mission had to be aborted. To add to the whole affair, a collision at the 'Desert One' airstrip deep inside Iran killed eight men and destroyed a C-130 and a helicopter. Research Delta Force
MI6 is the British Secret Intelligence Service (formerly section 6 of Military Intelligence). It is a civilian organisation with functions resembling those of the American CIA. It is charged with gathering information overseas and other strategic services. Research MI6
Operation Gold was a joint MI6 and CIA operation to intercept Soviet-block communications in East Berlin during the 1950's. A 500 metre underground tunnel was dug from west Berlin into East Berlin to intercept landlines running from the Soviet Military and intelligence headquarters in Karlshorst. Details of the operation were passed by the British KGB spy George Blake (who was asked to liase with the CIA on the construction of the tunnel) to his Soviet controller in 1954, and the Soviets were aware of the entire operation even before it started. None the less, to protect their agent they did not reveal their knowledge of the tunnel until 1956 when they pretended to accidentally discover it. Research Operation Gold
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Anthrax Killer
