Were going to start with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuban missile crisis was 1962. It took place over 13 very, very stressful days in october 1962. The United States at that point had long been flying High Altitude surveillance flights over the nation of cuba, but on october 14th, 1962 a u2 surveillance flight picked up imagery in cuba of something that started that whole crisis, started that whole standoff. Its interesting. The Cuban Missile Crisis is very precisely identified in all the history books as having started on october 16th. Two days after that u2 spy plane captured those images in cuba. But the crisis didnt start on october 16th because something happened that day, because there was some overt act by cuba, there was some provocation there or some announcement by them, it didnt start because on october 16th there was some act by the
soviet union or some announcement by the soviets that kicked off this crisis. The reason we can be so specific about when the Cuban Missile Crisis started on october 16th is because that crisis began when the United States had a revelation. The United States realized and figured out with high confidence exactly what it was looking at in those photos that had been taken two days earlier. The way the United States was able to identify exactly what they were looking at in those photos, the way the Kennedy Administration was able to look at those photos and come to the conclusion that, in fact, this was a new secret deployment of Nuclear Weapons by the soviet union, they could get specific about what kinds of missiles and Missile Launchers and equipment they were looking at, the reason the Cuban Missile Crisis started is because the u. S. Was able to make that identification. The reason they were able to make that identification is because of this man. His name is oleg penkohski. He was a russian double agent. Unbeknownst to the soviet union, she was secretly spying for britain and the United States and provided the technical descriptions and materials that allowed the Kennedy Administration in 1962 to confirm in fact the soviet union was secretly moving Nuclear Missiles to cuba. We can be more specific about the value of that information that he provided. At the cias web site, they have a whole section devoted to penkovsky. He provided detailed plans and descriptions of the launch sites in cuba to which the soviet union had deployed the missiles starting that summer of 1962. His information gave the Kennedy Administration such specific technical insight into what they were looking at in surveillance
photos, that President Kennedy was able to conclude in october 62 he had exactly a threeday window, a 72hour window for negotiating a diplomatic solution to this crisis with krushiev before for this reason penkovski is credited with averting the cold war. The u. S. Is able to analyze the photos and have this important revelation of what they were looking at. They were able to come to that revelation on october 16th, that is the start of the crisis. But then less than a week after that while the crisis is in full
flower, while it is at its most terrifying and not at all resolved and it seems like we might be having a nuclear war after this issue, on october 22nd, oleg was walking down The Street In Moscow and the kgb snatched him off the street, arrested him and figured out he was a double agent. We dont know how they got him, if they were able to reverse engineer what information the u. S. Had about the site or maybe a american double agent knew about penkovsky being this important asset for the western allies and maybe some american or british double agent gave this guys name to the kremlin, we dont know. In the middle of the crisis before any diplomatic resolution was in reach, oleg gets snatched
off The Street In Moscow. He was the highest ranking soviet officer to have ever spied for the u. S. Or Great Britain up until that time. The kbg snatched him off the street and charged him with high treason and espionage. He was convicted and in the spring of 1963 they killed him. They executed him inside the prison in moscow. They dumped his ashes in a mass grave. Even today in 2018 the cia calls Oleg Penkovsky one of the most valuable assets in the history of the usa. From the other side of the equation, from the soviet perspecti perspective, he was seen as one of the most damaging traitors to ever hurt the soviet union. Fast forward 40 years to 2004,
december 2004 and the Successor Agency to the k. G. B. Arrests another turnkout double agent colonel, another double agent secretly spying for the west while serving in Russian Military intelligence. 2004, they snatched him off the street, December Of 2004 on suspicion of treason. They put him on trial secretly in a military court. Nobody knew what had become of him for two solid years before finally in 2006 the Russian Government announced that in this secret Military Tribunal he had been convicted of treason. He confessed to selling the names, addresses and code names of several dozen russian agents to the British Security service to mi6. Many of the Russian Agency betrayed were deep cover spies in britain and in europe. The newspaper in russia reported
and then he didnt serve out that time. In 2010 he was pardoned and traded to the west, traded in a western spy swap. He and three other russian prisoner were swapped for ten russians operating an undercover spy ring in the United States. Ultimately he went to live in britain the country for which he had done his spying and of course he was the man who ended up slumped on a park bench in the british Town Of Salisbury last week. He was in some sort of fugue state. Witnesses described him making strange hand motions while otherwise being nonresponsive while his 33yearold daughter slumped next to him unconscious with her eyes rolled back in her head. Sergei skripal and his daughter yulia. He was seen as a very, very consequential double agent, somebody whose spying for britain had done profound damage to russias intelligence services. It doesnt take a great leap of
imagination why someone might have wanted to attack him, who had the strongest motive to attack him . But since he was attacked in britain last week, we still have no explanation for why it happened exactly the way it did. Where the attack happened in salisbury, it was quite near to the british militarys science and technology lab. Thats exactly the secret facility in britain that would be used to identify a suspected chemical or biological agent. According to british authorities, the agent that was used to Atrack Skripal and his daughter was a very specifically identifiable russian nerve agent. Its the opposite of a generic poison. This isnt like sarin, which is hard to make but scientists in a japanese Doomsday Cult figured out how to make it and used it to gas a subway platform. This isnt ricin. This was a Russian Military specific subvar eye talls of
nerve agent that doesnt exist anywhere else in the world and has never been manufactured anywhere and by anyone other than the russian state. It was, therefore, a very unusual choice for how to kill someone, especially if you had any interest at all in getting away with it. This is like signing a bullet and putting your Return Address on it before shooting someone. Why do that . Its very possible because of his history, because of the seriousness of his espionage past, its very possible that they were going to get Sergei Skripal someday, somewhere, somehow. But the way they went after him in broad daylight in a p provincial british town and with a nerve agent that can hurt other people that is very traceable to the Russian Military, thats a very specific kind of attack. It almost makes it feel like it
was some sort of international test. Mr. Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a novichok, a Military Grade Nerve Agent developed by russia. Based on its capability combined with their record of conducting statesponsored Assassinations Including against former Intelligence Officers whom they regard as legitimate targets, the u. K. Government concluded that it was highly likely that russia was responsible for this wre reckless and despicable act. Theyve treated the use of a Military Grade Nerve Agent with car sarcasm and contempt. This represents an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom. British Prime Ministertheresa may today announcing that this attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter was an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the u. K. She went on to announce the expulsion of 23 Russian Diplomats in response, cancelledhicancelled highlevel meetings, britain is pulling back from participation at World Soccer Events this year and she is cutting back on international flights. Her announcement was followed by an Emergency Meeting of the u. N. Security council, which included actually quite strong remarks from americas ambassador to the u. N. Nikki haley. The United States believes that russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the
united kingdom using a Military Grade Nerve Agent. Alone russias crime is worthy of this councils action but this is not an isolated incident. Theplained that we criticize them too much. If the Russian Government stopped using chemical weapons to assassinate its enemies and stopped helping its syrian ally to use chemical weapons to kill syrian children and if russia cooperated with the Organization For The Prohibition Of Chemical Weapons by turning over all information related to this nerve agent, we would stop talking about them. We take no pleasure in having to constantly criticize russia but we need russia to stop giving us so many reasons to do so. Russia must cooperate and come clean about its own weapons program. Nikki haley speaking today. Strong remarks from her that seem to have precipitated a fairly strong statement from the white house as well released by Sarah Huckabee sanders tonight saying in part, quote, the United States shares the u. K. s assessment that russia is responsible for the reckless nerve agent attack for a british citizen and his daughter. This latest action by russia fits into a pattern of behavior in which russia disregards the International Rules based order, undermines the sovereignty and security of Countries Worldwide and attempts to subvert and discredit western Democratic Institutions and processes. Oh really . Strong statement. Russias undermining the sovereignty and security of Countries Worldwide and subvert western Democratic Institutions . From in white house this is a strong written statement from the press secretary. Youll notice the contrast between those strong remarks and what the president himself has said on this matter. Reporter mr. President , do you believe there should be a response from the United States . As soon as we get the facts straight and were going to be speaking with the british today, were speaking with theresa may today and as soon as we get the facts straight, if we agree with them, we will condemn russia or whoever it may be. Maybe its a 400 pound guy sitting in his bed. The president has made no further remarks on this matter since then. So this russian guy being attacked with a nerve agent developed by the Russian Military in broad daylight on the street in britain, this is a bizarre and serious and scary thing. There are International Repercussions to it already and those will continue. The first strong statement from the u. S. Condemning the attack was from secretary of state rex tillerson, who was then fired
just a few hours afterwards. Since then we have seen subsequent strong statements from Ambassador Nikki Haley and a strong written statement from the press secretary. They appear to not getting fired. President trump on this matter, well see who it is, well see if we agree. And the Elephant In The Room of course is the ongoing investigation, the ongoing open questions about our president s own relationship with the Russian Government. And on that point i will just make one point here. Last night we reported that democrats on the Intelligence Committee had unexpectedly released a 21page document in response to the republicans shutting down the russia investigation in the house. The document the democrats released last night was not just a response to what the republicans had said they were doing, it was also their own status report on where they believe the investigation stood at the moment the republicans shut it down. Now, we didnt know this report
was coming out until we saw it last night and it was a surprise when it came out. As we described last night, that document contained some serious assertions about President Trump and his relationship with russia, including this blunt statement on page 6 of their report. Quote, the committee has learned that candidate trumps private business was actively negotiating a Business Deal in moscow with a sanctioned russian bank during the election period. If you think thats old news and youve heard that before, its not. This is a new and specific and potent assertion from the Intelligence Committee democrats. Well, tonight a source familiar with the democratic report tells us a little bit more about what that Grave Assertion is about. The source tells us that this is not based on Public Reporting that everybody has seen from news agencies. The source tills us that testimony to the committee raised serious questions about the effort during the campaign by the trump organize to secure
foreign financing for a trump tower moscow, including from a sanctioned russian bank. According to our source, there are troubling inconsistencies between public assertions about this matter and what the committee discovered through documentary and Testimonial Evidence during the committees investigation. So there appears to have been an attempted assassination by Chemical Warfare on british soil, British Government is attributing that to the Russian Government, the u. K. Government is addressing the matter, the u. S. Government is sort of starting to address the matter but were in this bizarre situation where our own president s silence and mealymouthed hemming and haughing on this subject is in the foreground while his own secret dealings with the Russian Government are starting to unfold and starting to be exposed by a congressional investigation that his republican allies are trying to
shut down. This is, main, wei mean, weve watching this at one level or another over the course of the past year and a half. But right with this crisis and attempted murder, attempted assassination in britain, Police Officer still hospitalized for having gone into the house of these people who apparently were targeted in this attack, two people still fighting for their lives, trying to fend off the effects of this Military Nerve agent. Its like having a spy movie that has another spy movie embedded inside of it. Weve heard from people theyve had a hard time getting ahold of this democratic status report that we first reported on. We have posted that at maddowblog. Com if you want to look at it. The scotts turf builder program. Its the best way to get the yard you want
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