21 February: In the UK, MI6 has announced that it is reducing the minimum age requirement for joining from 21 to 18. It is hoped that this will attract younger people who are more familiar with modern technology. Alex Younger, the current ‘C’, used the term “live” technology during a …
In the UK, news has leaked that the likely successor to Sir Alex Younger as the Chief of SIS (MI6) is Tom Hurd, 55, currently director-general of the Office of Counter Terrorism. This is bad news in two ways. First, it is another man (so much for diversity). Second, he …
One of the fascinations of espionage history is that it is full of incidents so bizarre that you could not make them up. So while we wait to hear whether US intelligence did or did not justify the assassination of Soleimani, here is the answer to the question: who was …
Not a good end to the year for MI6. The news section of their website has a copy of their Christmas card, but it is not reporting the following story: On 27th December, under the front page headline “Skyfail”, British newspaper The Sun revealed that more than one hundred documents …
Why was Iraq targeted? 1) It was consistent with the US idea that it is easier to hit the countries that are backing the terrorists rather than taking on the terrorist groups one by one. Saddam wasn’t, but he had and he might again; 2) Iraq was an easy target …