General Yuri Ivanov, the former deputy head of the GRU has died under mysterious circumstances.
General Ivanov’s death is the second amongst high-placed Russian intelligence officials in recent days, coinciding with the demise of defected Soviet agent Sergei Tretyakov, who allegedly choked to death on a piece of meat in Florida.
This week, the New York Times has profiled Joe and Valerie Plame Wilson. The outed spies are rebuilding their lives in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Keep an eye out for the screen adaption, featuring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.
The Obama administration is seeking a national security reform to adapt to new technological developments. While the FBI has the ability to use warrants to attain access to e-mails, direct messaging is apparently out of the reach of such wiretaps.
Think this is an unwarranted invasion of privacy? Check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The Cold War International History Project’s video of Tom Blanton and Svetlana Savranskaya’s presentation on Masterpieces of History: The Peaceful End of the Cold War in Europe, 1989 is up!
Finally, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had an eventful stay in New York City last week. On Tuesday, he met with Louis Farrakhan and members of the New Black Panther Party. Additionally, in two separate incidents, Ahmadinejad’s security detail repulsed confrontation attempts by Sudanese diplomats and two Iranian women, one of whom screamed at the President that her sister was stoned to death in Iran.
If only Nikita was still around and bear-hugging and (maybe) shoe-banging.
UNREDACTED: The National Security Archive Blog 