Russia offered bounties to kill american troops. (2 Viewers)

[The moose]

Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says (Published 2020)

The Trump administration has been deliberating for months about what to do about a stunning intelligence assessment.

www.nytimes.com

An amazing read.

Trump was told about this in March. Then tries to get Russia back into the g8.

The timing is just plain horrible.

 

[Lapaz]

If it's true then of course I have a problem with 1. 2 is good. Which evidence bas corroborated the bounty claims? Is it another unnamed intelligence source or do we have actual proof?

Do you believe intelligence sources should be named? How do you think that will affect our ability to get future intel or compromise our sources?

 

[SaintForLife]

Do you believe intelligence sources should be named? How do you think that will affect our ability to get future intel or compromise our sources?

Not necessarily, but any unamed intelligence sources in regards to Russia shouldn't be believed unless actual evidence is produced. Their track record the past 3 years has been abysmal

 

[cuddlemonkey]

If it's true then of course I have a problem with 1. 2 is good. Which evidence bas corroborated the bounty claims? Is it another unnamed intelligence source or do we have actual proof?

It's been discussed in this thread. An electronic paper trail of money being moved.

 

[SaintForLife]

It's been discussed in this thread. An electronic paper trail of money being moved.

"according to three officials familiar with the intelligence." No evidence has been produced or leaked right?

 

[SaintForLife]

If Liz Cheney is involved, it's probably not a good thing.

 

[efil4]

It's been discussed in this thread. An electronic paper trail of money being moved.

you could put the telephone intercept transcripts in his hands and the financial data on screen and he would then want to talk with the intel officer responsible for deciphering telephone conversations and the bank that handled the transactions.

because....russia.

 

[JimEverett]

If Liz Cheney is involved, it's probably not a good thing.

The establishment will allow Trump to do many things - but will never allow him to slow down American military involvement in the middle East and central Asia, or allow him to even minutely reduce America's role (or expense) in defending Europe.

 

[cuddlemonkey]

"according to three officials familiar with the intelligence." No evidence has been produced or leaked right?

Give me your take on it, then. When the money trail was reported, was that fabricated in an effort to bolster an overblown story- perhaps a story that was, itself, fabricated?

 

[JimEverett]

Give me your take on it, then. When the money trail was reported, was that fabricated in an effort to bolster an overblown story- perhaps a story that was, itself, fabricated?

My take is that it could be a million different things. That is precisely the problem.
Do you not think that raw intelligence reports many things that are not true or, more precisely, are not clear?

Intelligence sources are unreliable - they are not really like other sources.

 

[efil4]

My take is that it could be a million different things. That is precisely the problem.
Do you not think that raw intelligence reports many things that are not true or, more precisely, are not clear?

Intelligence sources are unreliable - they are not really like other sources.

this was not "raw" intelligence.

Raw intelligence does not make its way to the PDB/Potus.

 

[SaintForLife]

you could put the telephone intercept transcripts in his hands and the financial data on screen and he would then want to talk with the intel officer responsible for deciphering telephone conversations and the bank that handled the transactions.

because....russia.

Yeah it's crazy to ask for actual evidence instead of believing unamed intelligence officials when they have been proven wrong in regards to Russia the last 3 years.

 

[SaintForLife]

The establishment will allow Trump to do many things - but will never allow him to slow down American military involvement in the middle East and central Asia, or allow him to even minutely reduce America's role (or expense) in defending Europe.

Exacty! There is too much money to be lost by the military industrial complex to let that happen.

 

[SaintForLife]

Give me your take on it, then. When the money trail was reported, was that fabricated in an effort to bolster an overblown story- perhaps a story that was, itself, fabricated?

It might be true or it might be false. With their abysmal track record on Russia I'll wait to see the evidence.

What's your opinion of these unamed intelligence officials regarding Russia the past 3 years?

 

[JimEverett]

this was not "raw" intelligence.

Raw intelligence does not make its way to the PDB/Potus.

Sure, but an intelligence official can leak raw intelligence.
But even beyond that, the idea that assessments that are given to the President are "true" and factual is an overstatement. Has history taught us nothing?

 

[efil4]

Sure, but an intelligence official can leak raw intelligence.
But even beyond that, the idea that assessments that are given to the President are "true" and factual is an overstatement. Has history taught us nothing?

first to be clear, nothing in intelligence outside of photo/video proof is 100% factual. I never claimed this to be 100% factual. What i do stand by is that the intelligence gathered was vetted enough to be presented to POTUS/Admininstration and yet NOTHING was put in motion to either completely verify or take action.


Oh dont get me wrong, WMD is a sore spot for me as a US Army Veteran. And that was orchestrated by Cheney et al. ( Bush was a pawn in that game )

Which is why im confused by SFL post about the "meaning" of the Cheney/Crow amendment that CLEARLY states requirement to be getting to the bottom of this intelligence. I read the amendment and they dont seem to be unreasonable in what they ask of the US to do before draw downs occur.

Thats EXACTLY what should be happening and it should be noted that i think wheels are spinning ( behind closed doors ) but 3 months too late. Just like mask wearing and a host of other items that require leadership. But thats for another thread.

POTUS is and always has been reactionary and never pro-active on international affairs.

 

[efil4]

Sure, but an intelligence official can leak raw intelligence.
But even beyond that, the idea that assessments that are given to the President are "true" and factual is an overstatement. Has history taught us nothing?

We had this 4 months ago....it wasnt leaked then when it was raw.

 

[Lapaz]

Yeah it's crazy to ask for actual evidence instead of believing unamed intelligence officials when they have been proven wrong in regards to Russia the last 3 years.

You've said this a few times, but the intelligence on Russia has mostly been accurate. The primary thing that hasn't been CONFIRMED is conspiracy by Trump. Trump has colluded in public with the Russians, but conspiracy is very hard to prove. The bounty intelligence in question here that involves financial transactions between Russia and the Taliban should be easier to establish, but criminals can find ways to launder their transactions. Even so, they seem to have been discovered. The purpose of those transactions is where the intelligence sources probably come in to play. If enough information is revealed about those sources, those sources will probably either become useless or dead. Your skepticism about intelligence in general is understandable, but if I used the previous Russian intelligence as my basis for establishing credibility, then I come to the opposite conclusion. I deem our Russian insider sources to be very good.

 

[B4YOU]

It's almost like there are US government officials that don't want us to leave Afghanistan.

The legislation is from Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who served 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and was awarded a bronze star. Putting some metrics and goals for troop drawdowns instead of leaving it up to Trump’s whims is exactly what I hoped this Rep would do.

You are mischaracterizing the goal of this legislation and the integrity/intent of it’s author in order to justify Trump’s supposed inaction on Russia offering bounties on US troops.