Ex-spies and diplomats say the Biden administration needs to 'shut-up' after NYT report about US intelligence helping Ukraine kill Russian generals
By: John Haltiwanger
Indeed.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
- Ex-US officials said the Biden administration needs to "shut-up" about intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
- This came after a NYT report said US intel was helping Ukraine kill Russian generals.
- A veteran diplomat said discussing intelligence used for targeting would bolster Putin's propaganda about Russia being a victim.
Former US officials and diplomats in recent days have sharply criticized the Biden administration over a New York Times report based on conversations with senior officials that said US intelligence was helping Ukraine kill Russian generals.
Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, in a tweet responding to Sipher said , "Exactly. No one should be talking to press about such things."
Striking a similar tone, former US diplomat Aaron David Miller tweeted that the "whole shift in tone" following Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's visit to Ukraine is "worrisome."
"Weakening Russia; winning; and now stories @NYT about killing Russian generals. Why can't we just shut up?" Miller said.
The intel-sharing reports by the NYT and NBC News suggested, without specifying, that the US shared intelligence so precise — such as high-resolution images or transmissions made by radars or radios — that the Ukrainian military could use it to plan strikes. The NYT reported that the "White House finds some value in warning Russia that Ukraine has the weight of the United States and NATO behind it," but the Pentagon insisted that it doesn't provide the location of Russian generals to Ukraine and has no role in Ukrainian decisions about where to strike.
After a trip to Kyiv last month, Austin told reporters , "We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine."
Austin's frank comments came a few weeks after President Joe Biden was accused of calling for regime change in Russia after he said Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power." The White House scrambled to clarify the Biden's remarks, stating , "The president's point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin's power in Russia or regime change."
Following up on Austin's comments, a National Security Council spokesperson in a statement to CNN said , "We want Ukraine to win," adding, "One of our goals has been to limit Russia's ability to do something like this again, as Secretary Austin said. That's why we are arming the Ukrainians."
On the heels of the bombshell Times story, a separate report from NBC News said that US intelligence also helped Ukraine sink the Moskva — a guided missile cruiser and the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet.
Richard Haass, a veteran diplomat and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, in a tweet responding to reports on the Moskva said he couldn't "fathom why US officials are discussing US helping Ukraine sink Russian ships or kill its generals."
Haass warned that "this bolsters Putin's narrative that Russia is a victim" while distracting "attention from the reality of Russian aggression and its incompetence vs Ukraine."
The Biden administration has forcefully pushed back on the notion it has explicitly provided intelligence to Ukraine for the purpose of taking out specific people or targets.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson on Wednesday said the Times report was framed in an "irresponsible" way.
"The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help the Ukrainians defend their country. We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill Russian generals," Watson added.
Similarly, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday said the US doesn't "provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military."
Kirby in a statement said the US didn't provide Ukraine "specific targeting information for the Moskva," per NBC.
"We were not involved in the Ukrainians' decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out," Kirby went on to say, adding, "We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's intent to target the ship. The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov seemed to brush off the reports on US intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
The Russian military is "well aware that the United States, Great Britain and NATO as a whole are constantly transmitting intelligence and other parameters to the Ukrainian armed forces," Peskov told reporters on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Peskov said that the intelligence sharing, combined with the weapons the West is giving Ukraine, doesn't "contribute to the quick completion" of Russia's war. But he added that it also won't hinder Russia's ability to achieve its goals in Ukraine.
Contrary to Peskov's claims, which were in line with Moscow's rosy propaganda on the war, the Russian military has struggled to make any significant gains in Ukraine since Putin ordered the invasion in late February. Russia is estimated to have lost up to 15,000 troops. After failing to take Kyiv, Russia has turned its attention to the eastern Donbas region.
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This can't be a good thing. They can use this braggadocio as a reason for the US to be a target.............no wonder Mr. Biden doesn't want to go over there.
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We should kill as many Russian generals as possible. And putin.
I don't see the problem
Your comment shows how sophomoric your understanding of the geopolitics of this situation is. There is no productive reason to so braggadocio with an unstable leader of a nuclear power like Russia.
None at all.
Are you exhibiting neocon tendencies?
Why can't they shut up? Because the Biden Dumpster Fire is desperately looking for a win, of any kind. Even at the costs the security of our assets. And bloggers will facilitate that any way they can.
Wtf is wrong with this administration? Are they really trying to provoke WWIII?
the whole point of these activities is to keep them silent. Engage in the behavior and deny having anything to do with it.
At least publicly, Russia probably knows anyway but bragging about it is just daring them to retaliate. We have Americans who have joined the Ukraine forces and if they get captured they're the ones who are going to pay the price for this. We've been doing stuff like this for 75 years going tit for tat with Russia in proxy wars, but we and they are careful what we say publicly so it doesn't turn into something much bigger.
I am saying the same thing. When we started getting news that Russian Generals were being killed of course everyone knew they were basically US hits. But we didn't say it, no one said it because of the political and military implications. People need to shut the fuck up.
It’s a flaming hot mess ......
It is incredibly stupid to not keep the details of aid and shared intelligence secret. It’s almost like Biden or those pulling his strings are instigating Russia into some kind of escalation…
Absolutely, they have to shut up - the antagonizing will just kill more people.
What needs to stop is articles like this! Am I wrong?
Yes but obviously you are getting better....................
Yea - again.
... and now you can tell Biden he's fullashit.
"What needs to stop is articles like this! Am I wrong?"
Yes you're wrong. Can't you handle the truth?
The United States military is still smarting from the botched up withdrawal from Afghanistan. They're trying to find a way to make the point that the military is still relevant.
Zelensky hasn't been demanding the high-tech gee whiz weapons the United States military has been spending enormous amounts of money to acquire. Ukraine hasn't been an air war which is the centerpiece of the United States military. The war in Ukraine has been especially low-tech. And Ukrainian built weapons have been effective in that type of low-tech war. If Ukrainian low-tech cruise missiles can sink a warship then that kinda highlights the vulnerability of the US Navy. So what has the US military been spending money to achieve?
Not accurate at all. The US military is still the dominant world power and your boy Putin's attack on Ukraine is only focusing that point. As a combat veteran of the last 2 wars (occupations) the US has fought, I can tell you with absolute certainty that the US military would have wiped the floor with the Ukranian military. In the first couple weeks of the war most of us were surprised that the war wasn't already over. If anything all your homie's invasion has done has shown how much we have overestimated mother russia.
The United States, aside from having the most advanced weaponry and the most of it, has the best trained and most experienced military on the planet. And it isn't even close. Yes, our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were mistakes, but the subsequent 20 years were 20 years of experience for our armed forces.
Exactly and for Nerm, the US military didn’t botch the Afghanistan withdrawal. That was all on the Biden admin.
100%
Which wars have the United States military won over the last 80 years?
For Ukrainians the war began in 2014 when Joe Biden was Vice President. The United States military was fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya. How have any of those wars (that we don't call wars) turned out?
Yes, the United States military would have decapitated the Ukrainian government and settled in for an occupation as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just because that is how the United States does things doesn't mean that has been Putin's or Russia's objective in Ukraine. Russia has not employed a battle strategy or battle tactics to conquer and occupy Ukraine. And if Putin thought Ukrainians would greet Russians as liberators then Russia would have employed political means as Russia has done in the past.
So, the US military is trying to win a war they are not fighting. And the US military claims they are winning because Russia isn't doing what the United States would do. That means the military leadership in the United States is either clueless or they are lying.
So, the military was just following orders? Now Biden has become a dictator ordering the military to screw things up. The Pentagon always has an excuse.
From a military perspective, all of them. Did the US achieve its desired political outcomes? Not really, but as far as the battlefield is concerned the US has been fucking it’s enemies up relentlessly since WW2.
We have inflicted significantly higher casualties on our enemies than we have sustained in every war we have been engaged in. When it comes to the actual ability and know how to wage war the US quite frankly has no close competitors. We inflict significant enemy losses with minimal loses on our end time and time again.
And Russia tried to conquer Ukraine, they just absolutely suck. They failed miserably and are now trying to pretend that wasn’t actually their goal even though that is obviously exactly what they were going for by trying and failing to take Kyiv. They are now pretending like that isn’t what their original plan was (and apparently you are the only person on earth who is buying it) and that they actually just wanted to focus on eastern Ukraine (and failing there too).
Which if that is the case then what the fuck have they been doing the entire time? I mean if this was actually their plan all along then they look even more incompetent. Your argument is basically that the Russians don’t actually know what their own goals are or what they are even trying to do. Which frankly, I am inclined to agree, I do not think the Russian military even knows what they are trying to achieve.
You think that they were disobeying orders? In Oct of 2020, President Trump’s tweeted that, “We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!” The military didn't make that date but the number of troops in Afghanistan had dropped to 2,500 by Jan 2021. And under Trump, was still committed to a complete exist by the end of April.
In mid April, President Biden announced that we would begin a “final withdrawal” on May 1, to be completed by September 11. By June we had withdrawn close to half of the remaining troops. Our allies were gone by July. On July 8, President Biden announced that “our military mission in Afghanistan end on August 31st.”
The Pentagon isn't in charge, the Combat Command, in this case, CENTCOM was. They failed to accurately predict how fast the country would fall and that most of it's leaders would flee.
I guess you never served. That’s what you do in the military. Follow orders. The military does not create policy. Others do that.
The exception being orders that can be deemed unlawful and the order to leave Afghanistan was not unlawful that I can see. Stupid, short sighted but not unlawful.
Chamberlain is just trying to trash the US and show support for Russia and Putin no matter what. No argument is too stupid for him.
Didn't serve in the military. And civil service doesn't count. Civil servants were the enemy.
“Remember, we have no enemies, only opponents.” President Reagan
Never said that but elected officials and/or the people they appoint, certainly can make stupid decisions.
The way they executed the Afghanistan withdrawal was one of them.
Are you attempting to claim that Joe Biden is micromanaging the military?
Seems like cognitive dissonance to blame the Afghanistan withdrawal on intelligence failures during discussion of a seed article complaining about the military blabbing to the public about intelligence successes.
Call it what you want but It’s not that complicated.
The Biden admin made the decision to leave Afghanistan in the manner we did. No one else made that decision for them but it certainly was not the military. That is not how it works. The military doesn’t make such decisions on their own.
Period.
They may have advised Biden and if they did, to withdraw the way we did, then they are culpable for the clusterfuk it was as well.
You seem to be be trying to infer that the US military can make major decision like that on their own, without direction from the Fed. And nothing could be further from the truth.
Ukrainians probably find their military as relevant.
He is demanding what he thinks that he has a chance of receiving, Ghost Phoenix and Javelins are sophisticated, expensive weapons. He also restricts weapons requests to what his soldier can be trained on quickly. Armored, self-propelled howitzers are now high on their list.
The Ukrainian request for fighter jets has been denied for several reasons.
Photos showed that the crew of the Moskva didn't see and wasn't ready anti-ship missile attack. It didn't have its radars activated as they were in their normal stowed position. The Moskva had an older point-defense system, but might have countered the Neptune missiles if it had seen them.
Didn't Billy Mitchell say the same before WWII?
A number of systems.
Oh darn are Russian Generals being successfully targeted instead of conscripts ... that's never happened before and the Soviets certainly never fought that way ... @!@. Putin, that guy "who holds all the cards", has been using this as propaganda for why he is losing for weeks now, none of this is news to him.
Leaks, like them or not, are a ubiquitous aspect of politics during peace or war. But hey, if the Ukraine loses and 'we' can blame it on Biden, YAY, bonus partisan points that the 'we' tell us are not needed ... in the meantime let's pretend to be shocked, it's good old-fashioned therapy.
"... and the painted squirrels go up and down."
(apol. to Joni)
ponies
I know.
Yes, Putin knows; but you don't fucking state it in public for the whole damn world to see.
I've heard nothing but shit from everyone on Putin.
Does the US have troops spread out all over the damn planet? Are many of those troops in very hostile places like South Africa, Iraq, and Syria? Are even more stationed in countries that are questionable allies at best (pretty much the entire ME falls in that category). Beyond troops we have diplomats stationed throughout the world as well. Think Putin doesn't have sensitive information about all of those US personnel that could put them all at risk? The Biden administration just gave him a reason to use it.
Remember when Trump shared classified information with Putin; and the Democrats had a fucking freak out fest over it? Saying Trump put US/Israeli assets at risk? Well, this is on a scale far worse. The Biden administration has openly admitted to assisting in the killing of Russian Generals. Now how the hell do you think Putin will respond; after he is shown up publicly?
For real?! Clearly we were helping the Ukranians kill upper echelon Russian commanders.... SHUT THE MOTHERFUCKING FUCK UP ABOUT IT.
Don't confirm the obvious shit out loud assholes.
The Russians got their asses handed to them in Afghanistan. The Ukrainians are doing the the same thing to them now. There is no path to victory for Putin, who is obviously in poor health. Eventually, the rich oligarchs, the senior military, and the Russian people who have lost loved ones, will have had enough of this insane war that is destroying and bankrupting their country.
I agreed with you right up until you added the Russian people. The Russian people will have nothing to do with removing Putin; or who will replace him.
As for whomever replaces Putin; don't expect anyone soft or pro West. That ship sailed long, long, ago. Expect Putin on steroids. Ukraine can expect hell on a whole new level. Russia has been lax with missiles; it has plenty of non nuclear ones that can destroy good portions of cities. Russia will not get total control over Ukraine; but holding onto the territory it has taken in the south; including all of the port cities and Crimea is very doable. Once they have secured those areas; and Ukrainian forces are unable to remove them- it will be up everyone else on when it is time to move on.
I have said repeatedly this war will end once Zelensky reaches the point the losses for the Ukrainians become too much and either he sues for peace; or is removed from power by his own people. I believe Zelensky still thinks that the US/NATO will come riding to his defense if he just can hold out long enough. Biden's bumbling comments to our troops in Poland, and about removing Putin from power, are doing nothing to change his mind.