TRUMP HAD TO KNOW OF RUSSIANS PAYING BOUNTY ON US SOLDIERS
…Trump and his good buddy, Vladimir Putin
Former US Russian Ambassador says Trump had to be
informed of the Russian Paying Taliban bounty
It was more than interesting when Michael
McFaul, the Former US Ambassador to Russia under President Obama, was told
about the Russian military spy unit that had offered
cash bounties to Taliban-linked militants to attack US coalition forces in
Afghanistan.
Of
course, the president’s people are saying that the president was never made
aware of this situation and this Russian operation was first reported by the New
York Times. (Since this was written, it has been confirmed that the info was in Trump's daily report more that one time.) This news has generated
an intense debate within the Trump administration about how best to respond to
a troubling new tactic by a nation that most US officials regard as a potential enemy. But of course, President Trump has
frequently embraced Russia and its leader as a friend said the officials, who
as always, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
These
officials also said the administration had learned of these reported bounties
in recent months from US intelligence agencies, prompting many internal
discussions. This also included a large
inter-agency meeting in late this March, and this is according to one official
familiar with the matter. The responses
discussed at that meeting included sending a diplomatic communication to relay
disapproval and authorizing new sanctions.
You may
recall that President Trump on May 21 defended withdrawing from the 30-year-old
treaty that was originally designed to reduce the chances of an accidental
US-Russia war. On wonders why that came
up at that particular time….?
The
spokesmen for the National Security Council, the Pentagon and the
CIA of course, declined to comment.
In a
statement late Saturday, the Director of National Intelligence John
Ratcliffe said he had “confirmed that neither the President nor the Vice
President were ever briefed on any such intelligence” related to a Russian
bounty, and that all news reports “about an alleged briefing are
inaccurate.” (They weren't briefed independently because it would have up-set the president, but it was in the daily reports that Trump seldom reads.)
But
Ambassador McFaul just shook his head in disbelief saying that there is no way
that something as important as Russia paying the Taliban a large bounty on US and
British soldiers, that it would not be in the daily presidential briefing.
Obviously,
Ratcliffe’s statement, and an earlier statement by White House press
secretary Kayleigh McEnany, did not address anything about the accuracy of the
reported intelligence information.
Former
vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, on
Saturday said he was “outraged” by the reported intelligence, and by
what appeared to be inaction from the administration. Trump’s “entire
presidency has been a gift to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said.
“But this is beyond the pale.”
The
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the story “illustrates
the low intellectual abilities of propagandists from American intelligence, who
instead of inventing something more reliable have to come up with such
nonsense. . . . However, what else can be expected from intelligence, which
miserably failed the twenty-year war in Afghanistan.”
A denial as expected.
Of
course, the Russians also claim they didin’t try to influence the 2016
election, and we all know that’s a bunch of B.S..
As
expected, the Taliban of course also denied any involvement.
“We
categorically reject the notion of ever planning or carrying out targeted
attacks against US or foreign forces at the behest of foreign intelligence or
for the sake of collecting bounty,” said Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid in a
statement, “and we also reject receiving material support from foreign
intelligence because such undertakings are harmful for the sovereign
decision-making of any country and movement.”
What
would anyone expect them to say?
The
reports of Russian involvement in operations targeting Americans sparked anger
on Capitol Hill and questions about why the administration has not responded to
them.
Senator
Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a combat veteran who sits on the Senate Armed
Services Committee, criticized Trump for supporting Russia’s return to
the G-7 group of nations at a time when Moscow was, according to US
intelligence, seeking to harm American troops.
“Donald
‘America First’ Trump is literally placing Russian interests ahead of American
lives, and Republicans do nothing,” she tweeted. “Putting party
before country doesn’t just empower Trump to continue serving his own
interests, it can cost American lives too.”
Rep.
Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, said in a statement posted to Twitter that he had
requested additional information from the administration, and that such an
operation would deepen his concerns about Moscow’s actions beyond Russian
borders. “If accurate, the administration must take swift and serious action
to hold the Putin regime accountable,” he said.
But with
the Copvid-19 crisis taking hold in Afghanistan, any talks have yet
to materialize. Hanging over the process is Trump’s oft-stated desire to remove
US forces from the country, where local forces have been unable to secure an
edge over the Taliban despite two decades of foreign funding and advising.
One must remember that Afghanistan is referred to as "The place where nations go to die". No nation has ever won when they went to war with the tribal leaders of Afghanistan.
While
Moscow’s motives for allegedly offering bounties were not immediately clear,
officials said they might include retaliation for the US military’s
2018 killing of Russian mercenary troops working for Yevgeniy
Prigozhin. He is a Russian oligarch with links to Putin, in Syria, or simply, as one
official put it, an attempt to “muddy the negotiations on Afghanistan by
throwing a stick in that.”
During
the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989, the US government
provided weaponry and funds to Afghan Mujahideen rebels fighting against Soviet
forces.
The unit
that officials identified as responsible for offering the bounties has also
been linked to the poisoning and attempted murder of former Russian military
spy Sergei Skripal in Britain in 2018.
While
that attack, along with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its role in the war in
Syria, has generated strong criticism in Europe, and from many of Trump’s most
senior advisers, the president himself has frequently made us aware of his
chummy relationship with Putin. He of course, downplays the Kremlin’s interference in the
2016 US election and other Russian transgressions.
The
United States has imposed sanctions on Russia over various issues,
including its annexation of Crimea, Russian cyberattacks, and Russian election
interference. Military officials spoke out in unusually harsh terms
earlier this month over what they said was Russia’s decision to
move fourth-generation fighter jets into Libya. This move has only added to a spiraling proxy
conflict there.
Putin
knows that he is not dealing with an equal level of a national leader as
himself. He has Trump’s number and he continues to play him, time after time.
News of
the Russian cloaked bounty operation comes as speculation mounts about the
future of US forces in Afghanistan. While the Pentagon has completed its
initial draw-down to about 8,600 service members, which is a first step toward
the full withdrawal that, under the February peace deal, is supposed to occur
by the spring of 2021. Officials
describe the exit plans as “conditions-based” and say those terms of course, with
the enemy, have not yet been met. (There is doubt that they ever will.)
The cable network that Trump hates, CNN, reported that the
administration was “close to finalizing” a decision to remove an
additional 4,000 troops by this fall.
Officials
say that no final decisions have been made but that, conditions allowing,
several thousand more are likely to be withdrawn by this Fall.
Trump
continuous to be a traitor to more of our former allies as he withdraws without
working with our US coalition forces around the world.
It is true that the United States needs to stop being the "worlds police force", but it should be done in line with our allies.
Copyright
G. Ater 2020
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