In recent weeks, the Biden administration has detailed the movement of Russian special operation forces to Ukraine’s borders, exposed a Russian plan to create a video of a faked atrocity as a pretext for an invasion, outlined Moscow’s war plans, warned that an invasion would result in possibly thousands of deaths and hinted that Russian officers had doubts about Mr. Putin. Ho-ho-ho! I betcha that is hinted disinfo!
Then, on Friday, Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters at the White House that the United States was seeing signs of Russian escalation and that there was a “credible prospect” of immediate military action. Other officials said the announcement was prompted by new intelligence that signaled an invasion could begin as soon as Wednesday.
All told, the extraordinary series of disclosures — unfolding almost as quickly as information is collected and assessed — has amounted to one of the most aggressive releases of intelligence by the United States since the Cuban missile crisis, current and former officials say.
Well, I'll tell ya, this is GREAT stuff. It has totally flummoxed Putin. And I WILL give my hands callouses patting myself on the back--you read it first here, from me, two weeks ago.
Biden administration officials...goal: They want to make it more difficult for Mr. Putin to justify an invasion with lies, undercutting his standing on the global stage and building support for a tougher response.
...
... Washington’s claims about Russia’s troop buildup have been confirmed by commercial satellite imagery of a quality previously unavailable. The details of Moscow’s secret disinformation plots are in line with the Kremlin’s propaganda campaigns that play out on social media platforms and have been tracked by independent researchers.
Ha-ha!
The last time Russia moved against Ukraine, in 2014, intelligence officials blocked the Obama administration from sharing what they knew. [How could they block the president from making it public?] But the Biden administration has studied those mistakes. The new disclosures reflect the influence of Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, and William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, who have shown a willingness to declassify information in an effort to disrupt Russian planning, administration officials said.
...
“I think it is great,” said Beth Sanner, a former top intelligence official who regularly briefed President Donald J. Trump. “My guess is that these disclosures are freaking the Kremlin and the security services out. And, more important, it can narrow Putin’s options and make him think twice.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, I bet they are!
For all the disclosures, the Biden administration has provided no evidence of the disinformation plots they say they have uncovered. Intelligence officials have argued that sharing details would give Russia clues to how they work. That, in turn, would allow Moscow to “plug the leaks”...
Disclose, and protect methods. The Bidens have this tightly nailed down. Most impressive work--BY FAR--this administration has done!
...
After Mr. Sullivan’s remarks on Friday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the United States of conducting a “coordinated information attack” that it said was “aimed at undermining and discrediting Russia’s fair demands for security guarantees, as well as at justifying Western geopolitical aspirations and military absorption of Ukraine’s territory.”
LISTEN TO THEM COMPLAINING OF AN INFORMATION ATTACK! BIDEN HAS PUTIN CALLING "NO FAIR!" HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO.
...Russian defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, said on Dec. 21 that some 120 military contractors from the United States had moved “an unidentified chemical component” into Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine “to carry out provocations.”
While the U.S. allegations of the Russian troop buildup have been verified by commercial satellite imagery, there is no evidence for the Russian claims, which American officials have called completely false.
Oh man, I am LOVIN' this!
The Biden administration was determined not to see a repeat of 2014, when NATO was confused and caught by surprise when Russian forces took over Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula largely unopposed.
Senior Obama administration officials recalled their frustration when the intelligence agencies would not allow the White House to tell NATO, let alone the public, what Washington knew about Russia’s moves.
What does that mean, our spooks wouldn't let POTUS tell anybody? The president of the United States has to ask permission to be "allowed" to use the bathroom? C'mon, they don't get to tell the president what he can and cannot do. I have no idea what this is about.
“I can remember a dozen times when I thought our interests would be advanced if we just told the world what we knew,” said Michael A. McFaul, who was the U.S. ambassador to Russia when it annexed Crimea.
...
An even more important lesson, according to former officials, was
Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Critics, including
officials from the Obama administration, have said the United States was
too passive in drawing attention to Russian influence operations.
HERE!
The recent disclosures, said Jeh C. Johnson, a former homeland security secretary, are a way for the Biden administration to avoid old errors and make clear to Mr. Putin that America knows “what you are doing and we are putting your business out in the street and compromising your operations.”
“This is payback for 2016,” Mr. Johnson said.
Oh bullshit, payback. What we are now doing on Ukraine stands on its own as the wise thing to do, there's no need to justify it as payback.
