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Failure of intelligence: Why Russia's new strategic capabilities come as a shock to US intelligence community

Philip M. Giraldi
Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 08 Mar 2018 11:00 UTC
missile misil
The United States of America spends something like $80 billion annually on intelligence gathering and analysis. When the CIA was founded by the National Security Act in 1947 the intention was to create a mechanism that would warn about an imminent threat. The memory of Pearl Harbor in 1941, when Japan attacked the U.S. naval base was still fresh, and the legislation was popularized by the slogan "no more Pearl Harbors."

In spite of the dedication of considerable resources and manpower, there have been some major intelligence failures in the past seventy years, starting with the inability to anticipate the breakout of the Korean War and including the embrace of false intelligence on Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction. But the most recent failure is perhaps more consequential than either Korea or Iraq.

On March 1st, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke before his country's Federal Assembly plus a large group of both local and foreign journalists, outlining his plans for the economy and also dealing with other domestic issues should he be reelected later this month. The final third of the presentation was on national defense and, in its substance, was clearly directed at a global audience, particularly the United States.

Comment: The biggest lesson for the the US establishment is that they cannot go around the world acting as if they can wage a hot war with Russia and 'win'.

Putin Delivers Landmark 'State of The Union' Speech: Puts The Smack Down on US, Shows Off Latest Russian Nuclear Weapons

At least some are listening:

We're listening! US senators call for dialogue after Russia's new nuclear arsenal unveiled

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X

James Clapper dodges charges for 'clearly erroneous' surveillance testimony

Steven Nelson
Washington Examiner
Sat, 10 Mar 2018 11:01 UTC
JamesClapper
© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Former intelligence chief James Clapper
Former intelligence chief James Clapper is poised to avoid charges for allegedly lying to Congress after five years of apparent inaction by the Justice Department.

Clapper, Director of National Intelligence from 2010 to 2017, admitted giving "clearly erroneous" testimony about mass surveillance in March 2013, and offered differing explanations for why.

Two criminal statutes that cover lying to Congress have five-year statutes of limitations, establishing a Monday deadline to charge Clapper, who in retirement has emerged as a leading critic of President Trump.

The under-oath untruth was exposed by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who sparked national debate on surveillance policy with leaks to the press.

Many members of Congress, mostly Republicans supportive of new limits on electronic surveillance, called for Clapper to be prosecuted as the deadline neared, saying unpunished perjury jeopardizes the ability of Congress to perform oversight.
"He admitted to lying to Congress and was unremorseful and flippant about it," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told the Washington Examiner. "The integrity of our federal government is at stake because his behavior sets the standard for the entire intelligence community."

"Political consideration should not affect the Department of Justice from pursuing this matter," Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said ahead of the deadline. "Complete and truthful testimony is imperative for Congress to conduct effective oversight. It is clear from the evidence and Director Clapper's own admission that he lied."
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Russian Flag

Putin vs Megyn Kelly round 2: Full text of NBC's extensive interview (with VIDEO)


kremlin.ru
Sat, 10 Mar 2018 10:26 UTC
putin
© Kremlin.ru
Vladimir Putin answered questions from NBC anchor Megyn Kelly. The interview was recorded in the Kremlin on March 1, 2018, and in Kaliningrad on March 2, 2018.

Part 1. The Kremlin, Moscow, March 1, 2018

Megyn Kelly: So, thank you very much for doing this, Mr President. I thought that we'd start with some of the news you made today at your State of the Nation Address, then we will move into some facts about you in preparation for our long piece that we are putting together, and then tomorrow when we will have a longer time together, we will talk about more substantive issues together, if that is ok with you.

Vladimir Putin: Fine.

Megyn Kelly: You announced today that Russia has developed new nuclear-capable weapons systems, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that you say renders defence systems useless. Several analysts in the West have said this is a declaration of a new Cold War. Are we in a new arms race right now?

Vladimir Putin: In my opinion, the people you have mentioned are not analysts. What they do is propaganda. Why? Because everything I spoke about today was done not on our initiative, it is a response to the US ballistic missile defence programme and Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002.

If we speak of the arms race, it began at that very moment, when the United States pulled out of the ABM Treaty. We wanted to prevent this. We called on our American partners to work together on these programmes.

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Briefcase

Russian billionaire, Oleg Deripaska, claims Fusion GPS funded by Soros

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 16:42 UTC
Daniel J. Jones

Daniel J. Jones
In a Daily Caller op-ed calling the Russian meddling narrative a "false public manipulation," Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska claims that Daniel Jones - a former FBI investigator, Feinstein staffer and now a Fusion GPS operative - told the Russian Oligarch's lawyer in March, 2017 that Fusion GPS was funded by "a group of Silicon Valley billionaires and George Soros."


Comment: See: Oleg Deripaska op-ed: The Deep State's ever-changing 'Russia narrative' is false public manipulation


Of note, Deripaska's lawyer, D.C. lobbyist Adam Waldman, recommended Jones to investigate and verify the claims from the Fusion GPS anti-Trump dossier assembled by former UK spy Christopher Steele. Waldman was also an intermediary between Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Steele in trying to arrange a meeting - which suggests that Waldman, Jones, Steele and Fusion GPS are all connected.


Comment: See: Yet more texts: Democratic Sen. Mark Warner texted with Russian oligarch lobbyist in effort to contact Christopher Steele


Comment: The Russia narrative continues to spin out of control, unable to withstand the slightest bit of scrutiny. It's way past absurdity at this point, yet despite this fact, it continues on, pathologically persistent, refusing to die.

See also:

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TV

Independent evidence confirms that US-supported terrorists arrested with sarin gas and used it, Assad has not (PODCAST)


Sputnik
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 22:19 UTC
We Have Independent Evidence That al-Nusra Was Arrested With Sarin Gas - (PODCAST)
© AFP 2018/ Ammar SULEIMAN
Washington is looking into the possibility of launching new attacks against Syria, according to US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, as the new strikes could come as a response to the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons. Radio Sputnik spoke with senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, Dr. Tim Anderson.

Sputnik: In your view, how likely is it that a new US attack against Syria is going to happen?

Dr. Tim Anderson: Well it's unpredictable because the rationales keep changing and the US commitment to this war is uncertain at the moment because they have steadily been losing for the last couple of years, but these sorts of threats have become rather routine.

It might sound a little bit different because we have a new intelligence spokesperson here appointed by President Trump last year but he has been in their intelligence committee since the beginning of the conflict, so he is really part of the establishment of this war. But it's a repetition of what we have seen several times before.

Comment: The dying US empire in its insane attempts to prevent any peace in the Middle East region is creating chaos, but they're only slowing things down and they won't be able to keep it up forever:

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Jet4

US Army Military Review admits Russia won in Syria

Tom Ricks
Business Insider
Fri, 02 Mar 2018 10:12 UTC
Russian Su-25s take off at the Hmeimim base in Syria
© Dmitriy Vinogradov / Sputnik
I was interested to see in an article in the new issue of "Military Review," a publication of the U.S. Army, conclude that, "Russia appears to have won at least a partial victory in Syria, and done so with impressive efficiency, flexibility, and coordination between military and political action."

Looking at Putin, the article states that "the Russian campaign might be judged a qualified success from the standpoint of the Kremlin's own objective."

As for the United States, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the authors (who are not Army employees - one is at the Center for Naval Analyses, and the other is at the Kennan Institute) conclude "it is certainly a defeat for those who opposed the Russian-led coalition."

On the other hand, I thought as I read this grim assessment, military victory does not guarantee political success - as the U.S. whole of government has demonstrated so well in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
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TV

Rachel Maddow seethes over Trump leading possible peace talks with North Korea

Nicholas Fondacaro
MRC News Busters
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 00:30 UTC
Rachel Maddow
President Trump shocked the world Thursday night when it was announced that he planned to sit down with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in the coming months. The political world was so overwhelmed by the news that even the journalists at CNN were more or less optimistic. Yet over at MSNBC, host Rachel Maddow was anything but enthused by the idea as she spewed skepticism and threw shade at the commander-in-chief for accepting North Korea's offer.

Towards the beginning of her bitter rant, Maddow seemed to question the President's intelligence and/or knowledge of history for taking the meeting:
You might think another president in this circumstance, you can imagine a president asking himself or herself, "why has no other American president ever agreed to do this? Why has no sitting American president ever met with a leader from North Korea? Why has that never happened in all the decades North Korea existed as a nation? Should I take that to mean that this might be particularly risky or even an unwise move?"

Comment: Talk about your faulty logic. How could it be seen as a bad thing to have a sit-down with a nuclear power that holds animosity towards the United States? Maddow apparently would prefer an 'ignore the problem and it will go away' strategy. Clearly, Maddow's rabidly anti-Trump stance is clouding her reading of the situation (if it were Obama, she'd likely be gushing about his unorthodoxy). While risky, this situation requires diplomacy, and meeting face to face is a potential step towards de-escalation and amicable relations.

See also:

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Star

Trump: Meeting with Kim "very much in the making"


RT
Sat, 10 Mar 2018 09:52 UTC
trump
US President Donald Trump believes he is capable of reaching a deal with North Korea that will be a "very good one for the world," he said, after agreeing to talks with Pyongyang following Kim Jong-un's invitation for a meeting.

"The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World," Trump tweeted on Friday evening, adding that the time and the place of the planned meeting is still to be determined.

Trump agreed to hold discussions with North Korea, provisionally expected sometime in May, after a South Korean delegation, which met with Kim on Monday, delivered his personal invitation for talks to the US president.


Comment: It has been interesting to watch the MSM response to this news. Moon of Alabama summed it up well:
The mainstream commentariat:
Then: Trump is a madman who wants to lead us into war against North Korea.

Now: Trump is a madman who wants to lead us towards peace with North Korea.

Rory Yeomans
I welcome the announced meeting of Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump.

The imperial military-industrial complex will do its best to sabotage it. Billions of dollars of planned revenue may soon evaporate.

Kim Jong Un has so far shown himself as an excellent strategist. He offered direct talks at the exactly right moment. Trump blindsided all the hawks, worrywarts and bureaucrats in his staff by suddenly agreeing to them. If this brinkmanship succeeds the South Korean President Moon deserves a peace price for arranging it.
Whatever Trump does, it's wrong, at least according to his critics. Take Senator Jeff Flake, for instance:
President Trump's historic North Korean breakthrough yesterday has put one of his biggest critics, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in an awkward position, as just the day before, the Washington Examiner published an interview in which the outgoing Senator skeptically claimed that only a military strike could stop North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons, and declared "that's just not a good option."

While its specifics have yet to be finalized, President Trump's planned meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un will undoubtedly go down as a landmark moment in United States foreign policy, as no sitting American President has ever met with a North Korean leader (Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton visited the country after they left office). And more importantly, Kim Jong Un has pledged to cease conducting nuclear tests and begin the denuclearization process.

In fact, when the news broke earlier this week that North Korea sought a meeting with President Trump - two days before a top South Korean National Security Advisor announced that President Trump would accept the invitation - even some of the President's harshest liberal critics praised the progress he was making on the issue. The Atlantic and Washington Post both noted how President Trump's unique approach was putting new pressure on the communist country, and CNN's Chris Cuomo publicly applauded it, telling his viewers: "Congratulations to the Trump administration; they were able to move the ball here."

But Flake remained unimpressed, telling the Washington Examiner "This talk that we could somehow by threatening them or by sanctioning keep them from getting to a point where they sit down at the table as a legitimate nuclear threat was unreasonable, kidding ourselves."

Flake continued on to falsely claim that "By the time we get down to sitting at the table with them and actually have negotiations, then, they may be all the way there [as a nuclear power]."
Flake may have a point there. But he's still missing the point. All North Korea wants is to be left alone, i.e. to have its security guaranteed. If that can be done so without nukes, nukes can be gotten rid of. But Kim needs a willing partner in peace for that, someone whose word can be trusted, and who can back up that word with action.

See also:

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Info

Uranium One FBI informant interviewed in Clinton Foundation investigation, fights back against false media reports

Sara A. Carter
saracarter.com
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 09:36 UTC
Hillary Clinton
A former FBI informant who spent more than six years undercover gathering information on the Russian energy and uranium market was recently interviewed by FBI agents from the Little Rock, Arkansas field office as part of an ongoing bureau investigation into the Clinton Foundation, according to Victoria Toensing, the attorney representing the informant.

Toensing disclosed the information in a letter asking for a retraction to The Hill's article published Thursday, which was based solely on a Democrat memorandum attacking the credibility of William Douglas Campbell, the former informant. Democrats stated that Campbell provided no evidence to the congressional committees of "quid pro quo" regarding the Clinton Foundation and the Russians.

Toensing was never contacted prior to publication by The Hill for fair comment in the story. The Hill's article has now been followed up in The Washington Post, The Washington Examiner, CNN, Reuters, Yahoo, and other numerous outlets, none of which contacted Toensing for fair comment. On Friday, The Hill updated the story, only after receiving a call from Toensing asking for a retraction.

In a formal letter, Toensing condemned the Democratic memo and The Hill for making false allegations against her client and not contacting her for comment. The Hill did not retract the story but updated it instead.

"The reporter told me they were leaving in the accusations because she said, that's what the Democrats told her," said Toensing. "This is a new journalistic standard."
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Gold Coins

China set to internationalize yuan and open financial markets


RT
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 12:00 UTC
China yuan money
© c40 / Global Look Press
Beijing is set to further internationalize the yuan, including through the opening of the country's financial markets, according to the Governor of the People's Bank of China (PBC) Zhou Xiaochuan.

"We have taken sufficient measures in the process of internationalization of the yuan which from now on will allow the yuan to be used in trade and investment," Xiaochuan said at a press conference on Friday. "Moreover, the yuan has been included in the SDR currency basket. The key procedures have already been carried out."

The SDR (Special Drawing Rights) is an international asset created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1969 to supplement the national currencies of its members. The SDR's valuation is based on a basket of major international currencies reviewed by the IMF every five years. China's yuan made it to the basket in October 2016 for the very first time. The move was welcomed by the PBC back then, which described it as recognition of the country's reforms and development.

Comment: China and Russia are certainly showing themselves to be the major players in the emerging multi-polar world:

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