Tag: Intel Agencies

Closing Thought–06Sep17

Hunting Down The Enemy!

I admit it…..back in the day I was a true fan of pulp fiction….mostly spy novels….the location, the women, the equipment……

Then there are real life situations that smack of good fiction…..especially in the spy world……I recently wrote a post about the death of Russian ambassador……

Source: What The Hell? – In Saner Thought

Then there are those that see a conspiracy everywhere and this situation is no different….granted this is a Russian site and is a bit biased in their thoughts….but it does make for some interesting reading….

The more time passes, the more the deaths of Russian ambassadors abroad starts causing suspicions. It seems that something ominous happens. The ambassador of the Russian Federation in Sudan Mirgayas Shirinsky, who was found dead in the swimming pool of the office villa on August […]

Source: The New Entertainment of the American Intelligence Agencies Is Hunting Down Russian Ambassadors?

Whatcha think?

Military Intelligence (Not The Oxymoron)

These days in the news and opinion blogs we see a lot about the CIA, NSA, etc…..has anyone asked…where did all this stuff begin?

Yep, another Professor’s Classroom…..

There have always been spies….those individuals that were employed to get info, vital info, on the enemy……but military intelligence came into its own during the years of World War One……

Near the beginning of the Revolutionary War, George Washington purportedly said, “The necessity of procuring good intelligence is apparent and need not be further urged.” Even in the 18th Century the importance of intelligence collection and analysis was understood. Today commanders often take for granted the fact that they will have robust intelligence assets and organizations to inform their decision making process, supporting them in ways Washington never could have envisioned. But as James L. Gilbert points out in his book, World War I and the Origins of U.S. Military Intelligence this was not always the case. George Washington who is often credited as the United States first great spymaster ran several spy rings during the revolutionary war including the famous Culper Ring.  The Culper Ring is credited, among other things with providing Washington early warning of British activity and helping identify a British spy working with Benedict Arnold. Washington’s intelligence collection abilities were so good that an unnamed British Intelligence Officer is often quoted as saying, ““Washington did not really outfight the British. He simply out-spied us.” It would take the U.S. Army almost 150 years to comply with George Washington’s urging and create a permanent Intelligence apparatus.

Source: World War I and the Origins of U.S. Military Intelligence | RealClearDefense

Now you know the “rest of the story”……..

Class dismissed!

By “Wiretapping” He Did Not Mean Wiretapping

By now most Americans are over this wiretapping controversy, especially the “Ignorati”(strong Trump supporters)….but the humorous part is the “spokespeople” Trump allows to go out and make the case…..

Some of my fave quotes from these dolts…..

Kellyanne Conway Suggests That Obama Could Have Used Microwaves to Spy on Trump”

“Yes, Kellyanne Conway just suggested Trump Tower could have been monitored through TVs and microwaves (sad part is this has been picked up and now we are getting all sorts of dire warnings about our appliances).

”The Bergen Record journalist asked her was “do you know that Trump Tower was wiretapped?” — and said she’s “not in the job of having evidence.”

Then there was Spicer….another fave of mine…..

When answering a question about the “taps” he said “He did not mean “wiretapping” (the use of air quotes) when he said wiretapping. (I like this one)

Then the president himself had to add to the idiocy……

“Wiretap covers a lot of different things,” Trump tells Carlson. “I think you’re going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next 2 weeks.”

They just cannot shut up….they keep trying to explain something that cannot be explained…..

But by all means let there be an investigation…..

The White House is standing by its explosive allegation that former President Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower phones—despite the Senate Intelligence Committee’s finding that there’s no evidence for the claim. “Based on the information available to us, we see no indications that Trump Tower was the subject of surveillance by any element of the United States government either before or after Election Day 2016,” committee chief Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, said in a statement with ranking Democratic Sen. Mark Warner. The statement came the day after a similar statement from the head of the House Intelligence Committee, the New York Times reports.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Thursday that the president stands by the claim. During a testy news conference, Spicer refused to answer questions about the president’s reaction to the congressional statements. Instead, he repeated that the president meant surveillance when he said “wiretapping” and read out news reports he said backed up the claim, becoming annoyed when reporters told him they were based on the “anonymous sources” the White House has often criticized, Politico reports. Spicer repeated Trump’s claim that more information will surface in the weeks ahead. (The Breitbart editor who wrote the story Trump may have based the claim on says it was more of a “potential scenario.”)

Time to end this.  It all began because some juvenile person had to Tweet something that was a “scenario” not a actual program.  You want this to stop then someone grow a pair and cut-off the Twitter button to the president.

If you want this to end then maybe it is time to have a talk with the idiot that began the controversy.

We Have A “Spygate”

Look shiny keys….rattle….rattle….fetch!

We have had Watergate…Bridge-gate……and a wealth of other gates.  Anything the media thinks they can milk for some benefit they will label it a “-gate”…..that is whatever they can sensationalize.

One of the most recent was the Russia-gate fiasco…..you know what I mean…..but in case you are a dolt or completely ignorant…..

The hysteria over “Russia-gate” continues to grow – as President Trump’s enemies circle – but at its core there may be no there there while it risks pushing the world toward nuclear annihilation

There may be a turn-about-is-fair-play element to Democrats parsing the words of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other Trump administration officials to hang them on possible “perjury” charges. After all, the Republicans made “lock her up” a popular chant citing Hillary Clinton’s arguably illegal use of a private email server as Secretary of State and her allegedly false claim under oath that her lawyers had hand-checked each of her 30,000 or so emails that were deleted as personal.

But there is a grave danger in playing partisan “gotcha” over U.S. relations with the world’s other major nuclear superpower. If, for instance, President Trump finds himself having to demonstrate how tough he can be on Russia — to save his political skin — he could easily make a miscalculation that could push the two countries into a war that could truly be the war to end all wars – along with ending human civilization. But Democrats, liberals and the mainstream news media seem to hate Trump so much they will take that risk.

Source: The Politics Behind ‘Russia-gate’ – Consortiumnews

And of course all this back and forth the Trump people are spreading around about that ominous sounding “Deep State” was a logical next step…a “SPYGATE”.

Everyone is suddenly talking about the Deep State – the configuration of spy agencies, career bureaucrats, and overseas spooks whose murky omnipresence has been brought to light by President Trump’s contention that he was “wiretapped” by his predecessor.

With his usual imprecision, Trump managed to confuse the issue by ascribing the surveillance to Barack Obama, and so naturally spokesmen for the former President had no trouble batting this charge away. But as a former Obama speechwriter put it:  “I’d be careful about reporting that Obama said there was no wiretapping. Statement just said that neither he nor the [White House] ordered it.”

Source: Spygate: America’s Political Police vs. Donald J. Trump by — Antiwar.com

This is all so silly.  It is a diversion from the horrible state of political affairs.

Give them, the media, a new “shiny object” to chase.

Is He “Raging Mad”?

The term that gets so much ink these days is “Deep State”.  It is used ad nauseum (I’m guilty of it) but all that usage does anyone real know what is written about….what is the “Deep State”?

Simply put……” a political situation in a country when an internal organ (“deep state”), such as the armed forces and civilian authorities (intelligence agencies, police, administrative agencies and branches of governmental bureaucracy), does not respond to the civilian political leadership.”

And that is what so many are accusing the situation in DC these days….Trump is pissed these days (probably be something else next month) that all the leaks are making him look bad in the eyes of his adoring public…..

One clear narrative has emerged in the wake of a weekend in which President Trump accused former President Obama of tapping his phones: Trump wasn’t just in a bad mood over the last few days, he was livid—or “steaming, raging mad,” as a piece at the Washington Post puts it. Coverage:

  • By most accounts, this was set off by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision on Thursday to recuse himself from any Russia investigation. Trump felt he caved to pressure instead of defending himself, and he went “ballistic” at senior staffers in the Oval Office on Friday morning, reports ABC News.
  • “Nobody has seen him that upset,” an unnamed source tells CNN, which has a video shot from outside a White House window of the meeting. See it here.
  • The New York Times says his “foul mood” remained as he left for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for the weekend, and the story says it spilled over to Saturday morning, when he woke and began tweeting about Obama.
  • Friend Christopher Ruddy, chief executive at Newsmax, saw him on the golf course Saturday. “He was pissed,” Ruddy tells the Post. “I haven’t seen him this angry.” The Post has the most detailed account of the president’s weekend, which it says was fueled not just by Sessions but by Trump’s growing anger about what he views as the opposition of the “deep state” (entrenched bureaucrats and intelligence officials) to his presidency. That narrative in particular is reportedly a big one being pushed in private meetings with Trump by aide Steve Bannon. Read the story here.

Trump told Ruddy he would be “proven right” about the Obama surveillance, and a White House official tells Axios that Trump is “absolutely convinced” of it. “The president just has a great nose for these things,” said the official, adding that “it’s the bureaucratic leaks—the deep state—that bother him most.”

This is a fight that need not be fought.

This saga is far from over…..Trump needs to calm down and think before engaging the Twitter fingers.

This is a fight that I do not believe he can win.

Is Anyone Listening?

I figured since there are some that only comment on a post that they feel is important I would throw another one in there about all this crap about some alleged wiretap….

I have written about this before….I said then and I say now….we will have to wait to see if there is a collective courage to actually investigate this accusation.

For almost a week there has been lots of ink thrown a paper about this accusation…..and so far not much more has been proven to be true or false…lots of chatter and dog whistle bullshit.

After reading a piece in the Hill I thought I would give my readers something else to think about when it comes to this issue.

President Trump unleashed a tweet storm accusing his predecessor of tapping his phone in the month prior to the election.

Let’s review what President Trump is claiming. He writes that “Obama has had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower,” that the tap happened “in October, just prior to Election,” and, most importantly, that an application for a wiretap had been”turned down by court earlier”.

President Trump did not provide evidence to support these claims, and he may be making up facts about an application for a wiretap. But let’s take him at his word for three important reasons.

Source: 3 reasons we should take Trump’s word on wiretapping … for now | TheHill

Trump–let this go!  Why?  Even if you are proven to be right what have you gained?  Well, we will know how devious politicians are…..for the people already think they are devious and corrupt….what else will this prove?

What does this accomplish?

Could National Security Be At Risk?

I have been teaching a course on terrorism and national security and all my research shows me that there is a minor problem brewing at this time….but without a handle on it it could become a major gap in our national security safety net.

I know there are some out there that are bad mouthing the intel people some even think they are in the middle of a subtle coup….on this I cannot agree.  These analysts are professionals and do not inject politics into their analyses (contrary to popular belief)…..lots of talk about “alternate facts” those are facts that does not massage the genitals of Trump so the threat is not real….a dangerous mindset.

I have been reading some analysis about the situation with the world and the White House……

Intelligence experts are warning that Pres. Donald Trump and his administration’s refusal to acknowledge truths that don’t align with their worldview could have serious geopolitical consequences — a situation that is made even more complicated by the “fundamental ignorance and inexperience of Trump’s inner circle.”

The Intercept spoke with current and former intelligence officials who said that the Trump administration’s habit of disregarding information that doesn’t match up with its ideology and political agenda are deeply reminiscent of the politicization of intelligence that led to the invasion of Iraq under Pres. George W. Bush.

Source: Intelligence Experts: Trump’s Adherence to ‘Alternative Facts’ Could Spark Another Iraq—or Worse | Alternet

I know that there will be push back from his worshipers….but his immature temper tantrums is not the way to handle a crisis in the making……taking to Twitter to insult someone gives me NO confidence in his ability to digest intel and make the right decision.

Pick And Choose The Intel

Our intel agencies have a plethora of analysts…none of which insert politics into their reports….they only give facts and analyses….that is until we elected a clown as president.

He wants the intel to reflect his words and policies…he does not think that facts are needed before implementing policy….his now infamous immigration ban is one of these times……

A new source of friction has emerged between President Trump and US intelligence officials, this time over his travel ban. A report out of an office in the Department of Homeland Security challenges Trump’s assertion that blocking travelers from seven Mulsim-majority countries will make the nation any safer, reports the AP. The report concludes that “country of citizenship is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity,” per the Wall Street Journal. A White House spokesman, however, dismissed the report as shoddy and politically motivated, and said the president is awaiting a more complete one that is “driven by data and intelligence and not politics,” says spokesman Michael Short.

A spokesman for the DHS acknowledged the authenticity of the report by the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, but characterized it as “commentary,” adding, “It is clear on its face that it is an incomplete product that fails to find evidence of terrorism by simply refusing to look at all the available evidence.” With his initial travel ban blocked by federal courts, Trump has promised to issue a revised order next week. And it does appear that a different intel assessment is in the works: Earlier this week, CNN quoted a senior White House official who said the DHS and the Justice Department “are working on an intelligence report that will demonstrate that the security threat for these seven countries is substantial.” The Journal is skeptical. It found that of 180 people charged with “jihadist terrorism-related crimes” in the US, only 11 were from the seven nations in question (Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia).

This whole issue is the result of a person that refuses to listen before he speaks or acts……NOT the way to drive policy!

The malignant toads in his camp will illustrate their hatred and bigotry under some bullshit of a cautionary tale of what will happen….none of which is accurate!

Behind the “Deep State Coup”

A guilty pleasure is some of the conspiracy theories out there in La La Land….since I refuse to go to sites like Infowars or WND I have to find them where I can.

There is one that says that there is a deep struggle between the “Deep State” and the president and his cronies…..and that the Flynn scandal was just the exercise of the hidden power they have……

Below is a look at the “conspiracy”………

The internal struggle between Trump and the “intelligence community” is not evidence of a coup but the sign of a much-welcome split within the ruling classes, a disunity which reveals their weaknesses and reflects the growing strength of the popular anti-Trump movement.

According to the “coup” conspiracy theory, the intelligence community wants to put the US and Russia on a collision course leading to WWIII, but thankfully world peace will be saved by collaboration between Trump and Putin, the heroes of this fable. This imaginary scenario was obviously concocted by experienced Russian propaganda services under the orders of former KGB operative Putin, and it is being propagated by Western Leftists nostalgic for Stalin’s Soviet Union. Their justifiable hatred of  ‘our own’ U.S. imperialism turns them into ‘one-way anti-imperialists,’ victims of the Cold War fallacy that “the enemies of our enemies are friends.”

Source: Behind the “Deep State Coup” – LA Progressive

Interesting theory……but is there are truth behind the accusations?

Flynn Gone, McMaster Cometh

In Like Flynn is no longer with us in the capacity of NSC head……and the search went on….Patraeus said NO…..Odierno said NO…..someone even said the idiot of the Right John Bolton was being considered….but hew was passed over….(a fine decision by the president)….and finally a name came up that was agreeable to most…..

President Trump has picked his new national security adviser: Army Lt. Gen. HR McMaster. He is “a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience,” Trump said in announcing his decision Monday in Florida, per Politico. McMaster replaces Michael Flynn, who was asked to resign over his conversations with the Russian ambassador about sanctions before taking office. The Los Angeles Times calls McMaster “one of the military’s most prominent intellectuals.” Some related coverage:

  • A blogger at Foreign Policy who knows McMaster calls him “smart, energetic, and tough,” and he maintains that McMaster has written one of the best books on the Vietnam War: Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam.
  • McMaster talks about life in the military in this 2014 interview with the Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus, Ga. Among the quotes: “Some people think, hey, you’re in the military and everything is super-hierarchical and you’re in an environment that is intolerable of criticism and people don’t want frank assessments. I think the opposite is the case. In the Army, because the stakes are so high—right?—you can’t just be a yes-man and say, ‘Great idea, boss!’ if you don’t believe it—right?—because lives are at stake.” Read it in full here.
  • The New York Times says McMaster’s thinking on counterterrorism served as the basis for Gen. David Petraeus’ strategy that shifted momentum toward the US against insurgents in Iraq.
  • Last year, McMaster warned that the Army needed to stop shrinking, notes Heavy.com in its five-things-to-know feature on the general.
  • McMaster participated in the Battle of 73 Eastern during Desert Storm in which US troops were outnumbered but still prevailed because Iraqi soldiers were using outdated equipment. He wrote about the battle and its lessons at the Strategy Bridge.

This man is an intellect to be dealt with….yes he is a hawk but a hawk with a brain and sound rational thought.  His cheerleaders are many……

  • Politico describes McMaster, author of a 1997 book on America’s mishandling of the Vietnam war, as “one of the military’s leading warrior-scholars” and predicts that he will help Trump build bridges with GOP defense hawks like John McCain, who praised McMaster on Monday as “a man of genuine intellect, character, and ability.”
  • Retired Lt. Gen. David Barno tells the Washington Post that he knows McMaster well and he believes the general will excel at coordinating policy. “I don’t see HR as director of an orchestra; I see him as someone who is getting all the instruments to play together,” Barno says.
  • Cosmopolitan rounds up eight things to know about McMaster, including the fact that he “is known for standing up for his beliefs” and was chosen as one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People” in 2014.
  • National Review reports that Charles Krauthammer, one of Trump’s fiercest conservative critics, described the choice as encouraging, noting that McMaster’s willingness to go against prevailing opinion of the time when planning the Iraq troop surge shows “this is a guy who will say what he thinks and promote what he wants.”
  • At Business Insider, Paul Szoldra praises McMaster as a “fantastic choice,” not least for the great deal of respect he commands from the troops
  • The AP notes that McMaster has a “reputation for being willing to speak truth to power”—and he “appears to hold a much dimmer view than Trump of Moscow’s military and political objectives in Europe.”

The MSM seems to think it is a wise choice……

Below is his opinion on the US approach to war……this is from a speech he gave in 2015……

Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who spends his days trying to figure out the future of conflict and has gained wide respect for speaking his mind, told an audience at the University of South Florida on Wednesday that the United States needs to do a better job of learning lessons and adapting because of its “narcissistic approach to war.”

And, echoing outgoing President Dwight David Eisenhower’s farewell to the nation in 1961, McMaster urged renewed caution about the military-industrial complex and its influence on how America wages war.

Source: General dissects U.S. approach to war in speech at USF | TBO.com

My personal observation—-I was very impressed in his book on the Vietnam War, Dereliction Of Duty, he was very critical of the leadership during the war and hew was spot on in his analysis…..he is outspoken and has a great intellect….that will make for a good NSC chair if he does not compromise for a cushy posting…..