Denials, denials, denials, denials
(The two below probably know)
Bounties on Americans: Iranian
President Rouhani
(Ask my right-hand man Vladimir not me)
This is major update on the
original story that I posted here. Then the next original story follows this
update (also coming quickly):
This latest from WASHINGTON (Reuters)
(August 20) – President
Donald J. Trump vowed to retaliate if other countries were found to have
offered bounties for attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but he gave no
indication whether his stance toward U.S. intelligence reports outlining the
bounties had changed.
Reports
about U.S. intelligence findings that Moscow paid the Taliban to kill American
troops in Afghanistan emerged in late June. Russia denied the reports, and
Trump has made clear that he did not believe them. CNN this month reported that
U.S. intelligence had also indicated that Iran paid the Taliban bounties to
target U.S. troops in Afghanistan as well. Reuters could not verify that story
or vouch for its accuracy. Tehran on Tuesday said the report was false.
Trump,
speaking at a White House event alongside the Iraqi Prime Minister, told
reporters that if the reports were determined to be a fact, then: “We would hit
them so hard, your head would spin.”
Democrats
and other critics have accused Trump, who has long pushed warmer U.S. ties with
Russia, of not taking intelligence information concerning soldiers’ deaths
seriously enough.
Iran’s
Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said Iranian state TV that the reports
that Tehran paid Taliban fighters to target U.S. forces and allies: “Was entirely
false,” adding: “The United States tries to hide its miscalculations in Afghanistan
by resorting to propaganda.”
Conflicts:
U.S. officials have said they are looking into the
matter while pointing to internal divisions over the intelligence.
U.S. and European government sources familiar with
intelligence reporting told Reuters that fresh intelligence backed up the
Russian bounty allegations.
NOTEWORTHY: Trump
told Axios news in late July that he did not raise this issue with Putin during
their July 23 telephone call.
Let’s be clear once again – Trump talks strong
about being strong on Russian nastiness, but in reality he will NOT cross Putin
in any way since Putin has him by the “short hairs” as the expression says.
Those two are like twins joined at the lip.
Plus this interesting story
from AlterNet:
“Trump is more than Putin’s puppet
— he’s an autocrat-in-training”
The way I see that - agree or not?
Vladimir Putin: The Master puppeteer
We shall see how strongly Trump reacts on this bounty
issue – if he hits anyone hard, it will be Iran NOT Russia – bet on that.
Original story from here: I hope not too confusing — same topic:
Subject of bounties paid to kill Americans back in the
news.
Now involves Iran on top of previous story about
Russian payments.
Update and highlights here
from
the DAILY MAIL (UK).
Iran reportedly
paid bounties to a Taliban faction to kill US and coalition troops in Afghanistan,
leading to six attacks including a suicide bombing at the US airbase in Bagram.
According to a CNN report, U.S
.intelligence determined that Iran paid the bounties to the Haqqani network,
for the December 2019 attack on Bagram, in which two civilians were killed and
more than 70 others injured – including two Americans.
The reports comes just months after similar allegations
surfaced that Russia was also paying Taliban fighters to kill US troops in the
region.
Major Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, said: “The
Department of Defense does not disclose timelines or discussions surrounding
internal deliberations and intelligence briefings. With that being said, the
department has repeatedly demanded, both publicly and privately, that Iran
cease its scourge of malign and destabilizing behavior throughout the Middle
East and the world. While the United States, its NATO allies and coalition
partners are working to facilitate an end to 19 years of bloodshed, Iran’s
inimical influence seeks to undermine the Afghan peace process and foster a
continuation of violence and instability.”
These reports come nearly two months after allegations
surfaced that Russia was also paying Taliban fighters at much as $100,000
per-soldier to kill Americans in Afghanistan. (See more on that below in the original
post).
As stated below, the New York Times first reported on
this back in June. U.S. intelligence officials at that time said that a Russian
military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked
militants for killing U.S. troops.
Just as expected, President Donald J. Trump dismissed
those early reports about Russian bounties being paid, and as he usually does, called
it a “hoax.”
That even though the White House in early July said the president
had by that time been “…fully briefed on the matter, as early as March 2019”
(long before the June NY Times story broke).
In a series of scathing
tweets responding to that NY Times report, Trump wrote: “Nobody
briefed or told me, VP Pence, or Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about the
so-called attacks on our troops in Afghanistan by Russians, as reported through
an anonymous source by the “Fake News” New York Times. Everybody is denying it
& there have not been many attacks on us.....”
That and on cue, Press
secretary Kayleigh McEnany fiercely refuted that the president had known of the
Russian bounty plot for months, stating: “Neither the president
nor the vice president were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence.
This does not speak to the merit of the alleged intelligence but to the
inaccuracy of The New York Times story erroneously suggesting that President
Trump was briefed on this matter.”
Joe Biden, however, took the opportunity to blast Trump on
the report as he spoke at a town hall in June, saying in part that, if true, “…the report contains a truly shocking
revelation about the Commander-in-Chief and his failure to protect U.S. troops
in Afghanistan and stand up to Russia.”
Biden went on to say about Trump’s apparent inaction over the plot “…it’s a betrayal of the most sacred duty we
bear as a nation – to protect and equip our troops when we send them into
harm's way.”
Meanwhile, a Pentagon investigation into the Russian scheme
remains ongoing as the Kremlin vehemently denied the claims.
Meanwhile, Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo warned his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov: “There
would be an enormous price to pay if Moscow was paying such bounties.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The original details that I posted earlier about this
very serious issue follow from here:
Two key points on the story that broke on
June 26 by the NY Times and
supported by many *sources and my Intel experience are:
Point #1: Trump’s late-night Tweet (June 28): He claimed
that he was not briefed on intelligence about a Russian bounties on American
soldiers in Afghanistan because the U.S. intelligence community deemed the
information not credible.
He Tweeted: “Intel
just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore
did not report it to me or @VP. Possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax, maybe
by the Fake News @nytimesbooks, wanting to make Republicans look bad!!!”
Point #2: Intel reported to him that the story was NOT credible and therefore a
brief not necessary. Okay, but then what about this:
If neither the White
House nor the DNI directly addressed the credibility of the intelligence as
described to Trump but why dispute the Times's account
that Trump was briefed on the information publicly?
Note: DNI and CIA did not immediately
return requests for comment on that part (e.g., Trump’s claim that intelligence
officials informed him the information but deemed is was not credible).
Ergo, logical
conclusion: Trump knew
about the story but in essence did not believe it and instead fired off that
tweet blaming the media for another “hoax.” All the while also those around him
said he was not briefed – so I ask: Did he know about the story, and if not,
how did he know and claim it was not credible and therefore he was not briefed
fully on it?
My logical view: Trump knew about the story but since
it involved Russia, he did not want piss off Vladimir Putin all the while claiming
the NY Times story was a “hoax” that he was briefed on.
Then add this from
Press Secretary McEnany who on “Fox & Friends” (June 29) said that Congress would be briefed,
but did not provide details about invitees, suggesting that the story contents
had not been deemed “verified or credible” and again denying that Trump had
been briefed saying (again, all very confusing): “Intelligence, we don't comment on it routinely but just so you know how
it works, it is vetted for its veracity and it only goes to the president after
high-level officials deem it verifiable and credible.”
Then this string of W/H double-talk
from McEnany: “The United States receives thousands of
intelligence reports a day and they are subject to strict scrutiny. While the
White House does not routinely comment on alleged intelligence or internal
deliberations, the CIA Director, National Security Advisor, and the Chief of
Staff can all confirm that neither the President nor the Vice President were
briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence. This does not speak to the
merit of the alleged intelligence but to the inaccuracy of the New York Times
story erroneously suggesting that President Trump was briefed on this matter.”
As I said earlier reporting
on this from other reliable sources:
(1) Interrogation reports from Taliban
detainees
(2) UK intelligence
(3) U.S. Special Ops troops on the
ground in Afghanistan
(4) CNN
(5) Politico
(6) Reuters
(7) The Washington Post
(8) The
Hill
(9) AlterNet
(10) NY Magazine
(11) The
Guardian
(12) EU Allies, Agents, and Informants
(13) Business
Insider
(14) And, yes surprisingly even from FOX News
My 2 cents: The facts of this story stand solid,
except in Trump’s mind for obvious reasons: Don’t rub Putin the wrong way.
Thanks for stopping
by.
No comments:
Post a Comment