As was already mentioned, the NYT published an investigation of CIA involvement in Ukraine on Saturday, which could have contributed to my understanding for this piece, but also would have got in the way of me finishing, having to retool for it etc.
Anyway, here is the summary I wrote for Twitter, which is a good supplement to all of this:
Excellent opinion, a touch of sanity in our fog of war.
The New York Times article from yesterday, 'The Spy War: How the C.I.A. Secretly Helps Ukraine Fight Putin', makes for an interesting follow-on. I just posted the following excerpts:
“A C.I.A.-supported network of spy bases has been constructed in the past eight years that includes 12 secret locations along the Russian border…
…coming together in fits and starts under three very different U.S. presidents, pushed forward by key individuals who often took daring risks.
It has transformed Ukraine, whose intelligence agencies were long seen as thoroughly compromised by Russia, into one of Washington’s most important intelligence partners against the Kremlin today…
The C.I.A. also helped train a new generation of Ukrainian spies who operated inside Russia, across Europe, and in Cuba and other places where the Russians have a large presence…
…Beyond the base, the C.I.A. also oversaw a training program, carried out in two European cities, to teach Ukrainian intelligence officers how to convincingly assume fake personas and steal secrets in Russia and other countries…
…Unit 2245, the commando force that received specialized military training from the C.I.A.’s elite paramilitary group, known as the Ground Department. The intent of the training was to teach defensive techniques, but C.I.A. officers understood that without their knowledge the Ukrainians could use the same techniques in offensive lethal operations…
…a mysterious explosion in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, ripped through an elevator carrying a senior Russian separatist commander named Arsen Pavlov, known by his nom de guerre, Motorola.
The C.I.A. soon learned that the assassins were members of the Fifth Directorate, the spy group that received C.I.A. training. Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency had even handed out commemorative patches to those involved, each one stitched with the word “Lift,” the British term for an elevator…
…representatives from the C.I.A., Britain’s MI6, the HUR, the Dutch service (a critical intelligence ally) and other agencies agreed to start pooling together more of their intelligence on Russia. The result was a secret coalition against Russia - and the Ukrainians were vital members of it.”
That’s the important parts of this seemingly CIA propaganda piece aimed at breaking obstacles to sending more money to Ukraine i.e. U.S. weapons manufacturers. Or it could be part of an effort to disentangle the USA from the war.
What they done is prove that Putin’s fear of the USA on his doorstep was valid, and given him an honest propaganda weapon to use: “My fellow Russians, I told you so, we are under attack by the Americans.”
Indeed, I saw that earlier today, Im going to do a summary thread, I'm just tired, I'm caught between trying to do it tonight and waking up and doing it in the morning.
Kinda glad I didnt see it before publishing as I might have got caught up including it, but indeed, they were massively conspiring against and threatening Russia with all of that
I feel you. I promised to stay away for 8 days, and reduce daily posts to one weekly. Then I read that article and had to resist doing a full breakdown (that a lot of people will probably read). Instead, I'm going to punch myself a couple of times and go drink a 500ml cup of emboldened coffee whilst watching Military Summary Channel's latest.
Hopefully you do the breakdown, and make up for mortal folk like me.
Although I surmised, the purpose of the article is the answer I most want. Maybe you could make a call... :)
thanks! I'm still sad that it would have been just slightly too much to title it "Russian Maidan, European Bride" since Maidan means "Square" not "Maiden" and its EuroMaidan anyhow, it was like right on the edge of being a glorious pun though lol
I decided to buy and review that guy's book, there isn't nearly enough commentary about why Ukrainians have chosen to be like this, and it is indeed a big part of the reason they aren't sympathetic to the American right is that they've chosen to try to be just like our domestic enemies.
You combine historical context further back than even Putin went in his interview ;-) with sociology, psychology, for an incisive, humorous, and sad examination of the global cultural devolution (thanks to Western imperialists!) that allows the festering and fostering of unprincipled, blinded, narcissistic fools. You should have seen my face discovering that Oprah’s Vision Boards are a thing, along with my personal interaction with exactly those barren soulless creatures who find this sort of insipid pastime inspiring and me a crazy Cassandra.
Hah, I hear about a lot of this stuff because my wife is a millennial white woman, but she doesn't do that, this I more know about from a true crime documentary where the woman's mom got into whatever cult some guy ran that is really into this. I don't remember what it's called but you know some thing for crazy people from LA, I think it is actually one of Oprah's "spiritual advisors" or what have you.
Regardless, they are indeed trying to "manifest" victory. I've been saying this whole time, Ukraine and its supporters are trying to win the war by convincing people they will win the war, whereas Russia is trying to win the war by winning the war. I know who I would bet on, giving those divergent viewpoints.
The unchallenged DA of my county who knew where all the bodies were buried got a gig teaching political science at a local college, and derided a comment I made in class on a relevant pop culture item with “I don’t have TIME for daytime teevee” as if one can’t do an aerial observation of this vapid soup we’re swimming in, or indulge momentarily by watching The Apprentice, for example. (Which is how I knew Trump was supported, popular, and would be elected.)
Michael Detsch wrote a piece in Harpers IIRC titled something along the lines of "The Tragedy of Volodymir Zelensky" Its a great read, Harpers has published at least two contrarian foreign policy pieces which drove people crazy. The pieces were long form, not shallow and authors from the academy, the first of which drove the rest of the academy insane, which was good fun to watch. The second didn't break out I don't think. I never read Harpers until those two pieces I don't think. I always assumed it was a fashion magazine, so odd choice to publish foreign policy. Anyway, point being made is the Detsch piece is quite critical of Zelensky and paints him as a fraud masquerading as a Churchillian figure.
As was already mentioned, the NYT published an investigation of CIA involvement in Ukraine on Saturday, which could have contributed to my understanding for this piece, but also would have got in the way of me finishing, having to retool for it etc.
Anyway, here is the summary I wrote for Twitter, which is a good supplement to all of this:
https://twitter.com/WaywardRabbler/status/1762195200427032608?t=dd_WFjT45a11UThZVouwkg&s=19
Excellent opinion, a touch of sanity in our fog of war.
The New York Times article from yesterday, 'The Spy War: How the C.I.A. Secretly Helps Ukraine Fight Putin', makes for an interesting follow-on. I just posted the following excerpts:
“A C.I.A.-supported network of spy bases has been constructed in the past eight years that includes 12 secret locations along the Russian border…
…coming together in fits and starts under three very different U.S. presidents, pushed forward by key individuals who often took daring risks.
It has transformed Ukraine, whose intelligence agencies were long seen as thoroughly compromised by Russia, into one of Washington’s most important intelligence partners against the Kremlin today…
The C.I.A. also helped train a new generation of Ukrainian spies who operated inside Russia, across Europe, and in Cuba and other places where the Russians have a large presence…
…Beyond the base, the C.I.A. also oversaw a training program, carried out in two European cities, to teach Ukrainian intelligence officers how to convincingly assume fake personas and steal secrets in Russia and other countries…
…Unit 2245, the commando force that received specialized military training from the C.I.A.’s elite paramilitary group, known as the Ground Department. The intent of the training was to teach defensive techniques, but C.I.A. officers understood that without their knowledge the Ukrainians could use the same techniques in offensive lethal operations…
…a mysterious explosion in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, ripped through an elevator carrying a senior Russian separatist commander named Arsen Pavlov, known by his nom de guerre, Motorola.
The C.I.A. soon learned that the assassins were members of the Fifth Directorate, the spy group that received C.I.A. training. Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency had even handed out commemorative patches to those involved, each one stitched with the word “Lift,” the British term for an elevator…
…representatives from the C.I.A., Britain’s MI6, the HUR, the Dutch service (a critical intelligence ally) and other agencies agreed to start pooling together more of their intelligence on Russia. The result was a secret coalition against Russia - and the Ukrainians were vital members of it.”
That’s the important parts of this seemingly CIA propaganda piece aimed at breaking obstacles to sending more money to Ukraine i.e. U.S. weapons manufacturers. Or it could be part of an effort to disentangle the USA from the war.
What they done is prove that Putin’s fear of the USA on his doorstep was valid, and given him an honest propaganda weapon to use: “My fellow Russians, I told you so, we are under attack by the Americans.”
Indeed, I saw that earlier today, Im going to do a summary thread, I'm just tired, I'm caught between trying to do it tonight and waking up and doing it in the morning.
Kinda glad I didnt see it before publishing as I might have got caught up including it, but indeed, they were massively conspiring against and threatening Russia with all of that
The summary thread is EPIC. Great work, Brad. Thank you.
Thanks, and thanks for remind me to post it here!
I feel you. I promised to stay away for 8 days, and reduce daily posts to one weekly. Then I read that article and had to resist doing a full breakdown (that a lot of people will probably read). Instead, I'm going to punch myself a couple of times and go drink a 500ml cup of emboldened coffee whilst watching Military Summary Channel's latest.
Hopefully you do the breakdown, and make up for mortal folk like me.
Although I surmised, the purpose of the article is the answer I most want. Maybe you could make a call... :)
A magnificent, epic piece.
thanks! I'm still sad that it would have been just slightly too much to title it "Russian Maidan, European Bride" since Maidan means "Square" not "Maiden" and its EuroMaidan anyhow, it was like right on the edge of being a glorious pun though lol
I decided to buy and review that guy's book, there isn't nearly enough commentary about why Ukrainians have chosen to be like this, and it is indeed a big part of the reason they aren't sympathetic to the American right is that they've chosen to try to be just like our domestic enemies.
You combine historical context further back than even Putin went in his interview ;-) with sociology, psychology, for an incisive, humorous, and sad examination of the global cultural devolution (thanks to Western imperialists!) that allows the festering and fostering of unprincipled, blinded, narcissistic fools. You should have seen my face discovering that Oprah’s Vision Boards are a thing, along with my personal interaction with exactly those barren soulless creatures who find this sort of insipid pastime inspiring and me a crazy Cassandra.
Hah, I hear about a lot of this stuff because my wife is a millennial white woman, but she doesn't do that, this I more know about from a true crime documentary where the woman's mom got into whatever cult some guy ran that is really into this. I don't remember what it's called but you know some thing for crazy people from LA, I think it is actually one of Oprah's "spiritual advisors" or what have you.
Regardless, they are indeed trying to "manifest" victory. I've been saying this whole time, Ukraine and its supporters are trying to win the war by convincing people they will win the war, whereas Russia is trying to win the war by winning the war. I know who I would bet on, giving those divergent viewpoints.
Marianne Williamson mindfully manifested being president.
https://theconversation.com/marianne-williamson-and-the-religion-of-spirituality-123399
hah indeed, yeah she is into all the kooky white woman stuff
The unchallenged DA of my county who knew where all the bodies were buried got a gig teaching political science at a local college, and derided a comment I made in class on a relevant pop culture item with “I don’t have TIME for daytime teevee” as if one can’t do an aerial observation of this vapid soup we’re swimming in, or indulge momentarily by watching The Apprentice, for example. (Which is how I knew Trump was supported, popular, and would be elected.)
lol right and as if that has no relevance to understanding the public, or if you don't just encounter people talking about it etc
Michael Detsch wrote a piece in Harpers IIRC titled something along the lines of "The Tragedy of Volodymir Zelensky" Its a great read, Harpers has published at least two contrarian foreign policy pieces which drove people crazy. The pieces were long form, not shallow and authors from the academy, the first of which drove the rest of the academy insane, which was good fun to watch. The second didn't break out I don't think. I never read Harpers until those two pieces I don't think. I always assumed it was a fashion magazine, so odd choice to publish foreign policy. Anyway, point being made is the Detsch piece is quite critical of Zelensky and paints him as a fraud masquerading as a Churchillian figure.
Hah no Harpers is like a left wing elite sort of magazine. I believe it is still edited by Alexander Cockburn.