On Monday, Gina Haspel made a rare public statement. It contained both a small favor and a veiled rebuke to President Trump. It was an intelligence agency kind of statement: opaque in verbiage but clear in meaning if you know the coded language of White House-Langley relations. The CIA director didn’t comment on the multiplying...
Tag: Afghanistan
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Russia’s GRU Offered Bounty on U.S. Soldiers; Trump Dismisses CIA Findings
The CIA briefed President Trump on intelligence reports that a Russian military intelligence unit offered bounties to Afghan rebels to kill American soldiers, according to the New York Times and Washington Post. Trump denies he was briefed and says the reports were not credible. The Trump administration took no action. From The Washington Post The...
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CIA-Backed Afghan Paramilitaries Behind Unlawful Killing Surge
From Just Security In these night raids, the forces involved are Afghan strike force units trained and equipped by the CIA, and often accompanied by CIA operatives or U.S. Special Forces. They operate outside normal U.S. and Afghan military command structures, and target suspected Taliban or Islamic State fighters mainly in rural areas where the...
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Five Things Pete Buttigieg Believes About the U.S and the World
From the South Bend mayor’s debut foreign policy speech . Trump has emboldened autocrats “The need for a new foreign policy vision could not be more urgent today. This administration has embraced and emboldened autocrats, while alienating allies and democracies around the world.” Democrats Lack a Consistent Message “For the better part of my lifetime,...
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As U.S. Withdraws, CIA Director Haspel Visits Afghanistan
Just as the U.S. armed forces are stepping out of Afghanistian, the CIA is stepping in. CIA director Gina Haspel visited the Central Asian country where the U.S. forces have been fighting for 18 years. Her mission: maintaining or even expanding the U.S. intelligence presence there. Haspel met with Afghan government officials including President Ashraf...