The city of Heihe, far in China’s northeast along its border with Russia, said it would shell out 100,000 yuan ($15,642) to locals who provide “important clues” about the origin of the recent delta variant outbreak, which has resulted in some 240 cases as of Monday, according to Chinese state …
Read More »Using ‘Russiagate’ & ‘bounties’ logic, anonymous officials now claim GRU behind mysterious ‘sonic attacks’ on US spies
The “suspected directed-energy incidents” that have allegedly afflicted US diplomats and spies around the world may have been the work of “Russia’s military intelligence unit, the GRU,” Politico claimed on Monday, citing “three current and former officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.” Both the CIA and the State Department …
Read More »New York Times ‘bounties’ non-story shows US/UK media has got so used to blaming Russia, it’s basically now doing it out of habit
“A Powerful Russian Weapon: The Spread of False Stories.” So ran a headline in the New York Times in August 2016. If it were only a Russian phenomenon, the world would be a much better place. Alas, the Times is far from immune from spreading “false stories” itself. From Walter …
Read More »Biden’s decision not to punt on ‘Russian bounties’ is embarrassment for US media – but they’ll continue to push favored narrative
The CIA now only has “low-to-moderate confidence” that Russia paid the Taliban to kill American servicemen in Afghanistan, it was reported on Thursday. On the same day, the Biden administration announced a new raft of sanctions against Russia as punishment for its “efforts to undermine the conduct of free and …
Read More »Fake news all along: Confidence game with ‘Russian bounties’ story shows one shouldn’t trust spies & self-serving media
So convoluted was the phrasing of the not-quite-admission of wrongdoing on Thursday, that some media outlets – looking at you, The Hill – actually took it as proof the claim Russia had offered Taliban money to kill US troops was true! “The US intelligence community assesses with low to moderate …
Read More »Taliban bounties 3: The China menace. Claim of payments for attacks on US troops in Afghanistan now stars Beijing
Secret intelligence indicates that “non-state actors” in Afghanistan were paid to carry out attacks against US troops, according to sources. President Trump was briefed on the intelligence. The bounties were presumably offered at a sensitive time when the US and the Taliban were engaged in talks on a peace deal. …
Read More »Pentagon says STILL no evidence for NYT’s ‘Russian bounties’ story as US envoy hails Moscow’s support for Afghan peace talks
While the military is “always looking at threats,” it has yet to uncover evidence for the “bounties” allegation reported by the New York Times in June, David Helvey, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, told the House Oversight Committee during a hearing on Tuesday. “Since those reports …
Read More »US military reveals it can’t corroborate NYT’s story on Russian bounties to Taliban – months after vowing to get to bottom of it
“It just has not been proved to a level of certainty that satisfies me,” General Frank McKenzie, the commander who oversees US troops in Afghanistan, reportedly told NBC News on Monday. Investigators continue to look into the matter, he said. The investigation already has reviewed intelligence concerning every attack on …
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