Veterans of US national security and intelligence have expressed concern
over President Joe Biden's strategy for dealing with Russia.
They say regular public leaks of the predicted invasion of Ukraine could
damage Washington's credibility in the long run. Especially if it turns out
that the prediction was completely wrong.
"I am concerned about the long-term credibility of our intelligence with all
these selected declassifications," a former CIA officer told Politico in a
report published Tuesday (Feb 8/2022).
The intelligence officials are increasingly concerned about what Politico
has called an "unusual openness" about intelligence in Russia.
A former CIA official source told Politico that such openness, combined with
leaks to the media, could "damage" the trust of the public and US allies.
One of the latest leaks from "insiders" came in a Newsweek report this week,
which claimed Russia had been planning a "false flag" operation to make it
appear as if there was a Kremlin plot to "carry out an attack on
Russian-speaking Ukraine."
"The purpose of the alleged operation was to discredit and distract
Washington," the report said.
Moscow has repeatedly denied any intention to attack Ukraine. Russia has
accused Western media and politicians of deliberately blowing the
accusations.
"True or not, the more information like this is released to the public, the
more likely it is that foreign operators can trace its source and the
methods used to obtain it," a former member of the National Security Council
told Politico.
"How many times do they need to warn that something might be imminent?" said
the former national security official.
The Biden administration's strategy has garnered some support, with a senior
intelligence official currently arguing the "cost-benefit analysis" has so
far been in favor of the United States.
Harvard University intelligence historian Calder Walton summed up the Biden
administration's information-disposal strategy as "high risk" when comparing
it to the late US President Ronald Reagan and his administration who
insisted a Korean Air Lines passenger plane had been shot down intentionally
by the Soviet Union in 1983.
It was later discovered that this was unintentional. “The result was that
the Reagan administration weakened its criticism of the Soviet government by
exaggerating the case,” Walton said.
Other officials point to the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from
Afghanistan as perhaps motivating the current administration to be tougher
in their approach.
"They know they have to be seen as a reliable ally," said a former
intelligence official.
Meanwhile, an unnamed senior Democratic Congressional aide echoed those
sentiments and said the "withdrawal experience" as the Taliban quickly
regained control and several US service members died, may have made the
administration "more vulnerable to hawkish suggestions [of crackdown] that
have been suggested." bad."
