Against US Aid to Ukraine? You're Pro-Putin, According to Putin
By the Russian President's Own Measurement, US Politicians Withholding Aid From Ukraine Are Helping Him
Thank you to everyone who joined me for VESPERS yesterday. We had a great chat with Mike Rothschild, author of JEWISH SPACE LASERS, about all kinds of interesting topics, including how he fell out with Alex Jones and when I can expect my Deep State paycheck from George Soros.
Also this week, I joined the Burn the Boats podcast to discuss whether or not Trump is a Russian asset, the use of satire to simplify complex topics, and why classified documents should not be kept in a bathroom, even one with a lock. You can watch it here or listen to it here.
Lastly, Rudy Giuliani sued Joe Biden this week for defamation for calling him a “Russian pawn.” Of course, the US intelligence community had already determined that, as I posted earlier this week in my deep dive into an FBI agent’s whistleblower account. The biggest question we are left with (which I imply in the piece but I should have stated out loud): are Russians influencing who the FBI does and does not investigate? Read the whole piece here.
Russian Spies, Ukrainian Oligarchs, and America's Mayor
On July 15 this year, Jonathan Buma, a career counterintelligence officer with the FBI—with experience investigating, among other things, money laundering and election interference—filed a whistleblower complaint alleging FBI managers were suppressing his investigations into a number of Russian intelligence networks. The reason, he claims, is because his investigations kept picking up evidence that American political figures, including Rudy Giuliani, were cavorting with the bad guys he was investigating. As Buma said, “These matters relate generally to the Russian Intelligence Service (RIS) in the context of foreign influence over US elections and an apparent effort within FBI management to shield certain politically active figures and possibly also FBI agents who have a relationship with these figures.”
ALEX’S WEEKLY RANT
The US government didn’t shut down and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been ousted. But the fight over US aid to Ukraine has yet to be resolved. President Biden plans to lay out his case for more money to Ukraine in an upcoming major speech. The majority in Congress supports providing Ukraine with more money and weapons. But there remains that handful of extremist Congresspeople who are hellbent on not helping Ukraine. Why?
Let’s stop for a moment and look at this from the perspective of Vladimir Putin. As I’ve covered in my Foreign Influence Operations course (and laid out in satirical detail in Victor in Trouble), Putin’s goal in Ukraine is to destroy democracy. He can’t have democracy next door, because then his own people might ask for it for themselves. Putin can’t have that.
To help him achieve this objective, years ago Putin launched information operations aimed at destabilizing the West. He figured the more divided we were, the less chance we’d be able to pull ourselves together to provide a united front to help Ukraine.
A recent report in the New York Times says Putin is still counting on this. And he plans to push even more division.
Russia’s strategy to win the war in Ukraine is to outlast the West.
But how does Vladimir Putin plan to do that?
American officials said they are convinced that Mr. Putin intends to try to end U.S. and European support for Ukraine by using his spy agencies to push propaganda supporting pro-Russian political parties and by stoking conspiracy theories with new technologies.
Here is the key sentence: “The disinformation aims to increase support for candidates opposing Ukraine aid with the ultimate goal of stopping international military assistance to Kyiv.”
So, according to Putin’s own definition, if someone helps withhold aid from Ukraine, that person is helping Putin achieve his goal.
But remember, Putin’s final goal in Ukraine is to kill democracy.
Therefore, US politicians who aim to end funding for Ukraine are helping Putin achieve his objective of killing democracy. They are throwing their hat in with the dictator Putin, and turning their backs on democracy.
Talk about a cheap date. They are ready to do exactly what Putin wants, and he doesn’t even have to pay them!
Anyway, as this whole authoritarianism versus democracy battle plays out (as it is right now, people, wake up and pay attention!), history is watching which side each of us chooses. Choose your side wisely.
THE WEEK’S LINKS
A roundup of stories you should be reading
UNITED STATES
RUSSIA
Russia to build naval base in breakaway Georgian region (Le Monde)
EUROPE
It Sure Looks Like Europe Came Damn Close to Another War Last Month (Vice)
YOUR FEEL-GOOD STORIES OF THE WEEK
Crocodile sex frenzy in Australia triggered by Chinook helicopters (Telegraph)
It’s Fat Bear Week! Can chubby cub 806 Jr beat the seasoned champions? (BBC)
Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She writes and teaches about terrorism, disinformation / covert influence, and oligarch yachts. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Reductress, Funny or Die, POLITICO, The Center for Public Integrity, and other publications. She has spoken to the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, France24, and numerous other media outlets. She was also invited once to speak at Harvard, which she now tells everyone within the first ten seconds of meeting them. She is the author of the Victor Caro series, satirical novels about the CIA. Before joining the CIA, Alex was a journalist, covering Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy. She reported on issues related to national security, intelligence, and homeland security. Did she mention she was invited to speak at Harvard?
I don’t think the GOP congresspeople see being pro-Putin as a negative…
Not so certain about the “not paying them” assumption here...