NationStates

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/27/russia-offered-bounty-to-kill-uk-soldiers

The Russian intelligence unit behind the attempted murder in Salisbury of the former double agent Sergei Skripal secretly offered to pay Taliban-linked fighters to kill British and American soldiers in Afghanistan, according to US reports.

...

According to the paper, Trump was briefed on the activity months ago, but no discernible action has been taken. The UK received the intelligence last week. The 29155 unit of the GRU, an arm of Russia’s military intelligence agency, was responsible for executing the plan, according to the paper. In recent years, it has been linked to assassination attempts aimed at destabilising the West.

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Unit 29155 has been linked to an attempted coup in Montenegro, the poisoning of a Bulgarian arms manufacturer and subversion in Moldova.

This incredibly startling report details what is probably the most direct action taken by the Putin regime against the west since the illegal annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbass. It is now beyond proven that the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin is a hostile actor working tirelessly to further its strategic interests. Those interests are totally antithetical to those of the west and threaten to plunge the world into another great war. In light of this report, it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is either a buffoon who just can't accept that Russia won't be friends with the west, or he is purposefully working for Russia to weaken us. I'll let the reader be the judge.

I will come before you to ask the following questions:

Do you believe Russia did this?
If so, what should the response be?

Personally, I am beyond a doubt convinced that the Putin regime ordered the murder of American soldiers in Afghanistan. An appropriate response would be sanction their economy into the ground, release damaging intelligence to their enemies, support separatist groups inside Russia, increase NATO presence in the Baltic states, provide critical support to Ukraine in their fight against Russian invaders, and begin going after key Russian allies like Assad.

As for Trump ignoring this... he needs to be removed from office and jailed for treason.

Trump is a traitor and a kleptocrat, so no surprise there.

The Reformed American Republic wrote:Trump is a traitor and a kleptocrat, so no surprise there.

in other news, the floor is made of floor.

Nevertopia wrote:

The Reformed American Republic wrote:Trump is a traitor and a kleptocrat, so no surprise there.

in other news, the floor is made of floor.

*GASP!*

MY WORLDVIEW HAS BEEN DISRUPTED!

I cannot wait for the Trump supporters to try to explain away this.

The Reformed American Republic wrote:I cannot wait for the Trump supporters to try to explain away this.

Most of them will never hear about it, that's part of the problem.

The Reformed American Republic wrote:I cannot wait for the Trump supporters to try to explain away this.

Explaining takes thought and effort. They will fall back on what they always use.....FAKE NEWS!

White house says they weren’t briefed.

White House is the Brown House full of fecal matter.

Russia and the Taliban also deny it the payments happened at all, but a general rule seems to be if Russia says something is false it is probably true. And obviously the Taliban are liars.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljaze ... 51474.html

This requires further investigation, if Russia actually did this we should ban all Russian imports, cut them off from SWIFT, all members of the Putin regime subject to personal sanctions. Declare the GRU a terrorist organization. Suspend START negotiations, etc.

If Putin wants us as an enemy, that is what he will get.
It increasingly seems Putin views the US as an enemy to be destroyed to avenge the fall of the Soviet Union. He wants what happened to the Soviets to happen to us it appears.

Galloism wrote:White house says they weren’t briefed.

If the NSC wants to brief the President, they should cultivate a contact on Fox and Friends.

Galloism wrote:White house says they weren’t briefed.

Lol that's the only defense they can muster?

Galloism wrote:White house says they weren’t briefed.

They musta been dealing with a tweetstorm from on high.

I've no interest in signing up for a NYT account; anyone able to give a breakdown of the evidence presented in the original NYT article? The Guardian article alluded to evidence, but did not present any.

Red Intria wrote:I've no interest in signing up for a NYT account; anyone able to give a breakdown of the evidence presented in the original NYT article? The Guardian article alluded to evidence, but did not present any.

I HATE paywalls on newspapers...

I think Trump should resign over this, given that it makes it look as if he doesn't care about the troops.

The Reformed American Republic wrote:Trump is a traitor and a kleptocrat, so no surprise there.

"Fake News" fabricated by the "deep state" to slander their lord and savior, probably.

Godular wrote:

Red Intria wrote:I've no interest in signing up for a NYT account; anyone able to give a breakdown of the evidence presented in the original NYT article? The Guardian article alluded to evidence, but did not present any.

I HATE paywalls on newspapers...

Well I forgive them.

Galloism wrote:White house says they weren’t briefed.

“We just don’t bother to tell the President and Vice-President about national security threats” is an unusual excuse.

Gravlen wrote:

Galloism wrote:White house says they weren’t briefed.

“We just don’t bother to tell the President and Vice-President about national security threats” is an unusual excuse.

Trump can't be blamed for his fuckups if people don't tell him about them. -nod-

Sanction Russia to shit, support Ukraine in the war in donbass


Basically take the fight to them

Geneviev wrote:I think Trump should resign over this, given that it makes it look as if he doesn't care about the troops.

On the other hand, what did he ever do to make it look like he cares about the troops?

And I'm talking about active duty troops, not veterans like the ones he stole $2.8 million from when he diverted money given to a charity fundraiser for veterans into his presidential campaign. Veterans he has never given a shit about, and he has made no attempt to hide his disdain for them.

Do you believe Russia did this?
If so, what should the response be?

This is the sort of thing I assume Russia does all the time.
Intervene in Ukraine, if Russia objects pretend to be surpised, as there are no Russian soldiers in the Ukraine we couldn't possibly be shooting them.

Nothing that fucker does surprises me anymore. This nation, nay, this planet, cannot survive another 4 years of him.

Doing tit for tat operations won't do anything but add to global tensions. After all, the US gave the Mujahadeen weaponry that destroyed a lot of Soviet aircraft and resulted in losses for them. This is much the same thing happening, a country merely taking a side in a proxy war. We have to consider why Russia wanted to do this to begin with. They probably want NATO to be further away from their borders because it is a security threat for them.

I'm not in favor of retaliating any Russia more than is necessary on that basis, because they're too powerful. But I also believe it was negligent to have done nothing. I think I favor the troops being extracated ahead of time or a trap being laid. It only works if you lure them in and have them think they still have the element of surprise. We could even pay the Taliban more to turn against Russia. There are many options.

So what if behind the scenes, there was a bit of dirty dealing? That is normal as far as I can tell. The solution in my mind, is to play that game just as much.

I'm guessing the response will be to invade Iran.