- Gunmen stormed a concert hall in Moscow on Friday, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 100.
- Earlier this month, the US embassy issued a security alert warning of a potential terror attack.
- Just days ago, Vladimir Putin dismissed the idea as “blackmail” from the West.
…
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia issued a security alert warning about a potential terror attack in Moscow and urged people to avoid crowds, monitor local media for updates, and be aware of surroundings.
“The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours,” the March 7 security alert said.
Putin addressed the warnings a couple weeks later, criticizing the warning three days ago as “provocative.”
…
“All this resembles outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society,” Putin said, according to state media reporting on his remarks.
The US embassy issued another alert on Friday saying it was “aware” of the attack and urged Americans to avoid the area.
Hot damn. So I kind of understand why the Russians would dismiss this as a lie or a threat because yknow. War in Ukraine, Trump, etc, relations are bad to put it politely.
But can we talk about what kind of terrifying flex of power that is from US Intelligence? It’s one thing to predict a terror attack on your own soil- sure your citizens quite rightfully won’t like the privacy violations, but the national authorities are going to help you; so if your intelligence agency is worth the name it should stop most attacks.
But can you imagine having information access that’s so damn good you can not only predict a terror attack in a nation that has an extremely vested interest in not letting you know what they’re doing because they’re running a war that you (and everyone else) don’t like, but you feel completely confident TELLING THEM, which could risk your information sources if they’re not properly hidden. This is like the Foreign Intelligence equivalent of being so far ahead of your opponent in a game that you start giving them sincere advice on how to play so that they don’t get thrashed too badly.
It reminds me a bit of the US intelligence saying that Russia was going to invade Ukraine and attempt to make it all the way to Kiev while Russia was adamant that it would never happen.
The other thing to note is that all countries have an “obligation to report” which requires them to report evidence of terror attacks to any county that would be the victim, even if they are a hostile nation. As much as “US bad” is true, it’s frankly refreshing to see us do the right thing so publicly, even if it was only as a way to make Putin look bad.
It wasn’t just Russia who was saying that wasn’t gonna happen, basically everyone outside the US thought it wouldn’t happen cause it would be a really stupid thing to do. Then it turned out they did it and it was really stupid and I think a lot of people were surprised the US was telling the truth and it wasn’t just fearmongering.
US intelligence called the day and the hour the invasion would start, as well as the route the first military group would take. I remember at the time people were speculating that Russia would call it off or change plans because their operation had been so thoroughly blown, while a lot of global media was just accusing the US of warmongering. Russia just plowed ahead with their invasion anyway.
Are you kidding? Almost all terror attacks are one way or another sponsored by counties and governments who are all too happy to see another country suffer.
Strategically, from the US perspective, it was an enormously effective flex. It doesn’t matter what Putin says to his people, or the world, but now he knows that the US knew, and could have said nothing. Charles de Gaulle once said, “No nation has friends, only interests.”
Pretty sure Kissinger said that; the us does not have allies or enemies, only interests.
People says Kissenger paraphrased this with “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests” - afaik there’s no evidence of this but either way the quote’s older than he is.
Seems often it’s like this with simple quotes.
First thing I pulled up said it was de Gaulle. I rather suspect Kissinger got it from de Gaulle, who got it from Palmerston. My point is that I didn’t make it up. And this thread demonstrates that it is a long standing sentiment.
Moles. Moles EVERYWHERE.
Or they helped plan it.