“It was a blockbuster story about Russia’s return to the imperial “Great Game” in Afghanistan. The Kremlin had spread money around the longtime central Asian battlefield for militants to kill remaining U.S. forces. It sparked a massive outcry from Democrats and their #resistance amplifiers about the treasonous Russian puppet in the White House whose admiration for Vladimir Putin had endangered American troops.”
“But on Thursday, the Biden administration announced that U.S. intelligence only had “low to moderate” confidence in the story after all. Translated from the jargon of spyworld, that means the intelligence agencies have found the story is, at best, unproven—and possibly untrue.”
“When asked whether Moscow put bounties on American forces in Afghanistan, press secretary Jen Psaki said at a press briefing on Thursday that the Biden administration “felt the reports were enough of a cause for concern that we wanted our intelligence community to look into this report as a part of this overall assessment.””
Read more: U.S. Intel Walks Back Claim Russians Put Bounties on American Troops
Related from The Daily Beast:
Jun. 26, 2020 – Russia Offered Afghan Militants Bounties for Killing U.S. Soldiers: NYT
Jun. 28, 2020 – Russian Bounties Led to U.S. Troops’ Deaths, Intelligence Officials Believe
Jun 30, 2020 – ‘Russian Bounties’ Mess Is All of Trump’s Scandals Rolled Into One
Jul 2, 2020 – Russian Bounties for Killing Americans Go Back Five Years, Ex-Taliban Claims
Related, other:
Jun 2020 – Russia offered bounty to kill UK soldiers
Aug 2020 – Iran paid bounties for targeting US troops, intelligence reportedly suggests
Dec 2020 – Report: ‘Uncorroborated’ Intel Says China Offered Bounties For US Troops in Afghanistan
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