Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says
Source: New York Times
American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter.
The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly offered rewards for successful attacks last year.
Islamist militants, or armed criminal elements closely associated with them, are believed to have collected some bounty money, the officials said. Twenty Americans were killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019, but it was not clear which killings were under suspicion.
The intelligence finding was briefed to President Trump, and the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said. Officials developed a menu of potential options — starting with making a diplomatic complaint to Moscow and a demand that it stop, along with an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/us/politics/russia-afghanistan-bounties.html?referringSource=articleShare
Read the fourth paragraph: "...but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said."
= new reply since forum marked as read
okay, not really
... they wouldn't even try this under a President Hillary Clinton.
You cannot stand by and let an adversary kill you soldiers while they're giving you advice on how to oppress your citizens and not take action against them.
No way to defend this - not for anyone in the GOP - or even FAUX News.
