Tag: Special Activities Center

William Arkin: CIA Is Playing “Outsize Role” in Ukraine Despite Biden Pledge Not to Send U.S. Forces

Ms. Cat

A new investigation reveals the extent of the CIA’s involvement in the war in Ukraine, where the agency operates clandestinely in what, under a formal declaration of war, would be the domain of the military. We’re joined on the show by the author of the investigation, William Arkin, a national security reporter and senior editor at Newsweek, who says that the CIA has “got its hand in a little bit of everything” in Ukraine. According to various sources, the CIA is shuttling weapons into Ukraine using a “gray fleet” of commercial aircraft that crisscrosses Central and Eastern Europe, sending personnel into Ukraine on secret missions and assisting Ukrainians with new weapons and systems, all while using Poland as its clandestine hub to coordinate its operations inside the country. At the same time, the U.S.’s nonaligned status appears to place a limit on its intelligence, keeping it in the dark on both Zelensky and Putin’s next moves.

William Arkin: CIA Is Playing “Outsize Role” in Ukraine Despite Biden Pledge Not to Send U.S. Forces

Related:

The CIA’s Blind Spot about the Ukraine War

My takeaways:

  • Putting aside the propaganda, Burns has been allegedly using the CIA as military operatives. Supposedly, this is why they clueless about what’s going on, such as with the NordStream attack, the terrorist attacks inside Russia, or the attacks on the Crimean Bridge. More likely, they are ‘clandestinely’ involved!
  • If Zelenskyi isn’t in charge, is Valerii Zaluzhnyi, whose advisor is former Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh?!
  • The Biden admin is dangerously using commercial airlines (the CIA asked Newsweek not to identify which ones are being used) to transfer weapons to Ukraine. Russia isn’t stupid enough to target a commercial airliner, but I wouldn’t put it past the AFU to setup the Russian Armed Forces!

Wagner Chief Denies Claims That He Offered Ukraine Russian Troop Positions + What are we to Make of Prigozhin and the Wagner Group?

Ms. Cat1 Comment

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, dismissed claims made by The Washington Post that he offered Ukraine Russian troop positions in exchange for a Ukrainian withdrawal from Bakhmut, calling the report “laughable.”

Wagner Chief Denies Claims That He Offered Ukraine Russian Troop Positions

Related:

What are we to Make of Prigozhin and the Wagner Group?

5/11/23 Joziah Thayer on AQAP’s Standing in Yemen

Ms. Cat

Joziah Thayer joins to show to discuss some of the work he’s done digging into the many factions and groups within Yemen and the foreign powers working to pull their strings. Scott and Thayer drill in on Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, and explore how the group’s standing in Yemen has changed and how the country is likely to evolve going forward.

Discussed on the show:

The CIA, AQAP, and the Never-Ending Excuse to Bomb Yemen

How the IMF & World Bank Destroyed Yemen

5/11/23 Joziah Thayer on AQAP’s Standing in Yemen

Expanding on a previous entry re: CIA-trained Ukrainian paramilitaries

Ms. Cat

CIA-trained Ukrainian paramilitaries may take central role if Russia invades

While the covert program, run by paramilitaries working for the CIA’s Ground Branch* — now officially known as Ground Department — was established by the Obama administration after Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014, and expanded under the Trump administration, the Biden administration has further augmented it, said a former senior intelligence official in touch with colleagues in government.

Previously:

The CIA has backed Ukrainian insurgents before. Let’s learn from those mistakes + Project Aerodynamic

*Ground Branch: The CIA’s covert alternative to special operations

Ground Branch is a part of the CIA’s Special Activities Division**, which also includes Air Branch and Maritime Branch. As the author noted, GB paramilitary officers are primarily recruited from the special operations community. At one point known as a sort of good-old-boys network, Ground Branch was once heavily represented by former Marines. Later, GB became heavy with retired Delta Force sergeant majors. These days, things are a bit different, with the CIA preferring to contract younger former sergeants out of Army Special Forces who they can raise up through the ranks of the agency over a longer period of time.

…

GB has been very active in both Afghanistan and Iraq during the Global War on Terror, but their actions are rarely reported by the press. Even less known is the role that GB played in the Libyan Civil War, when Gaddafi was overthrown after President Obama signed an executive action authorizing clandestine support to rebel factions. Today, GB officers are active in northern Syria with the Kurdish YPG militia, where they provide tactical support in the war against ISIS.

**CIA Special Activities Division (SAD): 12 Things You Never Knew

There are two separate groups that now operate under the CIA:

1. SAD/SOG: The elite unit was established for tactical paramilitary operations.

2. SAD/PAG: The separate group is used for covert political action.

…

In addition, its believed that Political Action Group members clandestinely organize various government protests and demonstrations in hostile nations.

Report: The CIA Is Directing Sabotage Attacks Inside Russia

Ms. Cat1 Comment

The CIA has been using a European NATO country’s intelligence services to conduct sabotage attacks inside Russia since the February invasion of Ukraine, investigative journalist Jack Murphy reported on Saturday, citing unnamed former US intelligence and military officials.

Report: The CIA Is Directing Sabotage Attacks Inside Russia

Related:

The CIA is using a European NATO ally’s spy service to conduct a covert sabotage campaign inside Russia under the agency’s direction, according to former U.S. intelligence and military officials. (archived)

‘CIA behind spate of explosions in Russia’: US veteran claims CIA and NATO ally behind sabotage