CIA deputy chief meets with Thai PM, DPM Prawit and security council chief

[Walker88]

4 hours ago, bendejo said:

Perhaps the central premise of the visit is "whatever China is giving you, we'll outbid it."

 

US Federal law enforcement, particularly the CIA and FBI, are now mere shadows of what they used to be.  We got to witness it first hand when Comey admitted there were certain things he would/wouldn't do because he didn't want to face the wrath of certain political party.  A few weeks ago I heard a news story that there was a certain criminal the FBI couldn't find and gave up on, and handed the file over to a reporter; the reporter started out by calling the telephone number of the perp listed in the FBI file, and guess who answered the phone.  It took the US Postal Service Police (yes, there is such a thing) to catch a felon (with strong political connections) running a political donation scam not long ago.  I get the impression those who seek to dismantle the gov't are influencing all Federal LE agencies.

 

A few years back saw an action movie involving a CIA operation.  All set up, they are ready to execute the plan and a civilian asks "do you think it'll work?"  The agent answers "It's the CIA, they always f___ it up."

 

Maybe the agency has a growing shadow, but there are still a few staffers who are as good as it gets. Sadly, many highly skilled people bagged it during the last Admin, as that guy tried to turn it into a political entity as well as a private hit squad. The former guy's first appointee---Pompeo---is a nutball. He actually believed he was appointed by White Jeebus to help bring about Armageddon, and he thought he could orchestrate it by getting the US into a war with Iran. (His 2nd wife wants him to be POTUS 47, while he wants to sit at the right hand of White Jeebus; neither, of course, is going to happen).

 

Before the former guy nixed the extremely successful JCPOA (aka, the Iran Deal), the agency was required to do a periodic assessment of Iranian compliance. Iran always got 100% compliance, and they were effectively out of the nuke game (which was the primary goal of JCPOA; the secondary goal was to use JCPOA as a stepping stone to get Iran to stop other behaviors, like supporting Shi'a terror the way 'ally' Saudi supports Sunni terror). The then-Admin didn't like that, the POTUS because it was an Obama success story, and Pompeo because it got in the way of White Jeebus 'calling him home among the 144,000'. Also, the then-Admin did not want to hear anything negative about Saudi (like that MbS ordered the slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi), because the former guy had business and financing goals with Saudi)

 

(On around the 2nd day of the former guy's Admin, he sent his son-in-law and bannon to the agency to see what its capabilities were. They were astonished at what the agency could do, and wanted all of that skill and tech to be used to go after domestic political opponents. People who were in those meetings were shocked at what that Admin had in mind.)

 

The Israelis then got in on the act, hoping to win POTUS's undying love and support, so they produced docs claiming Iran was still in the nuke game. The docs were from 2002, and everything in them had been discontinued, some even before the JCPOA. It was pure BS, but it 'helped' the former guy justify pulling out of the JCPOA.

 

Since then Iran has gone back to enriching U238 into U235, has rebuilt smashed high speed centrifuges, and has taken steps to restart its nuke development program.

 

There is another Obama success story re Iran that has been noted in the press, but which remains theoretically classified. Suffice it to say the agency is hardly a shadow of itself when it can deliver the sort of program it did and which Obama allowed to proceed.

[Walker88]

3 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Maybe the agency has a growing shadow, but there are still a few staffers who are as good as it gets. Sadly, many highly skilled people bagged it during the last Admin, as that guy tried to turn it into a political entity as well as a private hit squad. The former guy's first appointee---Pompeo---is a nutball. He actually believed he was appointed by White Jeebus to help bring about Armageddon, and he thought he could orchestrate it by getting the US into a war with Iran. (His 2nd wife wants him to be POTUS 47, while he wants to sit at the right hand of White Jeebus; neither, of course, is going to happen).

 

Before the former guy nixed the extremely successful JCPOA (aka, the Iran Deal), the agency was required to do a periodic assessment of Iranian compliance. Iran always got 100% compliance, and they were effectively out of the nuke game (which was the primary goal of JCPOA; the secondary goal was to use JCPOA as a stepping stone to get Iran to stop other behaviors, like supporting Shi'a terror the way 'ally' Saudi supports Sunni terror). The then-Admin didn't like that, the POTUS because it was an Obama success story, and Pompeo because it got in the way of White Jeebus 'calling him home among the 144,000'. Also, the then-Admin did not want to hear anything negative about Saudi (like that MbS ordered the slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi), because the former guy had business and financing goals with Saudi)

 

(On around the 2nd day of the former guy's Admin, he sent his son-in-law and bannon to the agency to see what its capabilities were. They were astonished at what the agency could do, and wanted all of that skill and tech to be used to go after domestic political opponents. People who were in those meetings were shocked at what that Admin had in mind.)

 

The Israelis then got in on the act, hoping to win POTUS's undying love and support, so they produced docs claiming Iran was still in the nuke game. The docs were from 2002, and everything in them had been discontinued, some even before the JCPOA. It was pure BS, but it 'helped' the former guy justify pulling out of the JCPOA.

 

Since then Iran has gone back to enriching U238 into U235, has rebuilt smashed high speed centrifuges, and has taken steps to restart its nuke development program.

 

There is another Obama success story re Iran that has been noted in the press, but which remains theoretically classified. Suffice it to say the agency is hardly a shadow of itself when it can deliver the sort of program it did and which Obama allowed to proceed.

David worked under John Brennan, never under Pompeo. Lucky him. Agency case officers, of which the reality is there are very few as a percent of the workforce, played 'case officer' with Pompeo, which means eliciting info from him. The views I note in the quoted message are real. Pompeo's views on religion make Mel Gibson's dad seem mainstream. Pompeo and Gen Kelly used to be part of a Wednesday 'prayer study group', despite Kelly being an Irish Catholic, and Pompeo being a fringe Christian with bizarre views. I always wondered how someone who was #1 at West Point could subscribe to such utter nonsense, plus incorporate it into his supposedly non-denominational work in a country with no official religion. Frankly, it was scary that someone with such views held such power. The agency was quite glad to see him go, though folks felt bad for what colleagues in Foggy Bottom inherited. State was gutted during his tenure, and sadly it is not being rebuilt by Blinken and Wendy Sherman, who want to play Henry Kissinger or Vernon Walters, as roving diplomats and rainmakers. Incredible amounts of expertise were lost during the previous Administration (the kind that could tell you Iraq would not instantly embrace democracy, nor that Saudi and another supposed ME ally were never anything of the sort).

 

I fear for the future of US foreign policy and intel. NSA continues to do a great job, but there is far too much attrition from the agency. It needs to re commit itself to traditional espionage in a hi tech world, which means teaching many of the 'old ways' of working that rely more on street smarts and non-technical means. Think John Le Carre. David is a nice guy, but his expertise is in nuclear matters and energy, and that as an academic sort. The agency needs a field officer with lots of experience in the DDCI or Ex-Dir slot. State and the rest of the FP community needs more opinions, and the current FP team is an example of group think.

[aussienam]

20 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Well.....it wouldn't be Cambodia, as it's already been taken. 

Yeah ... look at Sihanoukville.  The Chinese casino developers absolutely destroyed the place. Polluted the hell out of the water, kicked out Cambodians off land by threat of violence and arrests, place is a criminal mafia paradise, kidnappings, murders, all on the back of the mighty dollar. Government officials receiving huge cash incentives to let Chinese investors get whatever they want - rinse and repeat all over the world now.  Horse has bolted.  Better start to enjoy eating boiled dogs and bat soup. 

[tonray]

On 11/20/2021 at 1:04 PM, Pedrogaz said:

CIA has got to be the world's most immoral, untrustworthy and criminal organisation. Why anyone from Thailand would meet with them is beyond my comprehension.

perhaps Joe Ferrari sent in an application ?

[Pierre57]

On 11/20/2021 at 1:36 PM, Walker88 said:

And you know that how?

 

I'm guessing you have no clue what the agency has done over the last 40 or so years, but are convinced you're an expert, because you read something online.

 

One of the 'jobs' of the agency has always been to be the sitting Administration's fallguy. In a way that serves the agency, as it keeps adversaries confused as to whether the agency is omnipotent or incompetent. The reality is in the middle, closer to omnipotent.

 

I always laugh when I see folks say the agency got WMD in Iraq wrong. Not true. Because a negative cannot be proven, the agency had WMD at a low probability, but not zero. Cheney decided he wanted war, so ignored what the agency said, and got Tenet on board, against the advice of the agency folks who do the actual work.

Did you read that online  ?

[Walker88]

3 hours ago, Pierre57 said:

Did you read that online  ?

No. One more guess.

[heybruce]

On 11/20/2021 at 1:04 AM, Pedrogaz said:

CIA has got to be the world's most immoral, untrustworthy and criminal organisation. Why anyone from Thailand would meet with them is beyond my comprehension.

You've never heard of the GRU?

[spidermike007]

On 11/19/2021 at 10:04 PM, Pedrogaz said:

CIA has got to be the world's most immoral, untrustworthy and criminal organisation. Why anyone from Thailand would meet with them is beyond my comprehension.

Are you implying that the authorities here are moral and trustworthy? First time I have ever heard that. Peas in a pod. 

[spidermike007]

On 11/21/2021 at 1:53 AM, aussienam said:

Yeah ... look at Sihanoukville.  The Chinese casino developers absolutely destroyed the place. Polluted the hell out of the water, kicked out Cambodians off land by threat of violence and arrests, place is a criminal mafia paradise, kidnappings, murders, all on the back of the mighty dollar. Government officials receiving huge cash incentives to let Chinese investors get whatever they want - rinse and repeat all over the world now.  Horse has bolted.  Better start to enjoy eating boiled dogs and bat soup. 

All with the blessings of the notorious serial killing, land grabbing, thieving, billionaire PM Sen. As bad a Prayuth is, guys like Sen, Xi, and the thugs in Burma make him look moderate. 

[rudi49jr]

12 hours ago, heybruce said:

You've never heard of the GRU?

Or their equivalents from China, North Korea, Myanmar, Syria, Turkey? 

[Pierre57]

On 11/22/2021 at 4:20 AM, Walker88 said:

No. One more guess.

It wasn't a guess ... it was a question  ....

[Walker88]

1 hour ago, Pierre57 said:

It wasn't a guess ... it was a question  ....

First hand knowledge.

 

I'll leave it at that.

[Pierre57]

7 hours ago, Walker88 said:

I'll leave it at that.

????