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Interesting findings, but how do we blame the Russians for this? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/u-s-officials-suspect-russia-mystery-attacks-diplom

by cat199 7y ago

Interesting findings, but how do we blame the Russians for this? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/u-s-officials-suspect-russia-mystery-attacks-diplomats-cuba-china-n908141 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/u-s-officials-sus... " The suspicion that Russia is likely behind the alleged attacks is backed up by evidence from communications intercepts, known in the spy world as signals intelligence, amassed during a lengthy and ongoing investigation involving the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. agencies. The officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the intelligence. "

codezero 7y ago
At this point I think we owe Cuba and Russia an apology for the hysteria involved. However, if you're looking for a reason you can always find one. From the article, it sounds like the spraying of pesticides was "more than usual" which might mean it was done intentionally to appear as an accident, since the spraying is a good cover. I expect this would be easy enough to check on if they only sprayed with more frequency at diplomatic residences and the embassy. Edit: a few replies here are really more thoughtful than my comment. I recommend reading them :)
- bilbo0s 7y ago
  Well, on the one hand, "they" did spray more frequently at diplomatic residences. On the other hand, unless things have changed considerably since my day, "they", would almost certainly be American diplomatic services. That's who would direct the spraying operations at those residences, not the Cubans. The Cubans would have no involvement with those spraying operations, however, you would think Cubans would still spray the neighborhood just as they would any other neighborhood. That said, again, the problem was likely us spraying our diplomats' homes and offices multiple times more because, to our minds, the Cuban spraying was not enough.
  - codezero 7y ago
    Ah yes. Great point.
- gvb 7y ago
  > At this point I think we owe Cuba and Russia an apology for the hysteria involved. We are at the point where we need to confirm the hypothesis. If the hypothesis is confirmed we owe Cuba and Russia an apology.
  - codezero 7y ago
    Yep. Fair conclusion thanks for pointing that out.
  - harry8 7y ago
    I feel reluctant to apologise to Putin's russia for anything much, it grates. We are at the point where there is a very much more plausible theory than the one that was used to throw accusations around suggesting that a little more circumspection was indeed, required. Somebody should be accountable for that lack of circumspection. Was it incompetence? Inexperience? Stupidity? Something more nefarious? (eg pointing and shouting enemy action for any and all the reasons people do this). Worth finding out and acting on. We'd probably prefer people be competant dealing with these sorts of accusations as a risk mitigation strategy alone.
dmix 7y ago
The spies always blame Russia and more recently China for everything wrong. They just happened to find a very receptive audience both politically and media-wise for their paranoia recently. Russia et al blame everything on the west too and we don't demand apologies from their propaganda departments.

by cat199 7y ago

codezero 7y ago

At this point I think we owe Cuba and Russia an apology for the hysteria involved. However, if you're looking for a reason you can always find one. From the article, it sounds like the spraying of pesticides was "more than usual" which might mean it was done intentionally to appear as an accident, since the spraying is a good cover. I expect this would be easy enough to check on if they only sprayed with more frequency at diplomatic residences and the embassy. Edit: a few replies here are really more thoughtful than my comment. I recommend reading them :)

bilbo0s 7y ago
Well, on the one hand, "they" did spray more frequently at diplomatic residences. On the other hand, unless things have changed considerably since my day, "they", would almost certainly be American diplomatic services. That's who would direct the spraying operations at those residences, not the Cubans. The Cubans would have no involvement with those spraying operations, however, you would think Cubans would still spray the neighborhood just as they would any other neighborhood. That said, again, the problem was likely us spraying our diplomats' homes and offices multiple times more because, to our minds, the Cuban spraying was not enough.
- codezero 7y ago
  Ah yes. Great point.
gvb 7y ago
> At this point I think we owe Cuba and Russia an apology for the hysteria involved. We are at the point where we need to confirm the hypothesis. If the hypothesis is confirmed we owe Cuba and Russia an apology.
- codezero 7y ago
  Yep. Fair conclusion thanks for pointing that out.
- harry8 7y ago
  I feel reluctant to apologise to Putin's russia for anything much, it grates. We are at the point where there is a very much more plausible theory than the one that was used to throw accusations around suggesting that a little more circumspection was indeed, required. Somebody should be accountable for that lack of circumspection. Was it incompetence? Inexperience? Stupidity? Something more nefarious? (eg pointing and shouting enemy action for any and all the reasons people do this). Worth finding out and acting on. We'd probably prefer people be competant dealing with these sorts of accusations as a risk mitigation strategy alone.

dmix 7y ago

The spies always blame Russia and more recently China for everything wrong. They just happened to find a very receptive audience both politically and media-wise for their paranoia recently. Russia et al blame everything on the west too and we don't demand apologies from their propaganda departments.