3 ms·

Why did the CIA chief go to Moscow? We have to assume the worst-case scenario

10 points by gitowiec 1mo ago

John Ratcliffe's visit to the Russian capital was both unannounced and incredibly ostentatious. And that's precisely what should worry us.

codevark 1mo ago
[dead]
toomuchtodo 1mo ago
https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/collective-defence-and-article-5 https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/coll... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/aug/27/cia-moscow-nato-ratcliffe-rutte-colby-trump-paxton-voting-latest-news-updates https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/aug/27/cia-mos... > The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported CIA director John Ratcliffe aimed to dissuade Russia from attacking Nato members amid US intelligence assessments that Moscow could seek to test the alliance. Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday, taking off from the Andrews air force base in Maryland. It was, if reporting is accurate, to communicate “Don’t fuck around and find out.” Russia has been pretty blatant in it testing Finland, Romania, and Slovakia. https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/update-natos-operations-continue https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/update-natos-operations-c... > For the third day in a row, NATO continued its unannounced operations along the eastern flank, with the military again operating around Kaliningrad, Poland, the Baltic states, and stretching to Moldova. And as NATO continued its show of force to warn Russia against attacking a NATO country, Moscow was yet again escalating. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/20/finland-suspects-russian-plane-of-violating-its-airspace-defence-ministry-says https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/20/finland-suspec... https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/slovakia-discovers-russian-backdoors-in-279-new-traffic-cameras-national-security-service-deactivates-offending-units https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/sl... (Ukraine has taken ~40% of Russia’s refinery capacity offline with drone strikes, not much more to go)
- chinathrow 1mo ago
  > Ukraine has taken ~40% of Russia’s refinery capacity offline with drone strikes, not much more to go What about the remaining 60%?
  - toomuchtodo 1mo ago
    Remains operational for continued targeting and impairment, to the best of my knowledge, as of this comment. ~85% of Russia's oil refining capacity is within the strike range of Ukrainian drones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%932026_Russian_fuel_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%932026_Russian_fuel... https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-oil-refinery-attacks-moscow-b3023829.html https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-ru...
- beardyw 1mo ago
  Yes, the USA has never been asked for support under the NATO agreement, though they did themselves call on support after 9/11 (and Trump did imagine he might get support in Iran which definitely doesn't qualify). I suspect they would not want to be put in the position of supporting a European nation against Russia. In fact my reading of Trump is that warfare is not really his cup of tea, making Iran a big shock to me.
  - toomuchtodo 1mo ago
    > I suspect they would not want to be put in the position of supporting a European nation against Russia. Exactly, which is why the meeting was held. They do not want their commitment tested at this time, as it would potentially lead to high(er) volatility with uncertain odds of success. > In fact my reading of Trump is that warfare is not really his cup of tea, making Iran a big shock to me. He got sold into it by Netanyahu and is now stuck in the quagmire we see before us. He thought we'd be in and out, "Mission Accomplished" banner unfurled in a few days. Bad news. "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Good Dog' until you make it to the rock."
    - toomuchtodo 1mo ago
      Axios: Trump to Axios: I'm not worried Russia will attack NATO - https://www.axios.com/2026/08/27/trump-nato-russia-ukraine-war https://www.axios.com/2026/08/27/trump-nato-russia-ukraine-w... - August 27th, 2026
deleted 1mo ago
[deleted]
__patchbit__ 1mo ago
To say, "Thank you." in recognition of the state of affairs in the global agenda propaganda media and foreign controlled domestic national interest politics.
FrankWilhoit 1mo ago
Nobody knows how to play this game.

10 points by gitowiec 1mo ago

John Ratcliffe's visit to the Russian capital was both unannounced and incredibly ostentatious. And that's precisely what should worry us.

codevark 1mo ago

[dead]

toomuchtodo 1mo ago

https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/collective-defence-and-article-5 https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/introduction-to-nato/coll... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/aug/27/cia-moscow-nato-ratcliffe-rutte-colby-trump-paxton-voting-latest-news-updates https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/aug/27/cia-mos... > The Wall Street Journal and CBS News reported CIA director John Ratcliffe aimed to dissuade Russia from attacking Nato members amid US intelligence assessments that Moscow could seek to test the alliance. Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday, taking off from the Andrews air force base in Maryland. It was, if reporting is accurate, to communicate “Don’t fuck around and find out.” Russia has been pretty blatant in it testing Finland, Romania, and Slovakia. https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/update-natos-operations-continue https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/update-natos-operations-c... > For the third day in a row, NATO continued its unannounced operations along the eastern flank, with the military again operating around Kaliningrad, Poland, the Baltic states, and stretching to Moldova. And as NATO continued its show of force to warn Russia against attacking a NATO country, Moscow was yet again escalating. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/20/finland-suspects-russian-plane-of-violating-its-airspace-defence-ministry-says https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/08/20/finland-suspec... https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/slovakia-discovers-russian-backdoors-in-279-new-traffic-cameras-national-security-service-deactivates-offending-units https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/sl... (Ukraine has taken ~40% of Russia’s refinery capacity offline with drone strikes, not much more to go)

chinathrow 1mo ago
> Ukraine has taken ~40% of Russia’s refinery capacity offline with drone strikes, not much more to go What about the remaining 60%?
- toomuchtodo 1mo ago
  Remains operational for continued targeting and impairment, to the best of my knowledge, as of this comment. ~85% of Russia's oil refining capacity is within the strike range of Ukrainian drones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%932026_Russian_fuel_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%932026_Russian_fuel... https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-russia-oil-refinery-attacks-moscow-b3023829.html https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-ru...
beardyw 1mo ago
Yes, the USA has never been asked for support under the NATO agreement, though they did themselves call on support after 9/11 (and Trump did imagine he might get support in Iran which definitely doesn't qualify). I suspect they would not want to be put in the position of supporting a European nation against Russia. In fact my reading of Trump is that warfare is not really his cup of tea, making Iran a big shock to me.
- toomuchtodo 1mo ago
  > I suspect they would not want to be put in the position of supporting a European nation against Russia. Exactly, which is why the meeting was held. They do not want their commitment tested at this time, as it would potentially lead to high(er) volatility with uncertain odds of success. > In fact my reading of Trump is that warfare is not really his cup of tea, making Iran a big shock to me. He got sold into it by Netanyahu and is now stuck in the quagmire we see before us. He thought we'd be in and out, "Mission Accomplished" banner unfurled in a few days. Bad news. "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Good Dog' until you make it to the rock."
  - toomuchtodo 1mo ago
    Axios: Trump to Axios: I'm not worried Russia will attack NATO - https://www.axios.com/2026/08/27/trump-nato-russia-ukraine-war https://www.axios.com/2026/08/27/trump-nato-russia-ukraine-w... - August 27th, 2026

deleted 1mo ago

[deleted]

__patchbit__ 1mo ago

To say, "Thank you." in recognition of the state of affairs in the global agenda propaganda media and foreign controlled domestic national interest politics.

FrankWilhoit 1mo ago

Nobody knows how to play this game.