AFGHANI-MESS: We recommend the main pages of The Cipher Brief for views from experts like Generals David Petraeus and , former Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin and former senior CIA Officer about the greater implications of the Afghanistan debacle. But more in The Dead Drop’s lane, Man, the administration sure fumbled some of their messaging regarding the Kabul calamity. The gaffes were wide ranging. For example, the Secretary of State said a Taliban takeover wouldn’t be a Friday to Monday thing. No, it was more like Friday to Sunday. Several administration officials denied things would end up with a “Saigon moment” and then that happened, in what seemed to be a New York minute. The White House released a very odd photo of President Biden alone at Camp David looking at a wall of video screens filled with various officials. The photos caused some folks to wonder if Biden had COVID since no one was near him. Others wondered whether it was symbolic that the times on some of the world clocks shown were wrong, and still others asked if the White House might have erred in releasing a photo which might have identified some undercover personnel. No wonder they are having trouble coordinating a country-wide evacuation when they are struggling coordinating a Camp David photo op.
CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT: Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) was trying to make some point on Tuesday (although it is not entirely clear what it was.) Mediaite says his official Twitter account posted this message (since deleted): “US Troops today in: South Korea – 28,000; Germany – 35,486; Japan – 50,000; Taiwan – 30,000; Africa – 7.000; Afghanistan (month or 2 ago) – 2,500.” A lot of folks, including the Chinese government were surprised that Cornyn, a Senate Intelligence Committee member, claimed that there are 30K U.S. troops in Taiwan. A tabloid controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, The Global Times, said that “If the tweet is correct, it is a military invasion and occupation of China’s Taiwan and equivalent to the U.S. declaring war on China.” We know that Congress wants to be more assertive when it comes to war powers – but we don’t think this is what they have in mind. The U.S. did have a lot of troops there in the 60’s and 70’s but the last ones left forty-two years ago. The Global Times quoted a professor at China’s Foreign Affairs University as calling Cornyn a “dotard.” That will sting when Cornyn hears about it in 2063.
YET ANOTHER 9/11 ANNIVERSARY RELATED DOCUMENTARY: We’ve been documenting the growing number of documentaries on the horizon marking the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. The latest one we spotted is slated to air on the Reelz network, premiering September 5th at 8p ET, called “CIA vs. Bin Laden: First In,” the documentary reportedly includes interviews with 18 people including a “former CIA director, CIA case officers, military leaders, members of European intelligence services and a U.S. Congressman who all had direct roles in the hunt and elimination of the world's most wanted terrorist.” In a press release, Reelz says that “Many of the people most deeply involved with tracking down Bin Laden have been reluctant to share their stories until now. There was simply no benefit for these quiet professionals, their families, or the agencies they served to be in the public eye, but they have collectively decided that now is the time to go on record and tell their stories before it's too late.”
LAST WEEK IN “THE CIA DID IT” NEWS: Periodically, we report on the wacky claims that the U.S. intelligence community has done something dastardly. The latest contribution comes from an unexpected source: the Pillow Guy. Last week, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell hosted what he called a “cyber symposium” to bolster his claims that America was napping when the 2020 election was stolen. During the course of the event, various media reported that one of Lindell’s own paid cyber security experts knocked the stuffing out of the Pillow Guy’s theory. But what got Lindell’s feathers ruffled was that a normally supportive right-wing blog, Gateway Pundit, was said to carry a report under the byline “Larry Johnson” saying: “One of Mike Lindell’s cyber experts bailed on the China hack theory earlier this week and spoke with the media. Why now? Why would he wait until the week of the symposium to bail?” This lit Lindell’s fuse for some reason and he interrupted a live panel discussion to say this was a lie and that his team was “checking into this Larry Johnson,” adding “sounds like he’s CIA.” We don’t understand the focus on Gateway Pundit and Johnson – since the same stuff was reported elsewhere. (We can’t find that Johnson report on Gateway Pundit’s site now – was it smothered?) We do know there WAS a guy years ago, named Larry Johnson who briefly served in the CIA and authored an OPED two months before 9/11 saying Americans had little to fear from terrorism– but we don’t know if it is the same fellow. At that same cyber symposium, Lindell claimed that an unidentified man squeezed his armpit in a vicious “martial arts” pressure point attack while posing for a picture. No word on whether the alleged assailant was a clandestine CIA operative or just an unhappy pillow purchaser.
AIR-CIA: Keeping up with the “CIA-made-me-do-it” theme, there was a report from Toronto that police are looking for two men who defrauded Canadians after renting apartments via Airbnb under the guise of being “COVID-19 research doctors employed by the CIA.” Why potential landlords would find that false cover comforting – is unclear.
IS THE CIA FOLLOWING ME? Probably not. Unless you are a really big deal. That is the conclusion of folks who took a look at who the Agency follows in their official Instagram account. Only 35 people or organizations merited a follow from the CIA – most are actors who had roles in Agency-related movies and TV series. Folks like Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Claire Daines, Jennifer Garner, Tom Hanks John Krasinski, and Melissa McCarthy. The Cipher Brief Instagram account follows five times as many accounts as does the CIA – but they have us beat when it comes to movie stars.
MISSING MAP: Remember a while back when then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got prickly after an interview with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly and presented her with an unlabeled world map and challenged her to find Ukraine? The Diplopundit Blog says someone FOIA’d the State Department for a copy of the map and after 18 months of searching, State has said they cannot find it. We wonder if it was used as a coaster for that missing $5800 bottle of wine.
BOTTOMS UP: The folks at National Security Daily say they are starting a new feature every Friday where they will highlight how some prominent person in the DC national security world unwinds with a drink. They started off the series with Cipher Brief expert and former DNI Jim Clapper who says doesn’t frequent bars much these days, “but if I did, I’d hang out at Ciao, which is a superb Italian restaurant near where I live in Centreville, Virginia. They make great Hendrick's Gin martinis.” We are hoping NATSECDAILY asks former Secretary of State Pompeo what his favorite wine is...
POCKET LITTER: Bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
HOLLYWOOD GOES BANANAS: We’ve seen some bad trailers and promos in our time – but Lionsgate films may have raised (or is it lowered?) the bar with their forthcoming flick called: “C.I.Ape.” The story involves a chimpanzee who is recruited by the CIA to help save the world. No, really. It is allegedly a comedy but looking at the trailer, we’re not so sure. The movie will not be in theaters but will be on video on demand on DVD starting in late September.
QUIT MONKEYING AROUND: We would yell like Tarzan if you would send your best news tips to us at TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
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