MILLER TIME: If you have 37 minutes to spare – and a strong stomach, you might want to watch the full interview of former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller on MSNBC’s Morning Joe last week. As we mentioned in the last Dead Drop, Miller has a new book out, Soldier Secretary: Warnings from the Battlefield & the Pentagon about America’s Most Dangerous Enemies. We’re just gonna say it’s unusual for an author to get 37 minutes of airtime to flog a book – and you might assume that getting such exposure would be good for the writer – but we suggest not so, in this case. During the cringe-worthy session, Miller alternated from sucking up to the hosts (saying how much he and his wife love the show), to passing out what he called “presentation coins” (challenge coins left over from his 71 days as acting SECDEF in the last administration,) and ducking questions from Boston-native Mike Barnicle (by reminiscing about how Miller’s wife once had a kid in Massachusetts.) The questions Barnicle asked were about Miller writing in the book that CJCS General Mark Milley and General Frank McKenzie, USMC, were either “lying or possibly incompetent” based on things they said at a meeting and that they had been involved “in a petty turf war, the only kind of war they were actually good at winning.” Miller got a friendlier audience when he appeared on Steve Bannon’s podcast. During that interview, Miller said that on January 6th some person with the DC police department called and told him they would not need the military’s help in stemming the violence. But Miller said regrettably, he didn’t catch the person’s name. Unless we are mistaken, staff members for the (acting) Secretary of Defense always log the names of incoming and outgoing calls – but perhaps they were “possibly incompetent.”
OH SY: Our younger readers (by which we mean those under 60) may not know who reporter Seymour (Sy) Hersh is though the 85-year-old journalist first gained fame in 1969, by exposing the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. He has done a lot of investigative reporting in the ensuing half century and was in the news recently with a lengthy story published on Substack that alleges the United States was responsible for sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipeline last year. Substack, in case you are not aware, is a self-publishing platform. We’re just gonna say we’re not surprised that Hersh couldn’t find a more traditional outlet that would take his story, since it appears to be based largely (if not entirely) on a single unnamed source who he says had “direct knowledge of the operational planning.” He claims that the mission was planned by the CIA and carried out by the U.S. Navy. A White House spokesperson is quoted on the record in the story as saying Hersh’s take is “false and complete fiction.” And a CIA spokesperson (also on-the-record) chimes in saying “This claim is completely and utterly false.” To be clear, not everyone has dismissed Hersh’s conspiracy theory. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called for NATO to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the allegations. If there is precedent for Russia calling for emergency NATO meetings – we are unaware of it. Sweden and Denmark (in whose exclusive economic zones the undersea blasts occurred) have both said they think it was a deliberate act by some entity but have not said who yet. The U.S. and NATO have previously called the explosions “an act of sabotage.”
MY STARS: The Daily Mail published a recent story about Greg Hands, chairman of the UK’s Conservative Party, who says he thinks that a Russian spy tried to recruit him over a pint at the “Seven Stars” pub almost 20 years ago. He says a Russian embassy worker chatted him up at an event and invited him out for a drink. “First, he’d said he wanted to talk about street-sweeping cleaning or bin collection” Hands said, “Then suddenly, he asked me to get him a document about the Iranian nuclear programme from the House of Commons Library.” We’re guessing Hands did not hand over any intel about Iranian intelligence efforts but all those details are set to be covered in a documentary with the sure-fire title: “Strippers, Spies and Russian Money.”
ANOTHER STAR? Speaking of The Daily Mail, that publication recently ran a piece about Jane Burrell, a woman who worked for the OSS in World War II and later joined the fledgling CIA. Burrell was killed in a plane crash in 1948, and Nathalia Holt, author of Wise Gals: the Spies Who Build the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage is said to be campaigning to have Burrell memorialized with a star of the CIA’s Wall of Honor. (Wise Gals by the way, was very in The Cipher Brief last September.) We suspect the reason Burrell has not already been honored is because the commercial plane crash she died in was attributed to heavy fog near Paris and was not in itself - of the “inspirational or heroic character” or “as a result of an act of terrorism” as is typically the case when heroes are honored. But based on the account in the book, Burrell clearly deserves some special recognition.
UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE FLICK: Here is a movie worth looking for – in 2024: Filming is reportedly underway for “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” – a movie about the U.K.’s World War II Special Operations Executive. Military.com reports that the shooting (of the movie) just began in Turkey which of course, is dealing with the tragic aftermath of a massive earthquake. The film’s producer is Jerry Bruckheimer who brought us Top Gun: Maverick, and is being directed by Guy Ritchie. Spies tell us that the movie is based on books by British writer Damien Lewis who apparently is an entirely different person than British actor Damian Lewis.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
ISN’T THAT PRECIOUS? Apparently, Kim Jong Un’s 10-year-old (or so) daughter, Ju Ae, is the apple of the dictator’s eye. She reportedly has been given an official title: “precious child.” And many observers believe she is being groomed to eventually succeed her dad. The latest sign of that comes from Insider which says that other girls and women in North Korea who carry the same name (“Ju Ae”) have been ordered to visit authorities and officially change their birth certificates to some other name. We learned in the story, that nearly a decade ago, Kim Jong Un issued a “voluntary directive” urging North Korean men to ditch the “Jong Un” moniker if they happened to share the name with him. We’re taking a wild guess here that those who refused may now have different name on their grave marker. The report about the singular Ju Ae first appeared in Radio Free Asia and was attributed (naturally) to “unnamed sources.” Isn’t everything?
THAT’S RICH: Former Trump White House official Stephen Miller was on Fox News recently saying Congress should defund intelligence agencies and DOD, and that’s not all. He also wants lawmakers to withhold the salaries of officials if they don’t immediately disclose everything they know about UFOs. Talk about being out there..
THAT’S A RAP: It makes sense when you think about it. In years gone by, military service bands have created sub-units that specialize in things like country music, blue grass and similar genres in hopes of reaching a broader audience. Now, the U.S. Army Field Band has enlisted the help of two full-time rappers. Turns out Staff Sgts Nicholas Feemster and Lamar Riddick have been rapping in uniform since last summer, when they debuted at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Army Times quotes the band’s communications director saying, “[t]he Army is always looking for ways to better connect with and represent all Americans. Adding these talented artists, who can do so with passion and authenticity, is not only great talent management, but helps the Army better reflect society as a whole.” You can catch a bit of their Tattoo rap in this Instagram post.
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