GWOT MEMORIAL: Plans are underway to build a memorial on the National Mall in Washington dedicated to Americans who participated in the Global War on Terror. Well, to be more accurate – plans are underway to develop plans to build it. The site will be just north of the Lincoln Memorial, close to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Members of the public are being asked to submit design input. If experience is any guide, this ain’t gonna be easy. The design for the Vietnam War Memorial was controversial when it was first debated and built – although over time, has become something of a source of healing and unity. The GWOT “help design history” effort is kicking off with a 22-day survey, representing 22 years of America’s ongoing fight against terrorism.
NOT IN MY BACKYARD: The Dead Drop resisted (for a week or so) commenting on the USMC F-35B that went missing for the better part of a day recently. We resisted because the jokes pretty much wrote themselves (just like the plane flew itself) and everyone was already launching those jibes. You know…milk cartons with pictures of missing F-35s on them and such. But this week, authorities released the 911 call where the pilot and a North Charleston, SC resident (into whose backyard the aviator landed after ejecting from the jet) calmly called and asked for an ambulance. As just about everyone knows, the pilot - a veteran aviator - was not seriously hurt while the plane (when it was found in a forested area about 60 miles away) was as you might imagine – a wreck. It made us reflect on how lucky everyone was. Imagine if the pilot had ejected and ended up in some remote woods, and the F-35 came to rest in some suburban backyard? If you look closely enough, you can see the Silver lining.
WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S? Speaking of milk cartons, for a while, we were going to suggest that someone produce one with the image of Russian Admiral Viktor Sokolov. Last week, Ukraine conducted a massive strike on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea. There was some initial confusion about the damage assessment until the smoke cleared – and then there was more confusion. Ukrainian officials said that 34 Russian officers were killed including Sokolov and that another 105 Russians were wounded. A day or two later, the Russians started saying things like the Ukrainian claim “does not correspond to reality” and then on Tuesday, Russian media posted a video of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu conducting a briefing that appeared to include an image of Sokolov watching. But the same day, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he had no information about reports that Sokolov had been demilitarized. Seemed odd. (It’s 10 PM. Do you know where your Black Sea Fleet Commander is?) Then the day after that – the Kremlin produced more (kind of) proof of life videos of Sokolov. Given the Russian propensity for body doubles, we’re going to withhold judgment for a few more weeks.
THIS LAND IS MY LAND: In yet another wacky Russian military recruitment (or is it retention?) commercial, two Russian soldiers are shown chatting and feeding pigeons. One tells the other that he plans to stay in Odessa after the war. His sidekick asks if he plans to buy land there, but the battle buddy says “No, they’ll give it to us.” He adds that participants in the “SMO” (Special Military Operation) will have “first turn.” And he vows to stay until victory. So apparently, the plan is to overrun Ukraine and then parcel out the spoils by giving parcels of land to the conquering troops. That should change the calculus for where Putin decides to invade next. If I were somewhere on a beach, I’d be worried.
SPY KID PROLIFERATION: Netflix just rolled out “Spy Kids: Armageddon” which (to our surprise) is the fifth edition of the Spy Kids movies. This one follows youngsters as they battle a villainous video game developer in a bid to save the world. The first Spy Kids movie came out in 2001 and since then, there have been four other movies, a TV show and a couple spin-offs. Sounds like a pretty brilliant recruitment effort if you ask us. The trailer is here.
RE-RAISING CAINE: Herman Wouk’s 1951 novel, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, has been tried and re-tried many times – both as a play and in the 1954 movie starring Humphrey Bogart. Military.com now tells us that the drama is getting yet another day before the court of public opinion when Showtime and Paramount+ stream a new version. In this case, the story has been brought up to date by speculating about what would happen in today’s Navy if a ship’s commanding officer were relieved at sea by his exec, who thinks he is mentally ill. The trailer looks pretty intense. Kiefer Sutherland (of “24” and “Designated Survivor” fame) plays the Bogart role of Captain Queeg.
THE DEAD DROP DUH DEPARTMENT: A new occasional feature of blindingly obvious stuff:
COLOR US SHOCKED: We’ve learned that earlier this month, the Republic of Moldova deported Vitaly Denisov, the bureau chief of Russia’s Sputnik News Agency, after discovering he was spying for the Kremlin. Denisov whined to fellow Russian “journalists” that he had been given the bums rush. “They didn’t let me pack my things, grab my pets and so on,” he said. Spies with pets?
SHAMELESS (PLUGS): Insights into what’s new at The Cipher Brief:
WINNING ‘THE FIGHT’: The Cipher Brief team had its own experience in Moldova earlier this year as the government closed the airspace over the country just as CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly and COO Brad Christian were leaving Ukraine via Moldova. This was happening amid reports that Russia was planning to overthrow the country using embedded spies. Whew. Glad that didn’t happen. But the two trips they have taken to Kyiv since have inspired The Cipher Brief team to launch a new podcast about life and war in Ukraine, called ‘The Fight’. In one of the first episodes, they sit down in Kyiv with General David Petraeus (Ret.) to level-set on the current counteroffensive before the cold winter sets in. Who will they talk to next? Spies tell us it is Oleksandr Komarov, CEO of Kyivstar, who has learned (the hard way) how to become a war-time CEO. Check it out wherever you listen to podcasts.
THE UKRAINE DIARIES: If listening to ‘The Fight’ isn’t insightful enough, you can also read the diary entries of folks who joined the latest delegation to Ukraine that was led by Gen. Petraeus. We thought it was particularly insightful to read what former senior CIA Officers (and Russia hands) Paul Kolbe and Glenn Corn had to say. After all, how often do you get to read the diary of a spy?
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
TABLOID KEEPING TABS: One thing you can generally count on around the world – tabloid newspapers are going to find a way to hype a news story. Clickbait-R-Us. In the latest example, The Sun newspaper in the UK, ran an item with the headline: “Femme Fatales: How Putin is sending deadly beauties to spy on Britain and the US after they attend ‘seduction schools.’” The article includes “come hither” images of “Bulgarian bombshell,” Vanya Gaberova who allegedly spied for Russia in the UK, golden-oldie Anna Chapman, and others. The paper also found a British “ex-spook” who claimed there are “hundreds” of “madams” in the UK running Russian spy temptresses. The piece had precious little evidence of hordes of Putin’s beauties. Maybe the women were trained in seduction school, to keep things quiet.
AN ALL-WHITE BLACK HOLE: The Daily Star newspaper in the UK recently wrote about “a mysterious triangle of land in sparsely-populated Alaska” that “offers more sightings of paranormal phenomena than almost any similar-sized area on Earth.” We’re talking UFOs, ghosts, “aggressive” Bigfoot type beasts and tons of people just going missing. According to the story, the frozen tundra between Anchorage, Juneau and Barrow has been dubbed the “Alaskan Triangle” and has been the scene of over “20,000 unexplained disappearances” since 1970. Those quoted in the piece could not agree on what was causing all those mysterious departures. One person described as a “Cryptozoologist” by the name of Cliff Barackman said “anything, of any size,” could be hiding in the Alaskan wilderness. No wonder they call him “Crypto.” He added “With so much fantastic habitat and so few people to compete with, Sasquatches basically have the run of Alaska.” Those must be some really mean Bigfoots (or is it Bigfeet?) if they have been responsible for 20,000 people going missing.
DO NOT LET YOUR HOT INFO DISAPPEAR INTO THE “NEWS TIP TRIANGLE.” BEFORE YOUR SCOOPS ARE SNATCHED BY SASQUATCH, SEND THEM TO US AT: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
And then read more ‘serious’ expert-driven national security insights, perspectives and analysis in The Cipher Brief.
