SHAMELESS (Self-Promotion): A look behind-the-scenes at life at The Cipher Brief
I WENT TO NEW YORK AND ALL I GOT WAS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went to New York this week to attend the United Nation’s General Assembly meeting and to hold sideline meetings with world leaders in a bid to get more support to Ukraine, faster. He got a pledge for $8B from outgoing President Joe Biden but that’s a check that might be tough to cash if Donald Trump is elected again, given the former president’s emotional comments about both Zelensky and Ukraine this week. The Cipher Brief had a team on the ground in Ukraine this month covering a conference where former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaned on his friend Trump to make a virtual appearance, but Trump declined and sent a pre-recorded video instead. His message then was quite different – he seemed much softer and said that this war never would have happened if he were president and that he will end this war before he is officially in office if he’s re-elected. He's been cagey on what that means, though. Trump's latest comments sharply contrasts with comments made by his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who also appeared in person in Ukraine and has been a fierce defender of the country while insisting that the U.S. will stand by Kyiv. It seems that Pompeo, who also served as CIA Director during the Trump Administration, knows something about Putin that Trump does not. Watch The Cipher Brief’s special episode of The World Deciphered from Ukraine for more on just what’s really at stake here.
TALES OF TERRIBLE TERRORISM TRAINING: The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) was told in testimony that until recently thousands of soldiers receiving antiterrorism policy training at Fort Liberty were shown slides listing terrorist groups that included outfits like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Earth First, and anti-abortion groups like Operation Rescue and National Right to Life. You may or may not agree with those outfits – but calling them “terrorists” is kind of a stretch. According to Military Times, Army deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen. Patrick Matlock told the HASC that some unnamed soldier made up the slides in 2017 and no one at any level had reviewed them in the seven years since. “The training materials were very poorly developed, and we fully acknowledge that failure,” Matlock said. “That length of time is almost unexplainable.” The screwup did accomplish one thing. Both Republicans and Democrats on the HASC agreed that the mistake was embarrassing, and they were united in criticizing the Army for not saying whether anyone was held accountable for not paying attention.
PASSPORT TO THE FUTURE: We don’t really deal in a lot of positive news here at the Dead Drop, but this is too good not to share. The State Department has (finally) announced that adult U.S. citizens can now renew their passports online (rather than the previously required process of printing out a paper form and mailing a check). CBS News highlighted the change and said it still may take six to eight weeks to get your new passport. Oh, and the process currently only applies to adults. If you want to renew a kid’s passport – you still have to do it the dead tree way. All we have to say is, way to catch up! Seems bonkers that we can put men and women on the moon but still can’t figure out an easier way to renew passports for everyone.
TUFTS LUCK: The Tufts University men’s lacrosse team won the NCAA championship earlier this year and not ones to rest on their laurels – someone at the university apparently thought it would be a good idea to keep the momentum going and amp up their training regimen. So, they brought someone only identified as a “graduate of the Navy SEAL training program” to put team members through their paces. Let’s just say it did not go well. Five players were reportedly hospitalized after taking part in a voluntary, 45-minute workout. The team members were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis (AKS “rhabdo”) which is defined as “a serious medical condition that can lead to permanent disability or death” following muscle breakdown – often from over exertion. At last report, three players remained hospitalized. We’re guessing the experience is probably not going to be a boon either for the SEALs or for future Tuft lacrosse candidates.
SOME CRAZY SPIT: One of our favorite gems of the week from Russian Media Monitor Julia Davis was Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov appearing on his state TV show outraged that the UK was helping Ukraine defend itself (and criticizing the British for not speaking proper English). His sidekick, RT chief Margarita Simonyan, joined him in (metaphorically) spitting on London. Solovyov ranted about a future where somehow Britain would sink – and Russian yachts would sail over London (being careful of course, to avoid sailing where Big Ben used to be). Those are bold words coming from a country whose Black Sea fleet was effectively sunk by a country that doesn’t even have an official Navy (Ukraine). Now, that’s some crazy spit.
WHO NEEDS NETFLIX: Yet another person who watches Russian media, Ukrainian Anto Gerashchenko, posted a clip of a propagandist on Russian TV saying that Russia “has to” attack Alaska. With TV like this in Russia, who needs Netflix?
FAKE NEWS (STATION): While we’re on a roll, Russian propagandists like RT are starting to have trouble getting Western media outlets to carry their fake news disinformation – so the Kremlin has come up with a work-around: create a fake news station. According to The Daily Beast, US intelligence officials have confirmed that the Russians created a fake San Francisco area TV station and then created a bogus news report claiming that Vice President Kamala Harris was involved in a 2011 hit-and-run which left a 13-year-old girl paralyzed. The problem: It’s all made up. We note that the Russians gave this fake TV station the call sign “KBSF-TV”—which we think must stand for: Kremlin BS Fake TV.
WHO LET THE (ROBO) DOGS OUT? Ukraine, of course. Kyiv continues to demonstrate remarkable innovation involving anonymously or remotely controlled weapons and devices. A video posted on X by UkraineNewsLive shows a UAV carrying a “combat robot scout” and gently setting the metallic doggie down in a field. Once unleased…the video shows the dog getting up and ‘embarking’ on its mission. (Like what we did there?)
FROM THE DIGEST OF DISGUSTING STUFF: If we hadn’t previously heard (and relayed in The Dead Drop) reports from reputable news organizations that Russia is releasing prisoners (some of whom had been accused of cannibalism) to go and fight in Ukraine, then we might be skeptical about this next item. But a lengthy thread on X tells the tale of a formerly incarcerated Russian convicted cannibal “who killed a Tajik migrant, cut out his heart, and videoed himself frying it with vegetables and eating it - has been allowed to go home to recover from injuries received while fighting in Ukraine.” We will spare you the meat of the story, but the Russian says he was happy to get out of jail and proceed to the front because he wanted to fight to preserve Russia’s “traditional values.” We’re just gonna chew on that for a moment.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
THE SOUNDS OF SILENT SERVICE: The CIA recently posted on their website an article titled: “How to Sound Like A Spy: Five Colloquialism at CIA.” The piece revealed some tips on how to work into your vocabulary terms to make you sound like you work at the Agency. (They also included the well-considered advice to never refer to CIA employees as “agents” – they are “officers.”) The terms explained in the piece ranged from “Vespers” (Happy Hour to you) to “RUMINT” (rumors intelligence) to the time honored: “I can neither confirm nor deny.” While these are all interesting – we suspect our seasoned Dead Drop readers have ideas of some Langley Lingo of their own they would like to share with others. If so, send them to us at: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com
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