the 2019 Nat’l Intelligence Strategy Report

Consider this a PSA; although it’s not a sexy subject, it does give insight (if macabre) into the US hegemonic desire for Full Spectrum Dominance and ostensible  fears (seeking moar Warbucks?).

Martin Berger has the most fun with it in his ‘Is the US Really Going to Make It in This World?’, feb 4, journal-neo.org

“A couple of days ago, a 36-page long document titled the 2019 National Intelligence Strategy first appeared on the Office of the director of national intelligence (ODNI) website.”
https://bit.ly/2T8ji6O

“This paper explores the threats that the US is alleged to face over the course of the next four years. Additionally, the paper outlines the tasks and duties of various security and civil bodies that are bound to adjust accordingly to prepare for the incoming threats. ODNI states that the main threat America is going to face in the foreseeable future is Western isolationism that is said to be exacerbated by the “weakening” of the post-WWII “rule-based” order and the nations that have embraced the rapidly evolving modern geopolitical landscape.
No similar strategy had been released since 2014, he writes, and notes that one change is that China has emerged as a global economic and military power, and that both Russia and China are continuing to develop anti-satellite weapons to weaken the US military and security, but: no rationale is given for why they’d even bother to create them.”

Similar reports are generated every four or five years by a ‘whopping’ 17 intelligence agencies, and reader can imagine Berger chuckling as he types, including that the 17 actually believe that the reports will aid policy makers in making informed decisions about the global chessboard.

“Upon revealing the strategy to the general public, the sitting director of National intelligence, Dan Coats announced that a number of states may pose a direct threat to the US, including China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. Additionally, he described a number of non-state actors as potential troublemakers, including various radical militant groups, organized crime groups and so on. Dan Coats stated that Washington is particularly concerned with the prospects of some of those forces merging together.

It’s curious that intelligence officials predict that Russia will attempt to increase its influence and authorities, which “may conflict with US goals and priorities in multiple regions.” It’s been added that over the course of the next four years Russia will make an attempt to modernize anti-air and electronic warfare capabilities, which is curious as it doesn’t look that it was lagging behind in any of those areas anyway. It’s also been added that the rapid development of China’s military capability along with its determination to pursue its own interests in the Asia-Pacific region is going to be a tough ball for the US to dodge.”

Berger further reminds readers that when the recent Pentagon Report on China Military Power kinda makes this report redundant, as it shows Washington couldn’t be any more worried about Chinese missile systems, hypersonic weapons, and that China’s technology may be the best in the world: rapid advances in air, sea, and space tech, plus cybersecurity and cyberspace.

And of course the Biggest Worry is due to the fact that Moscow and Beijing have been prone to working together in the past in various fields.

“It’s been noted that China and Russia are more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s, and the relationship is likely to strengthen in the coming years as some of their interests and threat perceptions converge, especially in the light of Washington’s persistent unilateralism and interventionism.”

Apparently at a recent Senate Intelligence Committee’s world-wide threats hearing, it was made clear that the President and the heads of the Intel  agencies seem to be living on different planets, providing a link to: nbcnews.com’sTrump and his intel chiefs are worlds apart on ISIS, Russia, border; Analysis: Senate testimony reveals deep divide between U.S. intelligence agencies and President Trump’  (North Korea, Iran and the nuclear deal, ISIS, and a third video labeled “Intel chief warns of foreign interference in 2020 elections”.
https://nbcnews.to/2HDrdYh

All of which leads one to wonder if the Intel agencies will be the ones to ‘interfere in the 2020 elections, as the WikiLeaks publication the CIA Vaults 7 and 8 demonstrated how easy it was to create foreign bot look-alikes.  Whaddya say, Dan?  Wanna Dump Trump?

Berger concludes with these great observations and a magnificent question:

“As the most informed people in the US seem to agree that things are not looking good, it seems that Washington has a troubled path ahead of it. It remains unexplained how Donald Trump and his administration are going to preserve the so-called sole hegemone in its current shape and form in a world where the number of dissent voices is growing by the day. But is it really the fault of the rest of the world that Washington is convinced that the only way for it to exist and operate is to dictate its will to the rest of the world on the premise that might makes right? It’s clear that the US is depriving itself of a lot of viable steps on the geopolitical chessboard by pretending that it can still pick up a fight with any number of contenders and still come out on top.”

But moving on to those who believe The Report is #EstimablyImportant™:

From longwarjournal.org ‘ODNI releases annual overview of Islamic State and al Qaeda networks

(click for larger)
“The ODNI warns that both the Islamic State and al Qaeda maintain global networks that are far from defeated. The Islamic State still has “thousands” of fighters in Iraq and Syria alone, contradicting claims by President Trump and other administration officials that the so-called caliphate has been defeated.

The map above is the ODNI’s assessment of the areas where the Islamic State, al Qaeda and affiliated groups operate. The Islamic State and al Qaeda remain bitter rivals, often clashing in some of the areas shown. However, both have a significant global footprint.”

‘ISIS is coming!’ by anthony freda

Oddly, the Map leaves out the ‘Violent Extremists’ in most of the resource-rich nations of sub-Saharan Africa, from which CIA astro-turfed terr’ist sprees provide the organization ‘the duty’ to swoop in and stabilize the chaos they create.  Yet we know that a major portion of Africom’s mission on their ‘Operationstab is:

Along with regional partners, U.S. Africa command conducts military operations to disrupt, degrade and neutralize violent extremist organizations that present a transnational threat.

Operations set conditions for continued partnering to help African partner nations build the capacity they need to secure the region.’ Wish they had their own ISIS map…but back to long war journal:

“Al Qaeda’s senior leadership and global network

Despite years of counterterrorism pressure, al Qaeda’s senior leadership remains active and in command of a widespread network.  Al Qaeda’s senior leaders (AQSL) are “strengthening the network’s global command structure and continuing to encourage attacks against the West, including the United States,” the ODNI states.” [snip]

“However, the ODNI does not explain why each of these al Qaeda affiliates is waging an insurgency. They are attempting to overthrow existing governments or power structures and replace them with Islamic emirates, or states, based on al Qaeda’s version of sharia. For al Qaeda, this is a long-term project, fraught with difficulties and setbacks, but it is the organization’s goal nonetheless.”

One might ask why those Islamist groups are actually kicking back against the Western occupations and colonialism, but moving on…

See for instance bernhard’s Feb. 4 ‘Syria Sitrep – Trump Says U.S. Will Leave But Pentagon Keeps Adding Forces; The U.S. retreat from northeast Syria is still not happening. In yesterdays interview with CBS President Trump again said the troops would leave, but the Pentagon is doing the opposite of retreating’, moonofalabama.org


Aaaaand from cnbc.com Feb. 1 comes The Panic Button: ‘China and Russia could disrupt US energy infrastructure, intelligence report warns on heels of Huawei indictments’

“China and Russia pose the biggest cyberthreat to the United States, but for very different reasons, representatives from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence say. The ODNI report also says Russia has developed the capability to shut down U.S. infrastructure, including power and energy companies, as it did in Ukraine in 2015. Threats from Iran and North Korea area also continuing to grow, including substantial attacks against the banking sector, according to the intelligence officials.” [long paranoid rant snip], but just for fun:

“FBI Director Christopher Wray said Russia is also continuing to use social media platforms to continue influence campaigns, including the 2018 midterms. “Not only did they continue to do it, they are continuing to adapt their model and other countries are taking interest [in conducting similar campaigns],” he said.

U.S. social media companies like Facebook and Twitter are increasingly — but tentatively [you betcha!]— cooperating with U.S. intelligence on monitoring for misinformation campaigns, said ODNI director Dan Coates.

“Our tech teams are working with their tech teams. I can’t say that’s worked with every social media company, but it’s significantly better because there is information we can provide them that’s in their benefit. I’m encouraged — having made some trips to several of these companies — with the openness and willingness to see what we can do,” said Coates.”

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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wendy davis's picture

ODNI on twitter, among junk like

@ODNIgov Jan 25 “Read 2019 Edition of "Homegrown Violent Extremist - Mobilization Indicators" - a roadmap of observable behaviors that could inform whether individuals or groups are preparing to engage in violent extremist activities. https://go.usa.gov/xEKgq etc. is:

@CIA Feb 4 “Meet Molly Hale. She’s been the CIA’s public voice since 2002, responding to faxes, phone calls, emails, & snail mail sent to the Agency. Now she’s going digital.”

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said goal is US agencies paving the way for the shoveling of enormous amounts of cash to US corporations. Bribe em', threaten em', overthrow em', assassinate em'...it's all good.
USA! USA!

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wendy davis's picture

@Snode

amigo. ODNI 2019: ♪♪ dialing for dollars is trying to find you...♪♫

i was sure glad to have run into burger's report...on the report first. purdy wry humor, no?

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The biggest interference into the 2016 election was the purging of democratic party voters in a Sanders stronghold in NYC. The biggest one I knew about in 2018 was the purging of black voters particularly in Georgia.

Apparently the Russians staged these voter purges to make Americans lose faith in elections. That Putin--ever the sly one.

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wendy davis's picture

@MrWebster

so i'll take your word for it. but i do know that the rooskies created pre-election chaos by...by...facebook ads? especially among...blacks?

but my fave was ‘China and Russia could disrupt US energy infrastructure, intelligence report warns on heels of Huawei indictments’. i poked about for how hard that would actually be, and found numerous sites claiming 'they had in the past'. wth?

nuclear power plants, massive energy grids, wot? such retaliatory monsters they do be, those chinese and rooskies! wonder if trudeau has sent weng wanzhou to amerika, or straight to gitmo?

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@wendy davis As it stands, Russiagate has not penetrated down to the general populace as a serious issue or concern. It is a big thing with the elite media and democrats. It is all abstraction and confusion over players, charges, Russian names, etc. which cannot compete with issues like jobs and medical insurance payments...

Turing off the power with deadly consequences for normal people would certainly grab their attention in the same way 9-11 did. Blame it on the Russians and instant take over for security reasons with bunches of people sent to Gitmo...

Was Maddow fear mongering or announcing a deadly false flag?

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wendy davis's picture

@MrWebster

i'd forgotten the madcow 'russia will steal your heat' or whatever. i'll go fetch it...

(sputnik) "Maddow's frightening imagery is a far cry from the DNI's warning that US infrastructure is, theoretically, vulnerable. As one journalist pointed out, she's approaching a Glenn Beck-level of paranoid fear-mongering and connecting of dots that simply aren't there."

wow, paranoia runs deep. into your lives it will creep...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqjwEGw10w0]

who will stop amerika? ...those who can.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

...China and Russia were NOT tight at all. They had very different goals as recently as 2013, They had been working on a oil/gas deal for a decade that never seemed to come together. They had no shared goals. None of the BRICS were strategic allies. They belonged to different regional trading circles. And, China, India, and Russia had various conflicts at any given time with one another. One tangible connection was that they belonged to the G8 and they represented emerging nations from different parts of the world. They would meet on the sidelines and discuss BRICS. Finally in 2010, they started a development coalition to make life on earth better for people. That's what I recall.

Then, after the US government overthrew Ukraine's democratically elected government and installed a NeoNazi regime in early 2014, all hell broke lose and everything changed. China and Russia were thrown together and got very tight. Almost immediately they entered into the largest oil/gas deal in the history of the world. They had tiny defense budgets. It took a couple of years for them to realize the US planned to come after them militarily because it couldn't compete economically. All the US money was in the hands of the military or the oligarchs, Everything China and Russia achieved for themselves was seen as an attack on the United States.

China and Russia were forced together by US aggression. It was an unintended consequence — but almost everything the US has done since WWII has been a "reaction" or "counter-reaction" to unintended consequences that are caused by their prior fuck-ups and interventions. It's a vicious cycle.

I think the US will run out of money long before it meets its dreams of empire. The world seems content to just let us spin our wheels until the engine sputters out.

Kinda OT, but I'll check in later.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Pluto's Republic's picture

@Pluto's Republic

Star Wars has already begun, apparently.

Russia Says The American Toilet On The Space Station Blew Up

Russian media is reporting that the American toilet on the International Space Station (ISS) burst late last week, spilling gallons of fluid that astronauts had to catch with towels.

Sure, it sounds like a story about an exceptionally bad roommate — but it might also be the latest escalation in the deterioration of relations between Russia and the U.S. in space, lending grim gravitas to the plumbing snafu.

A source told Sputnik News, which is closely affiliated with the Russian government, that the toilet in the U.S. section of the ISS malfunctioned on Friday, spilling water into the microgravity environment. Water is a precious resource on the ISS, where filtration systems recycle shower water, sweat, and urine.

“Our colleagues at the [Tranquility module of the ISS] had an incident on Friday,” the source said. “Astronauts separated the water supply line and the liquid leaked. Over 10 liters of water leaked before the problem was fixed. The crew had to collect the water using towels.”

Though it sounds silly, the leak underscores a worrying decline in relations between Russia and the U.S. — not just down here on Earth, but in space as well. This past summer, when a small hole was discovered in the ISS, Russian authorities suggested that it could have been sabotage.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
wendy davis's picture

@Pluto's Republic

remembered, or at least the shorter version:

(sputnik)
"On December 11, Russian cosmonauts on board the ISS, Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev, carried out a spacewalk to examine the hole in the spacecraft, found in late August.

READ MORE: NASA Rejected Russia's Proposal to Jointly Probe Hole in Soyuz — Source

shocking./s

The cosmonauts cut off three pieces of micrometeoroid protection to take samples of the sealer and the surface surrounding the microfracture. The samples were delivered to Earth, where they should be handed over to investigators to determine the causes of the hole on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft."

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wendy davis's picture

@Pluto's Republic

said “It’s been noted (in the odni 2019) that China and Russia are more aligned than at any point since the mid-1950s, brger noted that "the relationship is likely to strengthen in the coming years as some of their interests and threat perceptions converge, especially in the light of Washington’s persistent unilateralism and interventionism.”

but this diary was getting 2L2R for mot people's comfort, so when I pasted it together i deleted:

"As for the joint assessment of the future of US-EU relations and their current state, in his appeal to the Senate special committee, Dan Coats expressed the position that the Brexit debacle along with a string of electoral victories that Eurosceptics are planning to score over the course of this year will, most certainly allow Russia and China to drive a wedge between Brussels and Washington. Additionally, the US intelligence community has been making rather gloomy predictions about the political future of the puppet they installed in Kiev through a false-flag covert operation. Poroshenko was quick to become one of the most detested political figures in this country’s modern history, the fact that leaves him with little to no chance of getting reelected this year.”

i'd never searched the report, but wot? now they're afraid that they've been shipping weapons and weapons systems to neo-nazis?

thanks for all you're remembering, and seeing the william blum graphic made my heart break all over again for absence; the world is poorer without him. there was even a go-fund-me or something to contribute so his family could care for him at home. but he crossed over not long after the plea came in. sure wish consortium news had done a tribute to him; robert carry carried his exposés a hella lot. i did remind them, but nothing.

more in a bit; gotta fix dinner early for mr. wd; he has a water meeting, and needs to get on the snowy roads up the mountain a bit earlier than usual.

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wendy davis's picture

@Pluto's Republic

please: "I think the US will run out of money long before it meets its dreams of empire."

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@wendy davis

...and so many things that can go wrong for the US economy — more now than ever before. And all those fault zones are actually unintended consequences, as well.

Imposing sanctions at all is a self-annihilating death trap for the US economy. Then blocking the economic sovereignty of our allies and telling them who they can't trade with. This prompted the world into slow, stealth, counter-reactions that neutralized our power. The world has built two redundant SWIFT systems that will allow wide-spread trade outside the dollar.

There are too many reckonings to list. Too much over-reach. Too many scores to settle. But right now, the US is working against itself.

China has overtaken the US in terms of the volume of total scientific papers published – a telling statistic that underscores the rapid strides in scientific achievement China has made on the world stage in recent decades. We live in a multilateral world. We always have and always will. I, personally, have never lived in a democracy. Reality is what's for dinner.

The US has spent trillions on its delusion and we have absolutely nothing to show for it. People need to think about that.

Do you have a different view? I think we'll understand our situstion soon enough.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
wendy davis's picture

@Pluto's Republic

hudson to refresh my memory on the alternatives to SWIFT, but he'd only named:

On January 31 the dam broke with the announcement that Europe had created its own bypass payments system for use with Iran and other countries targeted by U.S. diplomats. Germany, France and even the U.S. poodle Britain joined to create INSTEX — Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges.

the russian-chinese (and iraninan? one) he'd spoken of, but hadn't named... i did dig up this from RT 2018, though:

"He explained that Moscow is already engaged in talks with Chinese, Turkish and Iranian financial regulators on integrating its System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS) with financial messaging systems of those countries.

“The number of users of our internal financial messages’ transfer system is now greater than that of those using SWIFT. We’re already holding talks with China, Iran and Turkey, along with several other countries, on linking our system with their systems,” Aksakov said.
“They need to be properly integrated with each other in order to avoid any problems with using the countries’ internal financial messaging systems.”

but i know there are any number of financial bubbles about to burst, this number on the national debt clock i can't even understand how many gazillions: 21 and four commas?

now given that some euro nations asked to have their gold in the NY fed 'repatriated', and the debt is so high compared to gdp, added to the new Trumpian tax breaks (did they really matter? dunno), now maybe...no nation will want to buy amerikan treasury bonds. but that why i asked you to explain 'running out of money', given that printing fiat paper (if metaphorically) has long been 'the answer' when bailing out banks.

also, you'd mentioned the possibility of your getting the fook out of (this #shitHole inverted totalitarian) dodge; any ideas as to where?

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