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To see a list of previous articles, enter “Ukraine” in the Search Box on the upper right, on The Trenchant Observer web site, and you will see a list in chronological order.
Dispatches
1) John Hudson, “Ukraine lures Russian missiles with decoys of U.S. rocket system,” Washington Post, August 30, 2022 (2:00 a.m. EDT);
2) “Ukraine War, August 20, 2022: Pelosi visit–White House spins history, instead of getting it right; Large, orchestrated intelligence leak on Russian intelligence failures. To what end?,” Trenchant Observer, August 19, 2022;
3) “Ukraine War, May 7, 2022 (II): Biden administration blunders on intelligence sharing leaks points to need for personnel changes on foreign policy team,” Trenchant Observer, May 7, 2022;
Analysis
Hudson reports on the latest orchestrated leaks from U.S. and Ukrainian officials:
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine may be outgunned but in the latest sign it is not yet outfoxed, a fleet of decoys resembling advanced U.S. rocket systems has tricked Russian forces into wasting expensive long-range cruise missiles on dummy targets, according to interviews with senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials and photographs of the replicas reviewed by The Washington Post.
Why top U.S. officials would permit the release of such information, which is little more than chest-thumping by officials by releasing sensitive information that could help the Russians, is utterly unfathomable.
Why would you want to tell the Russians this?
Unfortunately, the release of such highly-sensitive information is consistent with a pattern of official leaks that goes way back and which suggests that White House officials think they can win the war through leaks and massaging the narrative. It is highly likely that these officials lack high-level experience in any major war.
These are probably the same officials who earlier orchestrated leaks about the high degree of coordination between U.S. military and intelligence officials and Ukrainian military officials, which probably included–despite denials–the provision of targeting information.
The release of this information suggests, once again, the urgent need for much stricter control of the release of sensitive military information, and the introduction of some form of military censorship regarding ongoing operations.
The Ukrainians should definitely not follow the bad example of American officials.
We are fighting a war with Russia. The sooner U.S. officials recognize and admit that fact, the better off we will all be.
The Trenchant Observer
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1) John Hudson, “Ukraine lures Russian missiles with decoys of U.S. rocket
The Trenchant Observer