Doubts Continue To Grow On The Media's Reports That Russia Paid Bounties To The Taliban To Kill U.S. Soldiers In Afghanistan

President Donald Trump said many in the intelligence community didn't believe a report that the Russian government was paying a bounty on American troops

Joseph V. Micallef, Military.com: New Stories About Russian Bounties on US Troops Raise Even More Questions

The story that a unit of Russian military intelligence (GRU) paid bounties to the Taliban to attack and kill American and allied military personnel in Afghanistan continues to evolve. In the process, it is becoming increasingly implausible.

First, there has been a stream of anonymous sources confirming what the other, previous anonymous sources said. I'm not sure that anonymous sources confirming what other anonymous sources said actually proves anything. These sources included former members of the Taliban, as well as intelligence and military personnel, all of whom are unnamed. Given that the knowledge of the Russian bounties was supposedly widespread, it’s remarkable that not a single person anywhere in the world with direct knowledge of this program is willing to go on record on the story.

Read more ....

Update: Charlie Savage, NYT, CIA Climb Down From Russia Bounties Hoax (Antiwar.com)

WNU Editor: As this blog predicted last week, this story is disappearing from the news cycle. The focus is now on stories like this one .... White House launches hunt for leaker who revealed Russian bounties for American troops scandal and claims to have 'fewer than 10' suspects (Daily Mail), or this one .... Pompeo called before House panel over Russian bounty claims (The Hill).

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