Seymour Hersh

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Seymour Hersh
WHEN THE INTELLIGENCE IS INCONVENIENT

WHEN THE INTELLIGENCE IS INCONVENIENT

What goes wrong when politics suppresses the truth

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Seymour Hersh
Sep 13, 2023
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Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh
WHEN THE INTELLIGENCE IS INCONVENIENT
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba enjoy a happy meal last week in Kiev. / Photo by Brendan Smialowski / POOL / AFP.

On Sunday Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Jonathan Karl of ABC’s This Week that he remained “very confident in Ukraine’s ultimate success” in the ongoing war with Russia. He depicted Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to escalate its attacks inside Russia as “their decision, not ours.”

Blinken’s wrong-headed confidence and his acceptance of a significant escalation in the Ukraine war defies belief, given the reality on the ground today in the war. But it also could be based on insanely optimistic assessments supplied by the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DIA’s assessments, as I have reported, are now the intelligence of choice inside the White House.

As a journalist who has written about national security matters for many decades, how can I explain a process that is clearly contrary to the best interests of the people of the United States and its leadership?

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