Land Forces Alert:New Russian Buildup Heightens Washington's Fears Over Ukraine

Since late September,Russian troops,tanks and artillery have been massing near Yelnya,Russia near Northern Ukraine.The move has Washington gravely concerned-so much so that CIA Director William Burns,who speaks Russian and was a former Ambassador to Russia,was sent to Moscow by US President Joseph R. Biden last week for talks with Kremlin officials.Mr.Burns spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone,telling him the US is seriously concerned about the irregular deployment,and probing the Kremlin's intentions for the bulked-up capability.Mr.Burns also met with Nikolai Patrushev,Secretary of Russia's Security Council and former head of the FSB,the Russian spy agency that succeeded the KGB,informing him the US was following the unusual miltary activity very closely.* The massing of troops and firepower had begun following a Russia-Belarus joint exercise in the area.The elite 1st Guards Tank Army is among the tents,armoured units and support elements that were detected by a Maxar Technologies satellite.Photos of the buildup by the satellite were viewed by this blog.Forces of the 41st Combined Arms Army did not return to their base in Novosibirsk,Siberia after the drills with Belarus,and were augmented by even more troops.* Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby,US Navy retired,said: We're aware of public reports of unusual Russian military activity near Ukraine.We're going to continue to consult with Allies and Partners on this issue.As we've said before,any escalating or aggressive actions would be of great concern to the United States.* Indeed,Ukraine's defence ministry noted that Russia has: established a practise of transferring and accumulating military units for the purpose of maintaining tension in the region and political pressure on neighbouring countries.* Some US officials are more concerned about this buildup than the one that occurred back in March,noting that Russia is configuring a capability to make a quiick strike against Ukraine.A congressional aide said: With such a large buildup,Putin could order an invasion at any time and there would be very little warning.* A european diplomat feels that the US is: very,very concerned-this is the most concerned I've heard them about Russia in a long,long time.* The Voice of America recalled that US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland had visited Moscow last month,but failed to resolve a dispute over the respective sizes of the US Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Embassy in Washington.There is also tension over Russian control over the natural gas supply to Ukraine and Europe for the coming winter,with fears that Russia will use natural gas to blackmail its neighbours.Some experts believe that Putin's ultimate aim may be to reabsorb Ukraine into Russia,given recent articles written by both him and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev disparaging Ukrainian statehood.* Maxar Technologies Inc (MAXR)

From Past to Future:the CIA in Afghanistan

On 26 August 2021,a large CIA compound in Kabul was destroyed by US forces in a controlled demolition that reverberated across the city.Eagle Base was,at the very least,a training facility where Afghan counterterrorism personnel were trained.The demolition was deemed necessary because of the large amount of sensitive hard drives and equipment on the base.Yet,although the base's downfall was spectacular,it far from ended the CIA's concern about Afghanistan. Although US military operations in Afghanistan will end tomorrow,the CIA is considering how it will operate in the region in the future.This was made an acute problem when the recent ISIL-K attack that killed 11 US Marines,a US Navy corpsman and a US Army Special Forces member,pointed up the threat posed by Islamist extremist groups in Afghanistan to US and Allied interests now the US military is leaving.According to Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby,US Navy retired: We still believe there are credible specific threats.* Indeed,a rocket attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport launched from a vehicle occurred on 29 August,but was repulsed by the US Counter-Rocket Artillery and Mortar System (CRAM),which returned fire.After 31 August,the airport comes under Taliban control and all US diplomats will have departed the airport.Just how HKIA will continue to operate and be defended from ISIL-K terrorists remains to be seen;but perhaps this was covered when new CIA Director William Burns flew to Kabul to meet with the Taliban political leader,Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.* According to The New York Times,the CIA is busy looking for new bases in Central Asian countries,because it needs to ascertain how its Clandestine Service,which runs spy networks, will collect Human Intelligence (HUMINT) without the US military and diplomatic bases it had access to in Afghanistan over the past 20 years;and where it will launch its fleet of Predator drones from to carry out counterterror strikes.At least 19 CIA officers died in the Afghan War,the last one being a former US Marine reconnaissance expert killed in May of 2019.* About 1200 people have been evacuated from HKIA over the past 24 hours,bringing the total Operation Allies Refuge evacuations to about 122,300.Some 250 Americans remain who wish to be spirited out of the country,not to mention thousands of key Afghans.The CIA has reportedly been helping with covert rescue missions,as have US veterans groups. In addition to using its own land,air and sea special operators,another possibility for the Agency is to oversee US military Special Operations Forces detailed to certain CIA activities,as they had been during the operation to find and kill Osama bin Laden,the New York Times added.*