More from @JMichaelWaller

J Michael Waller

@JMichaelWaller

Mar 7

Keep in mind that the Western figures who supported the "Sobchak St. Petersburg Mafiya" to run the Kremlin in the 1990s included Bill Clinton, Joe Biden & John Kerry. They ignored the warnings to leverage US aid to keep the chekists out. That mafiya group included Vladimir Putin.

Putin was a deputy mayor of St. Petersburg at the time. I met him in 1993, but he had a creepy chekist look to him so I refused to shake his hand. I didn't know his background until after he moved to Moscow and became Yeltsin's Minister of Security.

The American politicians and their allies who supported the St. Petersburg Mafiya spent years profiting politically or financially from enabling the Russian gangster-state.

So there's a special irony to their denunciation of critics as Putin agents.

Read 11 tweets

J Michael Waller

@JMichaelWaller

Mar 5

“Russophobia” is trending now. This is an old KGB and FSB theme. I was first labeled with it in 1993 because I said the US should condition all Russia recovery aid on Russia uprooting the old KGB. Plenty of Americans - including some current 🇺🇦 champions, called me that.

The record should show that the Clinton Admin - including Strobe Talbott, Al Gore, Richard Morningstar, and USAID (esp its Rule of Law program) that OPPOSED support for Russians who sought to uproot former KGB & prevent categories of its officers from holding public positions.

I was a contractor for the USAID Rule of Law program in Russia in the early/mid-1990s and was fired for pushing to fund Russian groups that sought to uproot the re-named KGB and its networks, and for promoting “lustration” which would have prevented chekists from holding office.

Read 8 tweets

J Michael Waller

@JMichaelWaller

Mar 4

1) By having no strategy, the US and Europe risk helping Putin by demonizing all the Russian people as the enemy.

The sudden Western shutdowns to cripple all Russians is reinforcing Putin's propaganda that "The West has always hated us and wants to destroy us."

2) Choking off Russians' free access to information allows Putin's war propaganda to dominate Russian public opinion.

Denying ordinary Russians access to apps, e-banking, credit card services, travel, etc. tells them that the West considers them the enemy. This aids the Kremlin.

3) US & EU leaders seem to think they can create a Color Revolution moment in Russia - if they're thinking things through at all, which I doubt.

I am very concerned that Putin will be able to whip up Russian nationalism among ordinary Russians who had no beef with us until now.

Read 4 tweets

J Michael Waller

@JMichaelWaller

Mar 2

If Biden was serious about de-funding Putin’s war in Ukraine, he would have called for lowering oil prices and ensuring energy independence by reopening US oil production and Keystone pipeline.

If Biden was serious about securing American borders as he said in SOTU last night, he would repeal his January 2021 executive orders that opened up those borders. He could do this in minutes if he wanted to.

If Biden was serious about "domestic terrorism" being the #1 threat, he would have mentioned it in SOTU. It's obvious that the threat level was a political abuse of intelligence and security.

People must be held accountable to restore public trust.

Read 4 tweets

J Michael Waller

@JMichaelWaller

Feb 26

1) Last summer, a colleague and I published a long review of Vladimir Putin's psychological motivations. It's an unsparing profile, going back to Putin's childhood, adolescence, and his membership in a Leningrad street gang that reputedly raped weak boys. centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/upl…

2) Putin has presented special riddles as to his actions, motivations, and goals, even today. Many critics, at home and in the West, paint him as nearly invincible. Some astute observers say he nurses profound personal vulnerabilities ripe for exploitation.