Jeff Seldin Profile picture
Apr 14 37 tweets 23 min read
Happening now: @CIA Director William Burns speaking at @GeorgiaTech to college students from across the #Atlanta metro area
.@CIA Dir Burns says he has come to @GeorgiaTech from Washington, DC which is "as self absorbed as ever..."

Notes he will not drone on in what is his 1st public speech since taking the reins at the US spy agency
"We usually operate in the shadows" per @CIA Dir Burns "But I am convinced that in our democracy, where trust in institutions is in such short supply, it's essential to explain our selves as best we can & be as open as possible"
"We have an obligation to be straight, not just about our accomplishments but about our mistakes" per @CIA Dir Burns

"And we have an obligation to explain our mission"
This is a new era - "a more complicated & contested world, featuring the rise of an increasingly adversarial #China & a pugnacious & revisionist #Russia" per @CIA Dir Burns

Tech advances "coming at dizzying speed" too, he says
.@CIA Dir Burns warns of 4 main challenges for the future...

"The 1st is the immediate threat posed by renewed #Russia|n aggression against #Ukraine" he says
"The 2nd is the longer term problem posed by #China's ambitious leadership-the single-most important geopolitical challenge as far out as I can see" per @CIA Dir Burns
"The 3rd is the massive impact of technological change" per @CIA Dir Burns

"And finally the challenge of building a workforce drawn from the richness & diversity of American society"
#Russia's Vladimir #Putin-"His risk appetite has grown as his grip on Russia has tightened" per @CIA Dir Burns
"His [#Putin's] circle of advisors has narrowed & in that small circle it has never been career enhancing to question his judgment, or his stubborn, almost mystical belief that his destiny is to restore #Russia's sphere of influence" per @CIA Dir Burns
"Every day, #Putin demonstrates that declining powers can be at least as disruptive as rising ones" per @CIA Dir Burns
"Neither #Putin nor many of those around him could imagine #Russia as a major power without a deferential #Ukraine, a Ukraine whose external choices were controlled by the #Kremlin" per @CIA Dir Burns
"I have learned over the years never to underestimate #Putin's relentless determination, especially on #Ukraine" per @CIA Dir Burns
.@CIA Dir Burns says he went to #Moscow in early November 2021 "to convey to #Putin & several of his advisors the depth of out concern abt his planning for war"

"I was troubled by what I heard"
"While it did not seem that he had yet made an irreversible decision to invade #Ukraine, #Putin was defiantly leaning in that direction, apparently convinced that his window was closing for shaping #Ukraine's orientation" per @CIA Dir Burns
#Putin "also seemed convinced that this winter offered a favorable landscape, with Pres. Zelenskyy & the #Ukrainians unlikely, in his view, to mount effective resistance" per @CIA Dir Burns
"Throughout the conflict, US intelligence has played a critical role" per @CIA Dir Burns

"Armed w/accurate & precise insights and information, the US gvt shared them energetically w/our allies from the start" he says
"We have been equally committed to rapid & effective intelligence sharing w/our #Ukrainian partners throughout the fighting and for months beforehand" per @CIA Dir Burns
"The credibility of US intelligence helped cement the solidarity of of the alliance" per @CIA Dir Burns
Declassification of select intelligence - "By being open w/some of our secrets we made it harder for Putin to obscure the truth of his unprovoked & vicious aggression" per @CIA Dir Burns
NEW: "The last chapter in #Putin's war has yet to be written as he grinds away at #Ukraine" per @CIA Dir Burns

"I have no doubt abt the cruel pain & damage that Putin can continue to inflict on Ukraine or the raw brutality w/which #Russia|n force is being applied"
"The crimes in #Bucha are horrific. The scenes of devastation in #Mariupol & #Kharkiv are sadly reminiscent of the images I saw in #Grozny, in #Chechnya ...in 1994/95" per @CIA Dir Burns
"But #Ukrainian will is unbroken & #Putin's #Russia has inflicted massive material & reputational damage on itself" per @CIA Dir Burns
.@CIA Dir Burns says US intelligence operations now serving as a model for its use in the future - including on how "to deploy it openly & creatively to discredit the false narratives on which adversaries so often thrive"
NEW: @CIA Dir Burns calls #China "a silent partner in #Putin's aggression"

Burns says China "is our greatest challenge, in many ways the most profound test CIA has ever faced"
"The People's Republic of #China is a formidable competitor, lacking in neither ambition or capability" per @CIA Dir Burns

"it's rise has been remarkable..."
"#China's rise is not inherently a bad thing" per @CIA Dir Burns "Hundreds fo millions of Chinese citizens have climbed out of poverty into the middle class, and Americans have also benefited economically..."
But @CIA Dir Burns warns #China's rise includes:

- hacking at least 150 US companies to steal secrets in past few years
- trying to reach 1,000 nuclear warheads
- detained 1 million Chinese citizens "simply bcs they are Muslim"
- arrests of thousands more in #HongKong
"The People's Republic of #China is intent on building the capabilities to bully its neighbors, replace the #UnitedStates as the preeminent power in the #IndoPacific & chip away, w/other authoritarians, at the rules-based int'l order"
NEW: "As an intelligence service, we have never had to deal w/an adversary w/more reach in more domains" per @CIA Dir Burns on #China
"Nothing will matter more to our long-term success as an intelligence agency than how well we compete with the PRC [#China] & how well we organize ourselves for that competition over the next few years" per @CIA Dir Burns
With advances in technology, Burns says @CIA must become "as adept at protecting secrets as we are at stealing them"
Declassifying, sharing intel on #Russia's plans for #Ukraine - "This is one of instances where we have to take a calculated risk & I think its paid off" per @CIA Dir Burns
Interesting - @CIA Dir Burns says he's about to leave on his 15th trip overseas as director of the agency - many of the trips focused on strengthening bonds/cooperation w/allies & partners
NEW: #Russia's nuclear saber-rattling-"We're obviously very concerned" per @CIA Dir Burns
NEW: "Given the potential desperation of Pres #Putin & the #Russia|n leadership given the setbacks that they've faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low yield nuclear weapons" per @CIA's Burns
#Russia-nukes: "While we've seen some rhetorical posturing on the part of the #Kremlin, moving to higher nuclear alert levels, so far we haven't seen a lot of practical evidence of the kind of deployments or military dispositions that we would reinforce that concern" per Burns

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More from @jseldin

Apr 14
BREAKING: #Russia's RIA news agency says the #Moskva Missile Cruiser has sunk Image
Earlier @PentagonPresSec said, "We do believe that there was a significant explosion on this cruiser the #Moskva...

"We do believe that that that explosion caused a significant fire, which as of this morning was still raging...at least some of the crew members evacuated"
Asked about the impact of the #Moskva being disabled, @PentagonPresSec said, "That's a little difficult to know with great certitude...it would be difficult to be able to tell you that this one ship being out of commission, what exactly the impact is going to have"
Read 6 tweets
Apr 14
NEW: US, @DeptofDefense "moving aggressively" to source the latest $800 million security assistance package for #Ukraine & get shipments started, per @PentagonPresSec

Also, @SecDef spoke Thursday w/counterparts from #Slovakia & #Croatia abut meeting Ukraine's need
NEW: US "cannot confirm Ukrainian reports that [#Russia's #Moskva warship] was hit by a missile...we are also no tin position to refute this" per @PentagonPresSec

Kirby says fire still raging as of Thursday AM, unclear if Moskva still able to operate under its own power
"This is a cruiser - they only have 3 in that class" per @PentagonPresSec on impact the loss of the #Moskva will have on #Russia

"Whether she can or will be repaired or returned to service, we just don't know"
Read 9 tweets
Apr 13
NEW: Just announced $800 million security package for #Ukraine "tailored to meet urgent Ukrainian needs" in advance of expected #Russia|n assault on eastern Ukraine, per @PentagonPresSec
Per @PentagonPresSec, the $800 million package is the 7th such drawdown for #Ukraine, since August 2021

Says US has given #Ukraine $3.2 billion in security assistance since start of the Biden admin., $2.6 billion since start of #Russia's invasion in February
New security assistance to #Ukraine could start arriving in as little as 4-5 days, per @PentagonPresSec

Says make-up of package result of conversations w/#Ukrainian officials about what is needed in eastern Ukraine, including today's call btw @POTUS & @ZelenskyyUa
Read 15 tweets
Apr 13
BREAKING: @POTUS authorizes another $800 million in security assistance to #Ukraine

Package to include weapons, ammunition & more, per a White House readout of a call between Biden & @ZelenskyyUa
.@POTUS in statement says new package to #Ukraine "will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided & new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect #Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine"
NEW: $800 million US security pkg to #Ukraine to include:

- artillery systems
- artillery rounds
- armored personnel carriers
- helicopters

@POTUS say aid needed "as #Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the #Donbas region"
Read 4 tweets
Apr 13
US decision to declassify, release intelligence on #Russia actions vs #Ukraine came after discussions w/policymakers, @ODNIgov Principal Deputy Director Stacey Dixon tells @CSIS

Says sources/methods have been protected throughout the process
Releasing the intelligence didn't stop #Russia from invading #Ukraine but "what it did do though is alert the world of what was happening, pointed ppl so they were now focused on it" per @ODNIgov's Dixon

Also prepared ppl for #disinformation -"ppl would be able to think twice"
"Had we not publicized it before hand, had we not shared it beforehand, it's not clear that ppl would have been as aware" of the #Russia|n #disinformation, per @ODNIgov's Dixon
Read 6 tweets
Apr 13
Day 49 - US seeing #Russia reassembling, staging forces/equipment in #Belarus, #Russia for a "renewed push" expected to target eastern #Ukraine, #Donbas, per a senior US defense official

Equipment being staged includes helicopters, artillery systems, official says
Since start of invasion, #Russia's launched +1,550 missiles vs #Ukraine (up abt 10 since Tuesday), per a senior US defense official

US reports 150 manned #Russia|n air sorties in past 24 hours, focused on #Mariupol, eastern #Ukraine / #Donbas
NEW: "Javelins continue to flow in" - another shipment coming in next 24 hours for #Ukraine, per a senior US defense official

Remain US #switchblade drones arriving in the next 24 hours
Read 14 tweets

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