CIA Director William Burns has alleged that the CIA is not letting the "opportunity" of finding Russian-based assets as a result of the Ukraine conflict go to waste.
The US spymaster’s assessment of the situation, however, was not shared by Larry Johnson, a retired CIA intelligence officer and US State Department official who told Sputnik that Burns sounded “delusional” and has apparently “lost touch with reality.”
“Russia is not suffering massive losses of personnel and it is thwarting Ukrainian offensive actions that are completely inspired and backed by NATO. So essentially, Russia is fighting NATO and defeating NATO so far. So how does that translate into dissatisfaction among Russian citizens?” Johnson inquired. “It underscores how out of touch and ignorant the intelligence agency is with respect to what's going on in Russia.”
He further speculated that the “exact opposite” might be true, as people in the United States who are unhappy with what he described as a “celebration of homosexuality and transgenderism” in the country, as well as with the “entire push towards treating people unequally because of their skin color” under the guise of “diversity, equality and inclusion” – might be inclined to cooperate with Russian intelligence.
“So now is the time when I think Russia would be more effective and enjoy more success recruiting than the CIA simply because that kind of recruitment is always predicated on dissatisfaction and unhappiness or alienation. That alienation is rampant in the United States,” Johnson mused.
The recent attempt by the CIA to recruit collaborators in Russia via a Telegram channel the agency set up in May, including a rather bizarre video that urges Russians to contact the CIA online but at the same time does not elaborate on why exactly these people should essentially betray their homeland, was branded by Johnson as "absurd."
“It's just stunning to me because, number one, that's not how you recruit. We're not hiring a barista to work at Starbucks. We're not advertising for a software guy that can come in and create video games,” he explained. “When you're trying to recruit people that are going to spy, betray their country for you, you normally want to make sure that you're recruiting people who actually have access to information that's valuable and important. And the last person you want to recruit is somebody who is spending all their time surfing telegram channels and then says ‘Hey, I think I'll join the CIA!’ It's ludicrous.”
Interestingly enough, the "poop" emoji appears to be the most popular user reaction to all the posts currently featured on the "Securely Contacting CIA" Telegram channel.
Screenshot of posts featured on the "Securely Contacting CIA" Telegram channel
© Photo : Social media screenshot
Johnson also pointed out that, during the times of the Cold War, the United States could use its economic power and 'greater freedom' label to entice Soviet people to spy for Uncle Sam.
“Well, that's certainly not the case now. The reality is there are more political prisoners in US prisons today, that far surpass any so-called political prisoners that are being held in Russia,” Johnson remarked. “The punishment that is directed against people for expressing unpopular viewpoints, in some areas in the United States they're criminalizing the very expression of saying that there are no such thing as transgender.”