Putin dismissed US warnings about a potential terror incident as 'blackmail' just 3 days before concert hall attack
Putin dismissed US warnings about a potential terror incident as 'blackmail' just 3 days before concert hall attack
The US embassy in Russia issued a security alert earlier this month warning that a possible terror attack was imminent.
- Gunmen stormed a concert hall in Moscow on Friday, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 100.
- Earlier this month, the US embassy issued a security alert warning of a potential terror attack.
- Just days ago, Vladimir Putin dismissed the idea as "blackmail" from the West.
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Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia issued a security alert warning about a potential terror attack in Moscow and urged people to avoid crowds, monitor local media for updates, and be aware of surroundings.
"The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours," the March 7 security alert said.
Putin addressed the warnings a couple weeks later, criticizing the warning three days ago as "provocative."
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"All this resembles outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society," Putin said, according to state media reporting on his remarks.
The US embassy issued another alert on Friday saying it was "aware" of the attack and urged Americans to avoid the area.
Hot damn. So I kind of understand why the Russians would dismiss this as a lie or a threat because yknow. War in Ukraine, Trump, etc, relations are bad to put it politely.
But can we talk about what kind of terrifying flex of power that is from US Intelligence? It's one thing to predict a terror attack on your own soil- sure your citizens quite rightfully won't like the privacy violations, but the national authorities are going to help you; so if your intelligence agency is worth the name it should stop most attacks.
But can you imagine having information access that's so damn good you can not only predict a terror attack in a nation that has an extremely vested interest in not letting you know what they're doing because they're running a war that you (and everyone else) don't like, but you feel completely confident TELLING THEM, which could risk your information sources if they're not properly hidden. This is like the Foreign Intelligence equivalent of being so far ahead of your opponent in a game that you start giving them sincere advice on how to play so that they don't get thrashed too badly.
It reminds me a bit of the US intelligence saying that Russia was going to invade Ukraine and attempt to make it all the way to Kiev while Russia was adamant that it would never happen.
The other thing to note is that all countries have an "obligation to report" which requires them to report evidence of terror attacks to any county that would be the victim, even if they are a hostile nation. As much as "US bad" is true, it's frankly refreshing to see us do the right thing so publicly, even if it was only as a way to make Putin look bad.
US intelligence called the day and the hour the invasion would start, as well as the route the first military group would take. I remember at the time people were speculating that Russia would call it off or change plans because their operation had been so thoroughly blown, while a lot of global media was just accusing the US of warmongering. Russia just plowed ahead with their invasion anyway.
It wasn't just Russia who was saying that wasn't gonna happen, basically everyone outside the US thought it wouldn't happen cause it would be a really stupid thing to do. Then it turned out they did it and it was really stupid and I think a lot of people were surprised the US was telling the truth and it wasn't just fearmongering.
Countries have an obligation to report
Are you kidding? Almost all terror attacks are one way or another sponsored by counties and governments who are all too happy to see another country suffer.
Strategically, from the US perspective, it was an enormously effective flex. It doesn't matter what Putin says to his people, or the world, but now he knows that the US knew, and could have said nothing. Charles de Gaulle once said, "No nation has friends, only interests."
I'd wager they knew it was legit but didn't care if, or even preferred, it happened. They're playing a table top game with real lives.
If they weren't currently engaged in a war in Ukraine, this might be the case. Could get the country to rally around Putin as he goes on a big military campaign in Chechnya/Syria/Africa/wherever to get revenge against ISIS.
But Russia currently doesn't have the military resources for this, so it just make Putin weak and incompetent for being unable to protect Russians from the terrorists.
Exactly. When I read it I assumed it was a false flag attack. I mean, Putin doesn't have the best track record when it comes to bombing his own people.
Moles. Moles EVERYWHERE.
Or listening devices everywhere...
This could escalate the situation a lot of Russia gets hell bent in blaming Ukraine or the US.
Even from an extremely cold perspective, there's little strategical benefit for the US on this, and it's a wild card.
There's a passage in the book 'The Godfather' that everyone should read and understand.
One of the most powerful Mafia families in New York rose to power because they were willing to kill people over garbage collection. All the businesses needed trash hauling, and nobody was crazy enough to risk their life to compete with murderers.
Putin wasn't a genius who gained power through subtle moves; he was a shark who ate up anyone in his way.
For being able to speak bullshit so fluently you think he'd be better at telling the difference, but the last couple of years have really proven otherwise.
Luckily, he could not care any less about the lives he destroys.
Russian or otherwise, they're nothing but lambs to the slaughter to an unbridled sociopath.
Being a sociopath helps being an effective leader. And he has been an effective leader. Just that the outcomes that he wanted were unattainable by the sociopathic means he's been using.
Highlights what a pathetic, weak little shit he truly is. Edit: it’s also telling how he assumes the warning was meant to destabilize russian society. What a scourge he has been on the world.
It also points out that his own intelligence agencies don't have the ability to gather information as well as the Americans, nor to properly assess information they get handed to them on a silver platter.
Yeah there may be consequences for doing a lot of purges in a country's intelligence apparatus.
Or if they're like Israel, they do but the leadership rejects the warnings
It draws many sharp contrasts with the West.
Putin is lucky that the attack happened after the election. I think he'd have only won about eighty-one percent of the popular vote.
Isis does in fact want to destabilize your county, what a dipshit.
US being the funny but albeit rather eerie kid in the class is probably my favorite meta.
Such a reddit-tier comment
considering the energy this post brings, i think it's fair to say it was the US government that did that part. I just expanded upon it, lol.
Pretty sure that would only be blackmail if it was Putin's plan. Is he trying to take credit away from ISIS or was it a Freudian slip?
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed US warnings about a potential terror incident in Moscow just days before gunmen attacked a concert hall in the city on Friday.
At least 40 people are dead and more than 100 are injured after multiple armed individuals stormed the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, state-run news agency TASS reported, citing Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, which called the incident a "terrorist attack."
According to Russian state media, the unidentified gunmen were armed with assault rifles and opened fire in the lobby of the building before moving into the main concern hall, where a band was scheduled to perform.
Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia issued a security alert warning about a potential terror attack in Moscow and urged people to avoid crowds, monitor local media for updates, and be aware of surroundings.
Though concerts were mentioned as a potential target in the US security alert, it is unclear at this time if Friday's attack is related to the threats that Washington was tracking.
"We strongly condemn the horrendous attack carried out at a concert hall in Moscow," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The original article contains 404 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 52%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Why is the USA not doing the same warning message for school shootings ?
Easier to infiltrate terrorist networks -- networks are, well, networks. Most school shootings are independent actors, even if radicalized online.
Now, if you're asking about why they haven't implemented decent gun control laws...
That makes sense.
Lonely wolf are hard to catch compared to a pack of wolves.
I seriously doubt there was any conspiracy involved in this.
But I wouldn't be surprised if there was.
More than one person was involved in a plan to kill a bunch of people. That's pretty clearly a conspiracy. The only thing to debate is, who's conspiracy.
Very peculiar how people openly accept that the CIA knew, but can’t entertain the idea that they would be behind it. How else would they know?