Washington (19/12 – 40). The Russian disinformation is centered on influencing U.S. corporation thru a network of former spies of the KGB or the FSB. One particularly interesting as this U.S. security consultancy firm consists of many of ex-Agency heads and FBI directors. Some of consultant’s work is based on Russian influence operations. Very little source confirmed the beltway bandit are peddling in pro-Russian narratives.
The story started with a Russian defector was hired by the consultancies bringing a “Russian” perspective to the fledging beltway operator. Credibility, verification or cross checking of the information is non-existent. Russian narratives are peddled as it was the oracle of Delphi.
Worst of all any alternative thoughts were rejected, belittled and dismissed as war mongering. Opinion is rejected. Russian experts who were in the front lines of the cold war were dismissed. For example, tank production figures long questioned by the western experts were dismissed and a Russian infallibility was promoted. A balanced view is rejected, and a biased viewpoint is pursued.
A common trend is the American assigned peddled a pro-Trump narrative of Donald Trump will stop the war immediately. This feeds into the pro-Russian narrative to negotiate a peace with Russia. Dismissing of the Ukraine becomes a daily dosage by the Russian American exchange.
Same with Uniforms, Ukrainian successes are dismissed and disinformation of the greatness of the Russian army amplified. Pictures are injected showing brand new uniforms, shown as brisk and brand new appeared in the Telegram.
Russian disinformation works everywhere, anytime, all the time. The security consultant being a useful idiot.
The truth Shall set you free, does it?
American expert opinion has not covered itself in glory. The Washington beltway is full of ex-three letter soup (CIA, FBI, DIA), and claims made but not supported by facts.
Alternative views are dismissed. The European intelligence networks are belittled by the private American industry. But the European also have not covered themselves in glory.
Often viewed by the American – we know it all better -, dismiss the Europeans as sluggish, bureaucratic and slow. On the other hand, the financials of the American private intelligence network are transactional, tactical at best and lackluster in intellectual output. Strategy is confused with tactical decisions. The Russians hold sway over the U.S. opinion and Americans get it routinely wrong.
The U.S. is technology driven, the new golden bullet, Artificial Intelligence, drives the war fighting. But at the end of the day the battle is just beginning. AI is unlikely to win wars.
How does Russian disinformation enter the U.S. corporate information stream. And hence influence corporate leadership? The Russian disinformation is simple. Trusted Russian voices argue that Russia is trustworthy, and the European Union is easily defeated by the greatness of Moscow.
It is not a new tactic, but a consistent drum beat against the western democratic values. Alcoholism, poverty and a failing state is dismissed by American voices. The Russians operate like Chinese. The slogan is simple, “Follow us and your life will be great”.
Moscow subway is great, only in the center, not so much on the outskirts of Moscow. Regardless of what Tucker Carlson says. Food shortages are constants in the hinterlands of the Russian empire. The price for chicken, potatoes, onions, fish and meat grown by 50%.
Russians consulting for Americans reject so. But the Americans swallowed the hook laid out for to Americans. Routinely U.S. assessments and analysis gets it wrong. The U.S. corporate security is filled with ‘glitterati’ of wrong analysis.
Russians are well known for racism. The Wagner group has recruited Africans from Sudan, Mali, or Central Asia for the trenches in the Ukraine. Same for the North Koreans. Russians are usually dismissive of foreigner troops.
The gullible culture of American viewing European affairs with a naïve, simplistic view of the Russian disinformation is evident. Recognition of the Russian disinformation will be peddled by Russian dismissing the Ukrainian narrative. It is aimed primarily at the U.S. audiences.
But the Russian disinformation campaign received enough funds. The famed Mitrokhin archive gives an insight in the vastness of the KGB, the forerunner of todays FSB, told us the fangs of the disinformation ranged to cover 10 Indian newspaper on its Russian payroll as well as a press agency under its control.
Today this continues. In 1972 the KGB planted 3,789 or 10 articles per day. The number fell to 2,760 in 1973 and rose to 5,510 articles in 1975. This is an incredible 15 articles per day.
In some NATO countries the Russians were able to shape the disinformation action with little more than 1 percent of Indian articles placed and regurgitated. The figure is today higher.
The annual budget of the Russian Federation for disinformation is about 1,6 billion USD with a 20% budget increase. On the western side the western efforts, in the European Union called Foreign Influence and Manipulation Interference (FIMI) with a few million. The U.S. claims of information superiority is not supported. Americans have notoriously poor relations with the information space. Existing programs are notoriously poorly managed and routinely exposed.
Just to put the disinformation battle in perspective. The EEAS detected, investigated and encoded 750 cases of detected Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference incidentsbetween 1 December 2022 and 30 November 2023. These are two false narratives every day. The Europeans are spot on their view on the Russians, not so the Americans.
