US Intelligence Admits Releasing False Info About Ukraine
The Facts
In an Apr. 6 report, NBC News revealed that certain assessments released by US Intelligence after the invasion of Ukraine were either false or based on intelligence in the low-to-mid-level confidence range.
Citing 3 unnamed US officials, NBC News reported that "there is no evidence Russia has brought any chemical weapons near Ukraine."
The Spin
Democratic narrative
In a bold move, the US is tackling Putin and his aggression by catching up in the information warfare age. By releasing declassified intelligence, though not always reliable, Biden and his administration successfully warned of Russia's invasion, and used it to warn against Chinese support for Russia, among other instances. The strategy seems to be working.
Republican narrative
The US Intelligence Community has long had a reputation of only declassifying intelligence it had high confidence in. By producing flimsy intelligence that misleads the public, it risks political embarrassment and accusations its playing the same information warfare games as Russia.
Establishment-critical narrative
This is an extraordinary admission. According to NBC, multiple US officials acknowledged that the US has used information as a weapon even when confidence in its accuracy wasn't high. In other words, they were knowingly lying to the American public. What a surprise.
