Intelligence & National Security Summit - You Can't Handle the Truth!

[thinbluemime2]

Previously on, "Ohhhh Shhhhit"
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.arts.tv/bEwXOoLUjms/c97fOc5JBQAJ







What did the U.S. military know about the disruptive and deadly effects
of COVID-19 and when did they know it? In April, the Pentagon denied a
report that the National Center for Medical Intelligence was concerned
about a potential pandemic as far back as last November. But there may
be more to the story.

On Wednesday, Gen. Robert Ashley, who runs the Defense Intelligence
Agency — NMCI’s parent agency — said that the agency “did what we were
supposed to” and that a bigger story would come out eventually.

“Over the coming months and years, that will get unpacked in probably a
much more public way, not for this particular venue. But one of the
things we have done, and we have done it early on, is we have looked at
everything we knew, who we told, when we told them, and when we knew it,
and what leader did that get to,” Ashley said at an INSA event.

In April, ABC News reported that the NCMI had assessed the potential for
COVID-19 to flare into a major and particularly devastating pandemic as
early as November of last year. Pentagon officials issued this
statement: "As a matter of practice the National Center for Medical
Intelligence does not comment publicly on specific intelligence matters.
However, in the interest of transparency during this current public
health crisis, we can confirm that media reporting about the
existence/release of a National Center for Medical Intelligence
Coronavirus-related product/assessment in November of 2019 is not
correct. No such NCMI product exists.”

Ashley didn’t go much further, but his comment suggests that the
Pentagon’s April statement didn’t tell the whole story.




Defense Intel Head: We ‘Did What We Were Supposed To’ With COVID Warning
DIA chief hints that the public doesn’t yet know just what the military
knew about the coronavirus.
PATRICK TUCKER TECHNOLOGY EDITOR SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/09/defense-intel-head-we-did-what-we-were-supposed-covid-warning/168538/
https://intelsummit.org/Event-Coverage



















///


Note: This program will not be recorded! It is closed to the press and
off the record.


The first ever INSA Leadership Luncheon, taking place on September 10
from 12:00 - 1:00 pm ET, will honor LTG Robert P. Ashley, Jr. for his 36
years of distinguished service to our Nation.

Kicking off the hour with prepared remarks, LTG Ashley will reflect on
his tenure at DIA, share some of his most memorable moments, and offer
insights into potential areas of focus and opportunity for his
successor. Following his remarks, there will be the opportunity for an
audience Q&A session, moderated by INSA Chairman Tish Long.

https://www.insaonline.org/event/leadership-luncheon-with-ltg-robert-ashley/


----------------

https://youtu.be/9FnO3igOkOk?t=78

[thinbluemime2]

On 2020-09-21 9:55 PM, thinbluemime2 wrote:
> Previously on, "Ohhhh Shhhhit"
> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.arts.tv/bEwXOoLUjms/c97fOc5JBQAJ
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> What did the U.S. military know about the disruptive and deadly effects
> of COVID-19 and when did they know it? In April, the Pentagon denied a
> report that the National Center for Medical Intelligence was concerned
> about a potential pandemic as far back as last November. But there may
> be more to the story.




> On Wednesday, Gen. Robert Ashley, who runs the Defense Intelligence
> Agency — NMCI’s parent agency — said that the agency “did what we were
> supposed to” and that a bigger story would come out eventually.

The NCMI’s job...is predictive in nature—not to explain what is
happening, but rather “what we believe is going to happen.” To do this,
NCMI has access to the resources of the totality of the intelligence
community, including intercepted communications, satellite imagery, and
sensitive human intelligence, including covert sample collection.

The coronavirus was clearly part of the NCMI’s remit. And yet its first
Infectious Disease Risk Assessment for COVID-19 was issued on January 5,
2020, reporting that 59 people had been taken ill in Wuhan, China. This
report was derived not from any sensitive intelligence collection effort
or independent biosurveillance activity, but rather from a report issued
to the WHO by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, dated January 5, 2020.

The next day the CDC warned American citizens to take precautions if
traveling to China, followed a day later with the activation of a
COVID-19 incident management team within the CDC Emergency Management
System. This, however, is not the kind of predictive analysis that U.S.
policymakers needed if they were going to get ahead of the coronavirus
pandemic. Unlike 2009, when the NCMI provided a full two months heads up
about the threat of a Swine Flu pandemic, in 2020 the Trump
administration was taking its cues from the WHO, which waited until
January 30, 2020 to declare a Public Health Emergency of International
Concern (PHEIC). The NCMI had been relegated to a mere observer, having
failed in its mission to provide timely, predictive analysis of pending
epidemiological threats.

Almost everything the NCMI knew about the current situation in Wuhan
came from the WHO, which had been working very closely with Chinese
authorities from the Chinese Center of Disease Control (CCDC) to
determine the origin and nature of the coronavirus outbreak. While a
great deal of attention has been paid to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale
Market in the city of Wuhan, which sells live poultry, fish, and several
kinds of wild animals to the public, a detailed investigation by the
Joint Field Epidemiology Investigation Team, a specialized task force
working under the auspices of the Chinese Center for Disease Control
(CCDC), found that the COVID-19 epidemic did not originate by
animal-to-human transmission in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, as
originally believed, but rather human-to-human transmission totally
unrelated to the operation of the market.

Moreover, by analyzing the characteristic of some 27 genomes of the
COVID-19 virus provided by the Chinese and published by the Global
Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GSAID), research scientists
were able to determine that the “most recent common ancestor” for the
coronavirus could be dated back to as early as October 1, 2019.

The importance of this date as it relates to the NCMI is that in
mid-October 2019 a delegation of 300 U.S. military athletes arrived in
Wuhan to participate in the 2019 Military World games. China has
suggested that these personnel might have introduced the coronavirus
infection to Wuhan, citing their own research that suggests that the
virus was introduced into China from elsewhere, and Japanese and
Taiwanese studies that point to the U.S. as the likely source of the
virus. There is, however, no independent evidence to support these
allegations.

The importance of the U.S. military athletes rests in the fact that the
NCMI is responsible for conducting threat briefs for all deployments of
military personnel world-wide, which meant that a Wuhan-specific
Infectious Disease Risk Assessment would have necessarily been prepared
in support of this deployment. Infectious Disease Risk Assessments are
the bread-and-butter intelligence product produced by the NCMI’s
Infectious Disease Division, one in which the totality of the medical
intelligence collection and analytical capabilities would be utilized.

The production of a Wuhan-specific Infectious Disease Risk Assessment
would have created a window of opportunity for the NCMI to have
collected the kind of medical intelligence that could have provided
early warning about the existence of the coronavirus. Moreover, these
athletes should have been subjected to screening upon return as part of
the national biosurveillance program, providing yet another opportunity
for early detection of the coronavirus if anyone had been exposed to it
during their travel.



The Staggering Collapse Of U.S. Intelligence On The Coronavirus
An agency tasked with tracking future bio threats fell down on the job,
causing us to wonder what else we don't know.
MARCH 24, 2020 SCOTT RITTER
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-staggering-collapse-of-u-s-intelligence-on-the-coronavirus/

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.arts.tv/bEwXOoLUjms/tenY7GZyAgAJ

[thinbluemime2]

On 2020-09-22 12:06 AM, thinbluemime2 wrote:
> On 2020-09-21 9:55 PM, thinbluemime2 wrote:
>> Previously on, "Ohhhh Shhhhit"
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.arts.tv/bEwXOoLUjms/c97fOc5JBQAJ
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> What did the U.S. military know about the disruptive and deadly
>> effects of COVID-19 and when did they know it? In April, the Pentagon
>> denied a report that the National Center for Medical Intelligence was
>> concerned about a potential pandemic as far back as last November. But
>> there may be more to the story.
>
>
>
>
>> On Wednesday, Gen. Robert Ashley, who runs the Defense Intelligence
>> Agency — NMCI’s parent agency — said that the agency “did what we were
>> supposed to” and that a bigger story would come out eventually.

"Psychological projection is a defense mechanism people subconsciously
employ in order to cope with difficult feelings or emotions.
Psychological projection involves projecting undesirable feelings or
emotions onto someone else."

> The NCMI’s job...is predictive in nature—not to explain what is
> happening, but rather “what we believe is going to happen.” To do this,
> NCMI has access to the resources of the totality of the intelligence
> community, including intercepted communications, satellite imagery, and
> sensitive human intelligence, including covert sample collection.
>
> The coronavirus was clearly part of the NCMI’s remit.

> The Staggering Collapse Of U.S. Intelligence On The Coronavirus
> An agency tasked with tracking future bio threats fell down on the job,
> causing us to wonder what else we don't know.
> MARCH 24, 2020 SCOTT RITTER
> https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-staggering-collapse-of-u-s-intelligence-on-the-coronavirus/

>> “Over the coming months and years, that will get unpacked in probably
>> a much more public way, not for this particular venue. But one of the
>> things we have done, and we have done it early on, is we have looked
>> at everything we knew, who we told, when we told them, and when we
>> knew it, and what leader did that get to,” Ashley said at an INSA event.

>> Defense Intel Head: We ‘Did What We Were Supposed To’ With COVID Warning
>> DIA chief hints that the public doesn’t yet know just what the
>> military knew about the coronavirus.
>> PATRICK TUCKER TECHNOLOGY EDITOR SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
>> https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/09/defense-intel-head-we-did-what-we-were-supposed-covid-warning/168538/
>>
>> https://intelsummit.org/Event-Coverage

"The Republican report argues China wanted to cover up the threat and
spread of the virus and then control the narrative of its handling of
the outbreak and discredit contrary reporting."


House Republicans blame Chinese cover-up for coronavirus pandemic
BY LAURA KELLY - 09/21/20
https://thehill.com/policy/international/517395-house-republicans-blame-chinese-cover-up-for-coronavirus-pandemic

[thinbluemime2]

On 2020-09-22 12:22 PM, thinbluemime2 wrote:
> On 2020-09-22 12:06 AM, thinbluemime2 wrote:
>> On 2020-09-21 9:55 PM, thinbluemime2 wrote:
>>> Previously on, "Ohhhh Shhhhit"
>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.arts.tv/bEwXOoLUjms/c97fOc5JBQAJ

>> The Staggering Collapse Of U.S. Intelligence On The Coronavirus
>> An agency tasked with tracking future bio threats fell down on the
>> job, causing us to wonder what else we don't know.
>> MARCH 24, 2020 SCOTT RITTER
>> https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-staggering-collapse-of-u-s-intelligence-on-the-coronavirus/

>>> Defense Intel Head: We ‘Did What We Were Supposed To’ With COVID Warning
>>> DIA chief hints that the public doesn’t yet know just what the
>>> military knew about the coronavirus.
>>> PATRICK TUCKER TECHNOLOGY EDITOR SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
>>> https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/09/defense-intel-head-we-did-what-we-were-supposed-covid-warning/168538/
>>>
>>> https://intelsummit.org/Event-Coverage

> House Republicans blame Chinese cover-up for coronavirus pandemic
> BY LAURA KELLY - 09/21/20
> https://thehill.com/policy/international/517395-house-republicans-blame-chinese-cover-up-for-coronavirus-pandemic

Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare
413 /519



The postwar decades had exposed a cultural tension within truth itself—
or rather, between two common understandings of truth that stand in
permanent opposition to each other.


One is a given, positive and analytical; something is true when it is
accurate and objective, when it lines up with observation, when it is
supported by facts, data, or experiments. It orients itself in the
present, not in the distant, mythical past or an unknowable future.
Truth, in this classic sense, is inherently apolitical. Truthful
observations and facts became the foundation of agreement, not conflict.
The analytic truth bridged divides, and brought opposing views together.
Professionals such as scientists, investigative journalists, forensic
investigators, and intelligence analysts relied upon a set of shared
norms designed to value cold, sober evidence over hot, emotional
rhetoric. Changing one’s position in response to new data was a virtue,
not a weakness.


But there has always been another truth, one that corresponds to belief,
not facts. Something is true when it is right, when backed up by gospel,
or rooted in scripture, anchored in ideology, when it lines up with
values. This truth is based in some distant past or future. Truth, in
this sense, is relative to a specific community with shared values, and
thus inherently political. This truth is preached from a pulpit, not
tested in a lab. The style of delivery is hot, passionate, and
emotional, not cold, detached, and sober. Changing one’s position is a
weakness. It tends to confirm and lock in long-held views, and to divide
along tribal and communal lines.

These two forms of truth, of course, are exaggerations, ideals, clichés.
This distinction is somewhat coarse and simplistic—nevertheless, it
helps explain the logic of disinformation. The goal of disinformation is
to engineer division by putting emotion over analysis, division over
unity, conflict over consensus, the particular over the universal.

For, after all, a democracy’s approach to the truth is not simply an
epistemic question, but an existential question.




------------------

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIYthyp2lto

[thinbluemime2]

On 2020-09-21 9:55 PM, thinbluemime2 wrote:

> What did the U.S. military know about the disruptive and deadly effects
> of COVID-19 and when did they know it? In April, the Pentagon denied a
> report that the National Center for Medical Intelligence was concerned
> about a potential pandemic as far back as last November. But there may
> be more to the story.


> On Wednesday, Gen. Robert Ashley, who runs the Defense Intelligence
> Agency — NMCI’s parent agency — said that the agency “did what we were
> supposed to” and that a bigger story would come out eventually.


> “Over the coming months and years, that will get unpacked in probably a
> much more public way, not for this particular venue.

> Ashley didn’t go much further, but his comment suggests that the
> Pentagon’s April statement didn’t tell the whole story.


> Defense Intel Head: We ‘Did What We Were Supposed To’ With COVID Warning
> DIA chief hints that the public doesn’t yet know just what the military
> knew about the coronavirus.
> PATRICK TUCKER TECHNOLOGY EDITOR SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
> https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/09/defense-intel-head-we-did-what-we-were-supposed-covid-warning/168538/
>
> https://intelsummit.org/Event-Coverage

“Everyone, without exception, believes (Lt.) Gen. Ashley has led this
Agency with heart, honesty and wisdom.”



Office of the DNI
https://twitter.com/ODNIgov/status/1311732635547455490


Not only is @DefenseIntel celebrating its 59th birthday today, the
nation’s premier source of military intelligence also is saying farewell
to Lt. Gen. Ashley, DIA director since 2017. We thank Lt. Gen. Ashley
for his service and commitment to the IC’s mission.
2:20 PM · Oct 1, 2020