Cry for Sy'

Tell me it aint so, Sy

Despair and anger are growing in some parts of the US intelligence community about Vladimir Putin’s refusal to consider ending the war with Ukraine. The Russian president is facing devastating economic problems at home and is ignoring his restless senior military command—in pursuit of what?

Businesses are reeling and shops are closing—in part due to international sanctions—in Moscow and throughout Russia. In Washington, there is talk of the possibility of a change at the top. US intelligence officials who for years viewed Putin with reluctant respect for what they saw as his shrewdness and his willingness to kill to stay in power are now wondering why Putin is continuing a war that could lead to economic chaos and a demand for new leadership. Seymour Hersh

That’s the beginning of Sy’s new article on Putin on Substack.

It’s behind a Paywall. I downloaded the Substack app to my Android for a free read and was ever so glad I didn’t pay.

As a one-time journalist, it saddened me. Hersh used to be a great journalist,billed as an “investigative” reporter —but he obviously isn’t that any more. One can forgive a mistake here or there — but not just repeating propaganda and calling it “reporting”.

And what’s this stuff about “despair and anger” in the US intelligence community over Putin…. Sorry Sy, you get a D on this essay. Go to the back of the class.

But what happened to you, Sy? “Investigative reporting” is “forensic”— this is not

Beside repeating that old and rotting trope-tripe about Putin the Killer, “murdering” his way to power, Hersh quotes a naturally un-named official who quotes Gerasimov saying the army is falling apart, and then. various Russia “experts” such as Ukraine’s Alexander Kolyandr, the former WSJ guy now at the European Center for Policy Analysis and the pro-Ukrainian media outlet, The Bell. He says the Russian economy just looks good but really isn’t. He also cites Alekandra Prokopenko, a Russian Atlanticist, who opposed the SMO. and hasn’t been right about anything since 2022.

This is what “top-down” thinking looks like . It’s also called “System 1” thinking.

Now top-down thinking can be useful in many situations — it’s fast and heuristic. But it all depends on where you start, which is usually from an sem-conscious a priori assumption - a bias. Keep in mind that “biases” are just tools - they can be correct or incorrect, lead to positive outcomes or negative ones.

When Hersh reported on Mai Lai, the evidence was overwhelming — there could be no denying it. It was simple.

Also, at this point in the war, a substantial part of the American public could accept the idea that the war was unjust and the military were committing atrocities. The same kind of assumptions applied in the case of the Secret War in Laos and Cambodia , which had become a classic Open Secret. They applied in the case of Watergate, as well. and at that point also when you start from a preconception – that is, that Putin and Russia are failing --and then look for confirmation from “official sources”.

Seymour used to know better.

This article is wrong, wrong, wrong.

The ‘long war” and sanctions are helping Russia grow – not hurting the country at all – driving the growth of whole new industries – and leading to industrial diversification.

The Russians are making money not losing, which is more than you can say for the US.

The military is not falling apart, is expanding and developing. New aircraft. New missiles. New drones. New tanks. New everything. And battle-tested.

In most operations these days, Russia loses just one soldier KIA for every 20 Ukrainians.

His “restless senior military command s tighter and better controlled than it has ever been with numerous prosecutions of corrupt commanders and the elevation of younger,, brighter leaders .

Putin’s career has been characterized by selection of capable leaders – Lavrov is a prime example – but also Shogiu, Gerasimov, recently Belosouv.

Compare that to Trump’s “team” of deadheads, including that military moron Hegseth and his equally disabled Chief of Staff Dan Caine.

The SVO is going exceedingly well, with victory after victory.

And this is shown by public confidence in Putin. I have checked the AI summation below and it is correct.

Cry for Sy’. He was a great man once.

Note:

Many thanks to El Dragon for putting me onto this Hersh article!

And for military buffs. Note that the factory completed the entire T90M order in just one year! So much for the authenticity of Hersh’s sources!

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