This Is A Purge ...

 ... which must have been done in Trump's first term. 

One of the CIA’s most senior Russia analysts has lost her job during President Donald Trump’s campaign to depoliticize the intelligence services, The Economist reported on Thursday. The officer, whose identity was not disclosed, oversaw the drafting of a report accusing Russia of interfering in the 2016 US presidential election in favor of Trump. The Economist described her as “the country’s top intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia,” who coordinated operations related to the former Soviet Union. According to the outlet, her security clearance was revoked on August 19, along with those of 36 other current and former officials.

The whole Russiagate thing couldn't pass the smell test from the inception and was nothing more than a crude PR media campaign. A moron could have come up with such "operation". But here we are, this partisan shyster passed for "the country's top intelligence officer for Russia". She couldn't have been because I can only reiterate the point--today Washington has NO real analysts and Russia experts anywhere near levers of power and influence. 

Remarkably, Larry delves into the level of delusion of the so called "expert community" when it comes to Russia. 

Is Trump sincere in wanting to forge closer ties with Russia, or is he pursuing the strategy elucidated by A. Wess Mitchell — who is a buddy of Deputy Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby — in his August 2021 article in The National Interest: A Strategy for Avoiding Two-Front War? The heart of Mitchell’s argument is that the US must convince Russia that China is the real enemy, and that the US must secure Russia’s cooperation in a US campaign to contain China. This is not just some average former US Foreign Service officer opining… Mitchell has sterling academic credentials and served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs during Trump’s first term. Mitchell is currently the head of a think tank, and from that perch he was tasked by the Pentagon Office of Net Assessment with writing a longer version of this paper, which was delivered to the Pentagon in the Fall of 2020. In other words, Mitchell was asked to provide the US Department of Defense with a strategic vision for dealing with Russia and China  

Mitchell is your classic "humanities" product of the US degree mills with zero grasp of Russia, modern warfare and real economy. As a result, the only thing these types of people can do is a doctrine-mongering based on white board theories, which led to a precipitous decline of the American intellectual, diplomatic and military abilities. You cannot explain to contemporary average American "diplomat" or intel person what Correlation of Forces and Means is and how it shapes operational and strategic realities and national grand strategies--they simply have no tool kit to grasp it because it lies completely outside the American experience. Those few who get it are not allowed anywhere near levers of power and think-tank and academic sinecures. And that is why the US loses all of her wars and is now completely within the vicious circle of national humiliation.