Blame is a Necessary Cause

Causal conundrums like Ukraine's firing squad

Was it the aspirin that removed the headache or other factors? Or was it something event-based, something to do with lighting a house on fire, after which one event happened and another happened and another and so on? Maybe there is a contradiction between the house burning down and the killing fictionalized nine months later?

About that Brett Forrest exclusive appearing on January 18, 2023 in The Wall Street Journal last week, titled Russian Spy or Ukrainian Hero? The Strange Death of Denys Kiryeyev.

In fall 2021, as U.S. military and spy agencies began warning of the Russian threat, Mr. Kiryeyev learned from his sources that Moscow was readying to invade, Gen. Budanov said, and became the first to sound the alarm in Ukraine.

Huh?

The sources? Kiryeyev’s sources working for the CIA? Last time I checked, US officials warned Ukraine’s leaders repeatedly about Russia’s imminent and inevitable all-out invasion plans¹.

It was policy at the President’s Office to talk down the threat², which was briefed to Z in persona by CIA Director William Burns before the 2022 eastern Orthodox New Year³.

Just ask #fontfreak John Hudson, who these daze doubles as Burns’ press secretary @wapo.

CIA director holds secret meeting with Zelensky on Russia’s next steps. High-level visit by Burns comes at critical juncture in war and as government in Kyiv airs concern about durability of U.S. support (The Washington Post January 20, 2023)

The WSJ’s exclusive is conspicuous for the information it leaves out, some of which is filled in by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service post-publication pow wow with a spy chief. As for Brett’s Ukraine-based exploits, including his harrowing escape to Lviv and Warsaw at the start of the blitzkrieg, they have been dutifully chronicled by storyteller Neil over at @Work/Craft/Life, a Substack page readers can cultivate for a $200 annually.

Many foreign journalists in Ukraine suffer from something called ‘impostor syndrome,’ a perpetual fear that someone will find out they don’t know what they’re talking about. Our job is to help them, if possible. It wasn’t in this case.

1. Teetering on the Edge of Inanity (January 30, 2022)

2. Lost in Translation. Imminent Inevitability in Ukraine's Underpants (February 4, 2022)

3. Stay Out of Doorways. Tactical Athletics at Tootsie’s (January 12, 2022)