President Joe Biden’s administration signaled on Thursday that it is skeptical of intelligence reports that Russia offered money to Taliban-linked militants to kill American troops in Afghanistan.
Following the New York Times’ initial story in June, Task & Purpose and several other media outlets reported that intelligence officials suspected Russia had offered bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, possibly including three Marines killed in April 2019.
But on Thursday, a senior administration official told reporters that America’s top spies do not put much stock in the intelligence about the alleged bounties.
“U.S. intelligence community agencies have low to moderate confidence in this judgment, in part because it relies on detainee reporting and due to the challenging operating environment in Afghanistan,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity during a National Security Council conference call.
The official’s comments could indicate that the White House believes this issue is now closed. If so, it would mark the end of a nagging question for the military that quickly became a political football.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/russ...21npRqlHI5chDk