‘These Lunatics Want WWIII’: NBC, New York Times Ripped For Reporting U.S. Intel Helped Sink Russian Ship
NBC News and the New York Times and were both ripped on Twitter Thursday for reporting the U.S. provided Ukraine with the intelligence needed to sink a Russian cruiser last month.
On April 11, the Ukrainian forces landed two missile strikes on the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. It sank shortly thereafter.
NBC and the Times both reported Ukraine could not have struck the ship without the help of U.S. intelligence.
The Times reported,
The targeting help, which contributed to the eventual sinking of the flagship, the Moskva, is part of a continuing classified effort by the Biden administration to provide real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine. That intelligence also includes sharing anticipated Russian troop movements, gleaned from a recent American assessment of Moscow’s battle plan for the fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the officials said.
The administration has sought to keep much of the battlefield and maritime intelligence it is sharing with the Ukrainians secret out of fear it will be seen as an escalation and provoke President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia into a wider war.
Users on Twitter wondered why the outlets did not refrain from running the story, given the concerns that the information could drag the U.S. into a direct conflict with Russia.
These fools are hell bent on starting #WWIII
What do you call someone who provides targeting info for an attack?
A combatant
That’s us now thanks to Biden’s clown car of incompetentshttps://t.co/NQ4k2wHKUc— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) May 5, 2022
This is a dumb story, meant for those who have no idea how intelligence works.
— Mark Hertling (@MarkHertling) May 5, 2022
It would appear that certain officials in the Biden Administration really want to drop the pretense and just openly declare war https://t.co/XM9z68CTOd
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 5, 2022
Please. Administration. Stfu.
— John Sipher (@john_sipher) May 6, 2022
There’s something off in the non-stop reporting that keeps crediting U.S. intelligence for Ukrainian victories.
This credit-taking doesn’t serve the interests of the CIA and the White House. There’s a whiff of an agenda from the source(s). https://t.co/QNbGpTO3T3
— Nicolas Falacci (@NickFalacci) May 6, 2022
Making this public is a bad idea. https://t.co/z0B8JHd8sa
— Amy Zegart (@AmyZegart) May 6, 2022
in whose interest is it among US military/intelligence sources to publicize these claims? https://t.co/GydK2HRn03
— Philip Gourevitch (@PGourevitch) May 6, 2022
I feel like these stories only serve to get us into war… https://t.co/o9sS5rRW8L
— Joel L. Watts, NCC, LPC (@eJoelWatts) May 6, 2022
Wherein the US news media unthinkingly sets off WWIII… or undermines Ukraine’s future response. https://t.co/MzVBXk3SLd
— Kenneth Cukier (@kncukier) May 5, 2022
Btw this article & the NYT one yesterday discussing how us intel helped kill Russian generals, I don’t understand why “US officials” are gloating so much now. What is the larger strategy?
Let the Ukrainians have their victory, and let us be quietly magnanimous in our efforts https://t.co/5Q9kYE13a0
— Aki Peritz (@AkiPeritz) May 5, 2022
‘U.S. intel helped Ukraine sink Russian flagship Moskva, officials say’
First Pelosi and Schiff publicly stand alongside Zelensky in a “war zone.”
Now we’re leaking this to prove we’re all in.
These lunatics want WWIII https://t.co/h1UwtoiXr0
— John 1776 Cardillo (@johncardillo) May 5, 2022
After two months of nearly flawless handling of intel, suddenly there are people in the Biden administration who can’t shut their yaps. https://t.co/oN9XOXjta3
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 6, 2022
I’m not mad about it but also the inability of some US officials to stop running their collective suck is just astounding. https://t.co/vGBJZZmFxz
— Blake Herzinger (@BDHerzinger) May 5, 2022
NY Times is doing its best to provoke ww3 https://t.co/GP6IDZUweg
— Aléx Young (@AlexYoung) May 5, 2022
