Mwalimu-G
Elder Lister
Stephen Collinson and Caitlin Hu
'Prospects for a peace deal remain low'
Relationships between the heads of the CIA, FBI, NSA and DIA and then-President Donald Trump were so brittle that the spooks avoided testifying in public at annual Worldwide Threats hearings in Congress last year. The problem then was that their fact-based review of national security perils clashed with the fantasy planet on which Trump lived.
But US espionage leaders will be back in front of the cameras on Wednesday and Thursday in the Senate and House Intelligence committees, vowing to tell the truth about what America faces — even if it upsets people. Their appearance could not be better timed, since the world is beginning to look like an increasingly dangerous place, as rivals appear to be testing the new US President.
The new Biden administration is locked in standoffs with Russia and China over Ukraine and Taiwan. A mystery attack on an Iranian nuclear plant threatens to destroy President Joe Biden’s hopes of reviving a nuclear deal with Tehran. North Korea is playing missile roulette again. And Biden plans to pull all US troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, spurring fears of a Taliban takeover.
Intelligence bosses have already warned of the pandemic's destabilizing influence on the world. In a report released ahead of the hearings, they cite economic dislocation and job losses, and predict surges of cross-border migrants and toppled governments. They say Russia and China are ready to take advantage of the coming discord.
It's a dark picture. But at least we’ll get to hear it from the horse’s mouth this year
