Retired General Jack Keane said Friday that his military sources could not corroborate the report that Russia awarded rewards to US soldiers in Afghanistan.
“The problem is not any of the other intelligence agencies or I think some of the other countries that are involved in Afghanistan together with us can verify that,” Keane told “Fox & Friends.”
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The country’s top intelligence officials held a classified briefing with congressional leaders Thursday amid demands for more information on reports that Russian agents offered Taliban-linked militants in Afghanistan thousands of dollars in rewards for kill American troops.
Senior intelligence officials, including CIA Chief Executive Gina Haspel and National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, held the briefing on Thursday afternoon with members of the so-called “Band of Eight”, which includes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky. President Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, and top Republicans and Democrats on both intelligence committees.
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Protection of force is a primary purpose of intelligence. It should be of equal importance to the Commander-in-Chief. Any report of threats to our troops must be pursued relentlessly, “Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said in a statement after the meeting.” These reports are coming to light in the context that the president is being soft [Russian President] Vladimir Putin when it comes to NATO, the G-7, Crimea, Ukraine and the current weakening of the integrity of our elections. “
They added: “Our Armed Forces would be better served if President Trump spent more time reading his daily report and less time planning military parades and defending relics of the Confederacy.”
Capitol Hill meetings occur when President Trump has been under increasing pressure to provide answers on the United States’ response to Russia or the lack of one. But the president has continued to downplay intelligence, calling it “deception” and “fake news” designed to harm him and the Republican Party.
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Keane said that if US military commanders believed that the Russians were imposing rewards on US soldiers in Afghanistan, they would have had the “loudest voice” in the entire national security team because they are responsible.
“They’re on the ground with those soldiers,” said Keane. “They don’t have that evidence.”
