How ‘Mild Bill’ Burns led a covert CIA campaign in Ukraine

By Free Republic | Created at 2025-01-18 01:47:28 | Updated at 2025-01-18 04:02:29 2 hours ago

How ‘Mild Bill’ Burns led a covert CIA campaign in Ukraine
The Washington Post ^ | January 17, 2025 4:55 PM EST | David Ignatius

Posted on 01/17/2025 5:37:52 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum

No one would ever refer to CIA Director William J. Burns as “Wild Bill,” the nickname of William J. Donovan, who led the OSS, the agency’s swashbuckling predecessor, during World War II. But the self-effacing Burns has bravely commanded a CIA force in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly three years ago.

Burns had just returned from his 14th visit to Ukraine when I visited him in late December at CIA headquarters. Two days before, he had been with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv. His trips are usually secret, but this time Zelensky posted a photo of the two shaking hands before a Ukrainian flag.

“Throughout this war, we’ve had many meetings, and I am deeply grateful for his assistance,” Zelensky wrote. “We don’t disclose secrets, but we keep in touch.”

Ukraine has been in many ways Burns’s war, more than for any other U.S. official. He warned Kyiv and the world in late 2021 that the Russians were coming by sharing highly sensitive U.S. intelligence. His CIA officers stayed on the ground after the Russian invasion began and after U.S. diplomats and military personnel had departed. They have been at the front for nearly three years, sharing intelligence to help Ukraine target Russian invaders.

Burns on a deeper level has been locked in an intelligence duel with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It’s not exactly George Smiley vs. Karla in John Le Carré’s novels, but it’s close. Burns first met Putin about 20 years ago as U.S. ambassador to Moscow, and he has been listening to Putin’s threats and boasts ever since.

Putin is “an emperor who is not quite fully clothed,” Burns tartly cabled Washington in 2007. In his 2019 memoir, “The Back Channel,” he memorably described the Russian leader: “Putin’s intimidating aura is often belied by his...”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...

TOPICS: Humor
KEYWORDS: anthonyfauci; billburns; cia; davidignatius; foreignagent; foreignlobbyist; jeffreyepstein; warcriminal

Hey! FReepers!
Help Fill The Tank!
How About It? Huh?
It Ain't Askin' Too Much
Ya Know....

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you.

Mildew Bill seems to have no qualms about admitting this was a proxy war from the very beginning.

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Isn’t David Ignatius a CIA asset at best?

2 posted on 01/17/2025 5:39:12 PM PST by Paladin2

To: E. Pluribus Unum

--- " ...a covert CIA campaign in Ukraine...."

Imagine that. Three+ years of war, and there's a "covert CIA campaign in Ukraine?"

And the blind squirrels find nuts.

To: E. Pluribus Unum

“Ukraine has been in many ways Burns’s war”

Well he’s certainly BURNING what used to be a country in Europe, but now will be carved out to neighboring countries, at least if the Neocons get their way.

4 posted on 01/17/2025 5:42:21 PM PST by BobL

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Read Entire Article