What follows is my English translation of a short article, originally published in French on FranceSoir.fr on 9th September 2024 and then in Italian on ComeDonChisciotte.org the day after, 10th September 2024. (All formatting original).
CIA Director Bill Burns (left) and MI6 Director Richard Moore (right).
For their first joint public appearance in almost 80 years of collaboration, there were more solemnities than significant revelations. Authors of a joint column in the Financial Times, the heads of the CIA and MI6 met this Saturday in London during the FT Weekend Festival to discuss the current international geopolitical situation. Their statements focused mainly on Russia and the war in Ukraine, and much less on China and Islamic terrorism. According to the two heads of the British and American intelligence agencies, the “tyrant Putin will continue to pull out all the stops” and China is the “main geopolitical challenge of the 21st century in terms of intelligence”.
Briton Richard Moore and American William Burns first wrote a column in the Financial Times in which they explained how the two agencies are “staying one step ahead in an uncertain world”. “There is no doubt that the international world order, the balancing system that has brought relative peace and stability and raised living standards, opportunity and prosperity, is under threat in a way not seen since the Cold War”.
Focus on Russia
According to them, the main threat is none other than Russia. “The CIA and the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service, ed.) are joining forces to resist an aggressive Russia and Putin's war of aggression in Ukraine. We foresaw this and were able to warn the international community so that everyone could mobilise in defence of Ukraine. We carefully declassified some of our secrets in a new and effective effort”, they wrote.
The two directors also met for the first joint public appearance of an MI6 and CIA chief, more than 70 years after they began working together. Like their article in the Financial Times, almost all their statements focused on Moscow and the Kremlin's leader, Vladimir Putin. Putin “is a tyrant. He will continue to pull shenanigans from time to time”, William Burns said, referring to the Kremlin's threats of nuclear escalation, the latest being the revision of Russia's nuclear doctrine.
“There was a time, in the fall of 2022, when I think there was a real risk that Russia might use tactical nuclear weapons”, the CIA chief continued. But these concerns “are no longer relevant today”, as they were linked to an advance by Ukrainian troops in Kherson, which could have prompted Moscow to use a nuclear weapon. However, the situation is similar now, with the intrusion of Ukrainian forces into Russian territory, specifically in Kursk.
This offensive, William Burns continues, “has undermined Vladimir Putin's war narrative”. His British counterpart, Richard Moore, hastened to temper this statement, pointing out that it is “too early” to draw such conclusions, not knowing how much longer the Ukrainian army will be able to defend the targeted areas.
China's “rise to power” a new “priority” for the two agencies
Despite this “significant tactical victory” for Kiev, the CIA chief acknowledges that the Russian president's power has not been affected, expressing other concerns that have been raised since the beginning of the conflict. These include the possibility of Tehran increasing its military aid to its ally, so far limited to drones, by supplying ballistic missiles, for example.
For the two directors, both the CIA and MI6 have an interest in “maintaining a vital technological advantage”. As for the other “threat”, namely China's “rise to power”, Richard Moore and William Burns barely mentioned it, both in their article and during their speech at the FT Weekend Festival. Beijing “represents the main geopolitical and intelligence challenge of the 21st century. We have therefore reorganised our services to reflect this priority”, they wrote.
Regarding the war in Gaza and the threat of terrorism, Moore and Burns said they “will continue to work together to ease tensions in the region”.
Despite the exceptional nature of this joint public appearance, the exchanges remained largely conventional, repeating the narrative that has prevailed for many years, without revealing any truly new information. The CIA and MI6 chiefs reiterated long-established positions on the war in Ukraine and a China seen as the major strategic challenge of the century, particularly with the expansion of AI.
Moore (left) and Burns (right) together on 7 September 2024.
these 2 are so full of shite, it defies logic... the cia was invented around the same time as nato - both objectives being to be the top dog and to tell others how to live and behave according to them... the fact nato wanted to incorporate ukraine as far back as the late 90's and ignored all concerns russia expressed about this implies that never learned one lesson from the cuban missile crisis.. they learned nothing from it!! they wanted to recreate it on russias doorstep instead!
these intel agencies are very good at fearmongering, when they are not busy censoring social media, youtube and etc. etc. with all their backdoor priviledges granted them by the same corporations - google, facebook, twitter and etc... and of course this is why they want to shut down tik tok, telegram and etc. etc - because they don't have a back door to them!!!
i hope people wake up to the deceitful and nefarious intentions of these organizations and the bozos who periodically lead them... they also have undue influence over the mainstream media which is why all the fearmongering about russia, china, iran and etc - is essentially non stop... they honestly take ordinary citizens like you and i to be complete ignoramus's... well they are dead wrong about that..
Does anyone actually still believe this garbage?
I'm ashamed of so much about the west. Their killing and lying only benefits the extremely wealthy.
these 2 are so full of shite, it defies logic... the cia was invented around the same time as nato - both objectives being to be the top dog and to tell others how to live and behave according to them... the fact nato wanted to incorporate ukraine as far back as the late 90's and ignored all concerns russia expressed about this implies that never learned one lesson from the cuban missile crisis.. they learned nothing from it!! they wanted to recreate it on russias doorstep instead!
these intel agencies are very good at fearmongering, when they are not busy censoring social media, youtube and etc. etc. with all their backdoor priviledges granted them by the same corporations - google, facebook, twitter and etc... and of course this is why they want to shut down tik tok, telegram and etc. etc - because they don't have a back door to them!!!
i hope people wake up to the deceitful and nefarious intentions of these organizations and the bozos who periodically lead them... they also have undue influence over the mainstream media which is why all the fearmongering about russia, china, iran and etc - is essentially non stop... they honestly take ordinary citizens like you and i to be complete ignoramus's... well they are dead wrong about that..