The Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
August 25, 2024
Arrest of Telegram founder could hurt public understanding of the Ukraine war
Featuring: Samuel Bendett
Adjunct Senior Fellow, Technology and National Security Program
Samuel Bendett is an Adviser with CNA Strategy, Policy, Plans and Programs Center (SP3), where he is a member of the Russia Studies Program. His work involves research on the .
Source: Defense One
Journalist: Patrick Tucker
“On the Russian side, Telegram is used by all levels of the Russian ministry of defense, from the senior officials down to specific units who report on their progress, the Russian government officials, by regional officials, by volunteers, by private citizens, and many others,” said Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and an adviser at the CNA Corporation.
Bendett said conflict-related information that comes from the site carries a specific, pro-Russian point of view, but it still provides an important window into how some of the war’s most vocal supporters perceive events on the ground.
“The platform’s significance was underscored by a campaign by the Russian government in 2023 to co-opt some independent Russian military bloggers and correspondents, and to influence others to be a lot less critical of the Kremlin and of the ministry of defense,” he told Defense One....
Still, Bendett said, “It’s not clear exactly what Durov’s arrest will mean for Telegram going forward, and what it means for specific sources and or specific origins of data that is populated there about the war.”
. . .Nuland comes to the group with a strong bipartisan background. Read the full story and more from Defense One.
Victoria Nuland named CEO of Center for a New American Security
- Under the George W. Bush administration, she served as deputy national security adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney and deputy chief of mission for the United States at NATO, before becoming the full ambassador to NATO in President George W. Bush’s second term.
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Two US aircraft carriers to stay in Middle East after Hezbollah attack
By Noah Robertson
Defense News
3 days ago
Two Navy aircraft carriers, including the Theodore Roosevelt, are now operating in the Middle East amid continuing concerns about a larger regional war erupting. TR sailors are shown here in July. (U.S. Navy)
The Pentagon has extended the deployment of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group after a largely failed attack by the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah on Israel over the weekend.
Choosing to keep the second carrier in the Middle East means there will now be two carriers and their warships available for U.S. Central Command amid the threat of a full regional war erupting.
The TR arrived in the Middle East in early July, while fellow carrier Abraham Lincoln steamed into the region last week.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the decision in a statement over the weekend.
Theodore Roosevelt replaced the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose deployment to the region had itself been extended multiple times, earlier this summer.
The extensions are part of America’s surge in forces to the region this month in an attempt to avert a larger conflict between Israel and Iran and its proxies.
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USS Abraham Lincoln arrives in Middle East
In addition to Lincoln, another fighter jet squadron, and other assets have also been rushed to the region.
Choosing to keep the second carrier in the Middle East means there will now be two carriers and their warships available for U.S. Central Command amid the threat of a full regional war erupting.
The TR arrived in the Middle East in early July, while fellow carrier Abraham Lincoln steamed into the region last week.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the decision in a statement over the weekend.
Theodore Roosevelt replaced the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose deployment to the region had itself been extended multiple times, earlier this summer.
The extensions are part of America’s surge in forces to the region this month in an attempt to avert a larger conflict between Israel and Iran and its proxies.
RELATED
USS Abraham Lincoln arrives in Middle East
In addition to Lincoln, another fighter jet squadron, and other assets have also been rushed to the region.
- The Georgia, a ballistic missile submarine, is still on its way to CENTCOM, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday.
The surge seeks to provide some gray-hull deterrence after Israel launched two strikes in late July that heightened regional tensions — one in Lebanon’s capital that came in retaliation for an earlier strike from Hezbollah, and another in Tehran, killing the political leader of Hamas.
Since then, the U.S. and its partners in the region have been bracing for return strikes from Hezbollah and Iran.
- The first came this weekend in an attack involving more than 230 rockets fired from Lebanon, according to the Israeli military.
- Preemptive strikes from Israel mainly thwarted the salvo, and both sides signaled that they were deescalating afterward.
“I think that the additional forces in the theater send a very clear message to all actors in the region that were serious when it comes to supporting the defense of Israel,” he said.
Ryder said the U.S. had helped Israel spot incoming rockets from Hezbollah but hadn’t participated in Israel’s preemptive strikes in Lebanon. Israel didn’t need kinetic support, Ryder said, but the U.S. is prepared to aid in its defense going forward.
“We continue to assess that there is a threat of attack” from Iran, Ryder said.
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