what are you insinuating?

The question you ask presupposes that I meant something other than what I wrote. I did not. What I wrote is plainly understood exactly as it is written. Do you not understand it as it's written?

The question you ask presupposes that I meant something other than what I wrote — creativesoul

It does? I used the wrong word then.

Do you not understand it as it's written?
4h — creativesoul

Not really, no.

There have been an extremely unusually high number of American agents murdered or missing since Trump left office.

Trump illegally took the kind of highly classified documents that deal with agent information like those agents to Mar-a-lago.

Is that a coincidence?

Not if those stolen documents directly pertain to those missing or murdered agents. Not if the classified information pertaining to those agents is missing.

right. Who would be bumping off those agents, and for what purpose, in your opinion?

I've no idea.

could you post some links about these agents?

No.

There have been an extremely unusually high number of American agents murdered or missing since Trump left office. — creativesoul

Can you provide a source?

I believe he's referring to this.

Leading counterintelligence officials issued a memo to all of the CIA’s global stations saying that a concerning number of U.S. informants were being captured and executed.

The CIA’s counterintelligence mission center investigated dozens of incidents in the last few years that involved killings, arrests or compromises of foreign informants. In an unusual move, the message sent via a top secret cable included the specific number of agents killed by other intelligence agencies, according to The New York Times.

Officials said that level of detail is a sign of the significance of the cable. Announcing the specific number of killings is rare as that figure is typically held under wraps from the public and even from some CIA employees, the Times noted.

The cable, which also cited the issue of putting “mission over security,” comes amid recent efforts by countries like Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan to find CIA informants and turn them into double agents, the Times reported.

The memo also noted long standing issues like placing too much trust in sources, a speedy recruiting process and inadequate attention to potential intelligence risks among other problems.

The uptick in compromised informants highlights the more sophisticated ways in which foreign intelligence agencies are tracking the CIA’s actions. These mechanisms include artificial intelligence, facial recognition tools and other hacking methods, per the Times.

The New York Times also reported that CIA case officers were sometimes promoted for recruiting spies often regardless of the success, performance or quality of that spy.

“No one at the end of the day is being held responsible when things go south with an agent,” Douglas London, a former CIA operative who was unaware of the cable, said to the Times. “Sometimes there are things beyond our control but there are also occasions of sloppiness and neglect and people in senior positions are never held responsible.”

People who have read the cable added that it was intended for the officers who are most directly involved in enlisting and vetting potential new informants, the Times reported.

The CIA declined to comment on the matter.

@creativesoul wasn't quite accurate in saying that it's "since Trump left office". Rather it's "in the last few years". And it's not American agents, but agents working for America.

Thanks Michael. What prompted me to ask is the connection to Trump.

Thanks. That's sounds like what I remember seeing only once mentioned, then forgotten.

Pretty sure that release was prior to the Mar-a-lago search. I just wondered if there was any conncection between Trump's penchant for stealing classified materials and that reporting.

Trump sues CNN for saying mean things about him.

I guess mere words matter after all, aye @NOS4A2 ? :lol:

Trump sues CNN for saying mean things about him. — praxis

Trump claims in his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that CNN had used its considerable influence as a leading news organization to defeat him politically.

To be honest, I am in Trump's side. Big press and social media tend to use their high influence to destroy your image or political career. This happens everywhere.

Wait, what? Trump was defeated? I thought he “lost” because of voter fraud.

So the press should be firmly regulated by the government? :grimace:

So the press should be firmly regulated by the government? — praxis

No need. . . It already serves the system willingly. :mask:

If it’s serving then why is Trump grumpy about it?

source — Fooloso4

Source - that's the word I was looking for.

So the press should be firmly regulated by the government? — praxis

The press should be impartial and express the news objectively.

It already serves the system willingly. — Merkwurdichliebe

:up: :sparkle:

If you control the press then it’s no longer free though, right?

If you control the press then it’s no longer free though, right? — praxis

Exactly and both political parties are guilty.

If it’s serving then why is Trump grumpy about it? — praxis

Trump is not the system, it doesn't serve him. It's my opinion that, unlike every other president, he does not serve the system, which is why people either love him or hate him.

both political parties are guilty. — javi2541997

:up:

If you control the press then it’s no longer free though, right?
— praxis

Exactly and both political parties are guilty. — javi2541997

Maybe an example will help clarify what we are each trying to convey. Are you familiar with the Breitbart News Network? It's an American far-right syndicated news, opinion, and commentary website. You seem to be suggesting that a far-right party controls Breitbart. Who would that be exactly and how do they enforce their control?

. You seem to be suggesting that a far-right party controls Breitbart. Who would that be exactly and how do they enforce their control? — praxis

Every political group needs to be heard by the population. It is not the same if I express myself in the streets rather than spread all my speech in news and media which catch up millions and millions of citizens. Every clever politician controls a newspaper or journalists to control all the citizens.
You asked "who" are they exactly and how they do it. It is very difficult to know because those powerful groups tend to act in the shadows or as a "ghost writers"

For example: Nazi Germany is well known as a good example of spreading propaganda about Hitler. But... Hitler himself was not the main responsible for these actions. It was Goebbles. This Nazi politician was "Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda"
Why he did that? Because he understood they only way of maintaining III Reich and going to war was manipulating the people. As much as we know it today.

I recommend you to read this: Dreyfus affair. One of the main examples of fake news and manipulation by the press and journalists.

So you don’t know who they are or how they control the news and yet have no problem with defaming Breitbart on a public forum. Shouldn’t news networks be allowed the freedom that you have?

I am not defaming "Breitbart" on a public forum (I don't even know who is he). What I intended to argue is the fact that news are a very powerful political lobby. They can help you to reach the top or destroy your career.
I understand that there could be transparent journalists but they don't tend to work in big media as CNN, NY Times, BBC, etc...

Shouldn’t news networks be allowed the freedom that you have? — praxis

Absolutely. But... are they really free? We the citizens end up receiving the "real" freedom thanks to their "independence"

Shouldn’t news networks be allowed the freedom that you have?
— praxis

Absolutely. But... are they really free? — javi2541997

So far you have neglected to explain how they are not free. You claim that politicians control newspapers and journalists but fail to explain how they control them. Is it by bribery or blackmail? Do gangs of armed thugs force them to do whatever politicians want? You also mention “ghost writers” who work for “powerful groups”. This is all meaningless without facts or anything substantive to support your claims.

If a news outlets wants to hire ghost writers they are free to do so. I’m not aware of any laws against hiring ghost writers. Ghost writers can also be easily fired, unless they have a strong union or something.

They just use their influence. Being a powerful politician is intimidatory.

I shared with you an article about "Dreyfuss case" but I guess you didn't read it or didn't understand it because that article explains very well how powerful groups use press and journalists but I going to use another example and try to convince you.

The 1991 Gulf War and the following Iraq crisis is a perfect example. This conflict started because of the war between Iraq and Kuwait, right? Well it turned up everything in a more complex issue. Don't you remember the fallacy of "Iraq holds nuke weapons"? Why there was an interest in such lie?
The powerful members of NATO needed to use a fallacy, through journalists and newspapers, to the intervention in Iraq. "News World Order" was the title of another program in the series; it focused on the media's complicity in promoting the war, as well as Americans' reactions to the media coverage.

Years later in 2003:

Despite this lack of physical evidence, on 19th March 2003 President Bush announced the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, informing the public that the Iraq Regime threatened peace with weapons of mass murder.
Of course, the US and its allies never found WMD’s. Speaking before the World Affairs Council in 2006, Bush stated that he “fully understood that the intelligence was wrong, and [he was] just as disappointed as everybody else" when U.S. troops failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

Link and facts: Bush, The Media & Misinformation Surrounding the Iraq War