Is frequent CIA incompetence a bug or a feature? From Larry Johnson at ronpaulinstitute.org:
Sy Hersh’s latest Substack article on the prospects a successful outcome of the US attempt to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is important because it reveals the pathetic incompetence of the CIA. It appears that Sy reported what senior Trump officials told him about the on going negotiations with the Russians and Ukrainians, and that those officials were sharing their understanding of the capabilities of Russia and Ukraine based on intelligence reports and intelligence analysis provided principally by CIA analysts. Here are some of the more egregious claims by these officials:
Both nations are on the verge of economic and military collapse…
Putin is facing economic, political, military, and public pressure…
Putin is facing increasing political, economic, and military opposition in Moscow—mortgage rates are soaring and the Russian military is in serious disarray—has realized that he must end the war…
Ongoing warfare is not going to change the balance of forces. Putin is under pressure to end the war from his military and from a public staggered by its continuing cost, and inflation is at 8.4 percent…
Some of the most senior Russian generals, while still loyal to Putin, urgently want the depleted Russian Army to get out.
Putin is staying afloat by borrowing money from Russian banks that are not permitted to lend to the population.
Rather than debunk each of these claims, I will focus on the last two. Regarding the claim that Russian banks “are not permitted to lend to the population.” Wrong! Russian banks are fully allowed—and actively do—make loans to Russian citizens. According to Russia’s Central Bank and news reports from Reuters, Bloomberg, and The Moscow Times, there are no prohibitions on domestic lending to Russian individuals under current regulations (as of December 2025). Consumer lending (unsecured loans, mortgages, car loans, credit cards) is a major part of the Russian banking sector, with retail loan portfolios growing steadily because Russian wages have increased more than the rate of inflation — 20% — and are greater than the high interest rates. How could the Trump intelligence community get such an easy fact to verify so wrong?
