Tag Archives: Chrystialand

Mar 1 2023

Do Not Fear Nuclear War – You Can Survive!


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Mar 1, 2023 by Martin Armstrong


QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong I have been reading your blogs for the last couple of years. I’m a simple human, not a scholar but so scared about nuclear war, Is nuclear war 100 percent coming here in the USA? If so any suggestions as to what we can do to survive? where should we go ? what country is safe? I am Canadian but they are part of Nato, Im also Greek but I live in upstate NY … I have been searching the web for advice as to where is a safe place. I sold my property in Montreal because I felt Trudeau was insane and now I’m thinking did I screw up … I have like 4 properties here in the USA and a couple in Greece what should I do? should I be looking for a Bunker? o a place south of the equator? I’m truly scared to death … please send me a non-vague response I’m going out of my mind. will the USA ever be a good place again?

BM

This illustration shows the radius of a 100-megatonne nuclear bomb dropped on New York City. Nuclear War will not destroy the planet. Look at Japan. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki have proven that the “science” claimed that those cities would be uninhabitable for a thousand years after a nuclear war was wrong. Their populations doubled in 20 years after being nuked? Hiroshima now has 9 times its 1945 population.

The GOOD NEWS is you can then just nuke your opponent and actually save the planet is their twisted view of nuclear war. Without electricity, your opponent could not even make a phone call to launch a response. But if we look at Chornobyl, the nuclear disaster restored the region, which became a sanctuary for animals void of humans, in Ukraine.

Bikini Atoll 70 years after nuclear tests is thriving. On July 24, 1946, Baker Test shrouded its formidable height over the U.S. Navy’s test fleet. The United States dropped 23 nuclear bombs on the island, including a device in 1954 that was 1,100 times larger than the Hiroshima atom bomb. Now a team of scientists from Stanford University has been stunned. They discovered an abundance of marine life apparently thriving in the crater of Bikini Atoll, which was declared a nuclear wasteland after the bombings.

Strangely enough, the same has been found at Chernobyl in Ukraine. It is starting to emerge that even setting off every nuclear bomb will not destroy the planet or turn Earth into space rocks. We can alter our environment by doing so and ridding the planet of humanity as the dominant species, but Earth will heal itself and life will adapt exactly as scientists have discovered in Ukraine at the site of Chernobyl. Wildlife has thrived because it sent humans running.

This new evidence emerging from Chernobyl and Bikini Atoll is demonstrating that we just may not be as smart as we think we are no less all-powerful. Obviously, those pushing for World War III, see themselves as far smarter than we are. They are really trying to save the planet from us – or that’s what they are whispering in the dark bowel of government. Exterminate humanity and we can save the bugs and crickets from becoming our next food source.

Interestingly, the US has been buying medicine for radiation poisoning. They know what they are doing and could care less how many civilians are wiped out. Their view – the population needs to be reduced anyhow. Nevertheless, those handed Amgen’s Radiation Medicine will be supporters of the Administration no doubt. However, you can ask your doctor for a prescription, if he’s not WOK perhaps. Amgen’s sales of Nplate have scored 66%.

The US Department of Health and Human Services downplayed the severity of the risk of Nuclear War and said that this is part of its “long-standing, ongoing efforts by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to better prepare the U.S. for the potential health impacts of a wide range of threats to national security.” The Biden Administration has been purchasing a drug called Nplate that was approved by the FDA in 2021 to treat radiation syndrome. “Nplate is indicated to increase survival in adults and in pediatric patients (including term neonates) acutely exposed to myelosuppressive doses of radiation,” the company notes. Although not a worthy source, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) occurs in four stages.

The four stages of ARS are:

  • Prodromal stage (N-V-D stage): The classic symptoms for this stage are nausea, vomiting, as well as anorexia, and possibly diarrhea (depending on dose), which occur from minutes to days following exposure. The symptoms may last (episodically) for minutes up to several days.
  • Latent stage: In this stage, the patient looks and feels generally healthy for a few hours or even up to a few weeks.
  • Manifest illness stage: In this stage the symptoms depend on the specific syndrome and last from hours up to several months.
  • Recovery or death: Most patients who do not recover will die within several months of exposure. The recovery process lasts from several weeks up to two years.

It is peculiar that the drug was approved for radiation a year prior to the war breaking out in Ukraine. The Neocons have seized control of the Biden Administration and they have been behind the Ukrainian Civil War since 2014 when Kyiv launched the attack on the Donbas calling it their Anti-Terrorist Operation. John McCain met with the openly declared Ukrainian Nazis. The Ukrainian people are fools. They are blinded by the propaganda against Russia where they have never distinguished what Stalin did to Ukraine when he most likely poisoned Lenin and seized control of Russia when he was not even Russian but a Georgian.

The drug has never been tested on humans, and the results are not guaranteed. They certainly were not testing monkeys with a radiation dosage even close to that of a nuclear weapon. Of course, this was another NIAID-funded research project like the claimed testing of mRNA drugs and COVID vaccines before the pandemic began as well. Yet now they want to claim it was leaked by the Chinese lab to blame them? Did they leak it in China in the first place?

“In the study, 80 monkeys exposed to a life-threatening dose of radiation were randomly assigned to receive a single injection of either romiplostim or placebo one day after radiation exposure. All animals were given standard supportive care, including fluids, anti-ulcer medication, anti-nausea medication, pain medication, and antibiotics. After 60 days, 29 of 40 monkeys in the romiplostim group had survived compared to 13 of 40 in the placebo group.”

War is coming and this “WOK” Biden Administration is so incompetent they think they have the power to intimidate the entire world and they will bend the knee before them. Nobody seems to even bother to raise the question – what if this turns nuclear? Yet they have been buying the radiation drug so maybe they are lying about that as well. The sheer stupidity of how the Biden Administration is trying to intimidate the entire world can only be the result of total incompetence.

Biden says that Putin will not use nukes. Ukraine MUST remove Zelinkey from office and the United States MUST remove Biden from office. It is not Putin that is the risk. Biden has pissed off the Chinese and North Koreans as well not to mention Iran and you just may see Turkey and India side with Putin. This is a war to destroy Russia. All my sources say that, so I can’t imagine that Russian intelligence has come up with the same realization. To me, Russia may have no choice but to nuke the USA in a joint move with China to end the intimidation and arrogance.

Many people have been asking about where will be the safest place to be in the US given the prospect of a nuclear war. It is true that the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that nuclear war is “back within the realm of possibility” thanks to the insanity of what has been taking place in the Biden Administration driven by the Neocons. We are indeed in serious trouble for not only does Biden lack any private experience but 62% of his entire officials have never worked in the real world and Biden is proud of having the most WOK Administration in history. Gender and Race are more important than qualification and experience. This has allowed the Neocons to seize control of US Foreign Policy.

A nuclear blast is NOT absolutely lethal if you are not at ground zero. You can survive a nuclear attack if you are NOT at ground zero – remember that. You must be at least a half mile away but I would lean more toward one mile away from the core of the explosion. Naturally, do not look and stare at the light from the flash because it will blind a person instantly! Also, remember to keep your mouth open to handle the pressure released from the initial blast. That is kind of like flying in an airplane and how your ears pop. This will be much worse.

You will have to move but you have ten to twenty minutes walking distance away from the blast site to seek shelter either below ground or above the 9th floor of a building that is still standing. This is to avoid the major effects of fallout from the mushroom cloud. Once more, keep your mouth, skin, and nose covered as much as possible while walking. When you get to any shelter, remove your clothes, and rinse them off with water, but that is when you should be holding your breath. You can seek medical care if possible. if you are under 1 mile from the blast. You should stay in the shelter for 12-24 hours after an attack to avoid the initial massive amount of exposure to radiation that follows after a nuclear attack. Only leave shelter once you know the direction to move. Do not wander around as if you are in a shopping mall.

If you are not near any of the strategic military targets or financial targets, you can create a shelter in your basement. I would recommend that the walls should be lined with lead.

They believe most states will not represent any threats to Kremlin or any other nation. Most nuclear forces from the USA are going to be prime targets. A Russian nuclear attack would likely focus on high-value targets in North Dakota or Montana. It is ironic that people have moved to Montana thinking this will be safe and out of the way. Sorry! That is not true. The main military targets will be:

1) Naval Base Kitsap: Washington State
2) Jim Creek Naval Radio Station: Washington State
3) Malmstrom AFB: Montana
4) Minot AFB: North Dakota
5) FE Warren AFB: Wyoming
6) Hill AFB: Utah
7) Kirkland AFB Albuquerque: New Mexico

Because of the constant attack on Russia blowing up the Nordstream Pipeline, it is clear that the Biden Administration has declared an economic proxy war against Russia. As a result, Russian President Vladimir Putin has now suggested that Russia may abandon its “no first use” military doctrine. Additional targets will be:

  • Fort Ritchie in Maryland
  • Camp David.
  • The pentagon.
  • US Central Command, MacDill Air Base in Tampa

Look, there is no bunker, however brilliantly assembled, that will survive a direct hit. Another military target could be US Central Command, which is headquartered at MacDill Air Base in Tampa. This is known as Centcom, and it is responsible for the operational theatre spanning parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa. If they take out Tampa simply because it is a command center, that is fine with me. I will not move and just watch the mushroom cloud from the beach with my dog – Napoleon.

There will be six cities that have the greatest likelihood of being attacked based on their economic backbone for the economy:

The states/region to leave:

Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Washington State, New York
City region, Illinois Chicago Region, Texas in the Houston region, and California.

Ukraine intends to start world war III and take the entire world with them because of the absolute hatred of all Russians and they cannot see a future of peace. They used drones to attack Russian planes at the airport in Belarus. They are desperately trying to engulf the entire region in war to quench their thirst for hatred against Russians. What disturbs me greatly has been our models on war. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever expect the West to be the aggressor.

We can survive this. Humanity will not perish. We indeed have the worst possible people in Washington DC in my entire lifetime. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis walking the streets with my friends talking about the destruction of the world. I was only 13 years old then. Just realize Nuclear War will not destroy the planet any more than man-made Climate Change. They always exaggerate everything.

We have Socrates to show us the timing.

For Those, who Want to Map A Nuclear Explosion in a Town Near You – Try This Site

Mar 1 2023

Ukraine is the Most Corrupt Country Probably in the World


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Feb 28, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Even Bill Gates knows about Ukraine. Anyone who defends Ukraine is a warmonger crony beholding to the Neocons or has been brainwashed by the Neocons. We should cut off ALL money for Ukraine and DEMAND that it honors the Minsk Agreement – PERIOD! That would save millions if not billions of lives and avoid World War III. As for the Neo-Nazis who will instantly send me hate mail – I will be glad to buy you a gun made of silver and have it delivered to you when you are in the front line instead of someone else’s 16-year-old boy or girl. Please take you, high-heel world hero, with you.

Mar 1 2023

Protests are Rising Against Leaders who No Longer Represent the People


Armstrong Economics Blog/Germany Re-Posted Feb 28, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

There are protests in Germany accusing the government of supporting the Ukrainian Neo-Nazis and that Germany has forgotten its history. There are many people in Germany who are deeply against this war and if they understood the real history of the Neocons, they would rise up in mass. This crop of world leaders no longer care nor represent the people. Wars are always started by leaders – not the people.

Mar 1 2023

Well, there it is – NATO General Secretary Says Ukraine Will Definitely Become a NATO Member Once Conflict with Russia Concludes


Posted originally on the CTH on February 28, 2023 | Sundance 

After the western alliance previously swore that NATO would not put any member NATO state on the doorstep of Russia, a promise that was weak and viewed by many as false – ultimately influencing the decision by Russia, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said today that Ukraine will be joining NATO as soon as the conflict is concluded.

Now, given that statement, why would Russia even fathom entering any type of peaceful resolution to the conflict.  In essence, Stoltenberg has just turned the conflict in Ukraine into a zero-sum issue for Russia.  The only way Russia can keep NATO away from its border is to win violently against Ukraine.  WATCH (00:42 prompted):

Do you really believe the United States would be okay with Russia establishing forward military bases in Mexico or Canada?  Why should Russia permit U.S. and NATO military bases on its borders?

We almost went to war when Russia was assisting Cuba with weapons and missiles, and the U.S. will not permit any Russian interests in North America.  Why should Russia accept U.S. interests on their doorstep?

Feb 28 2023

Ship of Fools


Armstrong Economics Blog/Cryptocurrency Re-Posted Feb 28, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Do you think that this entire scam with cryptocurrencies that the government will be able to track, do they realize that in war you take down the power grid and all digital currency fails? If the backup system is destroyed, all your digital currency will vanish. Are they this stupid? Is this why they have shills saying you are wrong?

HK

ANSWER: Yes. I have spoken to people involved in creating this insanity. First, they do not think there will ever be a nuclear war. Second, they really do think that they will create regime change in Russia at the expense of probably every Ukrainian alive today who are fools being led to the slaughter. When I have brought up the subject – WHAT IF YOU ARE WRONG! They dismiss it and do not even entertain plan B. The whole digital currency is all about tracking every dime. I have said many times, this is all about the new world order which is Schwab’s Great Rest and he knows that is our 2032 forecast. They all believe that forecast and are preparing to redesign the world this time to achieve their totalitarian dreams.

When I asked – Did you authorize Bitcoin? They just do not reply. Silence is golden. The launch of Bitcoin was just too damn convenient. That was standard operational political tactics – you float a balloon and see how the people accept it.

If you have ever been to Nuremberg, Germany, they have a bronze statue there – the Ship of Fools. The sculpture named Ship of Fools by Jurgen Weber is based on the satirical allegory by Sebastian Brant. This is now a reality.

Feb 28 2023

War Footing or Ukraine? – Biden Waives Section 303 of DPA Related to Weapons, Ammunition, Explosives and Components


Posted Originally on the CTH on February 27, 2023 | Sundance 

The Defense Production Act (DPA 1950 amended, pdf) essentially is a legislative hurdle that stops the executive from stepping into the private sector and restricting trade, commerce or manufacturing, unless the President says a critical shortage of “xxxx” is present and national security is at stake. It prevents citizens from the threat of govt nationalization of resource “xxxx”.

In the event the President makes a national security determination, he/she is required to inform congress, invoke the waiver authority, and identify which sectors he/she is now outlining as a national security… such that government purchase orders take precedent in the supply of “xxxx”.  Yesterday, President Biden invoked this authority.

Given the pandemic shortages are over, and given the sectors outlined, it looks like munitions, raw material, explosives, electronics and certain component issues related to the Defense Dept are outlined.

Key section: “Therefore, I waive the requirements of section 303(a)(1)-(a)(6) of the Act”…

…”specifically for defense organic industrial base supply chains critical to the Department of Defense and critical supply chains for electronics, kinetic capabilities, castings and forgings, minerals and materials, and power and energy storage.” (link)

It’s a use of the DPA definitively targeting defense materials.  Which raises the question(s):

Is this to secure weapons for shipment to Ukraine?..  OR, Is this to secure a buildup of weapons for a larger purpose?   Meaning, is this preparing for an expanded war effort?

There is a lack of media curiosity.  However, perhaps drawing attention to it will stimulate someone to ask the Pentagon?

In the interim, ammunition might become a little harder to find.

Feb 27 2023

China has Warned US They Will Attack US Troops in Taiwan


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted Feb 27, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

A commentator for the Global Times, reported a threat to the United States last Thursday night, stating that China would not hesitate to engage U.S. forces stationed in Taiwan if the Chinese launched an invasion of the island nation. Indeed, Hu Xijin, formerly the editor-in-chief of the Global Times, reacted to a Wall Street Journal report about U.S. troops traveling to Taiwan. He called it “illegal” and suggested that China would treat them as enemy combatants.

“It’s illegal for these US soldiers to go to Taiwan and the Chinese mainland won’t take any responsibility for their safety,” tweeted Hu. “If we take military action when necessary, they’ll be wiped out together with the resisting Taiwan troops. They can also be eliminated first as the invading army.”

Feb 27 2023

Will 13 Million Ukrainians Just Move to Germany?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ukraine Re-Posted Feb 27, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

According to the UN refugee agency, more than thirteen million people, or nearly a third of Ukraine’s prewar population, have been displaced since the invasion. Of that, more than five million are internally displaced, while over eight million are refugees living in neighboring countries. Our former two employees from Ukraine are now in Berlin. In comparison, the continent saw some one million refugees during the 2015 wave of migration from Africa and the Middle East. There were four million refugees who fled to Europe during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s.

Besides the constant demands from the United States that NATO members must be pouring in money to defeat Russia, the cost of taking care of all of the Ukrainian Refugees is stressing the entire budget of the EU. The refusal to even entertain any peace and just honor the Minsk Agreement which would end the war in 15 minutes or less, the longer this goes on the likelihood the balance of the 13 million Ukrainians will opt to move most likely to Germany.

Feb 27 2023

Sunday Talks, CIA Director William Burns Discusses Russia, Ukraine and the Need for Enhanced Intelligence Propaganda to Support NATO Initiatives


Posted originally on the CTH on February 27, 2023 | Sundance

CBS Margaret Brennan interviews CIA Director William Burns about the current status of the conflict in Ukraine.  Director Burns outlines his discussions with Ukraine government officials as well as his talks with intelligence counterparts in Russia.

Within the conversation Director Burns outlines the importance of the CIA to continue providing enhanced intelligence operations to support both the conflict and the propaganda that surrounds the World War Reddit effort.  Additionally, Burns confirms for the first time that his intelligence analysts now believe China has moved their status from improbable to possible in sending additional weapons to support Russia.  WATCH:

.

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: On the cusp of Russia’s invasion, you flew to Kyiv, and you told President Zelenskyy — tell me if this is right — the Russians are coming to kill you.

Was that the very first thing you said?

WILLIAM BURNS (CIA Director): It wasn’t the very first thing I said to President Zelenskyy.

But President Biden had asked me to go to Kyiv to lay out for President Zelenskyy the most recent intelligence we had, which suggested that what Vladimir Putin was planning was what he thought would be a lightning strike from the Belarus border to seize Kyiv in a matter of a few days, and also to seize an airport just northwest of Kyiv called Hostomel, which he wanted to use as a platform to bring in air — airborne troops, as a way, again, of accelerating that lightning conquest of Kyiv.

And I think President Zelenskyy understood what was at stake and what he was up against.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You also have said — and tell me if this is correct — that it was only a group of about three or four people around Vladimir Putin who knew that he was actually planning this invasion.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Mm-hmm. No, I think that’s true. Putin had narrowed his circle of advisers, and it was a circle in which he prized loyalty over competence.

It was a group of people who tended to tell him what he wanted to hear. That was one of the deepest flaws I think, in Russian decision-making just before the war is, it was such a close circle of people reinforcing one another’s profoundly mistaken assumptions.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Does he take counsel from anyone these days?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: I think he’s become increasingly convinced that he knows better than anyone else what’s at stake for Russia.

I think his sense of destiny, and his appetite for risk has increased in recent years as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You recently went back to Kyiv, and you met with President Zelenskyy. And three months ago, I understand you met with Russia’s top spy chief.

Is there any kind of opening that you are finding here, any kind of opportunity?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: No, I mean, the conversation that I had with Sergey Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s external intelligence service, was pretty dispiriting.

My goal was not to talk about negotiations. That’s something that Ukrainians are going to need to take up with the Russians when they see fit. It was to make clear to Naryshkin and, through him, to President Putin the serious consequences should Russia ever choose to use a nuclear weapon of any kind as well.

And I think Naryshkin understood the seriousness of that issue, and I think President Putin has understood it as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s not a lot of contact with Russia right now.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: There’s not a great deal; you’re right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you still have that line of communication with your counterpart?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Yes.

And I — and I think, even in the most deeply adversarial relationships — and that’s certainly what our relationship with Russia is today — it’s important to have those lines open. And the president believes that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you walk away from those conversations with? You said it was dispiriting.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Mm-hmm.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Why?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: There was a very defiant attitude on the part of Mr. Naryshkin as well, a sense of cockiness and hubris, reflecting Putin’s own view, his own belief today that he can make time work for him, that he believes he can grind down the Ukrainians, that he can wear down our European allies, that political fatigue will eventually set in.

And, in my experience, Putin’s view of Americans, of us, has been that we have attention deficit disorder, and we’ll move on to some other issue eventually. And so Putin, in many ways, I think, believes today that he cannot win for awhile, but he can’t afford to lose.

MARGARET BRENNAN: He doesn’t seem to have that assessment, though,

I mean, 97 percent of his ground force is in Ukraine.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Right.

MARGARET BRENNAN: It’s a meat grinder. Does he just look at his population and say, I have enough young men I can continue to send off to die?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: He’s…

MARGARET BRENNAN: I mean, what is the price that makes him change his mind?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: He’s — Putin is certainly not a sentimentalist about the loss of Russian life or the huge losses that he’s taken in terms of Russian armaments as well during the course of the war.

But there’s a lot of hubris that continues to be attached to Putin and his view of the war right now. And I think what’s going to be critical is to puncture that hubris on Putin’s part and regain momentum on the battlefield.

I don’t think the Russians are serious today. And I think it’s only progress on the battlefield that’s going to shape any improved prospects for negotiations down the road.

MARGARET BRENNAN: At what point does Putin say, I can’t win?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: I think Putin is right now entirely too confident of his ability to wear down Ukraine, to grind away.

And that’s what he’s giving every evidence that he’s determined to do right now. At some point, he’s going to have to face up to increasing costs as well, in coffins coming home to some of the poorest parts of Russia. There’s a cumulative economic damage to Russia as well, huge reputational damage. It has not exactly been a great advertisement for Russian arms sales.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: So this is going to build over time, but, right now, the honest answer, I think Putin is quite determined.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about what appears to be potentially a new line of ammunition and weapons for Russia.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Secretary Blinken has said publicly we have begun to see — we have begun to collect intelligence suggesting that China is considering the provision of lethal equipment.

That’s not to suggest that they’ve made a definitive conclusion about this.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Secretary Blinken said that the U.S. had picked up information over the last couple of months. But picking up information over the last couple of months to thinking they’re actively considering it, I mean, how confident are you in the intelligence that this is something Xi Jinping himself may change his mind about?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Well, we’re confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment.

We also don’t see that a final decision has been made yet, and we don’t see evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment. And that’s why, I think, Secretary Blinken and the president have thought it important to make very clear what the consequences of that would be as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: To deter it?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Yes, to deter it, because it would be a very risky and unwise bet.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, why would Beijing risk a tailspin in its relationship with the United States and with Europe by crossing this line?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: It’s a good question, and that’s why I hope very much that they don’t.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think that Beijing benefits from having the West distracted and involved in a prolonged conflict in Europe…

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: I mean…

MARGARET BRENNAN: … that that’s the aim?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: It’s conceivable.

But I think there’s no foreign leader who’s watched more carefully Vladimir Putin’s experience in Ukraine, the evolution of the war, than Xi Jinping has.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What are the consequences for the conflict in Ukraine if this does happen? What does more ammunition and more weapons mean? Does this — is it a game-changer?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: We also have evidence that the Iranians are providing lethal equipment and munitions, that the North Koreans are doing the same thing as well.

So, wherever that lethal assistance comes from, it prolongs a vicious war of aggression.

MARGARET BRENNAN: How good is our visibility into Xi Jinping’s thinking and his decision-making process?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Oh, it’s always the hardest question for any intelligence service as well, you know, in — in an authoritarian system where power is consolidated so much in the hands of one man.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you had such exquisite intelligence when it came to Russia and Vladimir Putin and his inner circle. Do we have that for Xi Jinping?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Oh, we work very hard to develop that.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Working on it?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: I think we work very hard to develop the very best intelligence we can.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But I wonder if, when you’re talking about his thinking and his decision-making if he suffers from the same kind of yes-man culture that you said Vladimir Putin does, because Xi Jinping got rid of a lot of people in his government.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: It’s a — Margaret, it’s a concern in any authoritarian system.

And I think what we’ve seen in Beijing is President Xi consolidating power at a very rapid pace over the course of the more than a decade that he’s been in power as well.

And as we’ve seen, where Putin’s hubris has now gotten Russia, and the horrors that he’s brought to the people of Ukraine in that kind of a system, a very closed decision-making system, where nobody challenges the authority of their insights of an authoritarian leader, you can make some huge blunders as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve said Xi Jinping told his military to be prepared to invade Taiwan by 2027. The intel community seems a little bit more ambiguous in its conclusions here.

Do you think it’s an outright invasion, or do you think China’s more likely to slowly strangle democracy in Taiwan?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: We need to take very seriously Xi’s ambitions with regard to ultimately controlling Taiwan.

That doesn’t, however, in our view, mean that a military conflict is inevitable. We do know, as has been made public, that President Xi has instructed the PLA, the Chinese military leadership, to be ready by 2027 to invade Taiwan. But that doesn’t mean that he’s decided to invade in 2027 or any other year as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: I think our judgment, at least, is that President Xi and his military leadership have doubts today about whether they could accomplish that invasion.

I think, as they’ve looked at Putin’s experience in Ukraine, that’s probably reinforced some of those doubts as well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you when the intelligence community will have some insight into what Beijing was collecting with that spy balloon over the U.S.?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: It was clearly an intelligence platform.

And I think we’ll be able to develop a pretty clear picture of exactly what its capabilities were.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But it will be a while, won’t it?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: It takes some time, but I think my understanding is that we’re managing to pull up quite a bit of evidence and material from that platform.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think Xi Jinping knew that balloon was sent here?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: I don’t know.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You have an idea.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Well, I think the Chinese leadership obviously understood that they had launched this capability, that it was an intelligence platform.

Whether — when and what the Chinese leadership knew about the trajectory of this balloon, I honestly can’t say.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve said in the past, there’s the beginnings of a full-fledged defense partnership between Russia and Iran. Exactly how far does the alliance go?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: Well, it’s moving at a pretty fast clip in a very dangerous direction right now, in the sense that we know that the Iranians have already provided hundreds of armed drones to the Russians, which they’re using to inflict pain on Ukrainian civilians and Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

We know that they’ve provided ammunition for artillery and for tanks as well. And what we also see are signs that Russia is proposing to help the Iranians on their missile program and also at least considering the possibility of providing fighter aircraft to Iran as well.

So it’s a quite disturbing set of developments.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Have Iran’s leaders made the decision to pursue a nuclear weapon?

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: To the best of our knowledge, we don’t believe that the supreme leader in Iran has yet made a decision to resume the weaponization program that we judge that they suspended or stopped at the end of 2003.

But the other two legs of the stool, meaning enrichment programs, they’ve obviously advanced very far, you know, over the course of the last couple years.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Eighty-four percent purity, reportedly.

DIRECTOR WILLIAM BURNS: They’ve advanced very far, to the point where it would only be a matter of weeks before they could enrich to 90 percent, if they chose to cross that line.

And also, in terms of their missile systems, their ability to deliver a nuclear weapon once they developed it, has also been advancing as well. So, the answer to your question is, no, we don’t see evidence that they have made a decision to resume that weaponization program, but the other dimensions of this challenge, I think, are growing at a worrisome pace too.

[End Transcript]