Putin misled by 'yes men' in military afraid to tell him the truth, White House and EU officials say

[Uncle Joe]

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin was misled by advisers who were too scared to tell him how poorly the war in Ukraine is going and how damaging Western sanctions have been, White House and European officials said on Wednesday.

(snip)

“We have information that Putin felt misled by the Russian military, which has resulted in persistent tension between Putin and his military leadership,” Kate Bedingfield, White House communications director, told reporters during a press briefing.

“We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions because his senior advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth,” she said.

(snip)

One senior European diplomat said the U.S. assessment was in line with European thinking. "Putin thought things were going better than they were. That's the problem with surrounding yourself with 'yes men' or only sitting with them at the end of a very long table," the diplomat said.

(snip)

https://www.reuters.com/world/putin-advisers-too-afraid-tell-him-truth-ukraine-us-official-2022-03-30/

[elleng]

1. Sound familiar?

The 'world' is being run into 'the ground' by 2 powerful/foolish sociopaths, and we've got to get out from under them SOON.

[Lovie777]

2. Sorry but I don't buy this . . .

[Deuxcents]

3. Is this the "out" Putin needs to stop this war?

If true or not, get him out of Ukraine. Blame it on the moon..just get out.

[elleng]

4. NO DOUBT, and foolish to doubt it. Let's wake up, and encourage those who can to DO SOMETHING.

'US official says Putin is being misinformed about how poorly Russian military is doing because advisers "are too afraid to tell him the truth.” Putin "didn’t even know his military was using and losing conscripts...showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information."'

Link to tweet

?fbclid=IwAR0rNGaMnnICWev2cKrTsk0Gv4JDbquxSZT1YxEJyUS4zjTA5QCW-yYVMug

[Uncle Joe]

5. Thanks for the addition elleng.

[pamdb]

6. Putin

I'm sorry, I just can't buy this. All he has to do is watch western TV. And don't tell me
he doesn't have access it it. Sounds like he's laying a "I didn't know" defense.

[Uncle Joe]

8. If Putin doesn't trust the west

why would he believe our media?

Even outside of Putin's self-imposed Russian advisor and media bubble, there are nations' media outside of the West that have tacitly if not overtly supported many of his beliefs, not to mention at the very least Trump and FOX mouths such as Tucker Carlson have given moral support to Putin.

[mitch96]

9. Looks like someone read "the Emperor has no Clothes"...Humm

True or not the lesson is this:

If a leader surrounds himself with “yes” men, it often leads to absurd and embarrassing results. It is far better to surround oneself with honest people who are unafraid to ask questions or to point out deficiencies as they see them.

But this will get you killed in russia...ymmv
m