France is firing Gen. Éric Vidaud, the director of French military intelligence, for downplaying the possibility that Russian would invade Ukraine, even as the U.S. warned for months that such an invasion was imminent, French media reported Thursday.
One source at the Ministry of the Armed Forces told l’Opinion that Vidaud was sacked for “insufficient briefings” and a “lack of mastery of subjects,” while Chief of Defense Staff Thierry Burkhard tells Le Monde that Vidaud was dismissed after France’s intelligence services realized their analysis of Russia’s intentions was erroneous, BBC News reports.
France’s misreading of President Putin was all the more embarrassing because President Emmanuel Macron had spoken to him regularly in the days leading up to the invasion on 24 February.
From The Shadows Emerges Knowledge