Elbridge Colby "is an American national security policy professional who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development from 2017 to 2018 during the Trump administration," Wikipedia told me. He's also the grandson of William Colby who was the Director of the CIA in the mid-1970s. Elbridge Colby has been critical of the amount of time and resources spent on Ukraine and considers China the greater threat to American interests than Russia. He advocates for a reduction in support to Ukraine, although said "it is in America’s interest to avoid [Ukrainian defeat]." He's also written about how he thinks that is possible but I didn't bother to read it. If Trump is elected in November it's expected that Colby will become his National Security Advisor, and have an important and influential role in shaping American foreign policy. Colby has some key allies in the U.S. Senate, including Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio, and J.D. Vance.
Elbridge didn't like it much when he saw a video from last month of the head of NATO's military committee Bob Bauer praising the work of NAFO in tackling Russian disinformation. (Elbridge also saw red when he saw a recent video of Sec. of State Anthony Blinken rocking out to Neil Young's "Rocking in the Free World" at a Kyiv nightclub).
….Authority and credibility to groups that engage in ad hominem, scurrilous attacks, childish memes, et cetera.
It seems especially ill-advised when directed against a large portion of Americans, who I’m told are really key for the future of NATO. 2/— Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby) May 15, 2024
🤷♂️
The reason it’s a practical problem is that they aggressively flood one’s account, making it very difficult to use @X as I have generally done.
It’s the equivalent of trying to speak at a college campus and getting constantly shouted over.
And X is much more important… https://t.co/90ApWh2QnY— Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby) May 15, 2024
See, Elbridge Colby is a "serious" person doing serious work [he says], and all NAFO does is "engage in ad hominem, scurrilous attacks, childish memes, et cetera." And with that red flag waved, NAFO sprang into action.
Some measured responses.
Give it a rest, @ElbridgeColby.
You sound obsessively paranoid about a bunch of cartoon dogs - as if “they are after you.”
It is bonkers & wildly untrue.
However: Do you know what is true?#NAFOExpansionIsNonNegotiable pic.twitter.com/bqqaBmyfs0— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) May 15, 2024
We mock Russian propagandists on the internet and raise/donate money to Ukrainian causes, both humanitarian and lethal.
It's nowhere near as important as the brave troops on the front, but it's something. pic.twitter.com/TUMHRYbyoz— pepeppepppepep 🇺🇦🇦🇺 (@pepeppepppepep) May 14, 2024
Did NAFO hurt your feelings again? We live inside your walls. You can't get enough of us.
— BroSINT 69™ (@osint_69) May 15, 2024
Son. The level of butthurt here is silly. Just let it go.
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) May 15, 2024
The very fact that we are disrupting your narrative, that you are distracted from your narrative of supporting the russian regime, says it all.
Officially…there is no #NAFO pic.twitter.com/0b0EXK3mH0— pilotfella (@jamesnewling787) May 14, 2024
And some less measured. There were hundreds of these latter types in Colby's timeline.
Gargle it pic.twitter.com/iktVj7b6Km
— Dberi (@dberi21) May 15, 2024
And finally journalist Preston Stewart on the vital importance of such groups to counter Russian disinformation at the NATO Youth Summit.
