The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin turned the tables Sunday by saying that the Russian ambassador to the U.S. also met with people connected to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, not just Trump advisers.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told CNN GPS host Fareed Zakaria that Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak met with “people working in think tanks advising Hillary or advising people working for Hillary,” The Hill reports.
Peskov stressed that part of Kislyak’s job entails talking to officials and advisers on both sides of the aisle.
“Well, if you look at some people connected with Hillary Clinton during her campaign, you would probably see that he had lots of meetings of that kind,” Peskov said. “There are lots of specialists in politology, people working in think tanks advising Hillary or advising people working for Hillary.”
Yet, according to Peskov, none of these meetings constituted an attempt to influence the electoral process. (Read more from “Putin Spokesman: Russian Ambassador Also Met With Clinton Advisors” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Hillary_Clinton_Testimony_to_House_Select_Committee_on_Benghazi-6.png485797Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-03-13 00:03:142017-03-13 00:03:14Putin Spokesman: Russian Ambassador Also Met With Clinton Advisors
Russian diplomats seem to be an endangered species, as seven officials have been found dead under mysterious or unexplained circumstances just since Election Day, and — although any link remains as yet unprovable — the deaths certainly provoke a number of questions.
1. Sergei Krivov:
First is the perplexing case of Sergei Krivov — disputably a consular duty commander at the Russian Consulate in Manhattan — died on November 8, Election Day, under perhaps the most problematic circumstances of any of the deaths listed.
Found unconscious and unresponsive on the floor inside the consulate, Krivov suffered blunt force trauma to the head — initially reported as received in a fall from the roof of the building — and passed away before emergency services could reach the scene.
Consular officials quickly backtracked that Krivov died after plunging over the building, instead insisting he’d suffered a heart attack — but the diplomat’s lack of a paper trail, and ambiguity from officials about his career position, make the death appear to be far from ordinary.
“That position is no ordinary security guard,” reported BuzzFeed on Krivov’s ambiguous role at the consulate. “According to other public Russian-language descriptions of the duty commander position, Krivov would have been in charge of, among other things, ‘prevention of sabotage’ and suppression of ‘attempts of secret intrusion’ into the consulate.
“In other words, it was Krivov’s job to make sure US intelligence agencies didn’t have ears in the building.”
2. Andrey Karlov:
On December 19, Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, met his fate while giving a speech at an art exhibit in Ankara, when Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş — an off-duty Turkish riot police officer — fired several shots from behind, fatally wounding the diplomat and injuring several others.
Altıntaş proceeded to declare jihad and implored the terrified, small crowd of attendees and press, “Do not forget Aleppo, do not forget Syria!”
It was later revealed Altıntaş had used his law enforcement identification to enter the gallery; but at the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin railed against the attacker, thin security allowing him to enter the exhibit, “Russia Through Turks’ Eyes,” without issue, and the possible implications for resolving the conflict in Syria, stating,
This murder is clearly a provocation aimed at undermining the improvement and normalization of Russian-Turkish relations, as well as undermining the peace process in Syria promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in settling the conflict in Syria.
3. Petr Polshikov:
At some point on the same day — and prior to the brazen assassination of Karlov — Petr Polshikov, a senior diplomat in the Latin America division at the Russian foreign ministry, died in his Moscow apartment of a gunshot wound to the head. An announcement of the suspicious death did not become public until a few hours after Altıntaş shocked the world in Ankara.
Detailed information on Polshikov’s untimely demise remains difficult to obtain, but reports at the time alleged authorities found two bullet shells on the scene and a firearm under a sink in the bathroom.
4. Oleg Erovinkin:
Ex-KGB chief, Oleg Erovinkin — believed to have assisted former British spy, Christopher Steele, with a lurid dossier alleging explicit acts by President Donald Trump — was found dead in his black Lexus on December 29.
Erovinkin had been close to Igor Sechin, a former deputy prime minister and now head of State-owned oil company, Rosneft, and had acted as a key liaison between Sechin and Putin.
Although validity of the contents of that dossier have been called into serious question, Erovinkin’s alleged involvement in compiling the information makes his death dubious by nature. An investigation is ongoing.
5. Andrey Malanin:
Despite living alone on a tightly-guarded street, Andrey Malanin — head of the consular section at Russia’s embassy in Athens — was “found on the floor of his bedroom by a member of the embassy’s staff with no evidence of a break-in, the official said on condition of anonymity,” Reuters reported January 9.
Authorities also told Reuters there were no indications Malanin had been murdered, but homicide officials are investigating the death due to his status as a diplomat.
6. Aleksandr Kadakin:
On January 26, Russian ambassador to India, 67-year-old Aleksandr Kadakin — who had served in the position since 2009 and spent over two decades as a diplomat — died in New Delhi, ostensibly from heart failure.
Although it appeared the man’s death was unrelated to the others and had been natural, the timing in conjunction with Karlov, Polshikov, Erovinkin, and Malanin raised some eyebrows.
7. Vitaly Churkin:
Then, last week, Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, died one day before his 65th birthday in New York City — reportedly of a heart failure.
According to the New York Times on February 20, “The Russian government said he died suddenly but did not specify a cause. The New York City police said there were no indications of foul play.”
However, Pravda reported, “According to ABS-CBN, a post-mortem examination of Churkin’s body showed the presence of poison in his kidneys. Allegedly, the diplomat had had late supper, at around midnight, hours before his death. Perpetrators could have added an unknown substance in his food.”
Churkin had been a vocal critic of hypocritical Western foreign policy, particularly concerning military actions in Syria.
An obituary in the Guardian stated Churkin “hated the moralising tone of his US, British and French counterparts on the UN security council who, he felt, were not only hypocritical but were playing to the global gallery and aiming to score rhetorical points instead of looking for compromises that could lead to the resolution of differences. This applied particularly to the war in Syria, about which western governments tabled resolutions that could lead, in the Russian view, to full-scale military intervention against the Syrian government and which they knew Churkin was bound to veto. Russia preferred to produce resolutions that criticised the Syrian army for using ‘disproportionate’ force and sought agreement on ceasefires. Churkin consulted the security council’s five permanent members on these resolutions, but chose not to provoke vetoes when he realised there was no consensus.”
What, if anything, this growing Russian diplomat body count actually means might never be fully known, but many suspect the deaths evince a methodical, covert war between the Deep State and Russia — particularly as hostilities continue mostly unabated — as a shift in power away from the ailing imperialist U.S. empire gathers speed. (For more from the author of “Deep State War? 7 Russian Officials Murdered or Found Dead Since Election Day” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/russians-assassinated.jpg415790Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-28 22:59:442017-03-04 21:48:46Deep State War? 7 Russian Officials Murdered or Found Dead Since Election Day
When the main stream media rely on anonymous sources, friendly relationships with current and former government officials, and recycling previously reported stories to promote an agenda, readers are right to suspect a set up.
We expect less from outlets like the Gateway Pundit, who rely on hyper-sensationalized headlines and slanted, even made-up, stories to generate clicks to their websites. The public demands, and serious consumers of news expect, a higher standard from established newspapers and cable news operations.
Instead, we get stories that are so selective, and so coordinated, as to constitute a subtler form of fake news. At the moment, the media have latched on to anything remotely related to Russia to tarnish the Trump administration, especially in the wake of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s resignation as National Security Adviser.
The flood of weakly-related and even unsupported Russia stories smacks of a partisan effort to destroy the Trump administration, not an objective search for truth.
For example, CNN is still recycling reports about the evidence-starved Russian “dossier” that had been examined by the intelligence community and the press for months before Buzzfeed dumped them on its website in early January. The New York Times and CNN took Buzzfeed to task for publishing the unverified reports; but they are still being cited.
Another example is this breathless reporting of Russian cruise missiles.
The New York Times and Washington Post, along with CNN have all written similar stories about the Russian deployment of the ground-launched cruise missile known as the SSC-8, which is a violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The INF treaty was signed in 1987 by President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev of the former USSR. It bans ground-launched cruise missiles with a range between 300 and 3400 miles.
The Russians first tested the SSC-8 in 2008. President Obama’s administration declared Russia in violation of the INF treaty in 2014. Do you have any memory of that? Probably not. But suddenly, this is a front-burner issue, because it provides yet another chance to connect Russia with Donald Trump.
A third example is the Russian spy ship sighted off the U.S. eastern seaboard. How is this news? The Russians have for years deployed spy ships to America’s Atlantic coast and the Caribbean. It’s only top news because … well, you know why.
In reality, there is no “crisis” with Russia that didn’t exist before the Trump administration. There are no “new” facts relating to U.S.-Russian relations since Trump took office.
Flynn’s downfall was hurried along by leaks of highly classified information within the Trump administration of telephone intercept transcripts of a call between Flynn and the Russian ambassador. Yes, the call took place, but it now appears the details discussed on the call were innocuous. But again, the use of anonymous sources, who may have an axe to grind with Trump, and the selective reporting of details, is at best editorializing, not fair reporting.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that there’s evidence of a pattern in the media reports:
Representative Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told me Monday that he saw the leaks about Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak as part of a pattern. “There does appear to be a well orchestrated effort to attack Flynn and others in the administration,” he said. “From the leaking of phone calls between the president and foreign leaders to what appears to be high-level FISA Court information, to the leaking of American citizens being denied security clearances, it looks like a pattern.”
This confluence of government leaks, anonymous sources, hyper-sensational headlines, and unsupported stories does nothing to contradict Trump’s accusations that the media is engaged in reporting “fake news.” If the media don’t want the Trump administration to treat them as the opposition, then they need to quit playing the role of opposition so blatantly. (For more from the author of “The Mainstream Media Treatment of Trump and Russia Smacks of Fake News” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Note-Study-People-Memo-Hand-Writing-Author-Pen-325321.jpg640960Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-16 20:32:572017-02-16 20:32:57The Mainstream Media Treatment of Trump and Russia Smacks of Fake News
Almost right out of the gate, the Trump administration is facing its first arms control challenge from Moscow.
Russia has reportedly deployed its new cruise missile in an apparent violation of the Reagan-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, in effect since 1988.
The treaty prohibits the possession of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Russia’s ground-launched SSC-8 cruise missile has been under development and testing for several years.
Russia initially violated the treaty by testing the missile during Barack Obama’s presidency. Despite becoming aware of this apparent violation, the Obama administration did not take any forceful action to bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty, merely sending President Vladimir Putin a letter of concern in July of 2014.
The Obama administration was less than forthcoming in discussing challenges that the treaty violation poses for the United States and its allies. The State Department’s annual compliance reports prior to July 2014 wrongly led Americans to believe there was no reason for concern over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, even though the missile has reportedly been tested as early as 2008.
The Trump administration must do better.
The missile range limit of 500 kilometers is significant for U.S. allies in Europe situated close to the Russian borders and to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave that borders Poland and Lithuania. The presence of Russian intermediate-range missiles would considerably complicate any U.S. efforts to defend its allies in the Baltics and Central and Eastern Europe should Russia decide to violate their territorial integrity.
Such a scenario is not as far-fetched as it might seem. Russia has a recent history of violating other nations’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also periodically issues nuclear threats against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies and conducts military exercises that simulate nuclear strikes against Poland.
Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of Supreme Allied Command Europe and of U.S. European Command, said NATO allies are “concerned” over the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty issue and argued that violations “can’t go unanswered.”
For its part, Russia accuses the United States of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty violations. But Russian accusations are baseless. U.S. missile defense systems do not violate the treaty because the treaty itself contains an exception for them.
Neither do U.S. drones violate the treaty, as they are simply not mentioned by the treaty at all.
The Trump administration has a range of options to respond to the Russian treaty violations. Purely diplomatic measures to address the violation first begun during the Obama administration may not be sufficient.
Historically, arms control tends to limit how the United States learns about military systems and their interactions in a broader context. This is why terminating the treaty is a viable option.
Currently, Moscow is doing whatever it deems necessary to its strategic interest regardless of the treaty, while the United States continues to abide by it. The administration should not ponder any future arms control initiatives and nuclear weapons reduction agreements at least until this issue is resolved. (For more from the author of “Moscow Issues Its First Nuclear Challenge to Trump” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/XxEoTmAH8ExXpsJFUjw9jP6w5oCfirKo.jpg580940Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-15 20:31:052017-02-15 20:31:05Moscow Issues Its First Nuclear Challenge to Trump
A Russian spy ship was spotted patrolling off the East Coast of the United States on Tuesday morning, the first such instance during the Trump administration — and the same day it was learned the Kremlin had secretly deployed controversial cruise missiles inside Russia and flew within 200 yards of a U.S. Navy destroyer, U.S. officials told Fox News.
The Russian ship was in international waters, 70 miles off the coast of Delaware and heading north at 10 knots, according to one official. The U.S. territory line is 12 nautical miles.
It was not immediately clear where the ship is headed.
Later Tuesday, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that Russia had deployed ground-launched cruise missiles to two locations inside the country in December. The New York Times first reported that the Obama administration had previously seen the missiles — then in a testing phase — as a violation of a 1987 treaty between the U.S. and Russia that banned ground-launched intermediate-range missiles.
But Russia has pressed ahead with its program, apparently testing a Trump administration which has sought better ties with Moscow — but is also fresh off the loss of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned Monday night in the wake of a scandal surrounding his communications with Russia. (Read more from “Russia Sends Spy Ship Near US Coast, Deploys Banned Missiles at Home, Officials Say” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Flag-of-Russia-russia-13511410-1920-1200.jpg12001920Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-14 19:30:432017-02-14 19:30:43Russia Sends Spy Ship Near US Coast, Deploys Banned Missiles at Home, Officials Say
Fake news or conspiracy theory? Or the most epic troll since Dan Rather was conned into accepting forged documents about George Bush? Or a hilarious amalgam of all three?
All elements of this story are as yet unknown, but what is unfolding has the makings of historical high comedy. Here’s a rundown.
Buzzfeed, a website whose specialty is celebrity tittle-tattle, asinine quizzes such as “Which ‘Pixie Hollow Fairy Are You?“, and get-skinny-quick-by-petting-cats articles, published a document, which they gave the graduated title of dossier, which purported to show how Russia, under the devious and genius scheming of Vladimir Putin, had been grooming and bribing Donald Trump for many years, and blackmailing him by threatening to reveal perverted sexual practices, so that Trump would be induced to enter the US Presidential election, win it by secret dirt supplied by Russian intelligence agents, and so place the once United States of America under the control of a foreign government.
Yes, really.
Even Hollywood would never believe a story like that. But many others did. Like, some allege, virulent Never-Trumper, and legacy Republican political strategist, Rick Wilson, the man who accused Trump supporters (this is, unfortunately, relevant) of being childless single men who masturbate to anime.
That disgusting comment is relevant because after Wilson made it, he became a target of ridicule across the Internet, including at the Wild West site 4Chan, a place were folks delight in trolling, which might be defined as pranking-with-intent. After Buzzfeed revealed their conspiracy theory, and probably because of the conspiracy theory’s reliance on certain perverted sexual acts and because of Wilson’s tie-in with sexual commentary, members on 4chan claimed that they were the authors of the dossier. The claim is that the dossier was fan fiction, and that it was leaked to Wilson who believed it and who then turned it over to the CIA. Wilson denies this. And it isn’t plausible 4chan hoaxed the entire USA intelligence community, but the fracas adds a delightful twist to the story.
A better angle involves Republican Senator John McCain, personal enemy of Trump. McCain was first given a copy of the conspiracy document, which he later handed over to the FBI because, he said, he didn’t “know if it is credible or not.”
How did McCain come into possession of the document in the first place? It is being reported he got it from Christopher Steele, an Ex-British Intelligence Officer, and member of Orbis Intelligence Limited, a company that performs “oppo research,” or opposition research, also known as the art of digging up dirt. Yet if it is true Steele is the author of the conspiracy theory, who paid Steele to create it?
The Wall Street Journal tried tracking down Steele, but they only discovered a colleague who told the paper Steele “would be away for a few days.” The colleague didn’t know where. Perhaps they should search in Phoenix, where Senator McCain has his official residence? Or maybe in a dim bar in Moscow? One wonders if Steele has a 4chan account. Never mind.
Enter CNN. That network presented the conspiracy theory as if it were true, and hinted with all possible strength that the US intelligence community also believed it was true, and that Trump had been briefed by “Intel chiefs” about the damning information Russia had on him.
Only it turns out that Trump was never briefed. Intelligence agencies had the document, which is now known to have been “originally generated as part of opposition research by anti-Trump Republicans and then shopped by Democrats,” but they “planned to show it as an example of disinformation campaigns.”
The tale grows stranger still, because Trump himself claims to have conducted his own “sting operation” to detect leaks from American intelligence agencies, an operation he says was a success, proving somebody was leaking details about his intelligence briefings. This has led to all kinds of rumors about bad feelings between Trump and the intelligence community.
Reacting to CNN and Buzzfeed, Trump said at a news conference Wednesday, “It’s all fake news. It’s all phony stuff. It didn’t happen.” The kicker is that when a CNN reporter tried to ask a question, Trump shot him and CNN down, saying “You are fake news.”
It will be recalled that during the election, CNN had given up any pretence of impartiality, openly touting Clinton and denigrating Trump. The network’s bias soon became so blatant that when a CNN crew was spotted, Trump supporters taunted them with cries of “Clinton News Network,” or worse.
Now that Hillary has faded from the scene, CNN has not given up its visceral hatred of Trump, and has proved willing to broadcast any information that might be damaging to Trump, even when that information has less veracity than an out-of-focus photograph which purports to show Bigfoot riding the Loch Ness Monster.
The story isn’t over. The news on why Steele wrote the document, if he wrote it, and why, including who paid him for it, is bound to generate even more fun. (For more from the author of “Is the Trump/Russia “Dossier” the Fake News of the Decade?” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/donald-trump6-1024x682.jpg6821024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-01-12 21:11:282017-01-12 21:11:28Is the Trump/Russia “Dossier” the Fake News of the Decade?
Russia is the principal threat facing the United States, and the new administration should increase support to allies in the face of the Kremlin’s attempts to “break the North Atlantic alliance,” Donald Trump’s choice for defense secretary testified Thursday.
Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, speaking at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. and its NATO partners must strengthen the mutual defense alliance.
“NATO from my perspective is the most successful military alliance in modern world history—maybe ever,” Mattis, 66, testified. “My view is nations with allies thrive and nations without allies don’t. If we did not have NATO today, we would need to create it. It is vital to the security of the United States and vital to the protection of the democracies we are allied with.”
Trump said during the campaign that under his administration, American military support for NATO could be conditional on whether member states have met their financial obligations to the alliance.
Mattis tried to assuage concerns that the U.S. would not commit to the alliance, telling senators he is “confident the president-elect expects us to live up to our word with Article 5” of the NATO treaty, which enshrines the principle that an attack against one member is an attack against all.
To underline that point, Mattis said he supports a permanent U.S. military presence in the Baltic nations to deter Russian aggression.
In a moment where Russia is under fire for interfering in the U.S. election, and the Kremlin’s fingerprints are all over some of the world’s dominant conflicts, including the war in Syria, Mattis urged caution on working with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I am all for engagement, but we also have to recognize reality and what Russia is up to,” Mattis said. “He [Putin] has chosen to be both a strategic competitor and adversary in key areas. I have very modest expectations about areas of cooperation with Mr. Putin.”
Mattis is known and admired as “Mad Dog” in the military, though it is a nickname he says he loathes because it doesn’t fit the sober-mindedness with which he views the use of military force.
His forecasting of world challenges, and his proposed approach to them, seemed to impress members of both parties on the Armed Services Committee.
After the hearing, the Senate quickly voted 81-to-17 to grant Mattis a waiver to run the Pentagon, an action required because he retired from the military only four years ago.
Under federal law, defense secretaries must have been retired from military service for seven years, unless Congress grants a waiver.
The House must still vote on the waiver before the Senate votes on formally confirming Mattis.
Senators who questioned Mattis said they hoped he would take seriously the doctrine of civilian control of the military. Mattis was careful in describing how he would use America’s military might, saying he views force to be a “last resort” that the U.S. can avoid by deterring adversaries with strong alliances and diplomatic leadership:
America has two fundamental powers. One is the power of intimidation. America will defend itself and this experiment in democracy. And the other power that perhaps we have used less in recent years is the power of inspiration. That has to be deployed at times just as strongly.
Central to that power, Mattis said, is adequately funding the military so that it has the best equipment and weaponry.
Mattis warned that because of spending cuts mandated by a budget device known as sequestration, the U.S. may lack the military strength to easily confront Russia and other adversaries, and to manage conflicts such as the war in Afghanistan and the military campaign against the Islamic State terrorist group, or ISIS, in Syria and Iraq.
The Budget Control Act of 2011, which set spending caps, cut a projected $487 billion from defense spending over a decade.
Yet at the same time, Mattis concurred with Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., who asked whether Mattis agrees the national debt is the greatest threat to national security.
“I understand the need for solvency and security. No nation has maintained its military power if it did not maintain its fiscal house,” Mattis said, adding:
At the same time, this country needs to be prepared to defend itself. I believe we can afford survival. I don’t believe in a mathematical calculus that makes Congress spectators as salami-slice cuts come in and you [Congress] don’t have control of it.
Here are other highlights from Mattis’ confirmation hearing, in which the retired four-star Marine general described his policy vision on issues he would encounter as defense secretary:
Iran Nuclear Deal
Mattis reportedly left his last job as leader of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, because he disagreed with the Obama administration on how hawkishly to approach Iran.
In the past, Mattis has said Iran is a greater threat than terrorist groups such as ISIS or al-Qaeda.
But in the confirmation hearing, Mattis did not advocate canceling the nuclear deal the Obama administration and other foreign powers negotiated with Iran.
“I think it is imperfect arms control agreement—it’s not a friendship treaty,” Mattis said. “But when America gives its word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.”
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Bolstering relations with Israel, Mattis said, could help settle a turbulent Middle East.
“We have to restore a better relationship with Israel and Arab allies,” Mattis said. “There is a sense on their part we are indifferent to the security situation they face.”
Mattis said he favors a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and he did not commit to Trump’s campaign pledge to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Women in the Military
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., pressed Mattis on whether he supports Obama administration decisions to open combat positions to women and to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.
While stressing that having the most “lethal” fighting force would be his priority, Mattis said he would not try to roll back Defense Department policies in those areas.
“I have never come into any job with an agenda of changing anything,” Mattis said. “I come in assuming the people before me deserve respect for the job they did and decisions they made. I believe military service is a touchstone for people of every stripe.”
Defeating ISIS
Mattis said he is confident in ongoing U.S.-assisted military operations to take back from ISIS the major cities of Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria.
But he said he would undertake a more “accelerated campaign” to defeat ISIS, understanding that the military effort is only part of the battle.
“There has to be a military defeat, but it has to be a broader approach,” Mattis said. “You need to go after recruiting and fundraising as well. The most important thing to know when you get into a shooting war is how you want it to end.” (For more from the author of “Pentagon Nominee James Mattis Warns of Russian Attempts to ‘Break NATO'” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Vladimir_Putin_20090128_2-1.jpg27304096Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-01-12 20:51:122017-01-12 20:51:12Pentagon Nominee James Mattis Warns of Russian Attempts to ‘Break NATO’
Donald Trump was presented classified documents last week containing allegations that Russian operatives obtained compromising personal and financial information on the president-elect, according to a new report by CNN.
Included in the documents were allegations that there was communication between Trump surrogates and Russian government intermediaries during the campaign.
The allegations were presented in a two-page appendix to the report on the alleged Russian campaign aimed at influencing the U.S. presidential election.
The four most senior U.S. intelligence officials — Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers — briefed both Trump and President Obama on the findings.
Top congressional leaders and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees were also briefed on the allegations.
The allegations presented to the president and president-elect did not originate from the American intelligence community — rather, they came from a former British intelligence agent, CNN reported.
According to the report, the former MI6 agent was originally commissioned by anti-Trump Republicans to perform opposition research during the primaries, and was later funded by Democrats.
CNN reported that soon after the former British intelligence agent began researching Trump’s business ties, he came across questionable information about Trump’s businesses in Russia. He then took the findings to an FBI colleague, and they eventually made their way to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
McCain personally delivered the findings to FBI Director James Comey after becoming “sufficiently disturbed” by the allegations, the report said.
The former MI6 agent has a reputation within the intelligence community and is considered to be a reliable source, according to CNN. That said, the FBI is still reviewing the findings to establish their veracity.
The rather unprecedented decision to present the unconfirmed findings to the president-elect was to make Trump aware that intelligence agencies and senior congressional officials are circulating allegations involving him personally.
The senior intelligence officials also wanted to demonstrate to Trump that Russia had compiled harmful information about both parties, but only released damaging information about Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. (For more from the author of “Report: Russia Obtained Compromising Personal, Financial Information on Trump” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/25475874370_82f4151df4_b-2.jpg6831024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-01-11 22:56:082017-01-10 23:02:14Report: Russia Obtained Compromising Personal, Financial Information on Trump
The current Russia “debate” is counter-productive. Yes, Russia meddled in our elections, but Russia did not determine the result. Hillary Clinton’s loss is on her, not Putin. This level of concern from the world’s sole superpower only inflates Putin’s power, and — as the citizens of Aleppo can attest — that power will not be a force for good.
Let’s get a few things straight about Russia. First, it is a mafia basket case in precipitous decline economically, culturally, and demographically. Most of it resembles the Third World. After the Cold War, American military personnel returning from Russia were typically incredulous that such a backward place had caused such fear in the West. It has only gone downhill since.
In 1985, the Soviet Union had 275 million people, a $2.2 trillion economy, and 13 treaty allies. Today, the Russian Federation has 144 million citizens. Even though it is one of the world’s largest producers of oil, it’s economy has shrunk to just $1.3 trillion, putting it on par with Spain (a country with 46 million people and no oil). Last year, Russian poverty reached 15.7 percent. And most of its former allies are now part of NATO, and Russia makes its bed with powerhouses Belarus and Armenia.
But Putin wants you to imagine Russia in the big, bad boy of 1980s Cold War USSR. Think “Red Dawn” or “The Hunt for Red October.” In reality, putting today’s Russia in those movies would be like Jack Ryan hunting rogue Uruguayan submarines — Russia’s nearest rival on the U.N.’s Human Development Index.
Sure, Russia is an existential threat to Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine, not us. But Russia has nuclear weapons, you say? Two words: North Korea.
Second, put into perspective the meme that Trump is pro-Russian. I am sure Russians cheered his election, not because they succeeded in installing a Manchurian Candidate in the White House, but because they think they have Trump’s number. That’s on Trump to disprove.
Clinton would have had difficulty making that case after cashing all those Clinton Foundation checks from Russia.
President Obama proudly conjured the “reset button.” And who can forget President Bush peering into Putin’s soul? Both look like fools because of it.
As an aside, Vice President-elect Pence might want to take notes if he wants to succeed Trump. Putin always prefers the party out of power. Always. He offers the illusion of good relations after the White House changes parties. If the Trump administration foolishly makes the same Faustian Bargain as Obama and Bush, Putin’s shenanigans will target him. Ask Clinton.
Third, be honest about what Russia did. Yes, Russia hacked the DNC and the personal emails of Clinton, Inc. cronies. Russia released it through their agent Julian Assange. But the idea that John Podesta’s leaked emails trumped the will of 300+ million people is ludicrous.
The irony of the situation is that Putin was reacting to polls just like everyone else. He likely saw Clinton as inevitable. As such, the leaks were about damaging her before she entered office, not electing Trump. They were to ensure U.S. policy toward Russia remained feather-pillow soft in the event Russia investments in the Clinton Foundation did not pan out.
In the near term, the most practical thing is to be honest about Russia. Putin spent hundreds of millions of dollars to discredit a losing presidential candidate — all while Russian babushkas must save pennies to buy food.
Insufficient though Putin’s effort may have been, he still messed with America. That comes with a price, but determining that price should not distract us from the important stuff.
Virtually the entire Democratic Party seems obsessed with Russia, forgetting its pride in Obama’s Seinfeldian snark to Mitt Romney about Russia in 2012. “The 1980s are calling to ask for their foreign policy back.” Indeed.
The medium-term solution is to support regional allies like Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine, so they can handle Russia for us. They’re more than capable if we back them properly. Look at alliances through the prism of leverage. You will find them quite useful, especially if we want to clear our docket of nettlesome bullies like Putin and deal with the threats that matter.
The long-term solution is to atomize and reorganize our dysfunctional national security structure, but that is another discussion.
The new administration needs to focus on advancing a conservative foreign policy agenda that tackles the threats facing this country, chief among them radical Islam. An administration consumed with Russia will not have the time.
By all means, point out that Russia meddled. Punish them. Better yet, help our allies do it. But be honest about it, and quit obsessing about Russia. It just encourages Putin’s sad grasp for unearned relevance. We have more important things to be doing. (For more from the author of “Russia Derangement Syndrome. Let’s Focus on REAL Threats to American Security” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/russia-112721_960_720.jpg661960Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-01-09 22:46:062017-01-09 22:46:46Russia Derangement Syndrome. Let’s Focus on REAL Threats to American Security
The report “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections” released on January 6th by the Director of National Intelligence could be classified as “spam,” an irrelevant message sent over the Internet to large numbers of users for the purposes of advertising.
Out of the twenty-five pages, there is what some may describe as “news”, if you believe in assessments rather than evidence, of which none is provided:
(1) The heads of Obama’s three intelligence-gathering agencies, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and The National Security Agency (NSA) assess that, “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump” (disclaimer – I had a clear preference for Trump too);
(2) the three agencies “did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election,” but none of the Russian activities were “involved in vote tallying”;
(3) Obama’s political appointees “assess with high confidence that Russian military intelligence (General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate or GRU) used the Guccifer 2.0 persona and DCLeaks.com to release US victim data obtained in cyber operations publicly and in exclusives to media outlets and relayed material to WikiLeaks,” although any link between Russian intelligence and Wikileaks was not identified;
(4) “Disclosures [from the Democratic National Committee and senior Democrat officials] through WikiLeaks did not contain any evident forgeries,” that is, the Democrats really said/did those things.
The bulk of the report, however, simply provides information about US intelligence analysis techniques, scope and sourcing, previously published material and describes:
“longstanding Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence operations-such as cyber activity-with overt efforts by Russian Government agencies, state-funded media, third-party intermediaries, and paid social media users or ‘trolls,'” especially the role of RT (formerly Russia Today), the “Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet.”
None of that is exactly “news” as the report itself admits:
“During the Cold War, the Soviet Union used intelligence officers, influence agents, forgeries, and press placements to disparage candidates perceived as hostile to the Kremlin, according to a former KGB archivist.”
What is interesting is an article by another “Russia’s state-run propaganda” outlet, Sputnik News, which said that Annex A of the US intelligence report claims that “Kremlin’s TV Seeks To Influence Politics, Fuel Discontent in US,” but buried at the bottom of that page is a note stating, “This annex was originally published on 11 December 2012 by the Open Source Center, now the Open Source Enterprise.”
That is, the information cited in the US intelligence report “to provide evidence of RT influencing the American public [in 2016] was compiled in December 2012.”
According to Sputnik News, “The report focuses on television shows and interviews that took place four years before Trump was elected, and well before he was even a politician” and that two RT shows, Breaking the Set and Truthseeker, mentioned in the US intelligence report, were off air before the 2016 election season began.
I would not be terribly shocked to learn that Russian intelligence hacked Democratic Nation Committee computers and John Podesta’s personal email account on Putin’s orders and provided information from those activities to WikiLeaks and DCLeaks.
Neither the first nor the second intelligence report, however, provide direct evidence to support that accusation, but the report authors rely on Americans’ natural inclination to believe it.
The lack of evidence, the timing of the revelations as well as the delayed punitive measures taken against Russia, generate skepticism.
Public reports of alleged Russian hacking surfaced in October 2016 and it was probably known to the US intelligence community much earlier, as their report implies.
Why weren’t Russians expelled, sanctions applied and reports produced prior to the election?
One wonders if any of what has occurred after the election, would have, if Hillary Clinton had won on November 8th.
So, what is the point of the ex post facto intelligence revelations and the diplomatic punishment of Russia other than a result of Obama’s failed Russian foreign policy, his personal animosity towards Putin, a ruse to discredit the election of Donald Trump and a means to hamper the incoming administration?
Perhaps, the Obama Administration can issue a report on that. (For more from the author of “America’s CIA, FBI and NSA Continue to Lose Credibility, Issue Politicized Second Russian Hacking Report” please click HERE)
