Even as the USA continues to secretly hack its own adversaries, Obama is raising the stakes for countries caught behind the keyboards engaging in cyber espionage, including major powers like Russian Federation and China. Of threatening the very underpinnings of America’s relationship with Europe. Please click the button below to manage your account. But private security experts – although not yet any USA government agencies – say they found persuasive clues that point to hacking groups whose previous targets track closely with the strategic interests of Russia’s government, especially its civilian and military intelligence and security agencies. The idea of fostering U.S. -Russian cooperation isn’t outlandish – after all, Hillary Clinton tried to “reset” relations with Russia as secretary of state.
Advertisement
The notion of refusing to defend North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies who don’t pay their bills, for example, or of buddying up to Putin despite his aggressive stances is jarring to Democrats and Republicans alike.
Lazar admitted hacking into the email and social media accounts of US politicians and celebrities between October 2012 and January 2014, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell and the family of former presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush. But they also tell us that the DNC’s cyber theft is right out of Vladimir Putin’s playbook.
“And besides that wouldn’t it be good if we actually got along with countries”.
He wouldn’t say, however, whether President Barack Obama believes Putin is a dictator. “I think it would be great to get along with him”, Trump said. “And countries that we’re protecting have to pay what they’re supposed to be paying”.
DONALD TRUMP: I was being sarcastic when I said it, but where are those emails?
Foreign policy experts of all stripes “are left slack-jawed” by Trump’s pronouncements, said Derek Chollet, a senior adviser at the German Marshall Fund and former Pentagon official in the Obama administration. Heck, Trump says he spoke directly with him and that he “could not have been nicer”. He said that while Trump talks “elliptically” and “just can’t wonk”, the GOP nominee “in his own way seems to be advocating detente”, which Cohen sees as an admirable goal.
Cohen said it’s time for critics to stop using “McCarthyite” language to demonize Trump and have a serious discussion about the issues he’s raising.
In an interview with NBC News earlier this week, Obama said it was “possible” the hacking of the DNC server was orchestrated on behalf of Russian intelligence services to influence the United States election.
Yet Democrats are not the only ones to recoil at Trump’s remarks. Obama also appeared to embrace the notion that President Vladimir Putin might have been responsible because of what he described as Trumps affinity for Putin. “They have no idea if it’s Russian Federation, if it’s China, if it’s somebody else”, Trump said. If Republicans who love this country don’t speak up now, they should not call themselves patriotic Americans, for they will have endorsed the thought that foreign countries should investigate our citizens and our leadership.
Several Moscow-based EU diplomats told Reuters that Russia’s tactic of lobbying friendly European states is starting to erode the bloc’s unity.
“It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond”, Trump said in a statement. “It’s about handling a very delicate and volatile situation that can go sour very quickly”.
“President Putin said numerous times that Russian Federation has never interfered and doesn’t interfere in domestic affairs of other countries, especially in electing campaigns”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Yet others note that even the current Obama administration depends on Russian Federation and seeks its help with many world crises.
Advertisement
Russian Federation could have been trying to influence the election on behalf of Trump, if they carried it, or to make mischief more generally and create chaos during the election. They’re even discussing a military alliance against the Islamic State group.
