{"id":106646,"date":"2014-01-21T08:23:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T08:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=2473cba5ecd1bf914a44668a5a4f5daa"},"modified":"2014-01-21T08:23:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-21T08:23:00","slug":"beating-up-on-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/beating-up-on-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"Beating Up on Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"
Beating Up on Russia<\/b><\/div>\n
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by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n
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An earlier article called America a super-bully nation. It did so for good reason. It’s no fit place to live in. Obama represents its dark side. He’s waging war on humanity.<\/div>\n
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He’s doing it belligerently, politically, economically and socially. He represents the worst of rogue leadership. So does bipartisan complicity.<\/div>\n
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Washington is a cesspool of lawlessness. It’s worse than ever now. Lawmakers are ruthless. They’re corrupt. They’re self-serving. So are administration officials. <\/div>\n
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Government by diktat is policy. So is state terror. Rule of law principles don’t matter. They’re routinely violated. Anything goes defines things. Democracy exists in name only.<\/div>\n
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America tolerates none at home or abroad. It demands all nations bow to its will. Outliers are targeted for regime change. <\/div>\n
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Russia is a convenient punching bag. It’s one of the few countries able to assert its independence. It’s able to get away with it. At least so far.<\/div>\n
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Putin bashing is unrelenting. Instead of partnering for peace and stability, beating up on him renews Cold War tensions. <\/div>\n
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Media scoundrels regurgitate what demands condemnation. They’re complicit in hyperbolic\/baseless accusations.<\/div>\n
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Mainstream misinformation calls him a strongman KGB thug. He’s compared to Stalin, Hitler and Saddam. He’s falsely accused of imperial ambitions. <\/div>\n
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Putinphobes claim he loves poking America in the eye. They bash his peace initiatives. Ritualistic demonization continues. <\/div>\n
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Doing so suggests reinventing the Evil Empire. It’s back to the future. Where it’s heading remains to be seen.<\/div>\n
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On January 17, the Daily Beast<\/span><\/a> headlined “Congress Presses Obama on Russia sanctions.”<\/div>\n
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Four senators called for doing so. They include John McCain (R. AZ), Bob Corker (R. TN), Robert Menendez (D. NY), and Ben Cardin (D. MD).<\/div>\n
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They want a provision of the so-called Magnitsky Act invoked. It lets lawmakers submit alleged human rights violator names for administration consideration.<\/div>\n
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Official accusations subject them to sanctions. They include visa bans and asset freezes. Complicit senators wrote John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, saying:<\/div>\n
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“On December 20, 2013, we received the Department of State\u2019s first annual report.” <\/div>\n
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“Disappointingly and contrary to repeated assurances and expectations, this report indicates that no persons have been added to the Magnitsky list since April 2013 and does not provide adequate details on the administration’s efforts to encourage other governments to impose similar targeted sanctions.” <\/div>\n
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“We look forward to your response to our request and hope you will also clarify when we can expect additional names to be added to the Magnitsky list as well as specific administration efforts to encourage other governments to adopt legislation similar to the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012.”<\/div>\n
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They stopped short of targeting Putin directly. They named Alexander Bastrykin. He’s former First Deputy Prosecutor General. He chaired the Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office.<\/div>\n
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They want alleged Russian organized crime boss Dmitry Klyeuv sanctioned. Maybe they have other names in mind. <\/div>\n
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Maybe they’ll include Putin. Maybe they and other congressional hardliners plan rupturing US-Russian relations entirely.<\/div>\n
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Maybe they plan on doing it. Maybe Obama won’t stop them.<\/div>\n
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On January 19, The New York Times<\/span><\/a> headlined “Congressional Leaders Suggest Earlier Snowden Link to Russia.”<\/div>\n
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House and Senate Intelligence Committee chairs suggested it. Rep. Mike Rogers (R. MI) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D. CA) offered no evidence whatever.<\/div>\n
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Baseless accusations began last June. They followed Snowden’s revelations. “(T)here has been much speculation that he was collaborating with a foreign spy service,” said The Times.<\/div>\n
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An unnamed FBI official said he likely acted alone. An Agency investigation continues. <\/div>\n
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“(D)ebate rages about whether he was a traitor, a whistle-blower or a violator of his oaths,” said The Times.<\/div>\n
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Some in Washington say he’s all three. Rogers accused him of knowingly or unknowingly being directed by a foreign intelligence agency. <\/div>\n
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“I believe there’s a reason he ended up in the hands, the loving hands, of an FSB (Federal Security Service) agent in Moscow,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”<\/div>\n
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He went “way beyond his technical capabilities,” claimed Rogers. “He had help. He stole things that had nothing to do with privacy.”<\/div>\n
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According to The Times:<\/div>\n
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“Intelligence officials say they have no doubt that Chinese and Russian intelligence have obtained whatever information Mr. Snowden was carrying with him digitally.”<\/div>\n
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He insists he gave nothing to other governments. Rogers accused him of stealing 1.7 million intelligence files.<\/div>\n
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He claimed billions of dollars are needed to undo his security breaches. He provided no evidence to prove it.<\/div>\n
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Snowden said nothing he revealed compromises national security. He exposed lawless NSA spying. He provided a public service. He began a much needed debate.<\/div>\n
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According to Rogers, his arrival in Moscow wasn’t “gee-whiz luck.”<\/div>\n
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ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner advises Snowden. He called Rogers’ accusation “false” and “silly.” He “exaggerated national security claims.”<\/div>\n
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His actions before seeking asylum were entirely inconsistent with foreign espionage. He sought asylum in 20 countries.<\/div>\n
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He was stuck in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport’s transit area for weeks. It doesn’t matter. House Homeland Security Committee chairman Michael McCaul (R. TX) said he was “cultivated by a foreign power.”<\/div>\n
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FBI as well as House and Senate intelligence committee investigations continue. They’ve been ongoing for months. They found nothing linking Snowden to foreign espionage.<\/div>\n
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It doesn’t matter. Accusations continue. Russia is Washington’s main target. US officials remain furious about Putin refusing America’s extradition request.<\/div>\n
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Snowden’s charged under the 1917 Espionage Act. It’s a long ago outdated WW I relic. It has no current relevance.<\/div>\n
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It doesn’t matter. Or that Snowden committed no crime. He acted under the provisions of the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act.<\/div>\n
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It protects federal employees. Reporting government wrongdoing provides a public service. Federal agencies are prohibited from retaliating against those who do so. <\/div>\n
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Acting otherwise violates federal law. It spurns constitutional protections. Federal charges include:<\/div>\n
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