Robert Perry - Making Russia The Enemy

[Spitfire of ATJ]

Making Russia ‘The Enemy’
December 15, 2016

Exclusive: Despite conflicting accounts about who leaked the Democratic emails, the frenzy over an alleged Russian role is driving the U.S. deeper into a costly and dangerous New Cold War, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

The rising hysteria about Russia is best understood as fulfilling two needs for Official Washington: the Military Industrial Complex’s transitioning from the “war on terror” to a more lucrative “new cold war” – and blunting the threat that a President Trump poses to the neoconservative/liberal-interventionist foreign-policy establishment.

By hyping the Russian “threat,” the neocons and their liberal-hawk sidekicks, who include much of the mainstream U.S. news media, can guarantee bigger military budgets from Congress. The hype also sets in motion a blocking maneuver to impinge on any significant change in direction for U.S. foreign policy under Trump.

<snip>

The potential trading places of the two parties in that regard – with Trump favoring geopolitical détente and the Democrats beating the drums for more military confrontations – augurs poorly for the Democrats regaining their political footing anytime soon.

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/12/15/making-russia-the-enemy/

[SHRED]

1. Putin is murderous scum

[Spitfire of ATJ]

2. Perry isn't defending Putin. He's exposing an agenda....

I've seen for some time there are people in the intelligence community who miss the old days of cloak and dagger espionage with lots of vodka and hookers.

[KittyWampus]

9. Perry seems to not have any clue about how Russia is interfering with western Democracies

and the extent of their Cyber Warfare.

It's embarrassing for Perry and anyone defending him at this point.

[stevenleser]

23. He's not exposing anything. Parry is the one with the agenda. nt

[Lint Head]

3. Sorry but this "I'm OK with Russia" smacks of a tone

of propaganda that legitimizes Trump. I can hear it now.
Trump supporter, "Well, Russia's been taken wrong. They're not our enemy at all. I know because I read Robert Perry's article."
The list of murderous things the Russian government has done in the past and currently does not justify a reset.
A new Cold War? It's not like the old one ever really ended.
They have nuclear weapons pointed at us right now. They also have a missle that is faster than anything we have. Wonder why?

The giant TOPOL-M road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile is one frightening creation of mankind. It can hide in cities, forests, or even nuclear-attack hardened bunkers. It'll travel at over 15,000 MPH while taking evasive action and pumping out decoys on the way to its target.
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/russias-fast-and-illusive-topol-m-ballistic-missile-is-1618672889

[Spitfire of ATJ]

4. Don't buy into the false choice....

It's not a choice between hating Putin or loving him.

There are hawks both in DC and Moscow who would love to sucker everyone into believing this crap.

Remember we are still using Soyuz to get to the ISS.

No more wars.

No more fear.

[KittyWampus]

10. "Believing this crap". What, that Russia has interfered with England, USA, Holland, France

and Germany?

That crap?

The fact they have a troll army conducting Cyber Warfare?

That crap?

The fact that Putin is using White Supremacists to cast Putin as our white Christian savior against the brown Muslims?

That crap?

[ronnie624]

12. It's not any more frightening than any other missile.

I seriously doubt that Russian military capabilities are superior to those of the US.

Russia has been invaded by all of the Western powers. There is no doubt about who has legitimate security concerns, if the facts of history are considered.

It's your post that smacks of propaganda.

[stevenleser]

24. Nope, KittyWampus refuted all your contentions above. nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. Fuck you, Robert Parry.

Fuck you for flushing your reputation down the toilet for a little bit of Putin's silver.

[Coventina]

6. Because they fiddled with our election out of the goodness of their hearts?

Fuck that noise.

[bigtree]

7. regardless how you feel about Russia

...we should all agree that no foreign government should be allowed to meddle in our election process.

I wonder how Parry will feel when it's revealed Trump actively and directly assisted the Russians in that effort. No matter to him that Trump openly encouraged Russia to undermine our election during the campaign.

[KittyWampus]

8. Russia is interfering with western Democracies. Robert Perry must be getting senile.

[ronnie624]

15. By "interfering",

I assume you mean their intelligence agencies are conducting clandestine operations in other countries, in an attempt to advance a partcular self-serving agenda.

How do Americans say such things, without a trace of embarrassment?

Further, I wonder why we accept an election system that is hackable.

[LanternWaste]

18. A rational mind would presume many Americans say it justly because we

"How do Americans say such things, without a trace of embarrassment? "

A rational mind would presume many Americans say it justly because we do indeed, hold ourselves to that same standard, regardless of whether we can directly and immediately affect those policies in the here and now.

Unless one is of the (simple) mind that because our government engages in policies we do not hold to, we must yet defend them.

[ronnie624]

21. You appear to be saying I'm irrational and simple-minded.

I don't think so.

You should work on creating a more orderly syntax.

[stevenleser]

26. DUers are not responsible for either the CIAs or the KGB/GRU/SVR's current or past actions

So we can, with a straight face, hold all the above responsible for any past and current transgressions.

[emulatorloo]

43. Your position is 'The US deserves it'

Which basically means you don't give a shit about the integrity of our elections.

[stevenleser]

27. See my #26 above. Your attempt to attack "Americans" here shows your bias.

DUers are not responsible for what any intelligence agency does or has done, so we can criticize bad acts of any of them without a trace of embarrassment.

Your attempt to attack us for undeserved hypocrisy shows your agenda.

[ronnie624]

35. Claiming that the citizens of a presumed democracy

bear no responsibility for their government's policies, is absurd. Inuendo and ad hominem attacks won't change that.

[stevenleser]

37. And of course you apply that only toward one people. Nope, no sale. nt

[MineralMan]

33. Now, now...A guy's gotta earn a buck somehow, you know.

You sing the songs requested by the guy who hired you to sing.

[otohara]

11. There's Quite A Few Pro-Putin Articles by Parry

called him out on Twitter yesterday - normalizing Putin means normalizing Trump.

[MineralMan]

13. It's PARRY, not Perry, and he long since went over to the Russian

side of things. It all seemed to start with Ukraine. At this point, he appears to be shilling for Russian interests.

He is no longer a valid source of anything unbiased about Putin or Russia. Consortium news is not a reliable source, either.

[ronnie624]

16. "He is no longer a valid source of anything unbiased about Putin or Russia."

"Consortium news is not a reliable source, either."

Neither are you.

And neither is most of the media establishment in the US.

[MineralMan]

17. But, you see, I don't pretend to be a news source.

I do not pretend to be a journalist, either. I'm a guy posting on a Democratic discussion forum about news stories and journalists.

So, I don't have to meet anyone's standards but my own, and don't pretend to. What I write here is strictly my own opinion.

[ronnie624]

19. You still have a very biased view of politically charged events.

You very clearly adopt the standard narrative that casts the US as a victim in the world, which is inaccurate.

[MineralMan]

20. I have my own personal view of almost everything.

I express that view here. In my signature line on ever post, my statement about what I write is clear. It is my opinion.

I do not write news. I do not claim to have access to newsworthy people. I discuss what others write, primarily.

I am not a news source, reliable or otherwise.

[stevenleser]

29. Keep in mind that person says DUers can't criticize anyone ever because the CIA has done bad things

in the past and we are somehow responsible for them.

[ronnie624]

36. American democracy has been victimized by corrupted American institutions,

like MSM, the FBI, a quid pro quo campaign finance system and hackable voting.

You don't traffic in facts and reason. Your posts are scarcely coherent.

[SidDithers]

14. Parry. LOL...

Putin's stenographer.

Sid

[End Of The Road]

22. Thanks for posting this.

I've been aware of the media ramping up the hatred for Russia since late 2013. It began in subtle ways; it's not so subtle now.

Having lived more than half my life in the first Cold War, I have no desire to spend what's left of it in a Second Cold War. Cooler heads prevailed then, but there were several really close calls nonetheless.

My wish for the Democratic Party is that it purge itself of neocons and neocon ideology. It's dangerous, costly, and unsustainable.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

40. Bingo. As the article states, we used to be the "peace party" but look at the replies here.

[Xolodno]

25. Not going to get much love from that article.

I agree Russia is being manufactured to be a boogie man to further MIC aims. And I also believe Putin is fanning the flames of this as well. He knows full well that every dollar we spend in the Military and espionage is one less dollar on infrastructure, social programs, etc. And he knows our "outrage" will play right into his hands.

The whole Ukraine issue has left us in a bad pickle. On one hand we decry corruption and gay rights issues in Russia...but completely ignore that much of the same is happening in Ukraine. But we wined and dined the country to move to the West and made guarantee's. So our credibility is shackled to them.

We need to ask ourselves some hard and uncomfortable questions.

How and why did we leave our elections so vulnerable to foreign agents? And how do we make sure it doesn't happen again?

Why did we rapidly expand NATO and promise NATO status for corrupt nations, thereby weakening a strong alliance?

Why did we support rebel elements in Syria who were less than savory? We kept ourselves at arm's length in case these guys turned out to be no better or worse than the Assad regime. But if we were that concerned, surely we should have calculated eventual Russian involvement, this wasn't Libya where they had little to lose. And why did we turn a blind eye to Qatar, Turkey & Saudi Arabia's indirect support of ISIS?

I could go on. But we really need to stop foaming at the mouth at "enemies" and figure out how to better guard ourselves better. But when you bring the subject up, you get derided as "blaming America first"....when actuality, its "walking softly and carrying a big stick". What were doing instead is smashing everything we see with the stick.

[stevenleser]

28. Your first two sentences are dangerously close to being mutually exclusive.

And, taking that further, if Putin has done some bad acts, such as, oh, I don't know, interfered in our elections, or engaged in an unprovoked war of aggression, well, then there is nothing manufactured about being a boogie man.

[Xolodno]

31. And this is where we will differ. I don't see this in a vaccum.

Putin claimed we interfered in Russian Elections. Problem is, if you believe it to be true or not, we have a history ourselves of doing so in a number of nations. And we did support Yeltsin and his illegal takeover....which ironically has given us Putin. We probably should have made no comment or objections to their elections, despite how fraudulent.

As for "unprovoked", promising NATO status to a country on the border of a nation that is extremely paranoid of western invasion and historically has been part of Russia longer than our own nation has even existed, is going to get some notice.

Our aims may have been altruistic, but we sure as hell didn't massage any fears, nor did we take a look at possible consequences. We don't have much of a moral stance and Putin exploited it.

We can cast blame all day, but it doesn't provide any solutions.

[stevenleser]

32. Again, you exhibit the problem with those taking the position of defending Putin. I am not "We"

I am not "The US" or "The CIA".

I can perfectly well hold Putin responsible for engaging in an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine and interfering in our elections.

A bad act by someone else does not make it OK for Putin to do the same bad act.

I was against an unprovoked war of aggression by 'W' in Iraq, I am against an unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine by Putin.

I am against covert manipulation of elections in a Democracy anywhere.

[Xolodno]

39. Agreed.

My point is, blame isn't a solution and acting out on the outrage often isn't the solution either. But it does seem like we are being "herded" to a specific direction.

[MineralMan]

30. Quite the "cold" analysis, I think.

But, hey, Trump likes Putin. They'll get along famously. They're a lot alike, the two of them. Теплые друзья, more or less. Translation: "Warm friends"

Здесь приходит новая холодная война. Translation: "Here comes the new cold war."

[Xolodno]

38. Only, I don't think we can emerge "victorious" from another cold war.

This isn't the Soviet Union. Russia has increased and telegraphed military spending. But when you look hard, its no where near the levels under the Soviet leadership or comparable to our own. So when it comes to arms build up, we are winning hand over fist.

We show outrage due to their military campaigns in Ukraine and Georgia, but they explicitly stated them moving west was a red line and they would intervene, so why are we surprised?

Russia has learned that the cost of maintaining and empire maybe more than its worth. Any new "Cold War" will be on our end and cost us dearly, or worse bankrupt us. Which again, serves Putin's aims. We'll be competing against ourselves.

Will we end up in a new cold war? Ironically, I think that depends on the Bromance Trump and Putin have. But I bet Ukraine will be abandoned and the sanctions lifted. And at some point, due to the corruption in Ukraine and economic pain associated, the government will recognize the annexation for "economic relief" by Russia from the IMF loans they can't pay back. And that assumes the best case scenario, I figured the country would be partitioned, Kiev and everything east going to Russia. While the rest gets absorbed into Poland, Romania, etc.

And I still can't get over it, four years ago we laughed at Romney for suggesting Russia was the major Geo-Political threat. In four years much hasn't changed with Russia, but suddenly, because we didn't protect our electoral process from the outside (while fighting over non-existent internal voter fraud), suddenly Romney is right and Obama was wrong.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

41. Too many politicians NEED an enemy to distract the people from the issues that matter.

[Vinnie From Indy]

34. His name is "Parry".

[Spitfire of ATJ]

42. Should I edit it?