I believe the Russians are involved in American politics. It’s an old story: There used to be organizations known as “Communist front groups” that were founded, funded, and otherwise supported by the Kremlin, the most important of which was ANSWER. Such organizations undoubtedly still exist, and their mission is still the same: destroy American democracy.
They are part of the global war against the United States. They hate and fear democracy and freedom, which — as the demise of the Soviet Empire abundantly demonstrates — are the greatest threat to their own legitimacy and hence their continued tyranny. Hatred and fear of the United States is what binds together such diverse regimes as those in Moscow, Tehran, Beijing, Pyongyang, and Caracas.
So I am not surprised when our counter-intel guys find evidence of Russian meddling. But if we had an intelligence community worthy of the name, we’d probably know a lot more. And not just about Russians, either.
Given the deep corruption of the American political system, there must be considerable activity by Chinese and Iranian agents as well. And, apparently, Pakistanis, as it seems from the remarkable story of aides to former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz:
The Awans, three of their relatives and a close friend are the targets of an FBI and U.S. Capitol Police criminal investigation into allegations they committed congressional cybersecurity violations and large-scale theft of congressional property in a scheme that may have begun more than a decade ago.
The Paks had free access to most anything they wanted in congressional databases. If the Paks could do it? So can the Russians, Iranians, and Chinese. It apparently only requires money, although in this case we paid for it either with political contributions or with funds from congressional offices.
We should act on the assumption that extremist groups are helped by our enemies. Obviously, they would prefer to work with organizations that support specific policy objectives, but anti-democratic groups — regardless of their location on the political spectrum — all play into our enemies’ hands. If I were in charge of American operations for the Russian, Iranian, or Chinese intelligence service, I would want to support right-wing racist groups as enthusiastically as left-wing anti-capitalist groups such as Black Lives Matter or Antifa. All such organizations contribute to the mission.
As General Ion Pacepa — the celebrated Romanian defector who headed his country’s intelligence apparatus — has said, more people worked on disinformation than for the Soviet army and defense industry combined.
The organizations with which they nominally worked all pretended to be independent. Yet careful study, and good counterintelligence on our part, show their real identity as agents of hostile powers.
This is what the Mueller crowd should be investigating, but it doesn’t seem to be doing that. Weren’t they supposed to be looking into Russian efforts to manipulate the American political system?
Isn’t there abundant public evidence — plus whatever our spooks have come up with — to point the way on this very important matter?
And what about Russia’s Iranian, Chinese, and North Korean cohorts in the war against America? They are all very active hackers, targeting Americans who fight against their doctrines and their active infiltration of our institutions. I speak from personal experience, having been hacked by Iranians. It seems to me that Mueller is obliged to look at these matters, but instead I see a highly politicized operation aimed at the president and his supporters. That bespeaks a total lack of focus on national security, and strikes me as dereliction of duty from people who are charged with protecting us against our enemies.
Yes, I think the prosecution of Mike Flynn is an outrage. It suggests to me that the investigation under the leadership of Mr. Mueller is driven by domestic political passions rather than proper concern for our security.
The Russians and their henchmen couldn’t ask for a greater success.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member