Not Everyone in Washington Is Happy That Trump and Putin Are Getting Along
by Daisy Luther
Those of us who are not in favor of getting nuked were very pleased to hear that the day after the election, the mainstream media’s proclaimed enemy President Vladimir Putin of Russia sent a congratulatory telegram to President-Elect Donald Trump.
The contents were shared in a release from the Kremlin:
In his message, Mr Putin said he hopes for work together to lift Russian-US relations out of the current crisis, resolve issues on the international agenda, look for effective responses to global security challenges.
The President said he is confident that Moscow and Washington can establish a constructive dialogue based on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and genuine consideration for each other’s positions. This would be in the interests of both peoples and of the entire international community.
Mr Putin wished Mr Trump success in his important work as head of state.
Previous to Trump’s win, the Kremlin went as far as saying that voting for Clinton was a vote for nuclear war. I’m sure her inflammatory suggestion of a no-fly zone in Syria that only applied to Russia and Syria and her assistance in arming and training Syrian rebels had a lot to do with Russia’s displeasure at the prospect of a Clinton presidency. It seemed like war with Russia was imminent as they backed out on a deal to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium, one of the loudest of many alarming warning bells.
But, things are looking better for US-Russia relations. Putin said to the press on Sunday, “The President-elect confirmed he is willing to normalize Russian-American relations. I told him the same. We did not discuss where and when we would meet.”
Not so fast, though…not everyone in Washington is happy about this.
As we all learned in General Smedley Butler’s classic, War Is a Racket, politicians love war. War makes lots of money for the military-industrial complex, and in turn, many politicians leave office with their bank accounts filled with blood money.
Several politicians have voiced their strong disapproval of the improved relations between Trump and Putin, vowing to “rein in” the potential for an agreement. If Trump continues on this current peaceful route, Congress seems to be indicating they’ll act on their own.
Unbelievable, right? Here are a few choice quotes from an article on The Hill. Note that they came from both Democrats and Republicans.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) plans to be “a bit of a hard ass…We cannot sit on the sidelines as a party and let allegations against a foreign government interfering in our election process go unanswered because it may have been beneficial to our case for the moment.”
…Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): “We should place as much faith in such statements as any other made by a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny, murdered his political opponents, invaded his neighbors, threatened America’s allies and attempted to undermine America’s elections.”
…Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.): “I am deeply concerned about his [Michael Flynn’s] views on Russia, which over the last 12 months have demonstrated the same fondness for the autocratic and belligerent Kremlin which animate President-elect Trump’s praise of Vladimir Putin.”
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.): “There are Democrats and Republicans that are, I think most members of Congress, that are very concerned about Russia’s activities and how we try to reconcile that with statements that Donald Trump made during the course of his campaign.”
One has to wonder whether there’s a distinct money trail in there some place.
Regardless of your opinions on President-Elect Trump (and as I’ve noted, we must all be guarded and vigilant, no matter who the president is), I think that most of us can agree that ridding ourselves of the looming threat of nuclear war is a magnificent thing. Maybe the next thing we need to rid ourselves of is warmongering members of Congress who seem determined to pick a fight with Russia.
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TLB recommends Daisy Luther for timely articles and opinions.
Related Article: Congressional Hawks Rush to Intensify War in Syria
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