Tremors are coming from the Russian front, warning signs it would be unwise for Americans to ignore. After Vladimir Putin abruptly canceled his scheduled meeting with French president François Hollande (Hollande had accused Russia of war crimes in Aleppo, Syria), last week Putin issued a communiqué to Russian diplomats worldwide to bring home their families and relatives back to the Motherland. It led some to speculate that Putin is making preparations for war.
With news that Russia has moved nuclear-capable missiles closer to the Poland/Lithuania border, that she’s conducting nationwide civil defense drills involving 40 million people, that the government sent a directive to various cities last week ordering them to convert structures into potential nuclear fall-out shelters, the speculation may not be off-base. And the United States seems only too eager to escalate things.
Current and former officials with direct knowledge of the situation say the CIA has been asked to deliver options to the White House for a wide-ranging “clandestine” cyber operation designed to harass and “embarrass” the Kremlin leadership.
Putin claimed last week, “The whole hysteria [over Russia] is aimed at making the Americans forget about the manipulation of public opinion,” referring to Hillary Clinton’s illegal machinations exposed in the hacked emails. An anonymous hacker involved with Wikileaks — if he is to be believed — has threatened to make public all 33,000 deleted emails from Clinton’s private server, and confirmed that U.S. agitation toward Russia is no more than Obama and Clinton’s attempt to deflect from their own crimes — crimes that included a quid pro quo from the State Department to the FBI promising overseas posts if the FBI would allow the State Department to reclassify Clinton’s emails. The FBI turned down the illegal bargain.
Commenting on the rising tensions between Russia and the West, John DeMaggio, retired Special Agent in Charge and retired Captain in the U.S. Navy, says,
Escalation of minor incidents, diversion from other issues, and miscalculations of expected responses are some of the causes of the greatest conflicts in history. These often back adversaries into corners that neither can escape from.
We are witnessing an escalation in tensions based on perceived weaknesses and conflicting interests.
