America's new President Trump*** wants to foster a closer relationship with Vladimir Putin's Russia. There are some citizens in America, and around the world who would welcome that alliance. "Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only 'stupid' people, or fools, would think that it is bad, We have enough problems around the world without yet another one. When I am President, Russia will respect us far more than they do now and both countries will, perhaps, work together to solve some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!" Trump tweeted. Allow me to explain why having a "good relationship with Russia" is a bad thing.
First, lets start with a little history of recent Russian excursions around the world:
Russia Invades Georgia in 2008 - "During the five-day conflict, 170 servicemen, 14 policemen, and 228 civilians from Georgia were killed and 1,747 wounded."- CNN
Russia Annexes the Crimea from the Ukraine in 2014. Which violated the UN charter, the declaration of principles of international law of 1970, the agreement of friendship between Russia and the Ukraine, and the Budapest memorandom of 1994. For more, go to http://www.ejiltalk.org/appeal-from-the-ukrainian-association-of-international-law/ which is a link I found from CNN.
Russia undermines Ukraine - 1. "In 2004, Putin supported Viktor Yanukovych for Ukraine's President. The Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko develops a mysterious illness which leaves his face pock-marked. Medical tests later show he is suffering from dioxin poisoning." -CNN In 2014 2. "Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes in eastern Ukraine after being shot down by a surface-to-air missile, according to the United States. All 298 people aboard are killed." - CNN 3. "At least 7,962 deaths have been confirmed in eastern Ukraine since April 2014, among government forces, pro-Russia rebels and civilians. At least 17,811 others have been injured, it said." - LA Times. This list in Ukraine is just a very quick look at Putins interference in that country.
Russia Bombs Syria - Russia's campaign in Syria "has killed no less than 2,704 civilians including 746 children and 514 women." Which is more than ISIS. - Business Insider.
Second, lets look at how Vladimir Putin treats his own people:
Putin Assassinates political opposition in Russia - For more, see the New York Times web address below. Its a bit scary.
Russia has fraudulent elections- In 2000, Putin won the election with 53% of the vote, seems legit. Then in 2004 he won with 72% of the vote. I call BS. The biggest landslides in US Presidential election history barely tops 60%. In 2008, Putins friend. Medvedev wins with 71% and Putin becomes Prime Minister, anybody else see a problem? In 2012 Putin runs for President again, and wins 64% of the vote. "The data imply that ballots were being stuffed in a particularly lazy and noticeable way, though of course they cannot prove it." - The economist. In the 2016 election a data analyst states “the scope of the falsification in favor of United Russia in these elections amounted to approximately 12 million votes.” - See The Atlantic article below.
Putin Steals from his people- One estimate is that Putin has 200 billion dollars from stealing money from his people. See the Business Insider article below. The PBS article below estimates that Putin is worth 40 billion dollars. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont think Vladimir Putin invented the I-phone, I dont think he owns Manchester United and I'd bet he didnt inherit a Diamond mine. So where did this money come from? It doesnt take much imagination to figure it out.
Putin was a Officer in the KGB- See the Bio article below.
Putin Set up his own secret police- See the economist article below. The FSB is really just the KGB, except now, the FSB is the power in Russia. "The security servicemen present themselves as a tight brotherhood entitled to break any laws for the sake of their mission." "Russia's security services are entitled to deal ruthlessly with enemies of the state, wherever they may be, has gained wide acceptance and is supported by a new set of laws. "
Russians dont have freedom of the press - "After Putin came into power in 2000, he established control over the three main TV stations. In 2001 and 2002, he took control of the two biggest TV channels, ORT (now First Channel) and NTV. The state broadcaster, RTR (now Rossiya 1), was already under his control." -The huffington Post article. Its much more frightening than just that. Read the full article. "Since Putin came to power, 25 journalists were killed for work-related reasons." see the Chicago Tribune article below.
Third, how has Russia treated America in just this last election cycle:
Russia Interferes with American election 2015 through 2016 - "The US government publicly announced in October that it was "confident" Russia orchestrated the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations of the Democratic Party." -CNN. "the CIA announced to a group of top US senators its latest finding: that Russia's hacks were aimed at helping Trump." -CNN
So, as we have established, Vladimir Putin's Russia is not a country to be friends with. A closer alliance with them is likely to lead to more interference here in the states, and undermine our alliances around the world. Its also not likely to end with the results that President Trump*** believes it will (America would team up with Mr Putin to destroy “radical Islamic terror”—and in particular, Islamic State. At the same time Russia might agree to abandon its collaboration with Iran, an old enemy for America in the Middle East and a threat to its allies, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In Europe Russia would stop fomenting conflict in Ukraine, agree not to harass NATO members on its doorstep and, possibly, enter nuclear-arms-control talks. In the longer term, closer ties with Russia could also help curb Chinese expansion. Stephen Bannon, Mr Trump’s most alarming adviser, said last year that he had “no doubt” that “we’re going to war in the South China Sea in five to ten years.” If so, America will need allies, and Russia is a nuclear power with a 4,200km (2,600-mile) border with China. Putins price for working with America could be to secure a permanent Russian military presence in the Middle East by propping up Bashar al-Assad, whose regime was revealed this week to have hanged thousands of Syrians after two- or three-minute trials. Russia is not going to team up with the USA against Iran, they've been friends for a long time, and I dont think Russia is willing to actually risk war with China. For more see the Economist article below. In fact, you should subscribe to the Economist.) So, why then, is President Trump*** so bent on making this friendship happen? I don't know for sure, but there is speculation.....
Putin Has embarrassing secrets about President Trump*** January 2017 - According to unconfirmed sources Russia’s FSB spy agency obtained compromising material on video of President Trump*** in lewd acts. Which may put Putin in a place to blackmail Trump, according to a quote in the article from the Guardian below. "The claims about Trump are ultimately unknowable and what happened inside the Ritz Carlton is a matter of speculation." - The Guardian. "The dossier says that Trump was offered “various sweetener business deals” by the Kremlin, but turned them down. The Kremlin also supplied Trump with “a regular flow of intelligence”, including on the Democrats and other political rivals." - The Guardian. "The dossier claims there is an “extensive conspiracy” between Trump’s campaign team and the Kremlin. The plot was sanctioned at the “highest level” and involved Russian diplomatic staff based in the US. It adds that Russia was behind the hack of Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails and released them to WikiLeaks for reasons of “plausible deniability”. The dossier says information went in both directions: Trump’s team used moles within the DNC as well as hackers in the US and Russia. The report claims that the Trump campaign fed back to Moscow details on Russian oligarchs living in the US and their families." - The Guardian. "The Dossier says that in return for hacking the Democrats, Trump agreed not to mention Russia’s covert invasion of Ukraine. The issued would be “sidelined”. Instead, Trump would focus on US/Nato defence commitments in the Baltics and eastern Europe. The aim: “to deflect attention away from Ukraine, a priority for PUTIN who needed to cauterise the subject”. - The Guardian. See the Guardian article below for more details. As I've said, this is an UNCONFIRMED source.
Working with a foreign government, for political and monetary gain....is that treason? According to Cornell Universities website, "Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason." I'll leave the interpretation to you. Again, I'm no lawyer. As, I've said, these claims are not proven. Its been proven that some of the conversations happened, see the CNN article below. But not more than that. Lets hope that someone in high government office doesnt interfere with the investigation, and we eventually arrive at the truth.
I hope thats not the reason President Trump*** wants a closer relationship with Russia. Like Presidents before Trump, lets hope he is just naive. President George W. Bush and Barack Obama thought they could work with Putin too...then he invaded Georgia and Ukraine and supports a dictator in Syria as well as all the other things I have listed above.
So, I hope I have convinced you that Russia is not a nation to be friends with (by becoming Putins ally, he may end up with more influence here in the states, which as we've established is a terrible thing. Look out for Russian owned news stations polluting Americans opinions with pro Putin ideals, like those listed above.), that no "deal" made between Putin and Trump will be honored (think Crimea/Ukraine/Syria), or good for the USA(damages allies by weakening NATO, strengthening Assad and Iran). Putin is a leader to be opposed. The Anti-American leader of the not so free world.
P.S. Thanks once again to the First Amendment for "freedom of the Press and speech." Also, thanks to the news outlets for this information. Heres to you at the economist, the guardian, CNN, huffington post, pbs, business insider, the Atlantic, the New York times, the LA times, Chicago Tribune, and to Cornell Law, biography, and wikipedia. By supporting a free press, we support democracy. Consider subscribing to one of these news outlets.
P.S.S. Again, I'm not an expert of any sort. Just an American citizen who is concerned about where our nation is headed. I'm not a lawyer or politician. These are my opinions based not solely on the news articles listed.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/05/opinion/alter-ukraine-international-law/
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21716609-it-terrible-idea-donald-trump-seeks-grand-bargain-vladimir-putin
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2381
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/11/trump-russia-dossier-explainer-details
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/politics/russian-hack-donald-trump-2016-election/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/vladimir-putin-russia-news-media_us_56215944e4b0bce34700b1df
http://www.biography.com/people/vladimir-putin-9448807#synopsis
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/whats-known-about-putins-wealth-after-the-panama-papers/
http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2015/02/15/putins-net-worth-is-200-billion-says-russias-once-largest-foreigner-investor/
http://www.businessinsider.com/russias-former-largest-foreign-investor-putin-is-worth-200-billion-2015-2
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/09/russia-putin-election-fraud/500867/
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2016/09/daily-chart-12
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/world/europe/moscow-kremlin-silence-critics-poison.html?_r=0
http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-isis-civilian-deaths-united-nations-syria-2016-8
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-ukraine-russia-un-deaths-20150908-story.html
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/world/europe/ukraine-fast-facts/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/13/world/europe/2008-georgia-russia-conflict/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/03/world/europe/vladimir-putin---fast-facts/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_by_popular_vote_margin
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