Abu Hena :
In an interview with Bloomberg TV Vladimir Putin admired his intelligence operative, ‘Fancy Bear’ which uses cyber-weapons as a standard tool of political meddling. ” They work so much like fine jewelers, so delicately that they can leave their, or someone else’s tracks, at just the right place and just the right time in order to camouflage their work and make it look like the work of some other hackers from somewhere else, some other country,” Putin said. That jewel thief has been on the job to rig the U.S. presidential election. America’s cyber and counter- espionage forces also worked to see if any agencies were targeting the election and the FBI opened a formal investigation into the DNC, DCCC, Arizona and Illinois hacks. But U.S. Administration moved at a snail’s speed and failed even by the election- day, to publicize facts about the Russian influence operations and psychological warfare which Putin considers most effective in ‘changing perceptions of what’s truly going on’. This pattern of Russia’s electoral meddling through cyberspace follows the Gerasimov doctrine, a non traditional approach to military conflict named after the chief of Russian general staff, Valery Gerasimov, that relies on cyber-war and influence operations.
So far the U.S. has misread the battlefield in cyberspace, letting events unfold. And so when the U.S. law enforcers scrambled to uncover the real extent of the Russian operation, a murky network of Russian hackers stepped up the pace of leaks of stolen documents designed to affect public opinion, giving the impression that the election is vulnerable. Fancy Bear’s electronic fingerprints were found everywhere including on the hack into the DNC computers. U.S. intelligence agencies now have “high confidence” that Russian intelligence services were in fact responsible. But in-spite of the mounting evidence of an active Russian influence operation targeting the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump kept on praising Putin all throughout the campaign and especially at the first presidential debate on 26 Sept. when he said, it was not clear the Russians were behind the hack. ” It may be, but it may also be China, another country or individual,” he said. ” A popular view is that Mr. Putin, whose aversion to Mrs. Clinton is plain, is trying to lever Mr. Trump into the White House,” The Economist said.
There is pattern in Trump’s behavior which, even when the polls are closing, deserves scrutiny to ascertain whether that amounts to an act of treason. He has displayed a habit of disparaging America to praise Putin’s absolute autocratic control over Russia, deflecting complaints about Russia’s human rights violations, with the gibe that “our country does plenty of killings also.” He also said that if he wins, he might fix a meeting with Putin before his inauguration. After the Miss Universe pageant he said that Putin “could not have been nicer.” He agreed with Putin that the NATO alliance is ‘obsolete’ casting doubt on U.S.’s mutual defense commitment. He countenanced the idea of easing sanctions imposed after Russia’s forceful annexation of Crimea, which he indicated, he might recognize. He left his options open on Ukraine and refused to condemn Putin for his barbarism in Aleppo.
Putin has moved nuclear capable missiles close to Poland and Lithuania, sent aircraft carriers down the North Sea and the English Channel and has threatened to shoot down U.S planes that fly over Syria. “Impudent behavior” might have “nuclear consequences,” warned Putin’s propagandist in chief, Dmitry Kiselev. To understand why Putin plans to undercut the legitimacy of the U.S. election is to realize why the Americans vote in the first place. Elections are the ultimate source of authority in democracies which America has pushed around the world. Putin wants to sabotage the process. That would avenge American criticism of Russian elections. Trump has a natural affinity for Putin who uses humiliation and intimidation as a political tool. His campaign staff are Kremlin- friendly and he has business connection with Russia.
Trump, apparently, has a deal with Putin to carry forward his agenda in return for a Russian- led cyber-war to undermine the credibility of the election and shatter the confidence of the electorate making way for a populist revolt. He cast doubt on the electoral system saying , “I am afraid the election is going to be rigged.” “The phony Electoral College made a laughingstock out of our nation,” Trump tweeted. ” The world is laughing at us. More votes equals a loss… revolution? The election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy.” This is exactly what Putin wanted Trump to accomplish for Russia at the cost of America, proving that America is just as corrupt as Russia and its political system is just as rigged. Russian interference in American presidential election merits measured retaliation. And Donald Trump’s erratic behavior needs to be investigated in the interest of the American people.
[Writer is former Member of Parliament]
