There are 15 comments.

1. Coolidge
   DonG

   @DonG

   6:10 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   and encouraging NATO to double their military spending.

2. Coolidge
   Douglas Pratt

   @DouglasPratt

   

   6:12 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   Worst. Stooge. Ever.

3. Member
   Franco

   @Franco

   6:33 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   But he said after the next election he’ll have more flexibility…

4. Member
   The Reticulator

   @TheReticulator

   7:04 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   Who says the left doesn’t have legitimate concerns?  Consider this, from Mary Anastasia O’Grady in today’s WSJ:

   When it comes to Russian expansionism in the Western Hemisphere and the Kremlin’s abysmal human-rights record, the American left mostly looks the other way.

   Democratic ballyhooing over Mr. Putin’s habit of jailing and sometimes killing his political and media opponents is especially rich. Russia’s longstanding ally Cuba has an even worse civil-liberties record. Yet when President Obama unconditionally reshaped U.S. policy to please Cuban dictator Raúl Castro, his party cheered. Mr. Obama even trotted off to a baseball game in Havana with the Cuban mob boss. Democrats cheered some more.

   Advocates of the Obama Cuba policy argue that Havana poses no threat to U.S. interests. But if regional security, stability and economic growth matter, that is demonstrably false. Sixty years after Castro came to power, Cuba, with strong backing from the Kremlin, still underwrites tyranny in Central and South America….

   Outside help for intelligence-gathering, paramilitary training and weaponry also comes from beyond Latin America. Clearly, some of it comes directly or indirectly from Moscow. Around 2005, Mr. Putin began rekindling Russia’s warm economic and military relations with Cuba. He also has re-engaged with Nicaragua.

   As I noted in a July 8 column, the Interior Ministry of Russia recently completed a multistory “Police Training” center in Managua. Mr. Ortega says it is for counternarcotics work. That’s laughable given Russia’s closeness with narco-states such as Venezuela. A more likely purpose is repressing dissidents so Mr. Ortega can retain power.

5. Member
   JoelB

   @JoelB

   7:32 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   @thereticulator Russia does not seem to have nearly as strong  a presence in the civilian affairs of Cuba as in the days of the Soviet Union. If there is strong Russian support and underwriting of mischief in Latin America, it is invisible in Cuba. It certainly gives the appearance that Cuba is no threat. If there are significant clandestine operations going on through Cuba I hope that U.S. Intelligence is aware of them, but recent events have left me wondering whether the “intelligence community” in the U.S. is so politicized as to be nearly useless.

6. Member
   Mike-K

   @

   7:41 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   The Reticulator (View Comment):
   Advocates of the Obama Cuba policy argue that Havana poses no threat to U.S. interests. But if regional security, stability and economic growth matter, that is demonstrably false.

   Cuba has provided the muscle that keeps Maduro, and kept Chavez, in power in Venezuela. They were the staging area for Nicaragua and the Sandanistas. Democrats opposed Reagan’s attempts to oppose Ortega.  Chris Dodd and many of his fellow Democrats tried to block Reagan and forced him into subterfuges that ended up with “Iran-Contra.”

   The Russia hysteria  is a complete fraud. The Russians did not provide the DNC emails to Wikileaks. It was an inside job. That is what Trump tried to say in that press conference that has the left in hysterics and which the public is ignoring in spite of them,

7. Member
   Mike-K

   @

   7:43 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   JoelB (View Comment):
   ecent events have left me wondering whether the “intelligence community” in the U.S. is so politicized as to be nearly useless.

   I think that is true and we should go back to something like the Church Committee.

   https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB522-Church-Committee-Faced-White-House-Attempts-to-Curb-CIA-Probe/

8. Member
   The Reticulator

   @TheReticulator

   8:01 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   JoelB (View Comment):

   @thereticulator Russia does not seem to have nearly as strong a presence in the civilian affairs of Cuba as in the days of the Soviet Union. If there is strong Russian support and underwriting of mischief in Latin America, it is invisible in Cuba. It certainly gives the appearance that Cuba is no threat. If there are significant clandestine operations going on through Cuba I hope that U.S. Intelligence is aware of them, but recent events have left me wondering whether the “intelligence community” in the U.S. is so politicized as to be nearly useless.

   O’Grady’s article is more about Nicaragua than Cuba, but she does say this: “Around 2005, Mr. Putin began rekindling Russia’s warm economic and military relations with Cuba.” There are no more specifics than that, but then again, we have very little to go on when talking about the Russia-Trump connection, so the standards of evidence are pretty low.  

9. Member
   Doug Watt

   @DougWatt

   9:29 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

   I don’t believe the Russian economy will support foreign aid projects. That doesn’t mean they cannot provide arms, or engage in military mischief. Russia has been supplying small arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Their Ukrainian invasion, and neutral observers consider it a war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, has killed 10,300+ Ukrainians.

   The Russians have flown airstrikes in Syria that target schools, and have used bunker-buster type bombs to destroy hospitals in Syria. The Israelis are flying bombing missions against Iranian forces in Syria, and this will probably fracture the Russian- Iranian relationship in Syria. The Russian Air Force is no match for the Israeli Air Force. Netanyahu has told the Russians they may stay, but Iranian forces must leave. The Israeli Air Force flies over Syria with impunity to include bombing, and missile strikes in, and around Damascus.  

10. Member
    The Reticulator

    @TheReticulator

    10:22 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

    Doug Watt (View Comment):
    I don’t believe the Russian economy will support foreign aid projects.

    Maybe not big foreign aid projects. But O’Grady’s column article mentions this:

    As I noted in a July 8 column, the Interior Ministry of Russia recently completed a multistory “Police Training” center in Managua. Mr. Ortega says it is for counternarcotics work. That’s laughable given Russia’s closeness with narco-states such as Venezuela. A more likely purpose is repressing dissidents so Mr. Ortega can retain power.

     

11. Member
    Doug Watt

    @DougWatt

    10:59 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 23, 2018

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Doug Watt (View Comment):
    I don’t believe the Russian economy will support foreign aid projects.

    Maybe not big foreign aid projects. But O’Grady’s column article mentions this:

    As I noted in a July 8 column, the Interior Ministry of Russia recently completed a multistory “Police Training” center in Managua. Mr. Ortega says it is for counternarcotics work. That’s laughable given Russia’s closeness with narco-states such as Venezuela. A more likely purpose is repressing dissidents so Mr. Ortega can retain power.

    This is true, 300 dissidents have been killed by Ortega paramilitary  supporters. One Catholic bishop that was detained at an Ortega paramilitary roadblock had to seek refuge in a house after he bailed out of his car as they started shooting-up his car.

12. Member
    I Walton

    @IWalton

    4:02 AM EDT ⋅ Jul 24, 2018

    JoelB (View Comment):

    @thereticulator Russia does not seem to have nearly as strong a presence in the civilian affairs of Cuba as in the days of the Soviet Union. If there is strong Russian support and underwriting of mischief in Latin America, it is invisible in Cuba. It certainly gives the appearance that Cuba is no threat. If there are significant clandestine operations going on through Cuba I hope that U.S. Intelligence is aware of them, but recent events have left me wondering whether the “intelligence community” in the U.S. is so politicized as to be nearly useless.

    We’d have to look at Russian criminal gangs involved in Cuba’s drug trade with Venezuela and points north.  

13. Member
    Front Seat Cat

    @FrontSeatCat

    6:54 AM EDT ⋅ Jul 24, 2018

    I love it when he does all that, then says on camera very casually…I would like to be friends – it would be good to be friends – I don’t know if we’ll be friends – I don’t know the guy, but we’ll see….if we can be friends…..kind of like Mr. Rogers neighborhood, only the neighborhood is locked and loaded…

14. Member
    Bob Thompson

    @BobThompson

    7:07 AM EDT ⋅ Jul 24, 2018

    JoelB (View Comment):

    @thereticulator Russia does not seem to have nearly as strong a presence in the civilian affairs of Cuba as in the days of the Soviet Union. If there is strong Russian support and underwriting of mischief in Latin America, it is invisible in Cuba. It certainly gives the appearance that Cuba is no threat. If there are significant clandestine operations going on through Cuba I hope that U.S. Intelligence is aware of them, but recent events have left me wondering whether the “intelligence community” in the U.S. is so politicized as to be nearly useless.

    Attention should be directed to our failed ‘intelligence community’ instead of this misplaced emphasis on a weak Russian state. The Rand Paul initiative encouraging the POTUS to revoke the security clearances of the former Democrat political intelligence agency appointees may give this a boost. The recently renewed attention to the long-standing effort by those worried by the revealing of the truth by Julian Assange may also help.  Remember how the truth about Hillary Clinton’s activities became public. The effort to uncover Deep State abuse within the intelligence community is one of the few endeavors that is nonpartisan today.

15. Member
    Misthiocracy, Joke Pending

    @Misthiocracy

    

    1:29 PM EDT ⋅ Jul 24, 2018

    Maybe the Russian officials and oligarchs that the Trump administration hit with sanctions in April were all enemies of Putin?

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-hits-17-russian-officials-7-oligarchs-with-sanctions