by\u00a0Paul Craig Roberts<\/p>\n
Obama has announced new sanctions on Russia based on unsubstantiated charges by the CIA that the Russian government influenced the outcome of the US presidential election with \u201cmalicious cyber-enabled activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a report \u201crelated to the declaration of 35 Russian officials persona non grata for malicious cyber activity and harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report is a description of \u201ctools and infrastructure used by Russian intelligence services to compromise and exploit networks and infrastructure associated with the recent U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. government, political and private sector entities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report does not provide any evidence that the tools and infrastructure were used to influence the outcome of the US presidential election. The report is simply a description of what is said to be Russian capabilities. http:\/\/diplopundit.net\/2016\/12\/29\/dhsfbi-issues-joint-analysis-report-grizzly-steppe-russian-malicious-cyber-activity-read-report\/<\/a><\/p>\n Moreover, the report begins with this disclaimer: \u201cDISCLAIMER: This report is provided \u2018as is\u2019 for informational purposes only. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not provide any warranties of any kind regarding any information contained within.\u201d http:\/\/diplopundit.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/jar_16-20296.pdf <\/a><\/p>\n In other words, the report not only provides no evidence of the use of the Russian tools and infrastructure in order to influence the US presidential election, the report will not even warrant the correctness of its description of Russian capabilities.<\/p>\n Thus the DHS report makes it completely clear that the Obama regime has no evidential basis for its allegations on the basis of which it has imposed more sanctions on Russia.<\/p>\n What is going on here?<\/p>\n First there is the question of the legality of the sanctions even if there were evidence. I am not certain, but I think that sanctions require the action of a body, such as the UN Security Council, and cannot legally be imposed unilaterally by one country. Additionally, it is unclear why Obama is calling the expulsion of Russian diplomats \u201csanctions.\u201d No other country has to do likewise. During the Cold War when diplomats were expelled for spying, it was not called \u201csanctions.\u201d Sanctions imply more than unilateral or bilateral expulsions of diplomats.<\/p>\n Second, it is clear that Obama, the CIA, and the New York Times are fully aware that the allegation is false. It is also clear that if the CIA actually believes the allegation, the intelligence agency is totally incompetent and cannot be believed on any subject.<\/p>\n Third, President Trump can rescind the sanctions in 21 days, a third reason that the sanctions are ridiculous.<\/p>\n So why are President Obama, the CIA, and the New York Times making charges that they know are false and for which they have not produced a shred of evidence? http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/12\/29\/opinion\/president-obama-punishes-russia-at-last.html?_r=1 <\/a><\/p>\n One obvious answer is that the neoconized Obama regime is desperate to ruin US-Russian relations past the point that Trump can repair them. As the New York Times puts it, \u201cMr. Obama\u2019s actions clearly create a problem for Mr. Trump.\u201d The question the New York Times says, is whether Trump \u201cstands with his democratic allies on Capitol Hill or his authoritarian friend in the Kremlin.\u201d<\/p>\n Can Trump\u2019s foreign policy be controlled by false allegations? According to the New York Times, Trump has relented and agreed to being briefed by the CIA about the Russian hacking now that Republicans such as Paul Ryan, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham have lined up with Obama and the CIA in accepting charges for which no evidence has been presented. However, a briefing without evidence would seem simply to further discredit the CIA in Trump\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n As I have emphasized in my columns, facts no longer have a role in the United States and its empire. Allegations alone suffice, whether in court cases, interrogation centers, foreign and domestic policies, or classrooms. The US even bases its military invasions on false allegations\u2014\u201cweapons of mass destruction.\u201d Indeed, the entirely of US foreign policy since the Clinton regime has been based on nothing but false allegations.<\/p>\n The Russian government should have learned by now, but perhaps Moscow still thinks that facts matter in Washington\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n Possibly we should consider that more is going on than meets the eye. Perhaps the propaganda about the Russian cyber threat to democracy is being used to prepare American and\/or European populations for an incident. The CIA has morphed into a \u201cdeep state\u201d that uses disinformation and propaganda to align decisions of Congress, the executive branch, and foreign governments with secret behind-the-scenes agendas. Many books, such as Stephen Kinzer\u2019s The Brothers<\/em> and Douglas Valentine\u2019s CIA As Organized Crime<\/em> have described some of these secret agendas.<\/p>\n In order to deter Trump from restoring normal relations with Russia, an incident would have to be severe and irreversible. Rather than accept defeat for their agenda of US world hegemony, the neoconservatives are prepared to take high risks. The willingness to take risks is demonstrated by the public effort of the CIA Director to discredit the president-elect.<\/p>\n As expected, Putin\u2019s response to the latest provocation is low key as the \u201csanctions\u201d appear to be meaningless on the surface (http:\/\/www.paulcraigroberts.org\/2016\/12\/30\/stephen-lendman-reports-president-putins-response-to-obamas-new-sanctions\/<\/a>). However, in the event that something dangerous is below the surface, the Russian government might want to consider putting its military forces on alert.<\/p>\n