Weakening America - One Fake Mistake at a Time
The Trump Administration came to power in large part on the
efforts of the Russian government to interfere with the national elections in
2016. Russia openly abetted the Trump campaign and trafficked in stolen
intellectual property and hacked private communications. During the campaign
and since the inauguration, the Trump administration has engaged in a pattern of government actions that provide advantages to Russia at the expense of US
interests and US policy. Trump has weakened the US both at home and abroad, and
he has advanced an agenda particularly advantageous to Russia. He has boosted Putin’s overall efforts to
disrupt the Western Democracies and then destabilize and diminish the United
States. Secure in the US cocoon, it is
easy to forget there are enemies of Democracy.
“Russia is the only country in the world realistically
capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash…” Dmitry Kiselyov
Part 1. Diminishing
America on the Global Stage
Trump has done his best to alienate the traditional allies
on which the US has depended since the end of WWII. His ham-handed tactics and
contradictory messaging reflect a level of ignorance not previously achieved by
an American Chief Executive. The effect has been to lower the international
stature of the US to a level closer to his own than to the magnificent
leadership that preceded him. Western leaders view Trump as unpredictable and
unreliable. His tendency to share military secrets with the enemies of the US
has alarmed world leaders to the extent that many will no longer share
sensitive intelligence with the US.
A. Destabilizing the NATO Alliance
NATO is a defense organization; it does not make plans or
efforts to attack other nations. It has played a vital role in keeping peace in
Europe after nearly 40 years of catastrophic conflicts and the introduction of
nuclear weapons of mass destruction. The Russian government under Putin views
NATO as a threat to its dominance over Eastern Europe. The lure of the strength
of Western economies has created deep fissures among the former Soviet Bloc
nations. Ukraine was the latest example of a bordering government that
attempted to move closer to western style democracy and the robust economies of
Central Europe and the European Union. Putin’s Russia views NATO as a military
adversary.
Putin’s goal is to weaken the alliance and reduce its
influence over the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe. Towards the goal of
weakening the alliance, some Russian messages have taken hold in the Trump
Administration to belittle NATO and dismiss its importance. The public stance
that our vital allied nations have not paid their dues is an example of the
fake mistakes that the Administration has advanced to lower NATO in US public
opinion. No sane government spends as much as the US on defense, and to expect
other nations willingly to waste precious resources on needless and costly
weapons is absurd. NATO is strong and vital, and it is financially sound. The
repudiation and grossly exaggerated criticism of NATO finances set the stage
for reducing public support for US participation in NATO. It sets the stage for
achieving Putin’s goal of destabilizing NATO.
B. International
Sanctions
The Obama Doctrine on the annexation of Crimea and invasion of Eastern Ukraine did not use
deadly force or engage in hostilities with Russia. Instead, it used banks and
narrowly focused economic punishments. Combined with the decline in world oil
markets, the Russian economy went into a tailspin from which it has yet to
recover. The unmanageable debt blocks
extension of the Russian military.
Deprived of international credit and bank support, the Ruble is
pitifully low in value. The Russian people constantly feel the strain of
partial economic isolation.
C. The Invasion of
Ukraine
The hostilities in the Donbas region, more particularly in
Donetsk and Luhansk, have taken thousands of lives and displaced thousands
more. The Russian encroachment is thinly disguised behind the military elements
that it supplies with person-power, equipment, and the missiles that destroyed
a Dutch passenger airline. The region
has pro-Russian influences that have cultural histories, but more immediately,
it reflects the impact of Russian TV and news. The brutality of the fighting
has taken its toll on Ukraine yet their spirits, and sense of nationhood remain
high and strong. The Ukrainian people thirst for the kind of democracy that
used to exist in the US before the GOP gave up on governance and adopted
Trumpism.
D. The Embrace of
Syria and Assad
The murderous government of Bashar al-Assad has turned Syria
into an abattoir in proportions rarely seen.
He has turned his military on innocent citizens to reduce the nation to
those that follow him. The US has consistently condemned Assad’s brutality
since he began his desperate fight for survival against forces fighting for
democracy in Syria. The Trump Administration mindful of the record of brutality
against civilian populations nonetheless decided to announce a form of support
for Assad. The Trump Administration decided to announce that they would no longer seek regime change in Syria. This reversed the cornerstone of US and
Western policy against Assad- widely regarded as a war criminal and a despot.
The day after the UN Ambassador and Administration spokesperson announced the
change, Assad unleashed a lethal gas attack on his civilian population. The US
responded with a fake missile attack on Syria. With the mistake that the US military
announced the attack in advance, the Syrian military avoided any serious damage to their air strike capacity.
E. Russian Military
Aggression
Russian military aggression was abruptly curtailed by the
impact of the Obama sanctions. They have been increasingly unable to extend and
sustain extension of their military power. In Syria, they experienced a painful loss of an advanced fighter-bomber when shot down by Turkey. Russia backed away
from further conflict with Turkey and avoided direct hostilities with the NATO
alliance. The Russian military operation in the Syria theater centered around
an old aircraft carrier in chronic poor repair. Some part of the military
operated smoothly others showed the strain of its poor economic foundation. Russia managed to prop up Assad when he teetered on failure by bombing nearly indiscriminately and providing ground support.
Putin's true need is to control the US government and its foreign policy. It compensates for the lack of economic power. The stalemate along its borders tends to demonstrate that Russia lacks resources to directly impose its will. In the poor economy, allocating resources to military usage reduces the quality of life for ordinary citizens.
Putin's true need is to control the US government and its foreign policy. It compensates for the lack of economic power. The stalemate along its borders tends to demonstrate that Russia lacks resources to directly impose its will. In the poor economy, allocating resources to military usage reduces the quality of life for ordinary citizens.
F. Russian Nuclear
First Strike
Russia has violated the terms of the latest nuclear arms
agreements by deploying ballistic missiles in untraceable mobile forms such as
rail cars. Instead of renouncing a nuclear first strike, these intermediate
range missiles carry nuclear warheads, and Russia can position them at or near
the borders of targeted nations. With no time for effective countermeasures,
this amounts to an unstoppable first strike. Nations must now reckon their
nuclear strategy for offensive first strikes since there is no defense against
a mobile-based Russian first strike. This is a destabilizing event of the first
order of magnitude.
Part 2. The Domestic Impacts
The Russian agenda needs a weaker US economy and a less
cohesive US population. The US economy has shown remarkable strength and
resilience during the Obama years. This occurred despite the burn the earth
opposition of the Republican-controlled Congress and state governments. They
joined to block millions of new jobs and scores of new industries that would
have provided vibrant careers for young and retrained workers.
• Weakening the
Government Infrastructure
The US government is a multifaceted and redundant system
meant to respond to known and anticipated needs. It does not function like a
business that seeks to leech profits from its customer base. The federal government
exists to meet needs and provide benefits as enacted by the Congress. The
government responds to massive emergencies, researches diseases for cures,
plans on ways to avoid hunger, maintain freshwater, and promote clean air. It
feeds the needy and houses the homeless, and protects against known and potential
threats to public safety. The government has and will continue to be
systematically weakened by Trump. Whether by destroying climate data, curtailing medical research, or
slashing the needed levels of person power, Trump will savage the government
and thereby reduce its ability to respond to vital needs.
- Waste and Want
Pouring resources into spurious adventures such as the
border wall, for which Mexico will clearly not pay, weakens the government’s
ability to handle urgent matters. Floods persist and worsen due to climate
change and the infrastructure to support flood abatement needs drastic revision
and improvement. The electric grid is more vulnerable than in the past due to
the increased intensity of storms in recent years. Seasonal storms grow more
intense as the global temperatures warm and the lower atmosphere holds more
water.
• Removing
Safeguards against Economic Excess
The estate tax affects few taxpayers; most do not have
enough wealth to leave to heirs that go beyond the $7.5 million allowed before
taxes. A couple could leave $15 million to a designated heir without federal
taxation. This is not enough for the few that can gain by abolishing the tax.
The tax provides an estimated $275 billion to the US Treasury over a projected
decade. These funds go to underprivileged Americans. The power of wealth in a democracy is the subject of another essay and likely a book. Suffice it say, the circumstance of birth
should not be the factor that decides whom shall have the economic power to
determine the future of society.
Healthcare reform is a vehicle for transferring wealth from the middle class to the top one percent. Along the way, more than 20 million Americans will lose health coverage. They will risk shortened lives with far more human suffering than if they had regular medical care. If the lessons of Trump-ism mean anything, it
means that wealth is now a political commodity and the public is at severe risk
if wealth and hereditary wealth are not heavily regulated, taxed to the maximum, and controlled.
Healthcare reform is a vehicle for transferring wealth from the middle class to the top one percent. Along the way, more than 20 million Americans will lose health coverage. They will risk shortened lives with far more human suffering than if they had regular medical care. If the lessons of Trump-ism mean anything, it means that wealth is now a political commodity and the public is at severe risk if wealth and hereditary wealth are not heavily regulated, taxed to the maximum, and controlled.
