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Senate Neocons Vow New Anti-Russia Measures |
By
Stephen Lendman |
| Bipartisan lunatics infesting Washington intend preventing improved relations
with Russia - whether or not Trump follows through on his pledge to try
getting along with Vladimir Putin. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and other bipartisan Senate neocons want Trump blocked from lifting sanctions on Russia without congressional approval. McCain and Graham are rabid Russia haters, urging more sanctions than already - Graham saying “2017 is going to be the year of kicking Russia in the ass in Congress,” adding: “My biggest concern with President Trump…is that he’s never really looked a camera in the eye and said that even though it was the (Democrats) that suffered from Russian interference, I am now the leader of the free world…and I can assure you that (Russia is) going to pay the price on my watch for trying to interfere in our election. Fabricated claims of Russia US election hacking was a CIA led- intelligence community plot to prevent improved relations with Mosow, wanting adversarial ones maintained. Graham serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee McCain chairs. When post-election infighting subsides, Congress “will move on to other things, and top of the list will be (more) sanctions against Russia,” he said, adding he hopes Trump will “embrace the idea…that he should be working with us to punish Russia.” Separately, Secretary of State Tillerson said Washington won’t cooperate with Moscow in Syria unless it stops calling all opposition groups terrorists - a signal the Trump administration intends supporting some, perhaps all its terrorist foot soldiers, possibly suggesting continued conflict, not resolution as hoped for with Obama gone. Two rounds of Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan achieved no breakthroughs, not auguring well for Geneva later this week - especially with no US representation or at best involvement by one or more low-level delegates. It’s unclear what Trump intends. Even pro-Western UN envoy to Syria peace talks Staffan de Mistura asked “(w)here is the US in all this? I can’t tell you because I don’t know.” On Press TV this morning, I was asked to comment on his remarks. I said I rarely, if ever, agree with anything he says, but this time is an exception. I don’t know what Trump intends. Washington didn’t participate in Astana talks. It’s unclear if it’ll be involved in Geneva, and if so, at what level. One thing is clear. If Trump and his key people want conflict resolution in Syria, it’ll happen. If not, it won’t, regardless of Russia’s good faith efforts. So far geopolitically, it largely looks like Obama never left. America’s imperial wars keep raging, prospects for resolving any slim at best. Trump wants a more robust military with enhanced nuclear capability, not a responsible scaling back. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. |