Russian hysteria on Capitol Hill now threatens U.S. national security. With the House voting [419 to 3] yesterday to impose new sanctions to punish Russia for allegedly meddling in the 2016 election, the House shows tone-deafness to U.S. national security, where U.S.-Russian relations hit Cold War lows. When former President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and seized properties for interference in the 2016 election Dec. 30, 2016, it looked like the U.S. government took extreme measures. Now the House wants to pile on, primarily to prevent 71-year-old President Donald Trump from fulfilling a campaign promise to improve relations with Moscow. House members, driven by heard mentality, oblivious to the consequences of more sanctions, voted to prevent Trump from resetting U.S.-Russian relations. Preventing Trump from acting as commander-in-chief, the House went rogue.
Trump’s primary responsibility under the Constitution’s Article 4, Section 2 is to provide for the national defense, something Congress intends to stop. It’s not the Congress’s call to determine how, when and for how long the U.S. applies sanctions against a foreign power. That decision is the responsibility under Article 4, Section 2 of the president’s to determine national security threats and how to deal with them. Slapping more sanctions on Russia threatens U.S. national security by preventing Trump from working with Russia to combat pressing global threats like North Korea’s nuke and ballistic missile program. With China pressuring North Korea to give up its nuke and Intercontinental Ballistic Missile [ICBM] program, it compels for Trump to improve relations with Russia. More Russian sanctions make improving U.S.-Russian relations next to impossible.
Showing restraint last December, Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to respond in-kind to Obama’s extreme measures. “As you know, we are exercising restraint and patience, but at some moment we’ll have to retaliate. It’s impossible to endlessly tolerate this boorishness toward our country,” Putin told a joint news conference in Finland. U.S. and European Union applied draconic economic sanctions after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula March 1, 2014. Neither the U.S. nor EU accept Putin’s justification for seizing Crimea, all tied the Feb. 22, 2014 pro-Western coup that toppled the pro-Russian Ukrainian government of Viktor Yanukovich. Putin invaded Crimea one week after hosting the Sochi Winter Olympics. Western officials didn’t accept Putin’s reasoning, applying punishing sanctions to force Russian to give back the Crimean Peninsula.
Trump wants to improve U.S.-Russian relations to work with the Kremlin on dealing with gathering threats to national security. Certainly, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un’s threats of nuclear annihilation. More than China, North Korea relies heavily on Russia for its primary export economy. Hitting Putin with new sanctions makes cooperation on North Korea or other pressing global threats, like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. [ISIS] impossible. Putin’s gotten the message about Russian meddling in the 2016 election. There’s no need for overkill, when you consider the consequences of further deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations. If the U.S. or EU wants Putin to re-consider his invasion of Crimea, or, backing pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass Region of Southeastern Ukraine, then improving dialogue not slapping Russia with more sanctions makes sense.
Since Obama booted out 35 Russian diplomats, Putin’s been reluctant to respond in-kind, hoping that things would improve under Trump. Any mention of improving U.S.-Russian relations generate cries on Capitol Hill of Russian collusion, showing how far Congress has gone over the deep-end. All indications show the Senate no better than the House. Before Congress sabotages U.S. national security, it’s time to dial back a new round of counterproductive Russian sanctions. Members of Congress must look at the big picture dealing with gathering threats to U.S. national security. None is greater than North Korean threatening to nuke the U.S. when it gets ICBM capacity If it improves relations with Russia and reduces the chances of war on the Korean Peninsula, then Congress should heed the opportunity. Slapping Russia with more sanctions guarantees Russia remains an adversary.
Driving Russian hysteria on Captiol Hill, Democrats and media must stop the destructive game of pushing U.S.-Russian relations to the brink. Trump’s made clear from Day One his intent to improve U.S.-Russian relations, not to cut under-the-table deals but to help improve U.S. national security in an age of global threats. Having Moscow on the U.S. side should help avoid war on the Korean Peninsula. Elected officials must get beyond past mistakes to start working on global threats to U.S. national security, especially North Korea. “This goes beyond all reasonable bounds,” Putin said in Finland. “And no these sanctions—they are also absolutely unlawful form the point of view of international law,” expressing sadness over the pitiful state of U.S.-Russian relations. Before Congress makes a serious mistake, it should dial back Russian hysteria and work on improving relations.
