Statement: Russia

        If the truth is wanted, there are two sides to every story: certainly to the Russian hacking scandal. The Russian information warfare constituted a non-violent attack on America: that's fact.

        The corresponding fact that many aren't seeing amid all the hysteria is that for many years: the U.S. had been treating Russia like a paraiah state, not cooperating with its existence as a world and nuclear power. Trashing Russia and Putin was a fashion in American electoral politics...  and we didn't deal with the serious issues that were on the table. Obama reacted to Russia's assertions by saying she was now just 'a regional power...'

           That's not the case.  Russia is a global super-power that went through an anarchic transition phase: a relatively positive transition, from a Communist juggernaut to the modern Russia of today.  When Clinton made statements like "Putin has no soul..." or McCain termed Putin "a KGB thug..." our representatives are treating Russia like an enemy.  But the American people don't want that, and they don't want the blow-back that results.

            Re-assessing Russia's role in the world is a diplomatic and political task that has long been overdue...  and this was a large part of why Russia is resorting to all this information warfare