During this post-election cycle in America one of the main topics being reported is that Russian hacking may have influenced this election.
Hillary Clinton concluded that the hacks were aimed specifically at harming her campaign. “This is not just an attack on me and my campaign, although that may have added fuel to it. This is an attack against our country. We are well beyond normal political concerns here. This is about the integrity of our democracy and the security of our nation.”
President Obama has stated, with righteous indignation, that the US will retaliate against Russia “at a time and place of our own choosing” for attempting to influence America’s elections. His initial response was to remove 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives and imposed sanctions on two of Russia’s intelligence services.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper clearly outlined his findings in his report to the Senate Committee on Intelligence. He concluded the Russian president ordered the hacking to “influence” the U.S. presidential election in an attempt to “undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process.”
I believe that our leaders think we have a very short memory when it comes to upholding the principles of a democratic election. In 2015 Israel, (the only Democratic Government in the Middle East), were conducting elections for the office of Prime Minister and it was revealed that the U.S., specifically the Obama State Department, had attempted to influence the elections in Israel to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was further revealed in a bipartisan congressional report that the non-profit agency “OneVoice” was funded using taxpayer dollars by the State Department. OneVoice is the parent organization for “V15” which campaigned to remove Prime Minister Netanyahu from office. Another actor in this seemingly innocent charade is former national field director of the Obama campaign Jeremy Bird, who worked for the OneVoice-V15 campaign.
Although from an American legal perspective the State Department was not found guilty of any wrongdoing. The fact that taxpayer dollars were used by an agency who openly admitted that the funds were used to influence Israel’s democratic election is equally disturbing to the “democratic process” as another nation attempting to influence America’s elections. President Obama touts the phrase, “Israel is our closest ally in the Middle East.” When his State Department is found funding this kind of activity against Israel, it brings into focus that there is a double standard here. In this situation, the U.S. government led by President Obama has clearly removed any doubt that influencing Israel’s democratic election is within the purview of his administration.
We can see by America’s leaders own words that democracy is precious and that another government cannot attempt to influence America’s democratic elections, just as Israel does not want outside influence on its democratic elections. Maybe, America’s leaders should remember that not so long ago Obama’s State Department was found sending taxpayer dollars to an agency with the clear intent of influencing Israel’s democratic elections.
Len Watts IPA News 01/12/2017
News sources contributing to this article: CNN News, Fox News, Times of Israel