Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Jeh Johnson Warns Russian Hacking Will Happen Again

America usually responds to a surprise attack with some vigor. Less than four years after Pearl Harbor, two Japanese cities were radioactive slag. Shortly after the Al Qaeda Murders of 2001, the Afghan government that had harbored the terrorists was removed by force. It is, therefore, shocking that the Russians launched a prolonged campaign of destabilizing America's electoral process in cyberspace and the president doesn't even acknowledge that it happened. Former Homeland Security Secretary (Heimatschutzminister in the original) Jeh Johnson noted in Congressional testimony yesterday that, since America is still asleep at the wheel, it is likely to happen again.

"In 2016 the Russian government, at the direction of Vladimir Putin himself, orchestrated cyberattacks on our nation for the purpose of influencing our election. That is a fact, plain and simple," Mr. Johnson testified to the House Intelligence Committee. Every agency of the US intelligence community agrees, as do the various agencies of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany, etc.

President Trump is on the record denying these professionals know what they are talking about. In his Time magazine Person of the Year interview, he said, "I don't believe they interfered. That became a laughing point -- not a talking point, a laughing point. Anytime I do something, they say, 'Oh, Russia interfered'." He later said, "It could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey."

What is most troubling about this is not that Mr. Trump thinks he knows better than the best intelligence agencies on the planet but rather that he sees no reason to find out who tried to interfere in the outcome of an American presidential election. At least, O.J. Simpson vowed to find the "real" killer of his ex-wife and her friend. Mr. Trump won't even try to find that guy in New Jersey.

However, Mr. Trump isn't alone in his ostrich-like response. When the Democratic National Committee's records were stolen via the internet (a felony), the DNC declined the assistance of the Department of Homeland Security (Heimatschutzministerium). This is rather like a homeowner whose residence has been burgled telling the police that he or she will handle things.

"I recall clearly that I was not pleased that we were not in there helping patch this vulnerability," Mr. Johnson said. "The Department of Homeland Security does not have the power to issue a search warrant to go in over their objections."

CNN reported, "In a statement, former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz saying she personally was never contacted by the FBI or any government official about the breach, which would have allowed her to be briefed on the situation." Given her general incompetence as DNC chair, this journal prefers to take Mr. Johnson's word over hers.

The Obama White House misread the political climate of the day (as did this journal) in believing Mrs. Clinton would win the presidency. As a result, the White House avoided directly confronting the issue for fear of damaging her first term by apparently putting its thumb on the scales.

In the end, the problem is that the Russians tried and succeeded in causing trouble in the US election. They will try again because that is how Russian/Soviet intelligence has always worked. They follow up on success. If the US doesn't take the threat seriously, Russia will attack America's voting system again in 2018 and 2020. They don't need to alter the result; they just need to delegitimize the outcome. Their main objective is always to sow discord among their rivals. So long as America is asleep at the wheel, they won't even have to try all that hard.

© Copyright 2017 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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