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Could Trump Be A Russian Agent?
I can’t remember the exact day now because it happened such a long time ago. But I am certain it was in the fall of 1982 when I was still a student in the United States. Our Greek-American Professor whom I will not name for obvious reasons, had just finished mesmerizing us with his in-depth knowledge of world affairs as he always did after each class. And then, he dropped a bombshell!
He nonchalantly told the stunned class that the CIA had found a way to infiltrate the highest decision-making organ in the Soviet Union - the Politburo! In the same breath, he also predicted that Apartheid South Africa was bound to fail sooner, rather than later, even when America, along with Great Britain, still deluded the world that their policy of "constructive engagement", and not the stinging sanctions which Nigeria, and then Organization of African Unity desired, was effective and sufficient to end the white minority rule.
The Professor told us the CIA considered the penetration of the Politburo to be a matter of highest priority in America's unending war against communism. He stubbornly refused to name the American agent in the Soviet Politburo, but soon enough, a certain Mikhail Gorbachev became embroiled in a political war of attrition with Boris Yeltsin as the Soviet Union began to unravel. Gorbachev eventually became the leader of the Soviet Union.
And Gorbachev, it was, who introduced previously unheard of doctrines and slogans in the closed Soviet society. They included "Glasnost" and "Perestroika"; literally translated to mean "openness in the manner of governance", and "restructuring especially of the Soviet political system" suddenly gained currency.
The rest, as it is often said, is now history! The behemoth that was the old Soviet Union is not better than the regional power we call Russia today! The Russian republic which succeeded the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States, still retains much of its military might but as a grand power to match the United States in global influence and prestige, I am of the strong view that it now ranks a distant third behind the United States and China. But quite incredibly, with the election of Donald Trump and his dubious America first policy, the situation could be reversed sooner, rather than later.
I have followed the presidential campaign of Donald Trump and all the shenanigans that surrounded it. Now, after reviewing some of the decisions he has taken since his inauguration, I am in no doubt that if the Russians were in position to choose a candidate of their liking to run in the elections, they wouldn’t have done a better job than the gregarious GOP candidate and the reasons are legion!
The first question, of course, is to interrogate why the Russians were so intent on sabotaging Hillary Clinton in favor of Donald Trump? Why did they go the extra length to take the risks it took to leak all those email messages from Hillary Clinton’s private email server as alleged? Second, barely two weeks into his presidency, Trump has commenced the process of relaxing some sanctions imposed on Russia by previous administrations. The speed with which that has occurred has got many including members of the President’s own party scratching their heads in disbelief. It is highly unusual for an American president.
Third, Rex Tillerson, Trump's appointee as Secretary of State (Foreign Minister) is very close to the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the authorities. He was, in fact, a beneficiary of one of Russia’s highest national honors.
Fourth, Trump's rhetoric throughout the campaign trail not only openly praised Russia, it was an embarrassing mockery of American foreign policy in the past 70 years. The trend has not diminished two weeks after his inauguration.
Fifth and most tellingly, a respected former agent of the British intelligence agency (MI6) Christopher Steele recently circulated a dossier which allegedly suggested that the Russians actively encouraged Trump's bid for the presidency because they are in possession of damaging intelligence on some of his unsavory activities. Initially, Mr. Steele, who runs a London-based intelligence firm, was reportedly hired by anti-Trump Republicans to investigate Trump's ties to Russia during the battle for the party's presidential nomination. His report consists of a series of memos based on information from members of the Russian intelligence community. It claims that Russian officials have cultivated Mr. Trump for at least five years to encourage splits within the Western alliance, and shared intelligence information with him. But most startlingly, it alleges that Russia has managed to compromise Mr. Trump and is in a position to blackmail him. There are unverified claims that Russia's FSB agency has unsavory footage of the president-elect taken during liaisons at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow. Even as the report is already in the possession of notable Republican part heavyweights in Congress, by inference, what it means is that Mr. Trump could effectively be a pawn in the hands of Moscow. His presidency could be used to compromise him at any time to advance the interests of Russia.
The big question, in the context of global tussle for control of the international world order is: are the Russians capable of all the above? The answer is a resounding YES! In the brutal contest for supremacy between the two powers, nothing is ever completely off the table!
History could be repeating itself in the opposite direction. Already, much of Mr. Trump’s executive orders since he assumed office have wreaked havoc on the image and prestige of the United States in the so-called free world. America’s senior is an anachronism. If Josef Stalin were alive, he couldn’t have coined it better! Similarly, the void created by Trump’s xenophobic tendencies is beginning to leave a void which must be filled either way. Already, some leaders of the European Union are already toying with the idea of assuming the leadership of the free world in view of America’s virtual capitulation, no thanks to Trump. The trend is set to continue. Like I predicted in my earlier interventions, the success of Mr. Trump has energized right-wing politicians across Europe. Many have unashamedly rehashed his tactics of severe fear mongering. In a matter of weeks, Jean Marie Le Pen of France will attempt to test her popularity in France. Much of what she has said on the campaign trail have mimicked Trump’s slogans almost word for word. Suddenly, across the developed world, descendants of slave merchants no longer desire the presence of the wretched compatriots their ancestors exploited to build their own advanced economies. Like Trump, Le Pen she has not shied away from the crude exploitation of fear. She has warned that if the tide of immigration is not swiftly curtailed, the French culture as it is known today would be completely subsumed or obliterated in the near future. In the process, a straight forward fight between all the ‘bad dudes‘ who have members in all the religions of the world and our common humanity represented by the ‘good dudes’ has been unnecessarily turned into a contest between the two dominant civilizations of Islam and Christianity. And as could be expected, in such a war with no clearly defined frontlines only the bad dudes are guaranteed to win. History could be set to repeat itself. We have already witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union in our lifetimes. Will the United States, as we know currently know it, be the next behemoth to kiss the canvas? One thing is certain though, if Europe fails to contain the resurgence of populist politics, Russia will be the ultimate winner. And when that happens Josef Stalin, Lenin, and the rest of the dead socialist titans must be sharing a toast in their graves! In their moments of unbridled joy, they could even offer prayers for Donald Trump. He will also need it. |