{"id":7238,"date":"2017-02-16T23:01:59","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T06:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/?p=7238"},"modified":"2017-02-16T23:03:29","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T06:03:29","slug":"huffingtonpost-listen-liberals-russia-is-not-our-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/?p=7238","title":{"rendered":"Huffingtonpost: Listen Liberals: Russia Is Not Our Enemy"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry__header\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mlid&quot;:&quot;entry_header&quot;}}\">\n<div class=\"headline js-headline\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"timestamp timestamp--contributor\"><span class=\"timestamp__date--published\">02\/15\/2017 04:01 pm ET<\/span> | <span class=\"timestamp__date--modified\"><strong>Updated<\/strong> 1 day ago<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry__content js-entry-content\">\n<div class=\"entry__body js-entry-body\">\n<div class=\"js-sharebar share-bar share-bar--sticky fixed\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;share&quot;,&quot;mlid&quot;:&quot;left_rail&quot;}}\" data-mobilepath=\"\/us\/entry\/58a4ba39e4b0fa149f9ac0c8\" data-sharingimage=\"http:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/360_216\/58a52c672800001f0099933c.jpeg\" data-sharingtitle=\"Listen Liberals: Russia Is Not Our Enemy\" data-sharingtweetname=\"TheWorldPost\" data-sharingtweettext=\"Listen+Liberals%3A+Russia+Is+Not+Our+Enemy\" data-sharingurl=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/listen-liberals-russia-is-not-our-enemy_us_58a4ba39e4b0fa149f9ac0c8\">\n<div class=\"share-bar__social-counts\"><span class=\"share-bar__social-counts__number\">640<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"js-sharebar-comments share-bar__comments\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;share&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;comments&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:5}}\" data-type=\"comments\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"photo-strip\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry__text js-entry-text\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mlid&quot;:&quot;entry_text&quot;}}\">\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>I must say that I am simply baffled by what appears to be the prevailing view in this country, and especially among liberals, that Russia is somehow a threat to the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>In truth, one of the only redeeming qualities of a Trump presidency that I saw was the possibility that his administration would repair ties with Russia and work with that country in trying to solve issues of mutual concern, particularly in the Middle East. Yet, that is one goal of the new White House which the establishment, both in Washington and in the media, seem hell-bent on preventing. Indeed, I agree with the assessment of a number of commentators, including <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/2017\/02\/14\/kucinich-pins-flynn-leak-on-intel-community-warns-another-cold-war.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:1,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;kucinich-pins-flynn-leak-on-intel-community-warns-another-cold-war.html&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;Dennis Kucinich who is breaking ranks with fellow liberals over this issue&quot;}}\">Dennis Kucinich who is breaking ranks with fellow liberals over this issue<\/a>, that the U.S. intelligence community\u2019s successful attempt to remove Mike Flynn as National Security Adviser was motivated by the desire to keep the new Cold War going.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>While I certainly understand it is in the interest of the military-industrial complex, again as Kucinich explains, to continue to vilify Russia in order to justify our already-bloated military spending, I am a bit taken aback at how eager most liberals are to embrace and even stoke this demonization.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>Given the poor historical knowledge of most Americans, a little refresher on past and current affairs is in order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>Russia was our ally in WWII in defeating the Nazis. And, contrary to what most Americans are taught, it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/worldviews\/wp\/2015\/05\/08\/dont-forget-how-the-soviet-union-saved-the-world-from-hitler\/?utm_term=.6e14ff7b55a7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:2,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;dont-forget-how-the-soviet-union-saved-the-world-from-hitler\/?utm_term=.6e14ff7b55a7&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;Russia that truly won that war&quot;}}\">Russia that truly won that war<\/a> in Europe, having lost over 20 million people to the war and having been responsible for 80 percent of the Allies\u2019 Nazi kills.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>In addition, while many of us might not like the messenger, Donald Trump was correct when, asked about Putin being a killer, he suggested that the U.S. has been less than innocent in this respect. Indeed, though many were horrified by such a moment of candor by a U.S. President, Trump was engaging in gross understatement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>Let me be so bold as to say that, certainly since 1960 and up to the present time, the U.S. has been much more brutal and blood-thirsty than Russia. It is not even a close call here. For example, as Noam Chomsky (no lover of the USSR is he) <a href=\"http:\/\/bostonreview.net\/noam-chomsky-responsibility-of-intellectuals-redux\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:3,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;http:\/\/bostonreview.net\/noam-chomsky-responsibility-of-intellectuals-redux&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;has explained&quot;}}\">has explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<blockquote><p>It is not seriously in question, as John Coatsworth writes in the recently published Cambridge University <em>History of the Cold War<\/em>, that from 1960 to \u201cthe Soviet collapse in 1990, the numbers of political prisoners, torture victims, and executions of nonviolent political dissenters in Latin America vastly exceeded those in the Soviet Union and its East European satellites.\u201d Among the executed were many religious martyrs, and there were mass slaughters as well, consistently supported or initiated by Washington.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/bostonreview.net\/noam-chomsky-responsibility-of-intellectuals-redux\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:4,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;http:\/\/bostonreview.net\/noam-chomsky-responsibility-of-intellectuals-redux&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;Chomsky goes on to detail&quot;}}\">Chomsky goes on to detail<\/a> the millions killed by the U.S. in Indochina during its shameful war on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and Reagan\u2019s support of apartheid South Africa\u2019s rampage through Southern Africa which resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>And, what about today? While many are up in arms about Russia\u2019s annexation of the Crimea (though this was done <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kenrapoza\/2015\/03\/20\/one-year-after-russia-annexed-crimea-locals-prefer-moscow-to-kiev\/#2c0145951b7b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:5,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;one-year-after-russia-annexed-crimea-locals-prefer-moscow-to-kiev\/#2c0145951b7b&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;with the approval of the majority of Crimeans who are happy to be returned to Russia&quot;}}\">with the approval of the majority of Crimeans who are happy to be returned to Russia<\/a>) as well as Russia\u2019s intervention in the war in Syria, these actions pale in comparison to the U.S.\u2019s own intervention in Syria, its recent destruction of Libya, its destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alternet.org\/human-rights\/us-backed-coalition-killing-yemeni-civilians-cluster-bombs-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:6,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;http:\/\/www.alternet.org\/human-rights\/us-backed-coalition-killing-yemeni-civilians-cluster-bombs-report&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;its continued support for the Saudi rape of Yemen&quot;}}\">its continued support for the Saudi rape of Yemen<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blackagendareport.com\/content\/16-years-us-genocide-congo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:7,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;http:\/\/www.blackagendareport.com\/content\/16-years-us-genocide-congo&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;U.S.\u2019s support for the pillaging of The Democratic Republic of the Congo&quot;}}\">U.S.\u2019s support for the pillaging of The Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a> which has cost the lives of around 6 million innocents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>It is these U.S. wars, along with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/magazine\/story\/2015\/06\/us-military-bases-around-the-world-119321\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:8,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;http:\/\/www.politico.com\/magazine\/story\/2015\/06\/us-military-bases-around-the-world-119321&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;U.S.\u2019s over 800 military bases&quot;}}\">U.S.\u2019s over 800 military bases<\/a> in more than 70 countries (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/3\/14\/11224544\/putin-syria-russia-withdraw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:9,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/3\/14\/11224544\/putin-syria-russia-withdraw&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;Russia has bases in only one country (Syria)&quot;}}\">Russia has bases in only one country (Syria)<\/a> outside the former Soviet Union) which has led to the <a href=\"http:\/\/nypost.com\/2014\/01\/05\/us-is-the-greatest-threat-to-world-peace-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:10,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;us-is-the-greatest-threat-to-world-peace-poll\/&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;U.S. rightly being viewed in a poll of people in 65 countries &quot;}}\">U.S. rightly being viewed in a poll of people in 65 countries <\/a>as by far the greatest threat to world peace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>Meanwhile, at the U.S.\u2019s urging, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/la-oe-shifrinson-russia-us-nato-deal--20160530-snap-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:11,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/la-oe-shifrinson-russia-us-nato-deal--20160530-snap-story.html&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;despite its promises to Russia&quot;}}\">despite its promises to Russia<\/a> in return for the Soviet Union relinquishing any hold over Eastern Europe, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/parallels\/2016\/11\/30\/503772040\/near-the-russian-border-u-s-and-nato-beef-up-their-presence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:12,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;503772040\/near-the-russian-border-u-s-and-nato-beef-up-their-presence&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;NATO now has troops up to the Russian border&quot;}}\">NATO now has troops up to the Russian border<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/371605-us-poland-missiles-deal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:13,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.rt.com\/news\/371605-us-poland-missiles-deal\/&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;U.S. has just sold extended-range missiles to Poland&quot;}}\">U.S. has just sold extended-range missiles to Poland<\/a> which will surely be pointed at Russia. Russia is not similarly postured along the U.S.\u2019s boundaries, and it is unthinkable that it ever would be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>In other words, it is Russia which should be afraid of us, and not the other way around. And, President Trump\u2019s expressed desire to stop antagonizing Russia and to work with it in defeating ISIS in places like Syria should be welcomed as eminently reasonable and indeed necessary to avoid a possible nuclear confrontation. This should also be welcome by an American public whose resources have been drained by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pgpf.org\/chart-archive\/0053_defense-comparison\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:14,&quot;plid&quot;:&quot;http:\/\/www.pgpf.org\/chart-archive\/0053_defense-comparison&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;the greatest military-spending spree by far on the planet&quot;}}\">the greatest military-spending spree by far on the planet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-list-component text\">\n<p>Certainly, liberals, who at least once stood for peace and for greater social spending, should be in the lead in cheering such overtures instead of drumming up anti-Russian hatred which can only lead to more war and more impoverishment of our society.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/author\/dkovalik-291\">source<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>02\/15\/2017 04:01 pm ET | Updated 1 day ago 640 I must say that I am simply baffled by what appears to be the prevailing view in this country, and especially among liberals, that Russia is somehow a threat to the United States. In truth, one of the only redeeming qualities of a Trump presidency [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[104,102,114],"tags":[1434],"class_list":["post-7238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-usa","category-world-2","tag-daniel-kovalik-huffingtonpost-listen-liberals-russia-is-not-our-enemy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/download-3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2SfUR-1SK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7238"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7241,"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7238\/revisions\/7241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfutureamerica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}