Follow The Money, See Why Trump Is Putin's Useful Idiot

[Bill USA]

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/12/follow-money-see-why-trump-putins-useful

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Back in April, 2016, Lilia Shevtsova wrote in The American Interest about the powerful effect of US-European sanctions against Russia and Syria. Frozen assets in the U.S. of the oligarch Yuri Kovalchuk, a close ally of Putin, have totaled $572 million. In Italy, the Rottenberg brothers have also sustained losses worth nearly $40 million.

Ms. Shevtsova emphasizes that these “sanctions have exacerbated the economic recession in Russia: by accelerating capital flight and shrinking internal financial resources; by restricting Russia’s access to international financial markets and triggering a financial crunch; and by creating crisis of confidence in international business circles regarding Russia.” As a result, Russia could find no buyers or investors for its government-owned oil companies.

In March 2016, President Obama extended the sanctions on Russia for another year. (Apparently, this shocked the Kremlin, which expected that the U.S.-Russian agreement on Syria would mean softening of the sanctions regime.) Existing measures will stay in place as “Russia’s actions continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” the U.S. President’s decree says.

Curious, right? Putin's intent to seriously damage Hillary Clinton versus the unexpectedly propitious outcome of actually installing a flawed lunatic like Donald Trump paid dividends. Only eight months later, just one month after Election Day, this happened: Fortune Magazine reported:

Russia said on Wednesday it sold a stake in oil giant Rosneft for 10.5 billion €uros ($11.3 billion) to Qatar and commodities trader Glencore.

That $11.3 billion profit certainly makes a Trump victory seem much more financially appealing to the Kremlin indeed. ALWAYS follow the money. This election windfall really helps Putin mitigate losses from those sanctions that Trump will end, that have been costly and inconvenient.

It was personal too. Hillary Clinton not only supported the sanctions, but made it crystal clear that as President she would continue a hard line against Syria and Russia’s brutality. Not only would the current economic sanctions remain in place, but she promised more actions. Hillary was Putin’s number one threat to his power and to his country’s economic stability.
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[MosheFeingold]

1. I've been confused as to motive

Trump will beef up the US military and presumably assist in domestic US oil production. Both of those are very bad for Russia.

I'm thinking it is more of an enemy-of-my-enemy thing: Trump will be awful to China, which is Russia's biggest rival and Trump will be pro-greater Christiandom vs. Islam. Putin is at least very ethnically Russian Orthodox and wants to put a big boot on the Islamic world, in general. Putin seems himself as a great protector of "Western" (in which I am including Russia) against Islamic and Asian worlds.

I think this is also much the reason the wingnuts have an admiration for Putin; strong man to "bring it" to the Islamic world and China.

[Hortensis]

3. Steve Bannon and others have admitted they are trying

to develop an international alliance of peoples in a crusade against liberalism and secularism.

In the U.S. anti-secular and anti-liberal themes such as Christian reconstructionism and Dominionism, "small government" and states rights have been infiltrating the political right and mainstream Christian sects for decades. And now Trump has thrown open the doors of power to them. This background movement is a significant part of why the surprising support on the right for very conservative Russia against their own government, which they believe they have to wrest from and cleanse of liberalism.

Of course, most trumpsters have no coherent ideology and couldn't articulate any of this if you put a gun to their heads. But anti-government plutocrats and anti-secular forces are currently joined, pulling in tandem against The Principles for Which We (supposedly) Stand. It is a real and gathering force, and right now most conservatives have become part of it, knowingly or willy-nilly in most cases.

And, btw, leaders are trying to involve conservative Muslims in their great battle for the soul of the planet.

[AmericanActivist]

2. K n R nm