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Russia's Dirty Tricks

By John Tabin on 8.5.11 @ 1:21PM

In the past four years, Russia's intelligence services have stepped up a campaign of intimidation and dirty tricks against U.S. officials and diplomats in Russia and the countries that used to form the Soviet Union.

U.S. diplomats and officials have found their homes broken into and vandalized, or altered in ways as trivial as bathroom use; faced anonymous or veiled threats; and in some cases found themselves set up in compromising photos or videos that are later leaked to the local press and presented as a sex scandal.

"The point was to show that ‘we can get to you where you sleep,' " one U.S. intelligence officer told The Washington Times. "It's a psychological kind of attack."

Despite a stated policy from President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of warm U.S.-Russian ties, the campaign of intelligence intimidation - or what the CIA calls "direct action" - has persisted throughout what both sides have called a "reset" in the relations.

They have become worse in just the past year, some U.S. officials said. Also, their targets are broadening to include human rights workers and nongovernmental organizations as well as embassy staff.

The most brazen example of this kind of intimidation was the Sept. 22 bombing attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia. A National Intelligence Council assessment sent to Congress last week confirmed that the bombing was ordered by Maj. Yevgeny Borisov of Russian military intelligence, said four U.S. officials who have read the report.

Read the rest of the story for the gory details, which include a National Democratic Institute official being smeared as a child-rapist. In the face of all this (among other things), the Obama administration continues to tout its "reset" policy as a huge success. Kit Bond, the former Senator who was vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 2007-2010, puts it bluntly: "It's not the intelligence committee that fails to understand the problem. It's the Obama administration."

View all comments (15) | Leave a comment

dc| 8.5.11 @ 1:35PM

Russians, specifically those who support Putinism, the KGB (or whatever they call it these days), and the former Soviet system--and it's not exaggerating to say that's the majority of Russians--are corrupt, slavish, duplicitous, cruel, crummy, and disgusting people. Sorry, historically and empirically, it's true. Just as a Ukranian, Georgian, Pole, or Hungarian (obvious examples among many).
Why anyone in this or any U.S. administration would trust a Russian, or do anything other than continue preparing for war against them in every possible facet (nuclear, conventional, hot, cold, diplomatic, cultural, or otherwise) is beyond me. The hammer & sickle may not overtly menace us any longer, but the Russians still do and always will. A fact of life that serious policymakers, as opposed to anti-American wannabe third world despots (like the current president), need to keep in mind, always.

Occam's Tool| 8.5.11 @ 10:08PM

The girls are good looking but like abortions and vodka. A VERY sad society.

Purple Lips| 8.5.11 @ 1:42PM

The Russians have retreated from the glories of thier past. The Russian Soul was destroyed by Bolshevism, Athieism, and Vodka. Gone is the Russia of Tolstoy, Tschovsky, Chekov, and Kutezov. All that remains is a society filled with gangsters, corruption, HIV, and drugs... kind of like Detroit.

dc| 8.5.11 @ 2:11PM

I guess it's fair to identify past Russians who weren't gangster stooges or totalitarian murderers or slave supporters of one or the other: Dostoyevsky and Solzhenitsyn come to mind. I struggle beyond that....
I like the Detroit analogy, except that people living in Detroit have more and closer options of places to which to flee the kleptocracy and random depravity.

C Bowen| 8.5.11 @ 6:00PM

The blast was near the US Embassy and it was Georgian intelligence, recycled it appears in the US, who suggested it was really an attack on the US Embassy.

Typical Eli Lake who was scared so scared of Saddam, like John Tabin, he supported a trillion dollar debt financed invasion, and is apparently, allying with Hillary Herself on this spook job.

PCP Smoker| 8.5.11 @ 7:38PM

It's also senators Brown and Lugar who were very eager to sign on to the new START treaty

C Bowen| 8.5.11 @ 7:50PM

The Establishment Republicans are at least for near-term normalcy with Russia and their near-afar; the neocons are apparently willing to ally with Hillary at State to undermine with poorly written propaganda.

Bob K.| 8.5.11 @ 10:45PM

A Major ordered the bombing?!?! Is that a misprint?

Seriously now! Who is kidding who?

Glein| 8.5.11 @ 11:31PM

The Russians are using dirty tricks to undermine the US!? Who would have thought that possible from our friends the Russians? Why how stupid are we to believe the Russian give a damn about US interests? Are we truly that stupid!

hananova| 8.6.11 @ 2:07AM

After all the innuendo and accusations, the blog writer comes up with one example - and gets that wrong. The "attack" wasn't on the embassy, it was on a nearby building.

Why the US is supporting a tinpot Georgian dictator who has only 4 cans of his six-pack, who orders his US-weapon-supplied army to shell apartment buildings and statues, instead of making a lasting peace with Russia, is quite beyond me.

Besides , why should the Russians trust broken-promises Barack Obama, or I-can't-recall-where-the-missing-2000-pages-of-Whitewater-documents-are Hilary Clinton (after she misused the word "reset" the Russians made a national joke of the word)?

Ask Belarus. When they agreed, on the breakup of the Soviet Union, to relinquish control of their nuclear missiles on their territory, the US promised them this, that and everything. Just promises, like the ones just made in DC on the budget. Broken promises, of course.

hananova| 8.6.11 @ 2:09AM

Oh, and I forgot to add, it's highly likely that Shaashkashvili (the Georgian paranoid dictator) had the building bombed himself. He has done this sort of thing before, and is always discovering "plots" against himself.

Wayne | 8.6.11 @ 12:33PM

My good friend says he will not vote for a woman president (Bachman or Palin) because he sees women as easy for characters like Putin to push around. But I explained that Thatcher was tough and respected. Also Palin and Bachman seem to have more balls that someone like Pawlenty or Romney.

Now look at Obama. He first made a fool of himself by bowing and bestowing some non-sensical reset button. Then he gives away the store in is TREATY. Now he is bought off with a 50th birthday stamp. Since Obama is a narcissist, he is easy to fool and manipulate. I think Bachman or Palin would do far better against the KGB terrorist.

Azadi| 8.6.11 @ 3:16PM

This article was translated on a Russian news site.

So called Conservative in the U.S are no more then liberals in disguised. Same for your Republican leadership. I am sure your missing a anti-Christian rally or one for gay marriage. Our people want nothing more to be left alone and to restore are country and people after the occupation of Communism and Atheism. Which destroyed are culture, faith and society. My parents had be christianed in secret. Now we hard to help are country. Build Church's and restore are lost culture. It's duty of each Russia to help his country and put personal greed aside. You know nothing about us other then propaganda, lies and blind hatred. I on other hand will never have these feeling toward you and forgive me. I love you like god commands me and would gladly invite you into my home for dinner and friendship.

Nixonfan| 8.6.11 @ 4:19PM

NATO enlargement to include former Soviet Republics (aside from the Baltics) is anathema to Russia, as Putin has made crystal clear. To include a republic that is at war with Russia over a mountain range is truly insane. If we want a reset, we will have to make clear that Ukraine and Georgia are off-limits to NATO.

MichIs| 8.7.11 @ 3:02AM

On the "interrogation" Georgian terrorist said that he personally spoke with Major Borisov and his dog, and received their orders to carry out a terrorist act,,, you know, Georgians are very fond of theater, theatrical gestures. But this nonsense above understanding.