Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) has plans to bring a congressional delegation to Russia. Rohrabacher is quoted in a Wednesday article by Robert Costa in the Washington Post as saying a purpose of the trip is to discuss with Russian officials “how we can work with the Duma.” The Duma is a legislative body of the Russian government.
Rohrabacher, as chairman of the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has a significant role in the United States House of Representatives regarding US relations with Russia. In this position, Rohrabacher has on occasion forcefully made the case for easing tensions between the US and Russia. For example, in March of 2015, Rohrabacher, speaking during a meeting of the subcommittee concerning Ukraine, criticized the US government’s effort “to basically defeat and humiliate Russia.” He argued that the US goal should instead be “to do what is right by Ukraine and bring peace to Ukraine.”
Rohrabacher’s influence in the House, though, should be understood in context. In introductory remarks at the Ukraine hearing at which Rohrabacher spoke out for peace and détente, Rep. Ed Royce (RCA), who is chairman of the full Foreign Affairs Committee, asserted the US government should take more aggressive actions in opposition to Russia in relation to Ukraine, calling US action so far “quite tepid.” And, last week, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) cheered and called “overdue” the announcement by President Barack Obama of punitive actions, including the expelling of 35 Russian diplomats from America, in response to purported Russian government actions including interfering with the 2016 US presidential election.
For some interesting information regarding Rohrabacher and his foreign policy views read Justin Raimondo’s December 5 article “Dana Rohrabacher for Secretary of State?” at antiwar.com.
Rohrabacher was recently in the news as a possible choice for the Secretary of State position in a Donald Trump administration. Trump ended up choosing Exxon Mobil Corporation CEO Rex W. Tillerson.
Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity. Massie is a member of the Ron Paul Institute.
So if Russia quits its “aggression” in Eastern Europe, will the USA stop meddling in other nation’s affairs also? I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning! The USA lectures the world about “freedom and democracy” with the right hand while the left hand sticks in the knife!
the usa under obama has been the bad guy all over the world
ukriane voted to go back to russia but we press the story of war
It was Crimea that voted to be annexed to Russia.
Russia is a threat to US hegemony but Russia can’t do anything about that to pacify the US. They simply want to survive and become prosperous too.
The problem is, the US doesn’t want to share resources or allow Russia to prosper alongside China. And now, the BRICS are a direct threat to US hegemony because those nations combined, with the China giant, are about to become a very real challenge to the US economy.
There is always going to be a lot of kneejerk hate of Russia by politicians and the US military but if that was the only factor, the US could relent somewhat.
As for moral grounds the US talks about especially with Syria and the Ukraine, of course that doesn’t really exist. Americans know that for themselves as individuals even as the political and military contine to try to sell that as the excuse.
Russia now has it’s back to the wall and it’s very unlikely Putin will allow Russia to be pushed back further. This puts the onus on the US to moderate it’s approach and find a way that will work for all countries. If that doesn’t happen then it would be my prediction that the Brics will become influencial enough to win this economic cold war. The other alternative of a hot war is not on the table and hasn’t been for over 70 years due to the MAD threat.
I agree with your main point, the opening of dialogue, and open the debate. But this has not been possible for a long , long time. We are generally told what to think, media repeats it, until we learn what to think. And once in a while, media takes polls, just to find out if the public learned the message. If the polls indicate that we are slow learners, other methods of media education are offered, other persuasive arguments. All pretty much — yellowcakes.
This is for the first time in a long, long time, that a candidate opened up the discussion of foreign policy — and not timidly — but with a bang. He made a linkage between foreign policy failures and the domestic economic stagnation. Trump followers took it to the new heights, and delved deeper into the issues of interventions, terrorism, funding of terrorism, Russia’s perspective on Ukraine or Crimea, on Syria, etc. I have not seen before this level of discussion, this level of uniformity of knowledge and opinions — in a long, long time. And it did not come from mainstream media, but from Trump, and from those in alternative media that continued to cover the topics.
So, at least in some segments of the population, there is a robust discussion, research, discoveries, etc. Since Trump voters are Twitter constituency, I will have to conclude that the changed line of thinking has been spread to this constituency, and that is not a small number.
The fact that we are seeing a Congressional delegation establish connections to their counterparts, this means that at least, something is moving. As for the fossilized thinking of people like Ryan, McCain or Graham — voters will have a chance to reflect upon the Republican elected officials undermining the President that brought them the majority.
I do think that you are wrong about Russia’s back against the wall. There is still a great deal of space for Russia to absorb the ill natured attacks, and to respond asymmetrically. The benefits to Russia from this ill judged campaign of reviving cold war, are many. The weakened currency — that is unfortunately coming back — has helped with exports, and as all the energy sales are in euros or dollars, converted to domestic currency, even the drop in prices of energy, did not affect the domestic spending. In fact, some of their industries, food processing and grain production, went up. Considering that Russia is a non-GMO country, the value of their grains is actually increasing on the market. I cannot even start on the projects with China. It ranges from energy and transit, to space program. From chemicals, to atomic electric plants. From joint university programs in both China and Russia, they are creating a whole new generations of multilingual professionals, and at the same time, saving money on many forms of research and development. One of the biggest deals Russia closed last year was with India, and later last year, Japan.
What happened after the closure of European markets due to sanctions, and following the retaliatory Russian sanctions — the development has focused on Russia’s Far East, and both Japan and South Korea are going to partake in this long-term endeavor. This I s but a shortest possible reviews of changed Russia’s political and economic orientation.
The problem is, it is US that is having a weak hand. The sanctions and diplomats expulsion — are noisy things, but of no consequence. What was done initially that hurt, has been remedied –like their own platforms for payment transactions, as well as participation in China’s. They learned the lesson of reliance on so called free trade and open markets, but as soon as anybody wants to pressure a country to comply with their wishes, the first thing that happens is — ditching the fake freedom of trade and free markets. So, with the lesson learned, politically, people who were mostly hurt by the sanctions were Russia’s liberals, who advocated more interdependence with the Western institutions, and the need for more reliance on imports. That crashed and burned in the face of fact.
US is having problems with the economy. Problems in the Middle East. Problems in the Pacific. And problems in Europe. There are problems in Africa and Latin America, but those can stay on the back burner.
Congressional delegation is a good thing, but for as long as they take it slowly. If they think that Russia is eagerly waiting with their backs against the wall, that would be a mistake. But then, I am sure our congressmen are informed of the world affairs, and would not make such stupid mistakes. Would they?
Great comment Bianca..Thank You!!!