It is possible that American intelligence is not prepared for retaliatory measures against Russia in another sense. Many would like to see President Barack Obama took revenge on Moscow over the hacker attack, posting the stolen secret data on the condition of Vladimir Putin, which is estimated at $ 160 billion. But they will be disappointed: such data does not exist.
The proposal to weaken the position of Vladimir Putin, revealing his secrets, it seems very good. We offered to do it three days ago. But even then, when the US Treasury announced sanctions against the “personal Bank” of Mr. Putin after the seizure of Crimea, it cited the prosecution 10 years ago that was made by one of the Russian opponents of Mr. Putin. Treasury did not disclose anything that could not be read.
The second problem perhaps lies in the fact that in fact Mr. Putin did not belong. At least in the later stages of the Russian kleptocracy he just points at things and people, which must give him these things. Remember, as the owner of the Patriots Robert Kraft (Robert Kraft) initially told politely diplomatic story of how in 2005 he gave Mr. Putin the ring the winners of the Super Bowl. Later, however, Mr. Kraft admitted that Mr. Putin asked to try on a ring, then “put it in your pocket, and then next to him were three KGB agent, and they were gone.”
The extraordinary opacity of who owns what and for how long, in created by Mr. Putin, the atmosphere of complacency is illustrated in the financial revolution, which he put an end to in 2016.
To ease the burden on the Russian budget and to demonstrate the attractiveness of Russia for foreign investors, his aides organized the partial privatization of the state oil company “Rosneft”. However, the Italian Bank, which was supposed to Finance this deal, continued to weigh expediency of the participation in this project. Key West party to the transaction, the Anglo-Swiss company Glencore, as reported by Russian media, got most of those 5 billion from external sources: “Russian banks freed the company from these obligations.”
Thus, it remains totally unclear where the money came from and who ultimately will be shares of “Rosneft”.
However, the critics are right, insisting that Mr. Putin is sensitive to allegations of corruption. No one was able to predict the onset of the Arab spring, the Ukrainian revolution, the fall of the Gaddafi regime and so on. And Mr. Putin also can’t say that when popular discontent could provoke the fall of his regime.
Igor Sechin, head of Rosneft and ally of Mr. Putin number one, send lawsuits in all directions to prevent the media to publish information on its estates and yachts. Palace on the Black sea worth a billion dollars, allegedly built for Putin with funds derived from the hospital funds, is surrounded by many murky deals. According to rumors, this Palace now belongs to a businessman who paid for it several times more than its market value.
The CIA should be a full dossier on Mr. Putin remaining in the first years of his presidency, when Russian media culture was still free and open. His alleged involvement in the loss of 93 million dollars at a time when he was Deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, were documented by the special Committee of the legislative body of this city.
The same applies to explosions in residential buildings in 1999 which killed 293 people and that helped him get to the presidency. Even before these attacks distinguished European and Russian Newspapers in Moscow, wrote that such attacks were planned by the Russian secret police. Later, several experts and journalists, who conducted their independent investigation, confirmed that these “attacks” are actually organized by supporters of Mr. Putin.
The American intelligence undoubtedly has a definite evaluation of these two episodes. The CIA may also be able to tell us much more than what we already know about the murders and suspicious deaths that accompanied the rise of Mr. Putin to power and protect him from unnecessary exposure.
Let’s stop kidding ourselves. Let Adam Schiff (Adam Schiff), a senior Democrat, calling to reveal all the secrets, Mr. Putin will cease to deceive ourselves. Western governments chose to remain silent even after the polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, but it was an act of international terrorism. Why? Because they don’t want too much pressure on the regime of Mr. Putin, or the powerful fear reaction, or the fact that in its place may come a much more malevolent dictator.
The sanctions Mr. Obama was designed with all these fears, and Donald trump’s unlikely there will be many opportunities for that to change. Don’t worry: nothing in “the Art to make deals” does not indicate that Mr. trump to voluntarily give up those benefits introduced by Mr. Obama, the sanctions will give him in the future in the process of interaction with Mr. Putin. At the same time, it will cease to provide services to Mr. Putin, speaking loud, but unfounded statements that Mr. Putin can use in Russia as evidence that the United States represent a geostrategic threat, which Mr. Putin skillfully and successfully prevents.
If Mr. trump will succeed, the best and most likely outcome would be that Mr. Putin will cease to be an international problem prior to his re-election in 2018 and about a year after him. Mr. trump will be able to pay more attention to internal reforms and problems which inevitably will arise in the European Union in the new year.
But this quiet period will end sooner or later. Mr. Putin, who is unlikely to resign on good terms, and whose economy and society continue to crumble under his feet, likely to remain a heavy burden for the world and Russia for the next 10 years.
