Make no mistake about it: the opening shots of World War III were fired upon the United States of America during the lead up to the 2016 presidential elections.
The battle raged on during the 2016 elections, and most of America had no idea it even happened. Russia was so skillful in opening up this war that there are wide swaths of Americans who either do not believe the attacks happened, or are siding with the Russians.
The attack on our presidential elections will have far greater implications than the attack on Pearl Harbor, and will end up being far worse than 9/11. It is an attack not on our naval fleet, not on our Army, and not on our financial centers. Instead, it was a strike right at the core of our democracy—the very fabric of our nation.
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling has impeccable credentials. He was the commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army, and had a 37-year career in the U.S. Army. When someone like him speaks out of the dangers of a foreign power—especially Russia—you listen. This past week, Gen. Hertling published a lengthy article in Politico summing up the danger Russia presents.
In 2016, our country was targeted by an attack that had different operational objectives and a different overarching strategy, but its aim was every bit as much to devastate the American homeland as Pearl Harbor or 9/11. The destruction may not send pillars of smoke into the sky or come with an 11-digit price tag, and there’s no body count or casualty statistics—but the damage done has ravaged our institutions and shaken our belief in our immovability. But two years on, we still haven’t put any boats or men in the proverbial water. We still have not yet acted—just today, President Donald Trump, a beneficiary of this attack, exonerated the man who ordered it: Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.
We know now that President Obama tried to sound the alarm about Russian interference into our elections. We know that President Obama warned the Russians not to interfere in our elections.
The White House confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that eight days before the presidential election, the United States “contacted the Russian government directly regarding malicious cyberactivity” that was “targeting U.S. state election-related systems.” It sent the message over a rarely used system: a hotline connecting the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers in both countries, which they had agreed three years ago could also be employed to deal with major cyberincidents.
We also know that President Obama wanted a joint, bipartisan statement about the election hacking—one that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell watered down.
McConnell had questioned the intelligence on election interference and agreed to a softer version of the letter that spoke of “malefactors” to be aware of but did not specifically mention Russia.
Because of the nature of espionage, it is possible that a response to the hacking was launched; however, by Russian President Putin’s actions on the world stage and Trump’s reaction to him, it is unlikely any response was launched—or if launched, it was unsuccessful.
Gen. Hertling explains in his Politico article that Russia uses the Gerasimov Doctrine in their battle plans:
Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee in March 2018, General Mike Scaparrotti, head of U.S. European Command, was asked about Gerasimov, and he responded succinctly and with candor: “Russia has a doctrine that … sees these activities below the level of conflict as part of the full spectrum, with the intent that if they can undermine a target country using these means ... never having to use military force, that’s their objective.”
Gerasimov has since updated his thinking on the uses of hybrid warfare to erode the will of the enemy, saying that “spiritual resources—the nation’s cohesion and desire to confront the aggressor at all cost,” were one of the most important determiners of victory or defeat in these new shadow wars. Confusing the enemy has always been a doctrinal tenet of Russian war-fighting, so this new approach just replaces the old “Maskirovka” (deception) as a primary objective. The more you read about how Russia has tested and adapted these tactics in its near-abroad, the harder it is to deny that the Kremlin’s attack on America is no outlier but rather one more entry in an ongoing, evolving playbook that is yielding more success than anyone wants to admit.
If you want to go to war, why spend billions on aircraft carriers, bombers, fighters, and ground forces when all you have to do is invest in some servers and an internet connection? Use information and disinformation to tear your opponent apart at their very seams. Pick at the weaknesses, and attack a country’s strengths.
The Republican Party laid the groundwork for the Russian attack. For years they have done everything they could to make their base distrust the mainstream media. The started in the ‘80s with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine and have escalated every year since then until today where they have alternative facts and Fox News spewing Republican propaganda 24/7. Provide factual information to a Trump supporter and they will dismiss it without fail. That is how successful the opening salvo has been.
Russia has done something the old Soviet Union never could: they have torn America apart and put a wedge between us and our allies. The future of NATO is uncertain. England is pulling out of the European Union (the result of a vote that may have also been manipulated by Russia), and Putin can kill his enemies indiscriminately anywhere in the world without fear of reprisal.
The United States of America and the world are at war right now: not in the Middle East, Afghanistan, or Africa, ut in cyberspace. We cannot win this war with the current administration in office. The president has been compromised. His sycophants cannot be trusted, nor can Republican leadership in Congress. The only way we can win this war is to take back the House and Senate.
This should not be a partisan issue. If you love this country, if you believe in the promise of America, then you must vote the Republican Party out of power. They can never be trusted with leadership again. If we do not, then we have lost this war—one we never even realized we were fighting.
