This refers to the news report, “Obama orders full review of 2016 election cyberattacks” (Dec. 10).
For the United States, Russia has become a nagging pain in its neck. It is spreading its tentacles too. Syria’s defeat of the opposition, for instance, will be remembered as a psychological defeat for the most powerful country in the world.
But influencing an election outcome in the US is something that may appear amusing to the outsiders.
It is not that the United States was unaware of Russia’s malicious activities. Last year, the Obama administration blamed the Kremlin for a cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations. Wikileaks too published excerpts from the hacked e-mails that were potentially damaging to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The gravity of the matter can be understood from what Sen. Lindsey Graham said: “I think they did interfere with our elections and I want Putin personally to pay the price” and “Russia is one of the most destabilizing influences on the world stage.”
Since Obama has only a few weeks left in office, it will serve little purpose, even if all the declassified reports were made public. It is particularly true, when we all know that the incoming US president is the actual beneficiary of the cyberattacks, if the allegations are true.
With Russia’s increasing muscle-flexing in several matters of international significance and its hostile behavior, the world seems to have crossed a new threshold and it is incumbent upon the US and countries in the Gulf to take stock of the things to come and chart a new diplomatic plan in earnest.
— Shahid Rahman, Dubai
Embarrassing moment
