According to a new report from NBC News, the CIA is actively selecting targets for a potentially imminent order from the White House to launch a “clandestine” cyber attack against the Russian government, with a particularly eye toward embarrassing Russian leaders.
Officials have repeatedly suggested that the US would launch such attacks “in retaliation” for hacking attacks against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, even though Russia denied involvement in that and US officials have declined to offer any public evidence of official Russian culpability.
Vice President Joe Biden confirmed earlier today that the US had sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin advising him of a cyber attack “at the time of our choosing, and under the circumstances that will have the greatest impact.” This suggests the official descriptions of the attack as “clandestine” are using a very loose definition of the word.
NBC cited officials as saying there is some debate within the top leadership of the administration about the wisdom of launching such an attack, and President Obama has yet to officially sign off on the matter. The primary argument for the attack is that the administration has repeatedly blamed Russia for hacks, and repeatedly vowed revenge, so the lack of revenge could be embarrassing for the president. Former CIA official Michael Morell cautioned against covert attacks, saying the US should attack Russia openly, “for everybody to see.”
One former intelligence official said US options for cyber attacks on Russia weren’t good, and that anything the US could do, Russia could do in retaliation, adding “do you want to have Barack Obama bouncing checks.”
The administration was also reportedly holding meetings today on the possibility of attacking Russia militarily in Syria, and while there is no word of what came out of those meetings, the sudden increase in talk of cyber attacks suggest that might be the “compromise position” in an administration full of officials desperate to pick a fight with Russia.
They are holding meetings today on the possibility of attacking Russia militarily in Syria? Okay, message to everyone who reads Antiwar. Been nice knowing you all. Been nice being a member of the human race. Nice while it lasted.
I wish I was joking.
East there chicken little. Vlad is gonna lose some rubles, internets may get really spotty for Vlad for a while. Missiles ain’t gonna fly. Vlad can’t afford the gas to fuel his.
Wow I.D. You R so optimistic..Vlad seems to have gas for Syria… Dont you think he will put his own stuff first, not last…
Russia has gas to power all of Asia. Even Japan had it enough with our bellicosity and is moving independently to get hooked up to Russia’s Far East. Let’s see how much support we get.
I see things the same way Basil. Hillary and crazy Victoria Nulamd wana prove they are tougher than men by rolling Putin in a showdown at the thermonuclear coral… “Hey, we came, we saw he (but in this csse WE) died.” Yeah.. wb
One thing that I’ve learned regarding privileged women who love to be described as “tough” (e.g. Hillary) – is that they are not tough; they have alligator mouths and hummingbird butts. It is the poor, unglamorous women who have been abused their whole lives – they just keep trudging along, who are tough.
. As soon as too many flag-draped body bags come into Dover, Hillary will get conveniently sick and take to her bed (with 100 count silk sheets), leaving professional weenie Kaine to apologize to Russia and try to calm things down.
Well, they just got a slap on the face — a shot heard around the globe. Not though, that our blind and deaf media understood it. Today, India and Russia signed a pact worth hundreds of billions, involving a large deal in energy and military production. But, more importantly, India’s president announced that he supports Russia’s uncompromising stand on international terrorism, and that in the questions of Middle East and other global international issues Russia’s and India’s positions are very close or identical.
Russia an Turkey agreed on the process for securing corridors into East Aleppo. The relief contingents are already on the ground, and the largest ones are from China, India, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia. By all means, let us make enemies of all those countries — as they fear for their humanitarian workers in Syria. And from US government hell bent to protect Al-Qaeda, and keep the civilian hostages inside the terrorist control area — there for much longer.
Message from Moscow is — US is isolated, not Russia. But to neocons it is of little importance, for as long as they can have our Fly Over country of Despicables wave flags, and approve of all wars. That is all that matters.
‘India and Russia signed a pact worth hundreds of billions…’
Except from an article I did read in Bloomberg, the racist,
Ziocon corporate media has been too preoccupied with its
‘Red Scare’conspiracy theory concocted by the Clinton mafia.
I tell everybody I can that. Russia is no pussy.
Well Russian IT is so damn incompetent we need to make sure that Ivan understands where it came from.
Which tells you how dumb they are at the DNC and other Democrat offices if incompetents can hack them.
Indeed! Can we give Hillary and Obama some advice on e-mail security, as even such incompetents can hack them! And to think, it is a country whose economy is in “tatters” as Obama put it. And in the mind of likes of Obama, any country that forbids GMO food production or import, must be backwards, and needs to be reeducated.
This is all an excuse to delay the elections.
All Obama has to do is say that Russia hacked into our voting computers and the election will be delayed.
Putin just called Snowden to the Kremlin.
Underestimating Russia as usual. I’ll bet $10,000 that Russia is completely prepared for this. We have always been pure mindless genocidal aggression, zero defense. Russia has always been strong on defense.
In Cold War 1 Russia made sure that all of its citizens had nuke shelters. Our people were left to build their own shelters.
In Cold War 2, one word will do. Kaspersky. The best programmers and the best anti-virus experts are Russian.
I agree
I wish we could change this cowboy chanel to adult conversations which include consequences.. Not likely… The killer Hillary virus is spreading…
Like the Russians would waste their time with the DNC.
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/07/28/who-hacked-the-dnc/
http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2016/09/14/oliver-stone-intel-sources-tell-dnc-hack-inside-job/
Actually the Russians told the NSA that it would help hunt down the ” Hackers” of those DNC e-ers. The NSA refused the help. USG is a very evil network. I live in RU
Lots of child molesters, adulterers, and gays in Washington. I hope the Russians retaliate.
Good point. I would also include the crooks, liars, and rapists.
If you live in a glasshouse…
The Russians depend on computers far less than we do and they have better programmers; http://www.businessinsider.com/which-countries-have-the-best-computer-programmers-2016-8/#10-italy-1
Very bad idea and announcing it is incredibly stupid.
And exactly on whose orders? What information was considered before an aggression against a nuclear armed country has been decided on?
I have a feeling that this is all stemming from the fear of Trump effect. Whether he wins or loses, the population that represents the revolt in this country is — for the war loving Democrats and Republicans — the one always relied on to send their children to die, fly flags and “support our troops”. I think they are AFRAID STIFF that they may not have that power over the Fly Over country any more. In spite of being economically devastated, the patriotic America always supported its country, and the war makers could always count on that. Now, they are trying to bring them back into the fold, before it is too late — to have Rrrrussia — as Hillary pronounces it, deliberately — like a red flag in front of a bull, the red blooded ‘Mericans who would not stand for it! They are doing this to fire up the flag-waving White America, before it really dawns on them what Trump is trying to say.
We will see. Will it work once again?
Everyone needs to read Obama’s executive order – Doomsday Laws” for when he or Clinton feels like using the martial law scenario. Americans won’t own – anything – anything !
This would be pretty frightening if, behind the world ending stockpile of nuclear weapons, the Russian didn’t have ample supplies of genetically enhanced plague, anthrax, smallpox and influenza. Those pesky computer viruses are small potatoes compared to the real thing.
I think its “worth it” to see Albright die as miserably as possible. Hope I survive the blast to see it.
Oct 2, 2016 It Finally Happened: America Gave up the Internet Today to the UN
thepeoplesvoice.org has suffered serious damage to the script which controls the operation of the website. We are unable to repair it and we lack the funds to pay for professional help. We wanted to fight for you. At the most crucial moment for the internet, America, and the world, our voice has been silenced. It happened at the moment the internet was lost.
https://youtu.be/jwtY5WL-Xb8It
April 05, 2013 National Day of Civic Hacking at the White House
On the first weekend in June, civic activists, technology experts, and entrepreneurs around the country will gather together for the National Day of Civic Hacking.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/04/05/national-day-civic-hacking-white-house
The Russians should retaliate BEFORE the US election. That’s what all of this “at a time of our choosing” BS is about. They don’t want to do anything before the election. If world war is really likely, then Russia is justified in taking extreme measures. I say the Russians should hack the election, possibly shutting down the power grid on election day in key urban areas of swing states. This might swing the election to Trump and save the world in the process. Let’s hope they have the courage to do it.
How the heck did the CIA become such phychopathic idiots. They are going to get us killed. Let’s take a knee against the phychopaths of the CIA. We are a nation of fools we pay federal tax dollars to have my whole family killed in a thermonuclear war generated by crazed phychopaths. It’s insane
It is because CIA does not exist any more. It is all privatized, so they work for their coporations and not bound by oath to the country as civil service is. There is no way of knowing who they work for and what information they pass on to the President or Congress. Hillary was very instrumental in the process. People forget that ghere should be a bright line between diplomacy and covert operations. Diplomats are the best face of any country — people who build relationships that are beneficial in times of crisis. However she had her Ambassador to Libya involved directly in intelligence operations — a big failure of understanding the respective roles. But this is what describes her. Not seeing the bright line between jobs, between private and public domains, truth and redefined truth, etc.
The questions of accountability are never raised.