A little over 4 years ago Obama infamously mocked Governor Mitt Romney for his assertion that Russia was America's number one geopolitical foe...
"Governor Romney, I'm glad that you recognize that Al Qaeda's a threat. Because a few months ago when you were asked what's the biggest geopolitical threat facing America you said 'Russia'. The 1980's are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War has been over for 20 years."
...and while it was a very 'cute' line, 4 short years later Democrats are now the ones progressing the relentless narrative that Russian President Vladimir Putin is behind pretty much every international dispute or cyberhacking plot known to man.
But while most dismissed the left's rhetoric as just a bunch of sore losers letting off steam in the wake of a stunning defeat in November, rather than subsiding, the left's rhetoric seems to be escalating with several lawmakers, with no proof whatsoever mind you, looking to officially label Russia's alleged meddling as a "act of war." Per The Hill:
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) most recently accused Russia of engaging in warfare.
“I think this attack that we’ve experienced is a form of war, a form of war on our fundamental democratic principles,” Coleman said during a hearing this week at the House Homeland Security Committee.
She lambasted Trump for his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking a panel of experts and former officials what message Trump’s “borderline dismissive attitude” toward Moscow’s cyberattack sends to the Kremlin and other nations.
But Coleman isn't the only Democrat looking to pick a fight, as a couple of California representatives have also piled on:
“I actually think that their engagement was an act of war, an act of hybrid warfare, and I think that’s why the American people should be concerned about it,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.).
“This past election, our country was attacked. We were attacked by Russia,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). “I see this as an opportunity for everyone on this committee, Republicans and Democrats, to not look in the rearview window but to look forward and do everything we can to make sure that our country never again allows a foreign adversary to attack us.”
Meanwhile, the heightened rhetoric of the left comes despite the stark warnings from experts on the consequences of their provocative accusations.
“I find that sort of talk dangerous,” said Schmitt, who led the team of legal experts that formulated the Tallinn Manual 2.0, a comprehensive analysis of how international law applies to cyberspace.
The Army’s top officer, Mark Milley, also cautioned individuals about using the term “war” to refer to the cyberattacks, saying at a conference on Tuesday, “If it’s an act of war, then you’ve got to start thinking of your response to that sort of thing.”
Schmitt assesses that the hacking campaign was not an act of war but rather a violation of two prohibitions: one on violating another state’s sovereignty and another on intervention into another state’s affairs.
“Without a scintilla of a doubt, it is not an act of war,” Schmitt said.
Of course, as we pointed out earlier this month, if hacking and/or seeking to influence the outcome of elections is truly an "act of war" as these Democrats suggest, then we would kindly remind them that their former leader "declared war" on the majority of the civilized world during his eight years in office. In fact, courtesy of WikiLeaks, here is just a small list of some of the individuals who were wire tapped by the Obama Administration over the years.
The US National Security Agency bugged a private climate change strategy meeting; between 1. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and 2. German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin;
Obama bugged 3. Chief of Staff of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for long term interception targetting his Swiss phone;
Obama singled out the 4. Director of the Rules Division of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Johann Human, and targetted his Swiss phone for long term interception;
Obama stole sensitive 5. Italian diplomatic cables detailing how Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to help patch up his relationship with US President Barack Obama, who was refusing to talk to Netanyahu;
Obama intercepted 6. top EU and 7. Japanese trade ministers discussing their secret strategy and red lines to stop the US “extort[ing]” them at the WTO Doha arounds (the talks subsequently collapsed);
Obama explicitly targeted 8. five other top EU economic officials for long term interception, including their French, Austrian and Belgium phone numbers;
Obama explicitly targetted the phones of 9. Italy’s ambassador to NATO and 10. other top Italian officials for long term interception; and
Obama intercepted details of a critical private meeting between then 11. French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel and Berlusconi, where the latter was told the Italian banking system was ready to “pop like a cork”.