OPINION:
During the G-20 talks, Russia and China did joint anti-submarine and island-seizing exercises, as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping fill the void in a time of American retreat around the globe, especially in Syria, Ukraine and NATO. After eight years of Mr. Putin taking America to the cleaners, the next U.S. president must make U.S. power great again.
Mr. Putin’s cyber war is devastating against U.S. military, security and political targets, and his cyber attacks against us have been helped much by Hillary Clinton’s email and many other security breaches. Russia ignores arms limits while Mr. Obama cuts ours. Mr. Putin cheats in all nuclear arms areas, retaining battlefield tactical nukes, developing new cruise missiles and dual-capable nuclear/conventional arms. Russia now deploys about 150 more warheads than the United States, and China speeds its nuclear build-up. Because of Obama cuts, in an attack on the United States an enemy would have to destroy only five submarines at sea, two sub bases, half a dozen bomber bases, and 450 missile silos to destroy all U.S. deterrents.
In Syria Mr. Putin has killed 40,000 pro-U.S. civilians, and from 2014 to 2016 he killed over 10,000 Ukrainians. Mr. Putin conducted the second Chechen war to punish and kill 50,000 innocent people so he could look like a savior of Russia from terrorists and easily become president. He invaded Georgia and annexed parts of it, sent troops and military aid to save Syria’s Bashar Assad, corrupted the Sochi Olympics, seized the Crimea and downed Malaysia Flight 17.
Russia continues to be provocative, as Mr. Putin has created nationalistic popularity at home along with alliances with China, Iran and Syria. Russian separatists, backed by 120,000 Russian troops, continue to advance in Ukraine and attack the port city of Mariupol.
LT. COL. DOMINIK GEORGE NARGELE
U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
Arlington
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