Haaretz: February 2. Opinion Piece by Alexander Reid Ross. Headline: “America’s Terrorists Have a Powerful New Patron: Vladimir Putin.” We knew that Vladimir Putin was Donald J. Trump’s patron.
Ross begins his piece noting the arrests of paramilitary figures before the Richmond pro-gun rally. He recalls home-grown terrorists like Time McVeigh (born in Lockport, NY) and David Duke of Louisiana. The new terrorists, he says, are different. They are nurtured by Russia. Their leader, Rinaldo Nazzaro, might look like his predecessors. He lived in New Jersey. He organized his militia in the state of Washington. He’s different. He married a Russian woman in 2012. He runs his organization “The Base” from Russia. He lives in Russia now. Since 2018.
When Vladimir Putin wants to disrupt the United States, he finds the tools at all levels. Ross described Putin’s initial effort to find toughs around the world to stop the color revolutions. Putin saw the color revolutions as threatening Russia. His toughs became a piece of Russia’s effort to disrupt the liberal, democratic world and, in particular, the United States.
When you hear Putin claim the United States has interfered with Russia, remember. He sees the United States as the source of the color revolutions that endanger his regime. He sees a Ukraine that turns to the West for help as an example of a successful color revolution.
When you hear Trump claim the tough guys are on his side – the bikers, the cops, the military, remember. He’s thinking like Putin. In the United States, the military and the cops are not supposed to take a side. Bikers? That’s different. Maybe Trump means militias and bikers.