General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLink to 2008 The Nation article exposing McCain's Kremlin ties
[link:https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/mccains-kremlin-ties/|
first four paragraphs:
Over the course of the presidential campaign, John McCain has repeatedly emphasized his willingness to stand up to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as proof that only he possesses the fortitude and judgment to become the next leader of the free world. In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, McCain lashed out at Putin and the Russian oligarchs, who, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power
[are] reassembling the old Russian Empire. McCain rushed to publicly support the Georgian republic during its recent conflict with Russia and amplified his threat to expel Moscow from the G-8 club of major powers. His running mate, Sarah Palin, suggested in her first major interview that the United States might have to go to war with Russia one day in order to protect Georgiathe kind of apocalyptic scenario the United States avoided during the cold war.
Yet despite McCains tough talk, behind the scenes his top advisers have cultivated deep ties with Russias oligarchyindeed, they have promoted the Kremlins geopolitical and economic interests, as well as some of its most unsavory business figures, through greedy cynicism and geopolitical stupor. The most notable example is the tale of how McCain and his campaign manager, Rick Davis, advanced what became a key victory for the Kremlin: gaining control over the small but strategically important country of Montenegro.
According to two former senior US diplomats who served in the Balkans, Davis and his lobbying firm, Davis Manafort, received several million dollars to help run Montenegros independence referendum campaign of 2006. The terms of the agreement were never disclosed to the public, but top Montenegrin officials told the US diplomats that Daviss work was underwritten by powerful Russian business interests connected to the Kremlin and operating in Montenegro. Neither Davis nor the McCain campaign responded to repeated requests for comment. (Daviss extensive lobbying work, especially on behalf of collapsed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has already attracted critical media scrutiny.)
The Logistics Arm of the Abortion-Rights Movement Is Gearing Up
At the time, Putin wanted to establish a Russian outpost in the Mediterranean, and Montenegroa coastal republic across the Adriatic from Italywas seen as his best hope. McCain also lobbied for Montenegros independence from Serbia, calling it the greatest European democracy project since the end of the cold war. For McCain, the simplistic notion of independence from a country America had gone to war with in the late 1990s was all that mattered. What Montenegro looked like after independence seemed not to interest him. This suited Putin just fine. Russia had generally sided with Serbia against the West during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, but for the Kremlin, cutting Montenegro free from Serbia meant dealing with a Montenegro that could be more easily controlled. Indeed, today, after its independence, Montenegro is nicknamed Moscow by the Mediterranean. Russian oligarchs control huge chunks of the countrys industry and prized coastlineand Russians exert a powerful influence over the countrys political culture. Montenegro is almost a new Russian colony, as rubles flow in to buy property and business in the tiny state, Denis MacShane, Tony Blairs former Europe minister, wrote in Newsweek in June. The takeover of Montenegro has been a Russian geostrategic victoryquietly accomplished, paradoxically enough, with the help of McCain and his top aides.
Ferryboat
(922 posts)Steve Schmidt who worked on John McCains 2008 presidential campaign is in a very public feud with Megan McCain. He has highlighted disturbing allegations regarding Sarah Palin, russian operatives.
Abramson is calling out possible Trump Palin ticket in 2024.
Story is convoluted, but this bears watching.