Russian operative used U.S. activist groups to spread propaganda, feds say

A Russian operative backed by the Kremlin meddled in United States politics for seven years and recently tried to undermine American support for Ukraine by recruiting local activists to spread pro-Moscow propaganda, the Justice Department announced Friday.

Russian operative used U.S. activist groups to spread propaganda, feds say (archived)

The timing is suspicious, considering they knew about the alleged connections since before ‘Russiagate.Are they going after the Texit leader, next, or just going to ignore it (not saying that any of them should be gone after but it just adds to my suspicions)?! A message to the antiwar/anti-imperialist movement?!

Related:

Read More »

US hawks push hardline presidential candidate in Iran + Raeisi wins presidential vote in Iran with a landslide victory

US hawks push hardline presidential candidate in Iran

However, Abrams’ support boiled down to his belief that Raisi represents “the true face of the Islamic Republic, while Rouhani is a façade.” According to Abrams, elevating a hardliner like Raisi would bring the Islamic Republic closer to collapse and provide a “clearer view” of the nature of the regime. Such an understanding would make it easier to advance the pressure policies that Abrams and his like-minded compatriots favored, regardless of their interlocutor in Iran and what could be achieved through diplomacy.

Related:

Raeisi wins presidential vote in Iran with a landslide victory

Iran Election Preview

Iran Election Preview

A confusing aspect of Iranian politics is that the socially conservatives, which the west unfairly calls ‘hardliners’, are on the social-democratic left on economic issues while the socially liberal reformers tend to favor the bazaari and capitalists. Still, it is not yet clear to me what Raisi’s economic preferences and policies are.