President Obama vows to retaliate against Russia for “meddling in the US election.”
Just in time to start a war before Trump comes into office.
President Barack Obama on Thursday vowed retaliatory action against Russia for its meddling in the US presidential election.
“I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections that we need to take action and we will at a time and place of our own choosing,” Obama told NPR.Describing potential countermeasures by the US, the President said “some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be.”His remarks suggested Obama was planning to act in the final weeks of his administration to punish Russia for its cyber intrusion into US political institutions in a bid to influence the US vote.Obama is also expected to address the Russian hacking allegations during his final planned news conference of the year from the White House on Friday at 2 p.m. ET.Options for Obama include scaling up financial sanctions on Russia or engaging in an online counterattack, though Obama has warned against ratcheting up tensions into a full-scale cyberwar.Obama said in the interview the US government was already working to ensure the response was “proportional” and “meaningful,” suggesting that plans for a response were being laid. But didn’t detail any specific options.He said he directly confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin about a potential US response, and said his counterpart acknowledged his stance.“Mr. Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it,” Obama told NPR’s Steve Inskeep.
Via CNN