Russia to US: Prove election hacking claims or shut up

Commander: I agree with you. There is no active investigation of the murder of this young man. I believe, without being accused of being a conspiracy terrorist, that this crime will lead back to the DNC in some manner and that is why it is not being pursued. I live in the DC bubble and we have seen crimes solved involving minorities, Congressional members and staff but this one... not so much!

LTC Marc King - I wish I could disagree with you and call you a "conspiracy theorist" but it seems really questionable with all the other dishonest things that were going on at the same time.

LCDR Wright... Thanks for that. I would much rather think of myself as a clear headed thinker who applies logic to the situation and does not just react to outside stimuli driven by social media passion. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

I just can't consider Assange anything close to a reputable source, considering his self-proclaimed hatred of USA and many individuals personally, so nothing he says carries any weight with me. We should spread some cash around with Ecuadoran Embassy so they leave the door unlocked, have SAS snatch his dumb ass, and take him off-site. Some "dark" place like Poland so we can spend some quality time with him. Invite Snowden while we're at it and exchange ideas on cybersecurity or whatever else might come up. Make sure we use contractors though, to get around all those pesky US human rights policies.

LTC Orlando Illi - Russia can portray themselves as the aggrieved party but the reason why that is now successful is because the American public has changed. Thirty years ago, this would have been a non-issue due to the fact that the lines were clear and people shrugged off the claims like this because they recognized them for what they were, coming from a rival power that is primarily operating for their own interests which are in opposition to ours.

To the extent that Obama made a mistake here, it is not realizing that fact and also not coming to a full realization of the PR realities in today's world. President Obama assumes that people evaluate information like he does. They don't. He would have been much better off not making this public and taking action in a covert manner.

SPC Kevin Ford - You are correct. Sometimes Narcissism precludes a person from admitting that they can make a mistake. Putin will await Obama's response. He will then determine what level of response Russia is comfortable with. Make no mistake. Putin and the FSB probably have scenarios developed and operational. All that is required is the go ahead. What scares me is that Obama is viewing this as a tactical political game while Russia is playing a more strategic chess game with multiple scenarios. This reminds me of the height of the cold war. As an aside Putin reminds me more of a Russian Nationalist/Monarchist rather then a Kruschev clone. That nuance is lost to many Americans. Putin wants to restore Russia to its former greatness under the Czar. To that end - it appears that Russia and the United States are headed to a real ideological and geopolitical confrontation

LTC Orlando Illi - I agree that a confrontation will happen, for us in many ways the earlier the better. Our problems are not only with Russia, China is also on the ascension and will continue trying to push the bounds of their influence. What will be interesting is what Trump's posture will be with Russia. We could end up with a much larger problem four years from now.

Edit to correct now to not.

SPC Kevin Ford - Some of my course work as a National Secuity Professional at National Defense Univerity discussed the Russian national paranoia of isolation. That paranoia is real and drives everything the Kremlin does. China is much the same. Will be interesting to see how Trump navigates between the two.

I don't think you should publicly accuse a head of state with this without some proof.

You're right. Our government shouldn't be accusing Putin of anything without solid proof.