Putin Does His Own ‘Reset’

Wall Street Journal

Democrats and the media who love them have ridiculed Mitt Romney for saying Russia is America’s “number one geopolitical foe,” and Vladimir Putin recently all but endorsed President Obama for re-election. But the Russian President keeps behaving in ways that prove the Republican had a point.

In the latest slap to America, the Kremlin announced this week it is expelling the U.S. Agency for International Development. The aid arm of the State Department has spent almost $3 billion in the last two decades to feed and modernize Russia and, in recent years, promote human rights and free elections. The relatively small $50 million annual program will close October 1. Justifying the move, the Russian foreign ministry on Wednesday accused the U.S. of trying “to influence political processes, including elections of various types.”

Among the groups that get American assistance is Golos, which has exposed the Kremlin’s electoral fraud. Golos and other NGOs will be hard-pressed to find new funding. Russians are reluctant to support democratic groups, lest they end up like oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a Siberian prison.

Stunned by large pro-democracy protests in Moscow and other cities last winter and spring, the Kremlin has cracked down. Anyone who takes a penny from an outside source is now branded a “foreign agent.” Penalties for public protests are stiffer. Prosecutors are dredging up criminal cases against activists, and more show trials are coming.

The Obama Administration responded to the expulsion with what has become a familiar nonchalance. “It’s their sovereign decision to make,” said State’s spokeswoman. Team Obama won’t admit that its ballyhooed “reset” in relations with Russia has been a failure.

Russia’s beleaguered democrats deserve better, and Congress can help by passing a human-rights bill named after slain lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The bill has bipartisan support but has been held up by legislative bickering. The Magnitsky Act punishes Russian rights abusers by blocking their ability to travel and bank in the U.S. Prompt passage would be an ideal riposte to Mr. Putin’s reset of the reset. займ на карту без отказов круглосуточно займы на карту без отказа https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com/emergency-payday-loans.php займ онлайн