Russia isn’t our friend

           Despite attacks to undermine our democracy, our president fails to take further action against Russia. Congressional leaders took action by creating bills to sanction them, but Trump has no intent to sign more bills. Due to previous events in history, we’re aware that the Kremlin isn’t our best friend. They’ve blatantly lied about their involvement in Crimea and Syria, so why does he continue to not sign additional legislation? Our political leaders, such as our Speaker of the House, Majority/Minority leaders, must unite to show that the Russians will always be an imminent threat to our democracy. Why must we take action and turn Trump against the Kremlin?
          Russia has attacked us on different fronts, dating back to the Cold War. To recent events, the Russians took over Crimea and denied it. We had significant evidence which showed that their soldiers were in Crimea, which technically belonged to Ukraine. Back in Syria, the Russians have promised to a series of ceasefires-yet they continued to attack. While Russians stated that they were attacking ISIS, in reality, they were also attacking opposition forces and innocent civilians. Recently they supposedly “removed” their forces in Syria, but as we know, Russian soldiers were killed in a strike a couple days ago. The Syrian regime is killing off their opposition through airstrikes with the help of the Russians, and we know that they’re also killing innocent civilians. We have denounced these acts (by the Syrian regime), and attacking back against the Syrian regime. Trump hasn’t directly attacked Russia for its acts. Russia is just as guilty as Syria, so both should be denounced equally.
           There’s evidence showing the Kremlin kills their own opposition leaders. There have been several incidents where Putin’s top critics have been killed, such as the case of Denis Voronenkov, a former member of Russia’s Communist party. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced it as an act of terror against a victim who witnessed Russia’s aggression. Voronenkov was killed in Ukraine, and many other opposition leaders have been killed in foreign countries in mysterious ways. Putin denied being involved, and in some cases, has promised to find who committed those heinous crimes. Most cases have been left unsolved, so the Kremlin's victims have had no justice.
In addition, Russia’s regime is denying some basic human rights. For example, some laws in 2012 went after NGOs, and freedom of speech and expression. The press is controlled by the Kremlin, leaving the opposition with only protests to express themselves. In many cases, protesters are arrested, and some face criminal charges. Also, these protests are Putin’s chance to arrest any opposition leaders-especially arresting candidates up for their presidential election. If Russia’s trying to move towards a democracy, this is the opposite of what they should be doing. Their actions are similar to Fidel Castro’s, and we know it’s not a good sign.
           Finally, Russia’s undermined our democracy and influenced America’s public opinion. During the 2016 election cycle, their bots spread out “fake news” throughout social media. From posting on Facebook to trending tags like #HillaryforPrison, these bots were set out to a large audience. Russians knew how misinformed Americans were, and this was the best way to get back at Clinton. They worked endless hours spreading these posts and trending hashtags; they succeeded. Through those posts, I believe that they turned many people against each other. Our party polarization is getting worse, and Russians probably are getting a good laugh. Despite evidence, Putin doesn’t man up and say he planned it out. Please, we have top government agencies investigating this issue.
            It bothers me that Trump likes Putin, and there’s definitely congressional members that feel uncomfortable about it. How can you praise a man who denies basic human rights and kills opposition leaders? If I were a person of the right, maybe I’d think that sanctions wouldn’t help out. Russia might not change with sanctions, but I believe that not imposing additional sanctions makes us look weak. Oh, so we agree with what Putin does? It’s a situation similar to North Korea, we condemn their actions, and they’re similar to Russia. Our US Ambassador, Nikki Haley, agrees that Russia is not our friend. If people from both sides of the spectrum are calling you out, you should do something. Trump’s next proximate goal is reelection, and if he doesn’t do anything, it’s possible that he’ll be a one term president. Rex Tillerson says that our government’s attempting to impose additional sanctions. Well, get working on that list! Trump should relook at this situation and realize that supporting Russia’s just like supporting Assad. Putin and Trump should relook at these issues, and maybe he’ll do Trump some favors. He does love Trump, so it’s possible that direct diplomacy can work out on several issues.