HURD: Rolling Up the Red Carpet Responding to Covert Russian Actions

Congressman Will Hurd Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C.  When the Russian intelligence operation designed to influence our 2016 election is used as a case study to train new Russian intelligence officers it will be considered the most successful covert action operation in the history of Mother Russia. This operation known as Grizzly Steppe" will be in the annals of Russian history not because President-elect Donald Trump won Russian intelligence did not actually manipulate the vote count so Donald Trump was the legitimate victor.  Rather Grizzly Steppe" created a wedge whether real or perceived between the U.S. President the Intelligence Community (IC) and the American public. A key impediment to Russian imperialistic designs is the U.S. intelligence community so the Russians will continue to use all instruments of state power to challenge American public trust in these institutions. The President-elect has made three excellent selections to lead the Central Intelligence Agency the Directorate of National Intelligence and Department of Defense demonstrating his commitment to a strong National Security apparatus. However the constant exchange between the President-elect and the media over tweets fuels the perceived notion that there is a wedge between the Commander-in-Chief and the IC reinforcing the success of Russian covert action and influence operations. Every action Moscow takes is part of a larger global strategy aimed at increasing Russias global status at the expense of U.S. power and legitimacy. Russian President Vladimir Putin has initiated operations in a number of theaters around the world Syria Ukraine Eastern Europe and cyberspace. For the last eight years our strategy to address each increase in Russian aggression has failed. A global strategy needs to be met with a global strategy. While the Obama Administration has been far too slow to act on Russia the recently announced sanctions and other diplomatic actions are a good first step in promoting a change of course by the Russian government. However these actions should be part of a larger national cyber policy framework. Cyberspace is a domain just like land air sea and space. Developing the right deterrence and response framework for this domain should be the mission of the combatting cyber attacks team President-elect Trump recently announced. Despite my status as a Republican member of Congress I believe that a cyber attack on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is a cyber attack on one of our democratic institutions. If the United States does not challenge Russia for breaking the rules of the international order Moscow will do as it pleases. Read the entire article at The  Cipher Brief.