External Influence

TimeWatch Editorial
July 28, 2016

What is truly amazing about the recent report regarding the hacking of American Websites including that of the Democratic National Committee is the fact that Russia is suspected as the culprit. That is the first amazing factor. The second is that apparently, Russia has a preference in the 2016 election. It certainly would not be difficult to understand which candidate Vladimir would prefer. Hilary is known to hold strong opinions regarding the Russian move into Crimea and the ongoing struggle for control of The Ukraine. She believes that Russia has demonstrated its bullying tactics in both these cases, and she believes that his opposition to NATO must be resisted. Most analysts describe Hillary Clinton as a hawk or a neo-con. A hawk is a political term used in the United States to describe a person who strongly supports war or other military action. A Neo-con is a conservative who advocates the assertive promotion of democracy and United States national interest in international affairs including through military means.

The Republican Candidate, however appears to have repeatedly called for normalizing ties with Moscow. He has also supported the Russian aerial campaign in Syria and opposed NATO’s support for Ukraine. It would also appear that if he is successful in his campaign, the removal of sanctions against Russia might be a real possibility. It is one thing to have a preference regarding a candidate, it is however quite another to become involved in the manipulation of the election itself.

Steve Rosenberg of the BBC News, Moscow in his article dated 26 June 2016, entitled “EU referendum: What does Russia gain from Brexit?” Says that

“Those who supported the Remain (in the EU) campaign claimed that the Kremlin was secretly backing Brexit (or the plan to Leave the EU) to weaken the European Union. In the words of Prime Minister David Cameron, President Vladimir Putin "might be happy" if Britain left the EU. The EU imposed sanctions on Russia because of Moscow's intervention in Ukraine. Now, with Brexit, the EU is under huge pressure. As expected, Russian schadenfreude - gloating over another's woes - is in plentiful supply.” Steve Rosenberg, “EU referendum: What does Russia gain from Brexit?”

However, it is one thing for Russia to have a preference where the election is concerned; it is quite another thing to be involved in an attempt to manipulate the result. Ellen Nakashima wrote an article in the Washington Post on June 14, 2016 entitled: “Russian government hackers penetrated DNC, stole opposition research on Trump.” Notice the date on that article, June 14, 2016. The actual release of the information took place on the 24^th of July 2016. Here is what Ellen Nakashima had to say.

“Russian government hackers penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee and gained access to the entire database of opposition research on GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to committee officials and security experts who responded to the breach. The intruders so thoroughly compromised the DNC’s system that they also were able to read all email and chat traffic, said DNC officials and the security experts.” Ellen Nakashima, “Russian government hackers penetrated DNC, stole opposition research on Trump.” June 14, 2016

In fact we were informed of this even before June 14, 2016. Evan Perez, CNN Justice Correspondent, published an article on Tuesday July 26, 2016 entitled: “US officials warned DNC of hack months before the party acted.” Mr. Perez said the following:

“Federal investigators tried to warn the Democratic National Committee about a potential intrusion in their computer network months before the party moved to try to fix the problem, U.S. officials briefed on the probe tell CNN. The revelation raises questions about whether the DNC could have done more to limit the damage done by hackers suspected of working for Russian intelligence. The DNC brought in consultants from the private security firm CrowdStrike in April. And by the time suspected Russian hackers were kicked out of the DNC network in June, the hackers had been inside for about a year.” Evan Perez, “US officials warned DNC of hack months before the party acted.” Tuesday July 26, 2016

The wind has certainly shifted. The constitutional approach to governing is quickly dissipating. Soon the dragon will loudly speak.

Revelation 13:11, 12 - And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Cameron A. Bowen