US Senator Aims to Force Russia’s Hand on Snowden

[Purveyor]

Source: RIA Novosti

WASHINGTON, June 27 (RIA Novosti) – A senior US lawmaker has said he is preparing a package of measures to pressure Russia to assist the United States in securing the detention of former CIA employee Edward Snowden, who is reportedly holed up in the transit zone of a Moscow airport after arriving from Hong Kong earlier this week, The Daily Beast reported Thursday.

“We are exploring what are the leverage points. I’m trying to put together a package to let the Russians know how serious we are,” US Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, told the US news website in an interview published Thursday. “We have to respond, this is a defining moment in the relationship.”

Graham declined to elaborate on what measures he and fellow US lawmakers might pursue, though he accused Russia of ignoring the rule of law both domestically and abroad, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “trying to recreate the old Soviet Union attitude and image,” The Daily Beast reported.

Several members of the US Congress this week have voiced outrage over Russian authorities’ refusal to act while Snowden reportedly remains in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, out of reach of US authorities who want him expelled and returned to the United States to face charges of leaking state secrets.

Read more: http://en.ria.ru/world/20130627/181916328/US-Senator-Aims-to-Force-Russias-Hand-on-Snowden.html

[tularetom]

1. Well, THAT should certainly scare the shit out of Pooty Poot

He's never had to deal with a tough guy like Lindsey Graham before.

[BadtotheboneBob]

2. I have no idea how this will play out...

... but, it's going to be interesting. Particularly now that Ecuador seems to be hesitating a bit. Any predictions?

[madrchsod]

8. snowden will be back in the usa...

[timdog44]

3. Lindsey Graham just like a computer.

Stupid in - stupid out.

[dusty trails]

14. But ....

he's so butch. LOL

[timdog44]

18. Ah, yes.

Lindsey "Butch" Graham

[GeorgeGist]

4. Obama jabs Russia, China on failure to extradite Snowden

http://www.vagazette.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-security-snowden-20130627,0,74903.story?page=1

[Ford_Prefect]

5. to paraphrase: Oh! The Inanity!

Graham could not speak the truth let alone find it in the full light of day.

[frylock]

6. oh yeah, this is a real game changer

[madrchsod]

7. Putin is a thug and he`ll grow tired playing with snowden and obama.

i wonder if snowden ever thought he'd have nowhere to go but back home.

[atreides1]

9. Putin may be a thug, but he's a thug that knows how to play the game!

Russia is under no obligation to extradite Snowden, because there is no treaty between Russia and the US.

[randome]

24. Here, Eddie, let's play a game.

But after a while, I'm sure even Putin gets tired.



[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]I'm always right. When I'm wrong I admit it.
So then I'm right about being wrong.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. WAAAAHHHHH!!!! The big mean Russians are making the little warmonger feel sad.

[Major Hogwash]

11. I would agree to the swap if I were President Obama.

I don't know what the Russians would do with Lindsey Graham, but it would be worth it.

[treestar]

16. LOL

Russia can use more hot air - it's cold in Siberia.

[cosmicone]

12. We need Russia more than they need us...

Without Russia, Syria and Iran are as good as lost. EU won't back action in either place unless Russia is on board.

[former9thward]

13. Graham has not been able to goad us into a war with Syria (yet).

So now he would like to start one with Russia.

[treestar]

15. What a maroon

Congress can pass laws all day and Obama can sign them, but the Russians don't have to obey.

Do we give them some type of aid that we could hold back? That's about it for leverage.

[Jack Rabbit]

17. Snowden should return to "face charges of leaking state secrets"

This is getting confusing. I didn't know Snowden came from the Soviet Union. In fact, I thought the Soviet Union collapsed over twenty years ago.

I grew up in a country that was proud of not being like the Soviet Union, and cheap, right wing politicians like Lindsey Graham would never let any one ever forget it. Of course, I always knew that there was something phoney about cheap, right wing politicians like Graham and how they really wanted to be just like the Soviet Union. The problem now is that every politician in Washington is a cheap, right wing politician, even many who claim to be liberal Democrats.

[center]* * *[/center]

A drunken man was running through Red Square late one night in the seventies shouting "Brezhnev is an idiot, Brezhnev is an idiot!" He was arrested by the police, taken to court where he was quickly tried, convicted and sentenced. He was given twenty years: six months for drunk and disorderly behavior and the balance for disseminating state secrets.

[Ter]

19. I hope a Tea Bagger clobbers him in 2014

With this position (and all his other neo-con stances), there's no way he will win the primary.

[David__77]

20. Graham must be in a bad mood about the DOMA ruling.

Any time there is focus on gay people in the news, he probably breaks into a cold sweat.

[bemildred]

21. Bluster. nt

[Ash_F]

22. Many on DU stand with Lindsey Graham

Time to rethink.

[DCBob]

23. This is not going to work... dumb.