WASHINGTON: Russian cyberattacks pose a “major threat” to the United States, top US intelligence officials told a congressional hearing on Thursday despite skepticism from President-elect Donald Trump about findings that Moscow orchestrated hacking of the 2016 election.
US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that Russia has a “long history” of interfering in elections, but that US officials had never encountered activity like its efforts during the 2016 US campaign.
“The Russians have a long history of interfering in elections. Theirs and other people’s... This goes back to the 60s, from the heyday of the Cold War,” he testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
However, he added, “I don’t think we’ve ever encountered a more aggressive or direct campaign to interfere in our election process than we’ve seen in this case.”
Although Trump called himself a “big fan” of the intelligence community on Thursday, he is heading for a conflict over the issue with Democrats and some fellow Republicans in Congress.
Many lawmakers are wary of Moscow and distrust Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and efforts to heal the rift between the United States and Russia.
Trump, who becomes the US president on Jan. 20, will be briefed by intelligence agency chiefs on Friday on hacks that targeted the Democratic Party during the presidential election campaign that he won.
Aside from Clapper, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre testified on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is chaired by Republican John McCain, a vocal critic of Putin.
The intelligence officials described Moscow as a major threat to a wide range of US interests because of its “highly-advanced offensive cyber program” and sophisticated capabilities.
“Russia is a full-scope cyber actor that poses a major threat to US government, military, diplomatic, commercial and critical infrastructure,” they said in a joint statement.
Obama last week ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their alleged involvement in hacking US political groups in the 2016 election.
US intelligence agencies say Russia was behind hacks into Democratic Party organizations and operatives before the election, a conclusion supported by several private cybersecurity firms. Moscow denies the hacking allegations.
US intelligence officials have said the Russian cybertattacks were aimed at helping Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.
Several Republicans have acknowledged the Russian hacking but have not linked it to an effort to help Trump win.
Stolen documents
Documents stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta were leaked to the media in advance of the election, embarrassing the Clinton campaign.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump cast doubt on a Russian role in the affair, writing: “(WikiLeaks founder) Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’ — why was DNC so careless? Also said the Russians did not give him the info!“
However, on Thursday, Trump said in another post on Twitter that he was not against intelligence agencies or in agreement with Assange, whose organization leaked Democrats’ e-mails.
“The media lies to make it look like I am against ‘Intelligence’ when in fact I am a big fan!” Trump wrote.
Trump and top advisers believe Democrats are trying to delegitimize his election victory by accusing Russia of helping him.
An unclassified version of the intelligence community’s review of Russian interference in the US election will be made public early next week and will assign a motive for the attacks, Clapper said. The report was delivered to President Barack Obama on Thursday, he said.
In the afternoon, State Department and Department of Homeland Security officials will brief the Senate Foreign Relations Committee behind closed doors on the Obama administration’s response to the hacking and harassment of US diplomats.
Some lawmakers, including McCain, said a firmer response was needed to check Russian aggression in cyberspace and elsewhere, and to discourage other countries from trying to influence more US elections.
Clapper declined to say whether cybertattacks of the nature carried out during the election constituted an act of war. That determination would be a “very heavy policy call,” said Clapper, the country’s top intelligence official.
McCain is among a handful of Republicans to join Democrats in pushing for a special committee to investigate Russia’s political hacking, although that effort faces opposition from Republican leaders in Congress.
Trump has nominated people seen as friendly toward Moscow to senior administration posts, including secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson, who was awarded Russia’s “Order of Friendship” in 2013 while Tillerson was Exxon Mobil chief executive.
McCain asked Clapper whether he believed WikiLeaks’ Assange had put US lives in direct danger. He said he agreed. Clapper also said he did not think Assange had any credibility.
Clapper was also asked about some media reports that authorities are considering a reorganization of the US intelligence community. He said he has not been involved in any conversations about restructuring.
US intelligence officials: Russia poses serious cyberthreat
US intelligence officials: Russia poses serious cyberthreat
Afghan mothers seek hospital help for malnourished children
- Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, low-income families have been hit hard by cuts to international aid
- Drought and the fallout of Afghans forced across the border from Iran and Pakistan add to the economic woes
HERAT: Najiba, 24, keeps a constant watch over her baby, Artiya, one of around four million children at risk of dying from malnutrition this year in Afghanistan.
After suffering a bout of pneumonia at three months old, Artiya’s condition deteriorated and his parents went from hospital to hospital trying to find help.
“I did not get proper rest or good food,” affecting her ability to produce breast milk, Najiba said at Herat Regional Hospital in western Afghanistan.
“These days, I do not have enough milk for my baby.”
The distressed mother, who chose not to give her surname for privacy reasons, said the family earns a living from an electric supplies store run by her husband.
Najiba and her husband spent their meagre savings trying to get care for Artiya, before learning that he has a congenital heart defect.
To her, “no one can understand what I’m going through. No one knows how I feel every day, here with my child in this condition.”
“The only thing I have left is to pray that my child gets better,” she said.
John Aylieff, Afghanistan director at the World Food Programme (WFP), said women are “sacrificing their own health and their own nutrition to feed their children.”
Artiya has gained weight after several weeks at the therapeutic nutrition center in the Herat hospital, where colorful drawings of balloons and flowers adorn the walls.
Mothers such as Najiba, who are grappling with the reality of not being able to feed their children, receive psychological support.
Meanwhile, Artiya’s father is “knocking on every door just to borrow money” which could fund an expensive heart operation on another ward, Najiba said.
‘STAGGERING’ SCALE
On average, 315 to 320 malnourished children are admitted each month to the center, which is supported by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The number of cases has steadily increased over the past five years, according to Hamayoun Hemat, MSF’s deputy coordinator in Herat.
Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, low-income families have been hit hard by cuts to international aid, as well as drought and the economic fallout of five million Afghans forced across the border from Iran and Pakistan.
“In 2025, we’d already seen the highest surge in child malnutrition recorded in Afghanistan since the beginning of the 21st century,” Aylieff said in Kabul.
The crisis is only set to worsen this year, he told AFP: “A staggering four million children in this country will be malnourished and will require treatment.”
“These children will die if they’re not treated.”
WFP is seeking $390 million to feed six million Afghans over the next six months, but Aylieff said the chance of getting such funds is “so bleak.”
Pledges of solidarity from around the globe, made after the Taliban government imposed its strict interpretation of Islamic law, have done little to help Afghan women, the WFP director said.
They are now “watching their children succumb to hunger in their arms,” he said.
‘NO HOPE’
In the country of more than 40 million people, there are relatively few medical centers that can help treat malnutrition.
Some families travel hundreds of kilometers (miles) to reach Herat hospital as they lack health care facilities in their home provinces.
Wranga Niamaty, a nurse team supervisor, said they often receive patients in the “last stage” where there is “no hope” for their survival.
Still, she feels “proud” for those she can rescue from starvation.
In addition to treating the children, the nursing team advises women on breastfeeding, which is a key factor in combating malnutrition.
Single mothers who have to work as cleaners or in agriculture are sometimes unable to produce enough milk, often due to dehydration, nurse Fawzia Azizi said.
The clinic has been a lifesaver for Jamila, a 25-year-old mother who requested her surname not be used out of privacy concerns.
Jamila’s eight-month-old daughter has Down’s syndrome and is also suffering from malnutrition, despite her husband sending money back from Iran where he works.
Wrapped in a floral veil, Jamila said she fears for the future: “If my husband is expelled from Iran, we will die of hunger.”
