# Russia secretly offered bounties to kill US Soldiers **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 26, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291 "2020-06-26T23:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/1 "2020-06-26T23:25:31Z")
[https://www.startribune.com/russia-secretly-offered-taliban-bounties-to-kill-u-s-troops-new-york-times-reports/571512072/](https://www.startribune.com/russia-secretly-offered-taliban-bounties-to-kill-u-s-troops-new-york-times-reports/571512072/) The intelligence finding was briefed to President Donald Trump, and the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, the officials said. Officials developed a menu of potential options — starting with making a diplomatic complaint to Moscow and a demand that it stop, along with an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses, but the White House has yet to authorize any step, the officials said. What should Trump do about this, if anything. Will he do anything? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/2 "2020-06-26T23:33:46Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Will he do anything? Tweet? Though I’m not sure for which side. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/3 "2020-06-26T23:41:37Z")
He’ll ask his buddy, Putin if it is true, and when he says “no,” that will be the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/4 "2020-06-26T23:44:06Z")
He won’t even ask. He’ll just say he asked. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/5 "2020-06-26T23:44:10Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Will he do anything? I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict he will lie. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/6 "2020-06-26T23:50:05Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Will he do anything? Um… take Putin off his Christmas card list? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/7 "2020-06-26T23:50:13Z")
If true, I guess I answered my own question. He argued to have Russia admitted to the G8. That’s one way to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/8 "2020-06-27T08:11:48Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > What should Trump do about this, if anything. > > Will he do anything? Wrong questions. The true question is why hasn’t anything been done yet? This happened in March. Since Trump was briefed, he invited Russia to be in the G8. In addition, Trump has… since the briefing… offered, unbidden and to the surprise of everyone, to remove 25,000 troops from Germany. He’s a traitor. Plain, pure, and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/9 "2020-06-27T08:23:46Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > He’ll ask his buddy, Putin if it is true, and when he says “no,” that will be the end of it. [I don’t see any reason why Putin would lie. . .](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/16/vladimir-putin-denies-meddling-2016-presidential-election/788219002/) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/10 "2020-06-27T09:48:12Z")
This would be the Taliban that the US funded to shoot Russians 30 years ago, would it? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/11 "2020-06-27T10:39:35Z")
Do you mean Soviets? Nice try at a gotcha though. 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/12 "2020-06-27T11:02:23Z")
Would Trump _even know how?_ 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/13 "2020-06-27T19:57:25Z")
[quote=“JohnT, post:8, topic:913291, full:true”]… He’s a traitor. Plain, pure, and simple. [/quote] We always have people come in to specify that treason has a very specific meaning, because, for them, casual usage isn’t allowed. But this sequence of events seems to fit the definition of “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.” When Russia put bounties on US servicemen’s heads, they became our actual enemy. To me, it’s an act of war to target a country’s soldiers. Then, after that, he pushed to get Russia into the G8 summit, which seems like aid and comfort to me. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/14 "2020-06-27T20:08:06Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > This would be the Taliban that the US funded to shoot Russians 30 years ago, would it? Does this make it OK in your eyes? What are you saying? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/15 "2020-06-27T20:16:46Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > He’s a traitor. Plain, pure, and simple. We have known this since before he overtook the office in January 2017. We knew this when he exhorted Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s “30,000 emails” and use them to interfere in our elections. Literally every single thing he has done with respect to Russia before and during his tenure in the Oval Office has been a French kiss to Putin. Those who claim this is not formally treason are using a thin artful dodge. We haven’t issued a formal declaration of war since June 5, 1942, yet no one would seriously argue that we haven’t been at war with Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iran and others since then. Hell, we declare ourselves at “war” with drugs (to no avail). So I call bullshit on that. By any reasonable definition, Trump is truly a traitor. We are in a war with Russia, among others, of disinformation and cyber attacks. Putin is winning handily with his assets in the Oval Office and the Republican-held Senate. There is no higher crime or misdemeanor than to betray your country to benefit a hostile foreign actor. And now it appears Trump is happy to sacrifice the lives of American soldiers to Putin’s causes, too. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/16 "2020-06-27T20:32:06Z")
TRE45ON (Courtesy of The Lincoln Project) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/17 "2020-06-27T20:32:44Z")
Don’t forget his extortion of Ukraine. Yes it ‘could’ have helped Trump to create dirt on political rivals (illegal as shit) but it would also have helped Russia by withholding help against Russian invasion in Ukraine. Wonder who whispered in his ear… Traitor. Pure and simple. Though Trump is too stupid to realize it. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/18 "2020-06-27T21:03:48Z")
Right, but until Russia was putting bounties on our troops, you could argue that they were rivals or competitors, not enemies. That’s hard to argue now. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/19 "2020-06-27T21:13:07Z")
This will probably just be another story that gets discredited in a few weeks. The story comes from unnamed intelligence sources, who got it from captured militants who were not-tortured. A more reliable indicator that the story is untrue would be hard to imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291/20 "2020-06-27T21:14:43Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > TRE45ON > > (Courtesy of The Lincoln Project) Me likey. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-secretly-offered-bounties-to-kill-us-soldiers/913291.md?page=2)