Bounties in Afghanistan

From The New York Times:

Russia Secretly Offered Afghan Militants Bounties to Kill U.S. Troops, Intelligence Says

It begins:

American intelligence officials have concluded that a Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing coalition forces in Afghanistan — including targeting American troops — amid the peace talks to end the long-running war there, according to officials briefed on the matter.

The United States concluded months ago that the Russian unit, which has been linked to assassination attempts and other covert operations in Europe intended to destabilize the West or take revenge on turncoats, had covertly offered rewards for successful attacks last year. . . .

The intelligence finding was briefed to President 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.

Some members of Congress (mostly Democrats) are responding. As of 3 PM, however, I could not find any response from West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito.

In the process of looking for Capito’s response, I noticed that earlier this week our senator signed-on as a co-sponsor of a bi-partisan resolution that designated June as National Post-Traumatic Stress Awareness Month and today as National Post-Traumatic Stress Awareness Day.

Nice. Senator Capito, has it occurred to you that your silence on the president’s unwillingness to act might add to a soldier’s PTSD?

But our brave senator has disagreed with President Trump!

On Trump wearing a mask:

"We’re going to be required to wear it. . . . I think he should be leading that effort, yeah,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). “Should he be wearing a mask? In certain situations, yes.”

On voting by mail:

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican and member of Senate GOP leadership, said she trusts mail-in voting, which is how half of the ballots were cast in the West Virginia primary elections earlier this month.