Moscow is preparing a list of U.S. officials it will ban from Russia in retaliation for a White House policy to keep Russian human rights abusers out of the U.S.
Russia's Foreign Ministry this week began preparing a list of officials connected to the U.S. apprehension of suspected arms dealer Viktor A. Bout and convicted drug dealer Konstantin Yaroshenko, according to reports in the Russian press.
The State Department last month announced that it has a list of Russian officials connected to the 2009 slaying of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who would be denied visas to visit the United States if requested.
Don't you love that? We ban officials related to the murder of a lawyer. Russia turns around to ban officials related to the arrest of an arms dealer who supplied murderous customers and a convicted drug dealer.
Who each of us defends surely says something, doesn't it?
I sure hope somebody in the State Department lets the Russians know how to replace the batteries in that "reset" button that Secretary of State Clinton delivered to them. Because it sure doesn't seem to be working.
