WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US hypocrisy was on full display when it condemned Russia for daring to ban the National Endowment of Democracy (NED), a descendant of the CIA with a history of undermining foreign countries under the guise of promoting democracy, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern told Sputnik.
“It’s a bit of hypocrisy to accuse the Russians of something we [the United States] do as a matter of course,” McGovern said about expelling foreign NGOs. “Especially since it [NED] is financed from abroad and is known to be a successor to the CIA.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, McGovern explained, has every right to expel organizations like the NED that threaten Russia’s constitution and national security, just as any other country would, including the United States.
“The United States does precisely the same thing, it’s called the Foreign Agent Registration Act,” McGovern added.
The United States nor any other country, McGovern explained, would tolerate an organization like the NED that was funded from abroad to engage in activities to undermine the government.
The NED finances groups in target countries to advance US policy and, if that does not work, they overthrow governments, like they did in Ukraine via 55 NED-funded “outpost” organizations, he said.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office officially deemed the NED as "undesirable" in Russia, a move that “deeply troubled” the United States, according to the State Department.
The NED became the first foreign organization to be recognized as undesirable in Russia. The decision will now be passed to the Russian Justice Ministry so that the organization is officially filed in the "undesirable category."
The Prosecutor General’s Office explained that NED "participated in work to call election campaigns illegitimate, organized political actions to influence decisions made by authorities in power, and discredited the services of the Russian Armed Forces."
It also said NED’s activities present a threat to the basic constitutional foundations of Russia, as well as to the country’s military capabilities and its security.
