Sanction Russia for its alarming cyberattack on democracy

Russian government complicity in computer hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other political institutions and individuals is a direct attack on our democracy. In response, the U.S. government should ramp up sanctions to make it clear to Russia — and to any other country considering similar tampering — that this is unacceptable.

The attacks have been mostly noted for their potential impact on the presidential race and the embarrassing, behind-the-scenes communication involving the Hillary Clinton campaign and other key Democratic leaders. But the broader, and proper, context is that the Russian government may be trying to not just hobble Clinton, but to discredit our very democracy. Americans of every political persuasion should find this alarming and unite behind a strategic response.

"It's a huge attack on the U.S. political and electoral system — it shouldn't be viewed in partisan terms," David J. Kramer, senior director for human rights and democracy at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, told an editorial writer. "It is trying to show our system is a damaged one and that we are in no position to criticize others."

But criticize Russia we must — especially since it also has tried to sow chaos in European nations. It's a good start that the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement: "We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."

Russia's most senior-level individual is President Vladimir Putin, who uses elections, but not real democracy, to legitimize his despotic, destabilizing rule. Western governments have tried to hold him to account for illegally annexing Crimea; fostering warfare in Eastern Ukraine and Georgia; militarily and politically enabling the homicidal Assad regime in Syria (where Russian forces may have committed war crimes), as well as other malice.

A range of responses exists. None is perfect, and all risk Russian reaction. The first is to "name and shame," but it's unlikely the shameless Putin would moderate his behavior, and the message may not resonate in a Russia suffering from near-total Kremlin control of media outlets.

U.S. cybercapabilities could mean a commensurate attack on Russian interests. But that could spiral into unknown and dangerous directions at a time when the U.S. and other responsible nations are trying to establish cyberweapon behavior norms that have been established with conventional, chemical and nuclear weapons. And there is no certainty that the U.S. could be guaranteed what some term "escalation dominance."

That's not the case economically, especially given a Russian economy reeling from falling energy prices, mismanagement and corruption, and Western sanctions. The U.S. should transparently escalate the economic sanctions, which is one response Putin cannot control nor hide from the Russian people.

Our free and fair elections are fundamental to our democracy, and a threat to them cannot go unanswered.