For the past few years, the issue of Russian interference in U.S. presidential elections — hacking into computers, stealing military secrets, etc. has been in the headlines, and (not surprisingly) the media, for the most part, have found various and sundry ways to blame it all on President Trump.

News bulletin — the Russians (and other countries) have been doing all they can to interfere in U.S. elections, steal military secrets (like the atom bomb) and hack into U.S. computers (which have become fashionable only in the past few decades), ever since World War II, probably longer, because that is what they do. And, hopefully, U.S. intelligence services have been returning the compliment. But, for the most part, they haven’t been caught yet. That is the way it is and always has been since time immemorial in international relations.

How many remember the Cuban missile crisis of 1962? If it hadn’t been for the information gained from the U2 flyovers, American intelligence would not have known of the Russian plan to have nuclear missiles pointed at the U.S., which would have taken less than 10 minutes after being launched to reach their targets.

Simply put, nations spy on their worst enemies; and they spy on their best friends. And they should.

I would describe the relationship between America and Russia today as being one of friendly adversaries, which is about as good as one could realistically hope for.

Terence McManus, New Sharon