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You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Enhanced Protest Techniques / US, Europe Expel Russian “Diplomats”

US, Europe Expel Russian “Diplomats”

by Cheryl Rofer|  March 26, 20189:33 am| 84 Comments

This post is in: Enhanced Protest Techniques, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads

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In a coordinated action, the United States and several countries of Europe have expelled Russians identified as spies in solidarity with the UK over the poison attack in Salisbury. The US is also closing down the Seattle Russian consulate.

State department statement on expulsion of Russian spies. pic.twitter.com/bp9NKRKz0a

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) March 26, 2018

Full White House statement on the expulsion of Russian intelligence officers pic.twitter.com/WPX4KLXmIJ

— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) March 26, 2018

Countries expelling Russian diplomats/intelligence officers in response to Skripal (so far, all except UK happening today):

US: 60 (12 from UN)
UK: 23
Germany: 4
France: 4
Poland: 4
Czech Republic: 3
Lithuania: 3
Netherlands: 2
Denmark: 2
Estonia: 2

Probably missing some.

— Thomas Rid (@RidT) March 26, 2018

Putin will be surprised by the strength of support UK getting from its allies on the use of CW in Salisbury. To be frank, a lot of Brits will also be (pleasantly) surprised.

— Lawrence Freedman (@LawDavF) March 26, 2018

Nikki Haley statement on expulsion of alleged Russian spies, including 12 from Russian mission to UN pic.twitter.com/avvPvC9B0c

— columlynch (@columlynch) March 26, 2018

President of the European Council:

Today 14 EU Member States decided to expel Russian diplomats as direct follow-up to #EUCO discussion last week on #SalisburyAttack. Additional measures including further expulsions are not excluded in coming days, weeks.

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) March 26, 2018

Bringing together the actions of 14 European states and the US, announced simultaneously, indicates a lot of coordination at working levels in the US state department and intelligence agencies. This is in strong contrast to Donald Trump’s congratulations to his bff Vladimir Putin. The US government still works.

 

And open thread.

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Reader Interactions

84Comments

  1. 1.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 26, 2018 at 9:36 am

    Russia responds by expelling at least 60 from US mission. https://t.co/mdMyC5n0P8

    — Veli-Pekka Kivimäki (@vpkivimaki) March 26, 2018

  2. 2.

    Baud

    March 26, 2018 at 9:43 am

    Good. This shows that Trump is self conscious enough to understand there are still political limits to his control. Keep pressing.

  3. 3.

    manyakitty

    March 26, 2018 at 9:44 am

    Is the Seattle location of particular importance?

  4. 4.

    Amir Khalid

    March 26, 2018 at 9:47 am

    For perspective, how does this round of expulsions compare in scale to diplomat expusions in the Cold War era?

  5. 5.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 26, 2018 at 9:48 am

    @manyakitty: They can see Russia from their window with a telescope, perhaps?

  6. 6.

    manyakitty

    March 26, 2018 at 9:50 am

    @schrodingers_cat: lolz

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 26, 2018 at 9:50 am

    @manyakitty:

    Is the Seattle location of particular importance?

    According to the statement, because of its proximity to one our our submarine bases, and Boeing.

  8. 8.

    manyakitty

    March 26, 2018 at 9:51 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: That makes sense. I thought maybe Uncle Vlady told him which to choose.

  9. 9.

    ARoomWithAMoose

    March 26, 2018 at 9:51 am

    @manyakitty: Seatle: Major tech center (that employs plenty of H1Bs), port city, naval bases, a Boeing production line for civilian airliners, financial center… Sounds like a convenient place for a foreign mission, even if only to provide an official contact point for your own nationals living there for business reasons.

  10. 10.

    Wapiti

    March 26, 2018 at 9:51 am

    @manyakitty: I’d guess tech and biotech as much as Boeing/sub bases.

  11. 11.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 26, 2018 at 9:52 am

    @manyakitty: Naval Base Kitsap, the US’s third largest naval base, is located nearby.

  12. 12.

    father pussbucket

    March 26, 2018 at 9:53 am

    Did Stormy put the fear of God into the Traitor Tribble (thanks, driftglass)?

  13. 13.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 26, 2018 at 9:53 am

    @manyakitty:Thanks. BTW I answered your question about HR in the thread below.

  14. 14.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 26, 2018 at 9:55 am

    Let’s not forget Canada.

    Canada will also expel four Russian diplomats. Remarkable and refreshing moment of trans-Atlantic solidarity, which is ultimately what alliances should be made of. pic.twitter.com/D89ORAAXiP

    — Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) March 26, 2018

  15. 15.

    manyakitty

    March 26, 2018 at 9:56 am

    So this is actually a significant punishment. Are there many other such bases in the PNW area? With this one closing and SF already gone, I wonder if they’re starting to scramble.

  16. 16.

    manyakitty

    March 26, 2018 at 9:57 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Saw that. Thanks for the insight!

  17. 17.

    Baud

    March 26, 2018 at 9:57 am

    While this is a good thing, it is truly remarkable that the President of the United States has nothing to say about one of the most significant actions his administration can take in the international arena.

  18. 18.

    jeffreyw

    March 26, 2018 at 10:00 am

    I like pie!

  19. 19.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 26, 2018 at 10:01 am

    @Baud: Yes, the problem with the President* continues.

  20. 20.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 26, 2018 at 10:02 am

    @Baud: Does he know it yet? President Putin is going to be mad, now. Oh noes.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    March 26, 2018 at 10:03 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Even with everything that’s happened, I’d be surprised if he wasn’t told about this.

  22. 22.

    Ian R

    March 26, 2018 at 10:05 am

    If only said president* were one of the people being expelled.

  23. 23.

    NCSteve

    March 26, 2018 at 10:07 am

    The Silence of the Twitters from Combover Caligula is deafening, however. If this had been any other country, he would be boasting about his Very Strong response and contrasting it with Hillary and Obama’s weakness. Teh Deeeeep State forced him to do this and that’s going to lead to a tantrum in due course.

  24. 24.

    Calouste

    March 26, 2018 at 10:07 am

    I doubt a full boycott of the World Cup will happen. Governments don’t have the sway over the FA’S, which are private organizations. I do expect more countries to follow the lead of the UK and not send the usual cabinet ministers to the event. And there are probably quite a few supporters checking the cancelation policy of their tickets.

  25. 25.

    Jeffro

    March 26, 2018 at 10:09 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    President Putin is going to be mad, now. Oh noes.

    I wonder if this will cause a few “collusion* bombshells” to drop (or should I say, “warning shots” to be fired)? Trumpov is demonstrating that he’s either ok with punishing Putin or that he’s powerless to stop sanctions, expulsions, etc. I don’t see Putin backing off on this. I guess we’ll see.

    *Btw switching to “conspiracy” instead of “collusion” from here forward (should have done it quite some time ago). “Conspiracy against the United States” is what some of the Special Counsel’s charges have been/will be, and it’ll irritate the hell out of RWNJs who like to try and lean on “THERE’S NO SUCH CHARGE AS ‘COLLUSION!!1!”, so I’m going with that.

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    March 26, 2018 at 10:10 am

    @Baud:
    Trump’s obviously unhappy, because Vladimir is going to be pissed. I reckon he was told America had to expel Russian diplomats too, or he would look lke a weak leader. My guess is that he’s keeping quiet about it so that Vladimir won’t get too pissed at him personally.

  27. 27.

    JR

    March 26, 2018 at 10:11 am

    @manyakitty: subs subs subs

    There is lots of IP to steal there too

  28. 28.

    Baud

    March 26, 2018 at 10:14 am

    @Amir Khalid: That’s the thing. Trump’s (obviously pretextual) excuse for being nice to Putin is that he wants to improve the relationship between the U.S. and Russia. That arguably could justify taking no action against Russia here. It cannot justify taking action against Russia and then Trump staying quiet as a mouse about it. Not that I believed the policy excuse anyway, but it’s pretty clear now that something else is going on between Trump and Putin.

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 26, 2018 at 10:14 am

    @Baud: He’s waiting for instructions.

  30. 30.

    West of the Cascades

    March 26, 2018 at 10:17 am

    When is Trump going to expel the Russians from his re-election campaign?

  31. 31.

    jonas

    March 26, 2018 at 10:18 am

    Question for Cheryl or Adam perhaps: whenever we have one of these tit-for-tat diplomat expulsions, the ostensible justification is that the officials were using diplomatic cover to engage in illicit intelligence activities. So did we “know” the consular or embassy people named were involved in spying *before* some incident called for their expulsion, or do intelligence/diplomatic communities just sort of tolerate a certain amount of nosing around by consular officials as long as it’s not reckless, and then have that card handy to play when they need it?

  32. 32.

    rikyrah

    March 26, 2018 at 10:18 am

    Lips pursed on this.

  33. 33.

    germy

    March 26, 2018 at 10:19 am

    Expelling diplomats is not enough. More effective measures: enforcing harsh sanctions on oligarchs; strengthening US cybersecurity so that Russia has less leverage.

    Very unlikely Trump admin will pursue either given its dependency on and fear of the Kremlin.

    — Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) March 26, 2018

  34. 34.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    March 26, 2018 at 10:20 am

    I say take away SWIFT for some genuine pain. Lock down the oligarch money.

  35. 35.

    germy

    March 26, 2018 at 10:24 am

    The coordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats working in America and Europe on behalf of Putin’s criminal regime is a meaningful signal of western solidarity. However, more will likely need to be done before Putin is deterred from further violent and political hostilities.— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) March 26, 2018

    Yeah, like getting the Americans working in the White House on behalf of Putin's criminal regime out of office https://t.co/1w0PraJcFK

    — Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) March 26, 2018

  36. 36.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 26, 2018 at 10:25 am

    I wonder how hard it was to talk Czar Manbaby into doing this. I can’t think he was happy about this. And his master is going to be even less happy.

  37. 37.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 26, 2018 at 10:25 am

    My son was just at a meeting at US Emb Moscow, Flew home yesterday. I’m glad he’s back in the US today.

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 26, 2018 at 10:26 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Bingo. That’s the only sanction with teeth.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    March 26, 2018 at 10:27 am

    @germy:

    Given that this is in reaction to the UK poisoning, I’d actually prefer to let them take the lead. Of course, we should be doing our own thing with regard to the election interference.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2018 at 10:27 am

    If memory serves, very early on Dolt 45 was bemoaning and announcing intentions to undo Obama-era expulsions.

  41. 41.

    rp

    March 26, 2018 at 10:28 am

    On a somewhat related note, I was wondering how Greenwald would spin the march on Saturday, and this morning we got an answer: he retweeted two people making the argument that the vets for gun reform video is awful because they’re taking the position that assault rifles should be banned in the US but are fine for using overseas to kill non-Americans. One of the tweets even linked to Emma Gonzalez posting the video, in essence attacking her for supporting vets for gun reform.

  42. 42.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 26, 2018 at 10:28 am

    @jonas: They know who are spies are in the Moscow Embassy. Knowing who they are it is easier to keep tabs on what they are doing so the Russians tolerate their existence. They same in reverse is true. The same is true for just about all countries everywhere. It’s a sort of detente.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    March 26, 2018 at 10:30 am

    @rp:

     are fine for using overseas to kill non-Americans. 

    I know it’s GG, but is there any basis for this assertion other than they are in the military?

  44. 44.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 26, 2018 at 10:30 am

    @rp: Now that Bill Kristol is occasionally right in his public pronouncements, has GG taken the “always wrong” place in the punditosphere?

  45. 45.

    Raoul

    March 26, 2018 at 10:30 am

    The US government still works, sometimes.

    This is indeed good to see. But we will need to see more evidence than this before believing that chaos isn’t the more common norm for this Admin.

  46. 46.

    Jeffro

    March 26, 2018 at 10:32 am

    @jonas: Ooo ooo call on me, I know the answer!

  47. 47.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 26, 2018 at 10:34 am

    Ukraine is joining with its European and North American allies and expelling 13 RU “diplomats.”

  48. 48.

    Jeffro

    March 26, 2018 at 10:35 am

    @Amir Khalid: @Baud: It would not surprise me if Trumpov’s legal team and perhaps other advisers have told him that he needs to go along with anti-Russia measures at least long enough to get through the midterms. There’s been just too much out there, and a significant majority of the country (hallelujah!) now thinks there really was/is something between Trumpov and Russia.

  49. 49.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 26, 2018 at 10:35 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Latvia, too.

  50. 50.

    rp

    March 26, 2018 at 10:36 am

    @Baud: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Here’s what one of the people he retweeted said:

    See, this shit is terrifying, too. How quickly the U.S. military machine, the greatest purveyor of gun violence against civilians in the entire world, can co-opt this message should worry you. This video has two very clear and explicitly stated messages : 1) civilians should not have assault weapons, which sounds like a great ideal & end-goal to me, & 2) the military and ‘law enforcement’ should obviously have unquestioned access, control over, & use of these weapons. And that’s the pinned tweet on Emma’s Twitter– who is being held up as 1 of the leaders of this movement. AND being propped up as their LGBTQ/Latinx Voice.

  51. 51.

    rp

    March 26, 2018 at 10:37 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Good point.

  52. 52.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 26, 2018 at 10:39 am

    @jonas: Every country employs spies in its overseas diplomatic establishments. They usually are pretty obvious to the knowledgeable, and, of course, the intelligence agencies have detailed records. So these expulsions are targeted, and each side knows that the other knows it knows.

    I was at a US embassy party overseas, and my host (not a government official) challenged me to pick out the spy. It was a no-brainer. Also, when Soviet delegations visited Los Alamos, there always was one person who didn’t know much about science.

    ETA: There’s a limit to what one country can do about another’s diplomatic delegation. No point in trying to catch every single spy with technical violations. They are a resource for this kind of diplomatic action.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    March 26, 2018 at 10:39 am

    @rp: Next thing you know, the military will be wanting tanks and jet planes. #slipperyslope

    And where did “law enforcement” come from? Were they involved in the ad?

  54. 54.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 26, 2018 at 10:44 am

    Now 18 countries. Sweden has just expelled 1 Russian intelligence officer.

    — Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) March 26, 2018

  55. 55.

    rp

    March 26, 2018 at 10:44 am

    As I noted in response, those tweets are quite similar to arguments the NRA is making: (a) these kids are naive and are being misled, and (b) the state shouldn’t have a monopoly on military weapons.

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    March 26, 2018 at 10:46 am

    @Cheryl Rofer

    in the BBC program The Ambassador, about the British ambassador to Ireland, anyone of import knows who the MI6 operative within the embassy is and adjusts their interactions accordingly.

    In fact, the ambassador herself greets him with “Hi, spook.”

  57. 57.

    Tony Jay

    March 26, 2018 at 10:50 am

    @Calouste:

    Countdown to Boris Johnson demanding that FIFA show solidarity with the UK by taking the World Cup from Russia and asking Britain to host it. Quickly followed by a panicked Government statement disavowing Johnson’s comments as not representing Government policy. Followed by Johnson saying he was taken out of context and was only offering his personal opinion that anyone who plays in Ivan’s tournament is as much a collaborator as athletes who competed in the Berlin Olympics. Followed by another panicked Government statement disavowing Johnson’s comments as not representing Government policy. Followed by Johnson giving an interview to the Telegraph in which he uses the words “Jesse Owens”, “Piccaninnies” and “natural athletes” in close proximity. Followed by ‘moderate’ Labour MPs dashing to the nearest camera to accuse Jeremy Corbyn of dressing in blackface and burning holes through Paul Robeson records. Followed by a relieved Government statement chuckling that “Boris will be Boris” and can we all now talk about how the Opposition is totally falling apart?

    I give it until tomorrow morning.

  58. 58.

    Cheryl Rofer

    March 26, 2018 at 10:50 am

    Statement by Ambassador Huntsman on the expulsion of Russian intelligence officers: pic.twitter.com/RvMzCbPzZu

    — Maria Olson (@USEmbRuPress) March 26, 2018

  59. 59.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 26, 2018 at 10:53 am

    @rp: At this point it is clear that GG is a Russian asset and should be completely ignored.

  60. 60.

    Anonymous At Work

    March 26, 2018 at 10:53 am

    @manyakitty: Russian is one of the top 5 languages spoken in Seattle. Large population there. Boeing and naval bases for spies, plus tech and medical hub. Also, nearest deep water US port to Vladivostok.
    So…no…not a small deal and a good selection.

  61. 61.

    rp

    March 26, 2018 at 11:01 am

    @schrodingers_cat: True, but it’s useful to see how he’s framing and spinning various issues precisely because he’s a mouthpiece.

  62. 62.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 26, 2018 at 11:06 am

    @rp: Monitor him to know what BS Kremlin is feeding to the dopes, who still love GG.

  63. 63.

    gvg

    March 26, 2018 at 11:07 am

    @Baud: Geez what a stupid argument. The military has nuclear bombs, and they aren’t supposed to have semi automatic guns? Army’s are used in real combat. Civilians shouldn’t have war weapons, thats kind of the point.

    Now an argument we are using our military too much and too stupidly in ways that just make enemies without any gain….we can talk a lot about that but it’s not caused by civilians not having AR-15’s.

  64. 64.

    Roger Moore

    March 26, 2018 at 11:07 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Does he know it yet? President Putin is going to be mad, now. Oh noes.

    I’m sure they discussed it during his phone call with Putin and got the OK to target a Russian consulate that wasn’t doing important intelligence work.

  65. 65.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    March 26, 2018 at 11:10 am

    @manyakitty: I still think that. My guess would be the diplomats expelled were low-level operatives or not spies, and that the head of station and most important spies are still in place.

  66. 66.

    JR

    March 26, 2018 at 11:15 am

    @rp: Greenwald might want to catch up on his reading.

  67. 67.

    Waldo

    March 26, 2018 at 11:16 am

    So, how long before Twitler accuses the expelled diplomats of colluding with Hillary?

  68. 68.

    James E Powell

    March 26, 2018 at 11:18 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Russian asset or just an a-hole? Hard to tell.

  69. 69.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 26, 2018 at 11:21 am

    @James E Powell: All his assholishness consistently points in one direction. Coincidence?

  70. 70.

    Immanentize

    March 26, 2018 at 11:22 am

    I notice that Nikki Haley’s statement forgets to include Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. That said, I bet that some of the Russians expelled — particularly the UN ones, had some direct ties to election sabotage.

  71. 71.

    Ella in New Mexico

    March 26, 2018 at 11:30 am

    @Baud:

    This shows that Trump is self conscious enough to understand there are still political limits to his control. Keep pressing.

    I suspect that this was put in place a couple of weeks ago by Tillerson/McMaster and that Trumpypootin didn’t even have a hand in it’s going down. Maybe he didn’t even know it was going to happen–staffers say they hate to tell him bad news because he tantrums all day afterwards.

    No, this was an act by the nearly dead but still breathing remains of our State Department and national security agencies. Trump gets no credit.

  72. 72.

    Roger Moore

    March 26, 2018 at 11:36 am

    @James E Powell:

    Russian asset or just an a-hole?

    Russian asset. Apart from his role in steering Edward Snowden to Russia, there’s the way he takes Russia’s side on everything. He may or may not be taking Russian money or dealing with Russian kompromat, but he’s clearly in Russia’s pocket. It seems especially ironic given his supposed concern over human rights, especially LGBTQ rights.

  73. 73.

    Immanentize

    March 26, 2018 at 11:50 am

    @Roger Moore:

    his supposed concern over human rights, especially LGBTQ rights.

    GG voice: “But other countries are worse than Russia — Look at Uganda! Look at the way all the people in the US killed Mathew Sheppard! And don’t even get me started on Chelsea Manning!!!!”
    Whatabout it, Glen? Or, “Whataboutit Glen.” your choice.

  74. 74.

    Gelfling 545

    March 26, 2018 at 11:56 am

    @Baud: He may not know about it yet?

  75. 75.

    Just One More Canuck

    March 26, 2018 at 11:57 am

    @Gin & Tonic:I don’t know about GG being always wrong – I don’t read him enough – but he’s certainly no worse than a tie for first in the ‘always a dick’ standings

  76. 76.

    prostratedragon

    March 26, 2018 at 12:37 pm

    @Jeffro:

    *Btw switching to “conspiracy” instead of “collusion” from here forward (should have done it quite some time ago).

    Compare the magistrate (trailer for Z), around 0:10 and 0:44. At some point he became persuaded by new evidence.

  77. 77.

    Captain C

    March 26, 2018 at 1:09 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: 60 Americans breathe a sigh of relief that they no longer have to deal with all the crap that comes with a Russia posting.

  78. 78.

    Captain C

    March 26, 2018 at 1:20 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    Countdown to Boris Johnson demanding that FIFA show solidarity with the UK by taking the World Cup from Russia and asking Britain to host it

    Which would save Russia the embarrassment of not getting out of the group stage of their own World Cup, as is quite possible.

  79. 79.

    Captain C

    March 26, 2018 at 1:24 pm

    @Immanentize:

    “But other countries are worse than Russia — Look at Uganda! Look at the way all the people in the US killed Mathew Sheppard! And don’t even get me started on Chelsea Manning!!!!”

    The answer to that, of course, is, “Hey, Glenn, talk to me when you can come back from the (nonexistent) Moscow Pride Parade without having the snot beat out of you. Or we can assume that you’re totally fine with some persistent and harsh violators of human rights.”

  80. 80.

    Brachiator

    March 26, 2018 at 1:41 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Bringing together the actions of 14 European states and the US, announced simultaneously, indicates a lot of coordination at working levels in the US state department and intelligence agencies. This is in strong contrast to Donald Trump’s congratulations to his bff Vladimir Putin. The US government still works.

    Some of this stuff strikes me as an elaborate game that nations play. They got spies. We got spies. They know who our spies are. We know who their spies are. We let them operate. They let ours operate.

    And when there is an international incident, we expel a few and they expel a few. And then everybody returns to what they do. Spying on each other.

  81. 81.

    Tokyokie

    March 26, 2018 at 3:52 pm

    I understand that the United States, the Netherlands, Italy, and, of course, Norway all plan to stage a partial NATO boycott of the World Cup.

  82. 82.

    Geoduck

    March 26, 2018 at 4:48 pm

    Re: Seattle. Along with everything already mentioned, there’s also the joint Army-Air Force base, Lewis-McChord, not too far to the south beyond Tacoma.

  83. 83.

    Captain C

    March 26, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    @Tokyokie: They will be joined by Chile and 2002 3rd place finisher Turkey.

  84. 84.

    Parfigliano

    March 26, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    @ARoomWithAMoose: surely the us has some say on where they get to put missios…embassies…why green light seattle? Why not say to them your mission…spies go here…SD…middle of the country only thing there is Ellsworth and some silos buried in the ground (if even operational)…with modern tech they can still do their mission business

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