Well another major cult plank just got destroyed, from one of its main institutions: A new US intel report finds no ties between Russia & the far-right.
2/ Newly declassified report says US intel agencies "lack indications of Russian Government direct support – such as financing, material support. training, or guidance" to the global far-right.
3/ The best they can up with is that Russian-linked online activity "amplify politically divisive issues that probably contribute to RMVE radicalization and recruitment efforts worldwide." Just like every single other media "probably" does too.
4/ Compare US intel's conclusion to the barrage of Russiagate disinformation that the US public has been subjected to from major media outlets for the last five years:
US-Russia agree to reduce UNSC meetings on Syria chemical weapons allegations. NATO states have used the meetings to promote false allegations against Syria laundered via OPCW.
Perhaps a recognition in DC that the dirty war is lost, & the exploitation of OPCW too embarrassing.
Russia invited "guests criticizing or providing alternative findings to those of the Hague-based chemical weapons watchdog."
To understand the sadism of US policy toward Syria, check out what counts as a US "concession":
US agreed to exempt sanctions for "international charities and relief organizations" that "engage in... humanitarian activities that meet basic human needs" in Syria. How generous.
1/2 Spoke tonight about the Russiagate playbook, illustrated by the treatment of AP's Matt Lee, of US officials lodging allegations against Russia and then painting any skepticism as Kremlin subservience.
Its roots lie in partisan hackery & bipartisan neocon hegemony:
2/2 Rather than seek evidence like Mike Lee did, US journalists across the spectrum have accepted Russia-tied allegations on faith, giving us such hits as Trump Russia collusion, Russian bounties, Havana Syndrome, Hunter's laptop being Russian disinformation, and now Ukraine.
I believe this was the network debut, at least for me, of #BlueAnon.
The key point -- which few in US media will make -- about the US fighting ISIS in Syria is that the US not only sparked ISIS by invading Iraq, but then used ISIS as a tool for regime change in its dirty war on Syria.
John Kerry explained it best:
"The reason Russia came in is because ISIL was getting stronger, Daesh was threatening the possibility of going to Damascus and so forth. And that’s why Russia went in. Because they didn’t want a Daesh government and they supported Assad," Kerry privately admitted in 2016.
"And we know that this was growing. We were watching. We saw that Daesh was growing in strength, and we thought Assad was threatened. We thought, however, we could probably manage, that Assad would then negotiate. Instead of negotiating, he got Putin to support him."
It remains as unfortunate as ever that US media is so devoted to ignoring the compromise of the OPCW by its gov’t & client states to falsely blame Syria for chemical attacks. The aim is obvious: whitewash the 10-year dirty war and justify ongoing economic warfare against Syria.
The only way to ignore this conclusion is to ignore the trove of leaks that expose the OPCW’s extensive cover-up of its Douma probe & attacks on the veteran scientists who challenged it.
For any journalist who isn’t a pro-war propagandist or coward, it’s fascinating reading.
Original leaks are housed on a website that most in media use, except when the topic happens to be the OPCW’s Syria cover-up: wikileaks.org/opcw-douma/
New @PushbackShow: As the US floods Ukraine with weapons and US bombs kill more Yemeni civilians, @andrewmcockburn, author of “The Spoils of War", on the US arms industry’s role in promoting and profiting from global carnage. via @TheGrayzoneNews
When Russia seized Crimea in 2014, an attendee at a DC arms industry gathering told @andrewmcockburn that the mood was "borderline euphoric."
@andrewmcockburn Andrew also discusses how the DC war machine has fueled the Saudi war on Yemen & the dirty war on Syria.
He also looks back on his groundbreaking 1988 PBS documentary, made with wife Leslie Cockburn, “Guns, Drugs, and the CIA,” about the agency’s role in the global drug trade.
Amy Goodman of @democracynow asks "where are the progressives?" on stopping war in Ukraine. The answer is that progressives like DN encouraged war by parroting Russiagate propaganda and excluding dissenting voices, e.g. the late Stephen F. Cohen, barred from DN after April 2017.
To illustrate, the question "where are the progressives?" is posed while parroting both the neo-McCarthyite talking point that Tucker Carlson wants to "side with Russia" and Dem Rep. Tom Malinowski's claim that Carlson "fans" are flooding Congress with calls to that effect.
In reality, Carlson actually said: "Why is it disloyal to side with Russia but loyal to side with Ukraine?" -- which Russiagaters reflexively attacked him for.
So to answer DN's original question of "where are the progressives?": they're still busy parroting the Russiagaters.