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Feb 28 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
When I wrote last week about a faction in the "anti-imperialist" left that recycles Kremlin propaganda and whitewashes atrocities [see linked thread], I knew some people would get angry. What I wasn’t expecting was flat denial that it even exists. Thread/
So, in the following tweets, I link to some the articles and programmes about this issue, concerning just one of the topics I discussed last week: the spreading of Kremlin propaganda that seeks to whitewash the atrocities of the Assad regime in Syria, that is backed by Putin.
Fighting the disinformation war in Syria
indexoncensorship.org/2021/08/spinni…
Telling it like it isn't: John Pilger and the Syria truthers
al-bab.com/blog/2018/05/t…
Syria Deniers: the New Scourge of the Extreme Alt-Left
huffpost.com/entry/syria-de…
Junket journalism in the shadow of genocide
aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/…
The Stop the War Coalition is more interested in fighting the West than fighting for Syrians
independent.co.uk/voices/the-sto…
Mayday: Investigating The Life And Death Of James Le Mesurier
bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…
Fisking Douma
louisproyect.org/2018/04/17/fis…
Toxic Atmosphere: How a chemical weapons attack in Syria spawned a shameful series of conspiracy theories monbiot.com/2017/11/18/tox…
Syria war: The online activists pushing conspiracy theories
bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-tre…
The Syrian conflict's anti-propaganda propagandists
al-bab.com/blog/2018/02/s…
How an Email Sting Operation Unearthed a pro-Assad Conspiracy—and Russia’s Role In It
newlinesmag.com/reportage/how-…
The left’s hollow anti-imperialism over Syria
middleeasteye.net/opinion/lefts-…
Syrian children’s trauma is a laughing matter—if you are Vanessa Beeley
orient-news.net/en/news_show/1…
Seymour Hersh on RT recycling disproven conspiracy theories about the White Helmets.
rt.com/news/431379-wh…
Dear Bashar al-Assad Apologists: Your Hero Is a War Criminal Even If He Didn’t Gas Syrians
theintercept.com/2018/04/19/dea…
Disinformation and Conspiracy Trolling in the Wake of the Syrian Chemical Attack
snopes.com/news/2018/04/1…
I could go on. But I hope it's enough to show that, contrary to numerous responses, I'm not making this up. I wish I were, I really do. It's a deeply uncomfortable and stressful issue. I would have a much quieter life if I ignored it. But I think we have a duty to confront it.

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More from @GeorgeMonbiot

George Monbiot Profile picture
Feb 26
For years I've been arguing with a faction within the "anti-imperialist" left, that is neither anti-imperialist nor distinguishable in its foreign policy positions from the far right. It is pro-Putin. It recycles Kremlin propaganda and whitewashes atrocities.
Thread/
I've been contesting its justifications of Vladimir Putin’s and Bashar al-Assad’s atrocities in Syria. Its attempts to justify Putin's attacks on Ukraine are equally shameful.
In the approach to Putin's invasion, this faction has blamed everyone but him. Its excuses for his imperialism happen to be identical to the Kremlin's:
It's all NATO's fault
It's about the Azov battalion
It's about protecting Russians from Ukrainian aggression.
Read 12 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
Feb 24
Yet, while you've clearly and unequivocally condemned US/UK wars of aggression for what they are, this morning you've been amplifying Putin's "I was provoked" excuses for Russia's war of aggression.
You rightly accuse the media of double standards, then apply your own.
Again and again, with complete justification, you have pointed out that wars of aggression such as the US/UK invaion of Iraq are the "supreme international crime", as the Nuremberg tribunal put it.
This morning, however, it's "but Neo-Nazis ...", "but puppet government..." etc.
The condemnation has been entirely in one direction.
This is not an anti-war stance.
It is not an anti-imperial stance.
It is not a pro-humanity stance.
It's an anti-west, pro-Russia stance.
Read 4 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
Feb 16
Capitalism's broken promises breed humiliation and fury. And this, among some men, has created a movement in which everyone proclaims himself King.
A movement that is as self-destructive as it is incoherent.
My column.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
I've been wondering for a while what some of the really crazy stuff coming my way was about. Then I started researching the "sovereign citizen" movement and began to understand what I was seeing. It's one of the strangest belief systems I've encountered.
Thread/
Its adherents believe that, if they recite the right words, verbally or on paper, they can release themselves from the law of the land, from taxes, licences and criminal penalties. It's a magical belief in incantation.
Read 9 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
Feb 9
You cannot understand the politics of this country until you grasp the Pollution Paradox:
The most antisocial commercial interests have the greatest incentive to buy political favour, otherwise they would be regulated out of existence. So politics comes to be dominated by them.
What this means is that nothing can really change without a radical reform of political funding (campaign finance). Here (next tweet) is my idea of what it should look like.
Every party would be allowed to charge the same, modest fee for membership (perhaps £50). It would then receive matching funding from the state, as a multiple of its membership receipts.
*There would be no other permissible sources of income*.
Read 4 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
Feb 9
It's not green policies that make our homes so expensive to heat - quite the opposite it fact.
It's the power of dirty money, and the governments that champion it.
My column.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
I wonder how many people are aware of just what a rip-off UK policies are. The government is GIVING our assets to fossil fuel companies.
But that's not all. It then grants them a massive "rebate" on the tax they haven't paid.
ie free public money.
We should be taxing fossil fuel extraction out of existence. Instead the government is subsidising some of the richest corporations on Earth, with our money.
Read 8 tweets
George Monbiot Profile picture
Feb 7
The major component of the cost of living crisis is, as it has been for years, the cost of accommodation. The outrageous price of housing is caused by
a. the sale of council houses
b. failure to build new *social* housing
c. the deregulation of rent
d. second homes ...
Thread/
e. empty homes
f. control of land banks by property developers
g. massive and growing inequality in the distribution of purchasing power
h. which fuels a buy-to-let and second home frenzy
i. “Help to Buy” schemes that do the opposite of what they claim to do, by inflating prices
j. as does mortgage credit liberalisation
Read 8 tweets

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