In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Swiss conspiracy theorist and author, Daniele Ganser (@DanieleGanser). He's best-known for his CIA/NATO conspiracy theories, for his rabid anti-Americanism, and for his support for Kremlin in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
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Ganser's background is in academia, getting his doctorate from the University of Basel in 2001. His thesis focused on the secret armies in Europe after WW2. His previous topic on the global battle for oil wasn't accepted due to it being too "unscientific".
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In 2004 he turned his thesis topic into a book called NATO's Secret Armies. The book claimed that the clandestine "stay-behind" army called Gladio orchestrated false flag terrorist attacks in Italy against civilians, and that these attacks were supported by NATO and the CIA.
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The book generally fostered rabid anti-Americanism & presented the Kremlin in a very positive light. The book often refers to the US Army Field Manual 30-31B,a document explaining top secret CIA counterinsurgency tactics & that's widely considered to be a forgery by the KGB.
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The book was generally considered as a work of fiction, and for example Professor Philip H.J. Davies stated that the book is full of imagined conspiracies, exaggerated notions and misunderstandings of covert operations. Scholar Olav Riste said that Ganser "twisted"...
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...his research on the subject to fit his own agenda. Ganser was eventually ousted from academia after he started spreading conspiracy theories on the 9/11 attacks. Before the war he was actively spreading conspiracy theories about COVID-19. According to him, the pandemic...
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...was created by a small elite to kill, control and subjugate the society.
Daniele has also been building a cult around himself. You can join his "inner circle" for just a measly annual payment of 365 EUR. Journalist @marko_kovic (he's great, give him a follow!)...
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...joined the group and the content focused on esoteric topics like body-mind dualism and the perfect order of nature. Ganser is part of a collective called "The New Earth Manifest". The movement attempts to create a "better world" that would be ruled by the...
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"Council of the Wise Men", meaning that it's basically a totalitarian system and/or a cult ruled by Daniele and his buddies. This nonsense has already been endorsed over 24 000 people.
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As a pro-Kremlin propagandist, Ganser falls in the "Putin's invasion is illegal, BUT...," after which usually comes a litany of how it was actually the West that forced Putin to attack Ukraine. This approach is very common, and it basically stems from academic...
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...John Mearsheimer's views on the conflict. This myth of NATO expansion to old Warsaw Pact countries somehow threatens Putin's Russia, even though Putin himself has said that it has "no problem" with Finland joining NATO, adding some +1000km of NATO border with Russia.
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As is tradition, he refers to the non-existing promise of not expanding NATO eastward,a promise that was never made according to Gorbatchev himself. The phrase of NATO expanding "not one inch eastward" by the way referred to expanding NATO to East Germany,not Eastern Europe.12/24
Later in 1993, Yeltsin confirmed that "Any possible integration of east European countries into NATO will not automatically lead to the alliance somehow turning against Russia." More on NATO expansion here:
Danny blames the US for the events that took place in Ukraine in 2014 during the Revolution of Dignity. He claims that what happened was a "violent coup" orchestrated by the US. Daniele (and others), I suggest you read my thread on the topic:
He's also opposed any military aid to Ukraine, saying that we need "negotiations and de-escalation" instead. I'm sure that the Russians will stop invading and killing civilians as soon as the West decides to stop the deliveries.
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Now, Ganser does not really discuss any of the events taking place in Ukraine. He focuses only on the reasons and his revisionist history of the conflict.
During one of his live Q&A's, he "researched" the Bucha massacre by reading stories from "both sides",...
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...including Der Spiegel, RT German and "Anti-Spiegel" (a pro-Kremlin propaganda outlet by Thomas Röper. Surprisingly, the arguments from the latter two convinced him, and he concluded that blaming Russia for Bucha is actually fake news.
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Scholar Michael Butter calls Daniele's method of conversing the "Ganser method". Ganser is the stereotypical conspiracy theorist who pretends to only ask questions and speculate, but who at the same time implicitly creates a conspiracy theory.
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This similar method is often used by the owner of this site. Concerning. In addition, Daniele asks leading questions and takes quotations and images out of context and at the same time conceals everything that don't fit his arguments, making them highly manipulative.
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Ganser is considered "a star of the German-speaking conspiracy scene", and he often fills large halls full of people, earning him easily over 10 000 EUR from ticket sales only. His also often appearing on alternative media platforms such as "Nachdenkseiten" and "KenFM".
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According to Daniele, he's also sold over 100 000 of his books. At least to Daniel, telling made-up stories is a lucrative business. The director of the Institute for defence policy of the Kiel University,Joachim Krause described Ganser as "a dumbing down entrepreneur who..
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...makes his living by contaminating the brains of people with conspiracy fantasies," which sounds pretty accurate to me.
Ganser likes to stage himself as the victim of the "mainstream media", and has compared himself to Hans and Sophie Scholl, siblings who handed out...
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...pamphlets criticizing the Nazi regime and were eventually executed by guillotine.
The comparison is of course ridiculous, since Ganser is probably living a luxurious life in Switzerland from all the money he's made by lying to people.
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Daniele is also a good example on how the anti-establishment position and conspiracy theories support and complement each other. Quite often, 9/11 truthers believe in COVID-19 conspiracies and bioweapons labs in Ukraine - and the Kremlin has effectively spread all of these.
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Thank you to @fluppanski to help me deliver this tasty soup.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss the Wagner Group, its founders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, and the mutiny they started on 23 Jun 2023. The event marked the climax of the Wagner Group–Russian MoD conflict, and finally led to the deaths of Prigozhin and Utkin.
1/22
Wagner has been used in many conflicts around the world, but they came to global prominence during the war in Donbas in 2014-2015. Wagnerites helped the Donbas separatists fight against the Ukrainians during the conflict, which helped Putin to “outsource” the insurrection.
2/22
The group doesn’t have any central ideology, but many of its members and leaders have ties to various neo—Nazi movements in Russia. For example, Wagner leader Dmitry Utkin had several Nazi symbols tattooed on his body. Neo—nazi group Rusich has also fights as part of Wagner.
3/22
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce an Amsterdam-based propaganda channel, Bonanza Media (@bonanzamedia2). It’s best-known for producing & spreading online pro-Kremlin propaganda videos while closely coordinating & collaborating with the Russian intelligence agency GRU.
1/19
Russian intelligence has been extremely active in the Netherlands for a long time. For example in 2018, four GRU agents were caught while trying to hack into OPCW,an organization that monitors the use of chemical weapons. In addition, the International Criminal Court (ICC)…
2/19
…and the MH17 investigation have become targets for the Russian intelligence and propaganda operations. These operations are often complemented with “investigative journalism” media outlets, that often echo the Kremlin’s propaganda and disinformation.
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll talk about the recent EU elections and what are their implications for both the Kremlin and Ukraine. Right-wing political parties, some pro-Kremlin, won a lot of seats around Europe, and this result can also change the EU’s stance on Ukraine.
1/19
But before we start, I want to promote a truck fundraiser I'm doing together with the fantastic @ArturRehi and @69thSB.
Our goal is 20 000 USD, and you can contribute to this important fundraiser here:
EU’s support of Ukraine is essential for their survival against genocidal Russia. So far,this support has been delayed mostly by Orban’s Hungary (& to some degree, Fico’s Slovakia). Now, this support will probably be challenged by many new members of the European Parliament.
3/19
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll discuss a specific propaganda/disinformation that the Kremlin likes to use – antisemitism. I also talk about how the Russian society itself has become riddled with antisemitism & how this has led to a decrease in Jewish population in the country.
1/19
Russian antisemitism works on many levels, and their narratives vary depending whether they’re targeting a local audience or people in Europe and the US. For example for the latter, Russia attempts to create a false narrative of Ukraine being an antisemitic “Nazi state”.
2/19
But before diving deeper, let’s look at a survey data of Russians in 2023: Nearly 30 million Russians harbour antisemitic attitudes, and 15% of those surveyed believed that “Jews were responsible for most of the world’s wars.” 38% think that the Jews have...
In today’s #vatniksoup, I’ll introduce a Ukrainian media personality and propagandist, Diana Panchenko (@Panchenko_X). She’s best-known for betraying her own country by peddling anti-Zelenskyy and anti-Ukraine propaganda and disinformation for the Kremlin.
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Panchenko was born in 1988 in the Mykolaev Oblast in Ukrainian SSR in 1988. She studied publishing and editing at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and later graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv with a degree in law.
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After graduating, Diana worked briefly for the news site . Between 2010 and 2015, Panchenko was a presenter for KyivTV, but she found her true calling as a pro-Kremlin propagandist after she was hired by a national “news channel” called NewsOne.