Western propaganda is relentless.
Media scoundrels regurgitate official misinformation and bald-faced
lies. Truth and full disclosure are verboten.
Judith Miller is back. In fact, she never went away. Earlier she fell
from grace for shilling for GW Bush's Iraq war. She wrote daily propaganda
pieces.
She was a Pentagon press agent. She still is. She’s not a legitimate
journalist. After Syrian officials were killed last week, she called
its defense apparatus "decapitated."
In fact, those killed were quickly replaced. Syrian forces routed Western
death squads in Damascus and elsewhere. It's battling them in Aleppo.
It's the nation's largest city and commercial hub. Expect a similar
result there.
Assad's government remains in control overall. Miller did what she does
best. She lied and never says she's sorry.
Recent Mossad-connected Debkafile reports stoked fear by claiming Syrian
chemical weapons are being moved and may be used.
On July 22, it claimed "Jordanian armies and US Middle East forces have
switched to preparedness mode....in case Syrian chemical weapons (head)
toward Lebanon."
US and Israeli "military chiefs prefer to stop (them) before (they move)
across the border." It quoted Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak saying:
"I’ve ordered the Israeli military to prepare for a situation where
we would have to weigh the possibility of carrying out an attack against
Syrian weapons arsenals."
"The state of Israel cannot accept a situation where advanced weapons
systems are transferred form Syria to Lebanon."
Syria's Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Damascus will
never use chemical or biological weapons internally. Moreover, they're
secured and closely monitored.
At the same time, he expressed concern about "tactical bombs or mines
containing biological substances that would explode somewhere in a village
and then accusing the Syrian forces of doing that."
He urged countries claiming concern for Syrians to switch their "negative
media campaigns" to supporting a political solution over violence.
Instead, unrelenting propaganda rages. Media scoundrels spread it. Headlines
vilify Assad unfairly.
The good news is that trust in US television news hit a new low. On
July 10, Gallup reported that only 21% of adults expressed "a great
deal or quite a lot of confidence in it."
A year ago it was 27%. In 1993, when Gallup began tracking confidence
it was 46%.
The polling group added that most people no longer feel "confident"
about TV news. They also distrust major print media.
Gallup attributed negativity to similar views about "many other US institutions
and the direction of the country in general."
Given the recent trend, poll numbers suggest a continued downward direction.
Growing numbers of Americans know media scoundrels deliver managed news
misinformation.
It rages on Syria. At times, separating fact from fiction is daunting.
Not, however, when people wanting to know what's going on turn exclusively
to reliable alternative sources.
Perhaps Gallup one day will say no one watches TV news anymore. Sensible
viewers long ago gave up on it.
Syria reporting is grossly inaccurate and one-sided. A propaganda war
of words rages. Disinformation is official policy. Media scoundrels
go along in lockstep.
Aggressive wars are called liberating ones. Public opinion is manipulated
accordingly. Fabricated reality substitutes for events on the ground.
Issues at stake are concealed. Fake ones are promoted. Intense campaigns
try to convince people that black is white and vice versa.
Enemies face false charges. Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International
(AI), the Human Rights Council (HRC), and broadcasters like BBC, CBC,
PBS, NPR, and Democracy Now (DN) support Western imperialism. So do
quasi-progressive print publications like Nation magazine, Mother Jones
and others.
CIA/CFR/Trilateral Commission-connected corporate foundations provide
funding. Well-known ones include Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Soros,
and MacArthur. Money from these sources is tainted. It expects services
rendered in return. Conflicts of interest are rife.
Sources viewers, listeners and readers believe are reliable operate
often like their major media counterparts. They do it deceptively by
delivering quasi-real reports on issues less important than war and
peace and imperial dominance.
NGOs like HRW and AI are imperial agents. From its 1978 beginnings,
HRW delivered pro-Western/anti-Soviet propaganda. It's a reliable Western
propaganda instrument.
Executive Director Kenneth Roth is a former federal prosecutor. Former
HRW head Aryeh Neier hired him. He left to become president of Soros'
Open Society Institute.
Deputy Executive Director for External Relations Carrol Bogert served
as Newsweek's editor, correspondent and bureau chief. Other past and
present members have ties to sources representing US foreign policy
interests.
AI operates the same way. According to Francis Boyle:
"Amnesty International is primarily motivated not by human rights but
by publicity. Second comes money. Third comes getting more members.
Fourth, internal turf battles. And then finally, human rights, genuine
human rights concerns."
To be sure, if you are dealing with a human rights situation in a country
that is at odds with the United States or Britain, it gets an awful
lot of attention, resources, man and womanpower, publicity, you name
it. They can throw whatever they want at that."
"But if it's dealing with violations of human rights by the United States,
Britain, Israel, then it's like pulling teeth to get them to really
do something on the situation. They might, very reluctantly and after
an enormous amount of internal fightings and battles and pressures,
you name it. But you know, it's not like the official enemies list."
In 1990, AI spread Washington propaganda preceding the Gulf War. It
supported the falsified report about throwing Kuwaiti babies out of
incubators. It lied in return for funding.
During the Balkan wars, it performed similar services. It promoted false
reports about Serbs committing mass rapes. In 1999, it supported "humanitarian
bombing." It said "AI is not an anti-war organization."
In 2011, it spread unsubstantiated rumors and disinformation during
NATO's Libya war.
In May 2012, it participated in an Afghan war campaign. It featured
the slogan "NATO: Keep the Progress Going."
In June, Ann Wright and Coleen Rowley wrote about "Amnesty's Shilling
for US Wars," saying:
AI Executive Director Suzanne Nossel worked for Richard Holbrooke at
the UN. She also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International
Organizations.
In addition, she held prominent positions at the Wall Street Journal
and McKinsey & Co. It's closely connected to the Council on Foreign
Relations (CFR). In other words, she's an imperial insider.
She helped propagate humanitarian intervention and Responsibility to
Protect (R2P) notions. In 2004, she coined the term "Smart Power." It
calls for military intervention. She said:
"To advance from a nuanced dissent to a compelling vision, progressive
policymakers should turn to the great mainstay of twentieth-century
U.S. foreign policy: liberal internationalism, which posits that a global
system of stable liberal democracies would be less prone to war."
"Washington, the theory goes, should thus offer assertive leadership
— diplomatic, economic, and not least, military - to advance a
broad array of goals: self-determination, human rights, free trade,
the rule of law, economic development, and the quarantine and elimination
of dictators and weapons of mass destruction (WMD)."
AI, HRW, ICRC, and other prominent organizations like them shill for
power. They're imperial tools. Their stock and trade is deception. They
never apologize.
Their reports provide powerful propaganda weapons. Their imperial wars
support sanitizes mass deaths and destruction. They're well compensated
for their services.
In 2009, allegations surfaced about HRW "trolling for dollars in Saudi
Arabia." It said doing so "compromised its integrity." Its Middle East/North
Africa division director, Sarah Leah Whitson, responded saying:
HRW "accepts funding from private individuals and foundations the world
over, which we never allow to affect the independence of our work."
She added that a "Saudi" serves on its Middle East Advisory Committee.
"Believe it or not," she said, "some Arabs believe in human rights too."
On its web site, HRW says it "does not receive any government funding
to keep its impartiality...."
AI says it accepts donations from individuals, other NGOs, governments,
and international organizations like the EU. Like HRW, it claims donors
don't compromise its work.
Critics say otherwise for good reason. They shill for power and show
it.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized
Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News
Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time
and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy
listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
Likud, Kadima, Labor, or new centrist party leadership hardly matters.
Israel remains hardline, belligerent, and repressive. Arab citizens
have no rights.
They and most Jews chafe under neoliberal harshness. Instead of improving
conditions, they're worsening.
Malcolm X once said "I see America through the eyes of the victim. I
don't see any American dream - I see an American nightmare."
Israelis face similar harshness. Remaining rights are eroding en route
to being lost altogether. Populist change demands sustained public rage.
Nothing else can work.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized
Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News
Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time
and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy
listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
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