Western Media Disinformation Propaganda

[happy]

Folks, I have started this thread to have a place where we can post all the propaganda / disinformation war related articles. As a starting point, please see the below article. Cheers

Iran won't bite American bullet in Iraq
When it comes to Iran, there is a very long history, as old as the Islamic revolution of 1979, of the Western propaganda against Tehran laying it out thick and in rich fantasies. No matter the 'feel-good' P5+1 and Iran talks, this malicious propaganda continues. Iran shrugs its shoulders and calls it 'psywar', but the gullible world opinion in all innocence often laps it up.

The first big story this past week was that Iran has landed troops in Iraq to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL] fighters. The Wall Street Journal spearheaded the disinformation drive, probably with the intent to queer the pitch for the US president Barack Obama to 'do something'.
The US of course has the intelligence sources, electronic and human, to assess the real ground situation. And in any case, the Iranians came down like a ton bricks on the WSJ and scattered the rumor.

Then came the second wave of attack: US and Iran are going to 'cooperate' in Iraq. The Reuters floated the story first quoting an unnamed Iranian official (who could be anyone.) To be sure, it is a fiery news — Great Satan and and Persians standing shoulder to shoulder in the Mesopotamian barricades to fight the al-Qaeda. The world media lapped it up in no time. The US secretary of state John Kerry added more fuel to the fire, by encouraging the speculation to rise to dizzying heights. The world media has gone tizzy — even Indian media.

As it happens always when it comes to Iran, however, there is a virtual blackout of the Iranian version by the Western media.
Whereas, a primary thumb rule is that it requires two to tango. Now, where is the Persian dancer? The point is, he isn't even on the stage where Kerry is standing alone, looking forlorn.

A good close look at Tehran's pronouncements through the past week actually gives a vastly different story than what Kerry would have liked us to believe. Let me quote a few top-ranking Iranian officials:

A) Presdient Hassan Rouhani (June 9 at Ankara): Violence and terrorism have grown more complicated due to the interference of trans-regional powers."

B) DFM Hossein Amir Abdollahian (June 10): The role of certain "foreign sides" in the Mosul events is obvious. "Those sides which are supporting Takfiris should be seriously concerned about anti-security measures by this terrorist current in their own countries."

C) Commander of Iran's Basij, Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqudi (June 11): i) Takfiri groups commit crimes in line with the ominous goals of the arrogant powers and obey the Western and israeli think tanks as they are supported by certain regional Arab countries' petrodollars. ii) "Saudi Arabia is equipping terrorists in Syria with different light and heavy weapons in breach of all international regulations and conventions." iii) Takfiri and Salafi groups in different regional states, especially in Syria and Iraq, are supported by the US. iv) The US is manipulating the Takfiri terrorists to tarnish the image of Islam and Muslims.

D) Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marziyeh Afkham (June 11): Urged immediate stop in support of the terrorist groups by certain states and called on all countries to adopt collective measures to fight terrorism.

E) DFM Hossein Amir Abdollahian (June 11): "We will mightily support Iraq in its confrontation with terrorism."

F) Speaker of the Majlis Ali Larijani ((June 13): "It is obvious that the Americans and the countries around is have made such moves"¦ Terrorism has grown into an instrument for the big powers to advance their goals."

G) President Rouhani (June 13): i) "If the Iraq government wants help, we will study it"¦ Of course, help and assistance is one thing and interference and going to the battlefront is another"¦ The entry of Iranian troops (on battlefront in Iraq) has never been considered"¦ we have never sent our troops to another country fro operations"¦ If a terrorist groups approaches our borders, we will certainly confront it. ii) Warned those states which are providing financial back-up and arms to the ISIL and other terrorist groups and cautioned that these groups would return to set fire on those countries as well. iii) Dismissed the Reuters report of US-Iranian cooperation over Iraq. "The Americans might want to do something, but I am not informed about it." iv) The recent events in Iraq are because the terrorist groups are mad at the results of the Iraqi election which have kept the Shi'ites and Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki in power through democratic means.

H) Ala'eddin Broujerdi, chairman of the Majlis foreign and security policy commission (June 14): "The US support, arms shipments and military training (of Takfiri groups) is the root cause of the spread of terrorism and inhumane crimes in the region"¦ The Muslim Ummah needs to put an end to the US interventions in the region."

I) Commander of Basij, Gen. Mohammed Naqdi (June 14): The ISIL attacks in Iraq are a new US plot after Washington was defeated in the confrontation with the resistance groups in the region. The US faced defeat in the confrontation and plots against Iran's allies in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, and now "they have started the same experience in Iraq"¦ A huge popular force has rushed to the region which will foil their ominous plots." These popular forces that have been formed in the regional states have now grown into a chain stretching across the Middle East.

J) FO spokesperson Afkham (June 14) : Iran opposes any military interventions in Iraq. "Iraq has the required potentials and military prepared ness to fight the terrorist and extremist elements"¦ Any move that complicates the situation in Iraq will not be in the interests of Iraq and the region."

K) FM Mohammed Zarif in interview with New Yorker magazine: "It is in the interest of everybody to stabilize the government of Iraq. If the US has come to realize that these groups [ISIL] pose a threat to the security of the region, and if the US truly wants to fight terrorism and extremism, then it's a common global cause."

L) Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (June 15): Lashed out at Washington for the creation of the ISIL. Strongly refuted reports of likely US-Iran cooperation over Iraq; such reports are part of the West's 'psywar' against Iran and are "completely unreal." Creating terror and instability and inciting armed and violent campaign against the will of the (Iraqi) people, as manifest in the free and fair elections in Iraq, are among the US objectives behind establishing terrorist groups such as the ISIL. The US and some of its allies have financial, intelligence and logistic cooperation to implement such a policy. Called on the Iraqi Shias, Sunnis and Kurds to remain vigilant against plots by foreign powers and to defend their country. Any Iranian help for Iraq will be on a bilateral basis "and it has nothing to do with a third country."

M) Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani (June 16): The western and regional states are responsible for the present crisis in Iraq.
Given the above unequivocal pronouncements by Tehran through the past one-week period, it seems highly improbable, to say the least, that there could be any overt US-Iranian "cooperation" or coordination over Iraq. The fact of the matter is that Tehran sees an American hand, directly or indirectly, in the ascendancy of the Saudi-sponsored extremist islamist groups such as the ISIL in Syria and Iraq.

Equally, Tehran has no faith in the US' willingness and capacity to make a clean departure from its past policies in Syria and Iraq and, more importantly, to confront Saudi Arabia. Of course, it is a different matter if the Obama administration takes a bold decision to depart from the past trajectory of the US policies toward Syria and Iraq; in such an eventuality, Tehran will respond positively. But it is difficult to see that happening anytime soon.

The Obama presidency today is so badly battered in the US domestic politics that the White House won't have the political will today to reset so audaciously the US' Middle East policies in a virtually contrarian direction overnight by reading the riot act to its regional allies, especially Saudi Arabia. Iran is quite capable of comprehending the geopolitical reality devolving upon the US-Saudi alliance. In sum, Tehran would have misgivings about the US' intentions.

The extreme caution with which Tehran is moving on Iraq developments suggests that it is wary of getting entrapped in a sectarian quagmire that would have profound consequences to Iran's regional standing as a whole.

Tehran doesn't see a convergence of interests with the US as of now over the Iraq situation. From its perspective, Shi'ite empowerment in Iraq is non-negotiable. It also seems in no mood to agree to a change of leadership in Baghdad at this juncture.

The ball is in Obama's court to convince Tehran that he is now prepared to rein in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey with all the influence at the command of the US and to truly opt for a war on terror. Can Obama pull it off — even if he wants to?

Indeed, Tehran won't be rigid and will be prepared to discuss Iraq with anyone for putting across its concerns. Therefore, informal contacts between the US and Iran cannot be ruled out. Obama seems genuinely probing the possibilities. The British Foreign Secretary William Hague had a telephonic conversation with Zarif. Britain is always there to act as a go-between for Washington in such awkward moments.

Iran won’t bite American bullet in Iraq - Indian Punchline

@pmaitra, @Razor, @Samar Rathi, @Ray, @asianobserve

 

[happy]

What Did US Spy Satellites See in Ukraine? | Consortiumnews

Yes, there are limitations to what U.S. spy satellites can see. But the Buk missiles are about 16 feet long and they are usually mounted on trucks or tanks. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 also went down during the afternoon, not at night, meaning the missile battery was not concealed by darkness.

So why hasn't this question of U.S. spy-in-the-sky photos – and what they reveal – been pressed by the major U.S. news media? How can the Washington Post run front-page stories, such as the one on Sunday with the definitive title "U.S. official: Russia gave systems," without demanding from these U.S. officials details about what the U.S. satellite images disclose?

Instead, the Post's Michael Birnbaum and Karen DeYoung wrote from Kiev: "The United States has confirmed that Russia supplied sophisticated missile launchers to separatists in eastern Ukraine and that attempts were made to move them back across the Russian border after the Thursday shoot-down of a Malaysian jetliner, a U.S. official said Saturday.

"'We do believe they were trying to move back into Russia at least three Buk [missile launch] systems,' the official said. U.S. intelligence was 'starting to get indications "¦ a little more than a week ago' that the Russian launchers had been moved into Ukraine, said the official" whose identity was withheld by the Post so the official would discuss intelligence matters.

But catch the curious vagueness of the official's wording: "we do believe"; "starting to get indications." Are we supposed to believe – and perhaps more relevant, do the Washington Post writers actually believe – that the U.S. government with the world's premier intelligence services can't track three lumbering trucks each carrying large mid-range missiles?

What I've been told by one source, who has provided accurate information on similar matters in the past, is that U.S. intelligence agencies do have detailed satellite images of the likely missile battery that launched the fateful missile, but the battery appears to have been under the control of Ukrainian government troops dressed in what look like Ukrainian uniforms.

The source said CIA analysts were still not ruling out the possibility that the troops were actually eastern Ukrainian rebels in similar uniforms but the initial assessment was that the troops were Ukrainian soldiers. There also was the suggestion that the soldiers involved were undisciplined and possibly drunk, since the imagery showed what looked like beer bottles scattered around the site, the source said.

Instead of pressing for these kinds of details, the U.S. mainstream press has simply passed on the propaganda coming from the Ukrainian government and the U.S. State Department, including hyping the fact that the Buk system is "Russian-made," a rather meaningless fact that gets endlessly repeated.

However, to use the "Russian-made" point to suggest that the Russians must have been involved in the shoot-down is misleading at best and clearly designed to influence ill-informed Americans. As the Post and other news outlets surely know, the Ukrainian military also operates Russian-made military systems, including Buk anti-aircraft batteries, so the manufacturing origin has no probative value here.

 

[Srinivas_K]

@happy nice initiative :thumb:

 

[happy]

Crimeans are happier to be a part of Russia than Russians themselves. | Vera Graziadei

t's mid-July and I'm on a flight to a place that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against all travel to with these menacing warnings:

"Russian forces and pro-Russian groups have established full operational control in Crimea. Following an illegal referendum on 16 March, Russia illegally annexed Crimea on 21 March and tensions remain high. Flights in and out of Simferopol airport are subject to disruption. "¦ Train and bus routes out of the peninsula are still operating, though subject to unscheduled disruptions. There are reports of road blocks, with passengers being searched but traffic is able to get through. If you're currently visiting or living in Crimea, you should leave now. If you choose to remain, you should keep a low profile, avoid areas of protest or stand-off and stay indoors where possible."

Had I not been going to this exotic peninsula on the edge of the Black Sea every single year since I was 6, I would probably follow this mis-advice, which is still current on the UK government's website. Even at the peak of the Crimean crisis in March 2014, when I was phoning all my numerous Crimean friends, worrying about the situation there, I was always reassured that most of the things I read in the western media were a lie. None of these friends, mainly living in the southern area of Crimea, have encountered any problems, seen any little green men, been searched, threatened or in any way intimidated. The majority of ordinary citizens were not affected at all, and far from 'keeping a low profile', people flocked to the streets at any opportunity to celebrate what most see as a 're-unification' with Russia.

"I was crying with joy. I've never seen the sea front so full people. Everyone was ecstatic (re: Russia's Day, 12th June). The day Crimea joined Russia was the happiest day of my life", told me on the phone one of the old friends of my family Lyubov (65), who was born in Yalta and lived there all her life. All my other friends and acquaintances, 23 to 70 year olds, whom I've spoken to voted for independence from Ukraine and told me that all their friends and family have done the same. The only person I knew, whose experience was different, was a Crimean-born Ukrainian singer Jamala of Qimily Tatar origin, who wrote to me back in March: "when my grandpa heard that Russian occupied Crimea, he barely handled it. He will not be able to endure another war, that's why I'm in hysterics as well."

The Crimean Peninsula is a unique cultural crossroads where east meets west – amongst feather-grassed steppes, forested mountains and a picturesque coastline you can find Greek ruins, Italian fortresses, Scythian burial tumuli, the Palace of the Crimean Khan, Jewish synagogues in caves, Tsar's and Russian nobility's palaces, as well as many Soviet era spas. Ethnically 58% of Crimean population is Russian, 24% is Ukrainian and 10.2% are Tatars, along with other minorities, including Belorussian, Volga Tatars, Armenians and Jews. All of these people's welfare mainly depends on tourism and agriculture, so it's ironic that while the governments and press of the West profess their love for the minorities of Crimea, they are actually economically impoverishing those people when issuing warnings against travel to their homeland.

I'm worried that when I arrive to Simferopol airport, I'll encounter empty lounges, so I question the first airport assistant I see about how busy they are. "We used to have 23 flights a day and now we have 80. All from Russia. We are very busy", she replies. Of course, many people used to drive to Crimea via Ukraine and with the war in Donbass, that option is not available to them anymore. During my July trip I find Crimea quieter than usual, though by August it seems quite busy again. As a regular tourist I don't see any major changes except forRussian flags everywhere, placards advertising Russian political parties and police being dressed in a different uniform. Otherwise, Crimea remains just like I love it – culturally and geographically rich and with always something new to explore. Needless to say I never encountered any major road blocks, never been stopped, searched or threatened (even though both my husband and I always spoke in English). Crimean beaches are not empty, there is food in the shops and most of what I've read about Crimea before I went there was just not true. One of the goals of my trip was to talk to people themselves, to hear their voices unmediated by the press and to understand what they think and feel about their new political status.

On both trips, I visit Hotel Yalta, a modernist giant that recalls a large ship, where my parents used to take me when I was a girl and a teenager, and I'm pleasantly surprised to find it full not much under it's usual capacity. Owned by Moscovites for quite a few years, it was only this summer that the owners decided to do numerous renovations, including a new pool, new playground, new restaurants and a lounge Cinema-themed bar, that looks like it could easily belong in the South of France. Many more works were still underway – a sign of the owner's renewed optimism in the future of the business. "Things are going ok this summer, but next year will be better", a young lady at the reception quickly answers me, but she avoids giving me more specific numbers and pretends to be busy with papers.

Two receptionists at the Alushta's Sanatorim Druzhba, a Soviet modernist masterpiece resembling a spaceship out of Tarkovsky's Solaris, are far more willing to engage in a conversation given that their dilapidated workplace is only 1/3 full. Lyudmila, 43 and Alyona, 48, both of whom voted for re-unification, are now upset that the prices have gone up, but their wages remained the same (only now they are paid in rubles). "No one controls prices, so some shops have raised them more than others. It's like a free-for-all.", complains Alyona. "It's better in Sevastopol, because they have a good mayor, he actually walks around the city himself, checking prices", adds Lyudmilla. Despite their complaints, both conclude that it's much better to be with Russia than to have a war like in Donbass. As Alyona starts recounting some horror story from the battlefields that she saw on TV, somewhere in a distant hall Bethhoven's Moon Sonata starts playing and I start feeling a knot in my throat.

A 25-year old Oksana, whom I've just spoken to about how badly business has been for the games arcades where she works, suddenly mentions to me that she's not from Crimea, but from Donbass. As I tell her that I was born in Donbass too, we both stare at each other in silence for a moment – two strangers sharing the same pain. Then she tells me about her mother in Gorlovka, who keeps calling her in the middle of the night in fear, as the area where she lives is being shelled. She tells me that even though she planned to stay in Crimea for the whole tourist season, now she's going back to Gorlovka within a week to be by her mother's side. As if to avoid breaking down in tears, Oksana goes back to the issue of business: "It was very bad this summer, many arcades are closing down, but only temporarily, because here they have faith in the future." The last sentence hangs heavily between us – Donbass civilians are still being shelled by the Ukrainian Army, some managed to escape to Russia and Crimea, but those remaining don't have much ground for having faith.

Anatoliy, a native Crimean 50 year old ex-KGB agent, who now rents out holiday homes in Gurzuf, is full of faith and enthusiasm, despite the fact that he only had 1/3 of his usual summer gains. He's sure that business will be back to normal once the Kerch Bridge, that will connect Crimea with mainland Russia, will be built, which should happen in 3-4 years. He said that he voted for reunification, even though by doing so he lost all his professional contacts in Ukraine. He seems very proud of his new Russian passport, of his new president and is optimistic about Crimean prospects within a larger country. He admits that since Crimea became a part of Russia, it became harder to make extra money by overcoming laws: "Ukrainian corruption meant that you could find your way around making a few more hryvnas, but Russians are much stricter about corruption, which is great for Crimea, even if it means that personally I will be getting less."

Some of the younger generation are not as optimistic – Crimean-born Liza Kuzub, who's been living in Kiev since 2012, but has come back home for the summer, shares with me that many of her friends, who are young interpreters and translators like herself, are concerned about their career prospects, as there are no foreign tourists and there are fears that there won't be many in the future, if "Crimea will become an anti-globalisation isolated place". As a result, 70% of the young people she knows are planning to move out of Crimea in search of a more promising life. A Maidan activist, she still says that she always loved Russia and Russian people, even though recent events have made her look at everything "in a different light".

In contrast, Olga Rogacheva, a 27 year old translator from Sevastopol, is not planning to move anywhere and dismisses my question about whether Russia enforced a referendum upon Crimeans. "All my family and friends in Sevastopol wanted to join Russia for a long time. I even have a video on Youtube, where the people gathered at the Popular Assembly on the square and decided to separate from Ukraine. Back then there was not even talk about the Russian army, or seeking Russia's help. It was just the people of Sevastopol deciding themselves that their city should become autonomous, because they didn't want to be with Kiev anymore."

Sevastopol has always been a Russian city with a special status, so it's not surprising that they would be pro-Russian, but it's not much different for the rest of Crimea. When the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine voted to be independent, Crimean support was the lowest of all of the Ukraine (only 54% in favor) with very low turnout (65%). The following year the Crimean parliament voted in favour of a referendum, but it was forcefully suppressed by Kiev's administration, as a New York Times article from 1992 testifies. Since then separatist activism in Crimea is well-evidenced on a historical timeline of the UN resources library. It's a myth to portray the Crimean referendum as an outcome of Russian state intervention. On the contrary, if one looks at the historical timeline, it appears to be Kiev who was suppressing Crimea's constitutional right to self-determination for many years.

Olga Sergeeva, a 60 year old conservation architect, who worked on the restoration of all of the main architectural icons of Crimea, including Alupka Palace, Livadia Palace, Bakhchisarai Palace and Keraites Kenasas, told me that "there's a huge layer of Russian history in Crimea, expressed in buildings and city plans." She explains to me that while during Soviet times, there was a law requiring 10% budget to go towards restoration, after the collapse of the Union that money disappeared, which meant that she really struggled with keeping buildings standing and mainly did 'cosmetic' works. "Ukrainians had different priorities and were not able to properly restore, rebuild and create new pieces, but now everything is in its place and Crimea will eventually have state support for the regeneration of Russian Culture." Sergeeva told me that after the results of the referendum were announced, she cut off all her long hair, to mark a new beginning. "Everyone was crazy out of happiness! The whole meaning of my life has been crystallised – I understood what I was doing in my job, and I was ecstatic to be reunited with the land, where my ancestors are buried."

Viktor Aleksandrovich Bezverhiy, 63, Head of Leisure of Dyulber, a sanatorium, that used to belong to the Verhovna Rada (Supreme Council) of Ukraine and now passed on to the Kremlin, expresses similar sentiments about his hope for the regeneration of his crumbling workplace. An aesthete, quoting Khalil Gibran, while talking about the history of this unusual Oriental-style Palace built by Grand Prince Peter Romanov, Viktor Aleksandrovich confides that "during the Ukrainian reign nothing has been done here, everything was falling apart. Now we have hope. Already I've met our new bosses and they are totally different set, serious people. They are not just about 'vodka i seledka' (vodka and Herring) like the guys before."

Crimean-born Igor, a 32 year old organiser of concerts, who developed patriotic feelings for Ukraine, but not to the extent as to "wear Ukrainian embroidered shirts" confidently states that even though in his opinion the referendum was illegal, "because the rules of the referendum were broken and sovereignty of a country was violated", he doesn't doubt that majority of Crimeans voted to be with Russia. He is a sceptical about reasons for such voting: "Only 20% people are sincere Russian patriots, the rest are just pragmatic people, who see it to be more "profitable" to be part of a bigger economically more powerful neighbour." He is convinced that it was Russian media, that influenced people's opinions: "I just hope for all the people that voted for Russia, expecting 'golden mountains', that those golden mountains will come to them." Personally he did not vote at all, because he "prefers to be free and he doesn't want his rights to be curtailed in Russia." When I ask him which particular rights he's afraid he might not be able to exercise, he replies "in Russia you can't even re-post Navalny's blog and I prefer to live not such a rich life, but to be free." At the end of the interview, when I ask him whether he's going to move out of Crimea, he admits that even though he has the means to do so, he'll stay as he'll be able to 'live with it all'.

To get a minority perspective, I speak to Mustafa Seitumerov (60s) a leader of the Tatars of the Southern Part of Crimea, who confirms that during the time of the referendum some of his people had a lot of fear, because of the history of forceful deportation by Stalin. However, the war in Donbass make them grateful to be living in peace. He also reminded me that they used to be represented by Party of the Regions, which is now very weak and has no chances of winning in the near future. This means that even if they remained part of Ukraine, they would have no hope that their interests will ever be represented in the Ukrainian Parliament. However, he did express his regret that joining Russia happened in such a hurried and forceful way and said that even though some of his friends instantly hung tri-coloured flags on their homes, for the majority it will take a longer time to change their hearts. He shared his hopes that Tatar people will not be fooled and that the promises, which are made to them by the new government (e.g. 20%MPs in Crimea parliament), will be fulfilled. He denies rumours that Tatar people are planning an armed uprising against the new government: "Tatars fought for 70 years for their rights and we never took up arms. We want to be working with the new government, we do not want to be pushed away."

During my second trip to Crimea in August, I get a chance to get the opinion of a Tatar man in his thirties, who works in the main Mosque of Crimea in Evpatoriya. He tells me that it's untrue what the media says that all Tatars are united by one attitude. "Different people have different opinions. Some are pro-Ukraine and some are pro-Russia. We are peaceful and cooperative people. We want to be respected and we will respect back." Already during the short time that Crimea has been under Russia, the Tatar language has been legalised as a state language (which Ukrainians refused to do for years) and one of the main Tatar holidays was made into a national holiday for the whole of Crimea.

Finally, I go to Karaites Kenasas in Evpatoriya to find out what Karaites Jews feel about being part of Russia. An answer is provided to me by the building itself – in the central yard there is a marble obelisk to Russian Emperor Alexander I with a Russian golden eagle on the top. Karaites, unlike Tatars, have no history of conflicts with Russia and on the contrary, they have always collaborated with them, have fought on Russia's side during all wars, and many Karaites have taken high positions of power under previous Russian rule.

Overall, despite a slower touristic season, the majority of Crimeans seem happier to be part of Russia than Russians themselves, even though with any new political change there will always be those who are unsatisfied. The question is whether despite legitimate questions on how it came about one chooses to respect Crimeans' right to self-determination as per the Autonomous Republic of Crimea's constitution, or whether one chooses instead to disregard this right for the sake of other geopolitical and economic agendas. It's clear that majority of Western governments and the press are choosing to the latter.

 

[desiwatcher]

curious about this coincidence of german state sponsored english media so interested in India's racism just about a week before the INDIA-AFRICA Summit. link -
notice how the narrator conveniently forgets to mention where these ignorant notions about africa came from in the first place, which media depicted them as such which is now spread all around the less-educated and vulnerable world.