The new
or expanded Global Engagement Center under the State Department seems
to be morphing into what one might someday recognize as Orwell's
"Ministry of Truth."
Recent
events over past months have caused many to suspect the reliability
of news and information provided to us, often by our own governments.
Alternative news sources threaten to disrupt the message or narrative
crafted by governments and large organizations. The US Global
Engagement Center is mobilizing in response to counter alternative
media, conflicting perspectives and foreign influence such as
‘Russian Propaganda.’
The rush
to judgement, complete failure to follow international norms, and
subsequent actions in response to both the alleged poisoning of
Sergey and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in the UK and the alleged use
of chemical weapons in Syria leaves many questions unanswered.
That
narratives of government officials and mainstream media (MSM) are in
lockstep despite the lack of any real evidence makes one suspicious
of the ultimate objectives. Whatever these objectives may be, they
certainly appear misplaced and bring increased international tension.
Both these instances have the appearance of ‘false flag’
operations.
However,
despite the lack of a thorough investigation, British Prime Minister
May was quick to state the Skripals were poisoned with a nerve agent,
Novichok, and claimed it was “highly likely” that it was the
Russian government behind the attack. Both the UK and Russia are
signatories of the international Chemical Weapons Convention. There
are set procedures to be followed in the event of the suspected use
of chemical weapons, such as Novichok, which include notification of
the OPCW, cooperation of state parties and the instigation of a
fact-finding investigation. These procedures were not followed and,
in fact, Russia has yet to be included in the investigation or even
provided samples.
There
seems to be a veil of secrecy surrounding so many aspects of the
entire incident. Despite the lack of evidence and the fragmentation
of the initial storyline, the Skripal poisoning served certain
interests by diverting attention away from the UK government and
toward Russia. The subsequent mass expulsions of Russian diplomats
from the UK, US and EU countries caused the further deterioration of
international relations. Throughout this period, MSM toed the party
line and lately it appears to have gone silent.
Closely
following the Skripals’ poisoning, surprise-surprise, the famed
White Helmets released a video of an alleged chemical weapons attack
in Douma, Syria. Once again, despite no evidence and prior to the
arrival of OPCW inspectors, the US, UK, and France launched
airstrikes against Syria, targeting supposed chemical weapons
facilities. There has yet to be any indication that a chemical
weapons attack actually took place. Local citizens and doctors have
testified recently that there was no chemical attack and that the
incident was staged. Once again, MSM fails to cover the
inconsistencies of the story which call in to serious question the
actual occurrence of the attack.
Information
from MSM sources, for the most part, is completely in compliance with
information either being filtered or suppressed to support the
desired narrative. The storylines, absent of credible facts or
evidence, is reminiscent of the ‘Trust Me!’ approach regarding
Weapons of Mass Destruction that led to ‘Operation Iraqi
Liberation’ (renamed Operation Iraqi Freedom). The most recent
instances add to the ongoing Russophobic hysteria engulfing the West
under a very questionable pretext.
Those
that are skeptical of the official narrative or act to provide a
differing perspective are frequently ridiculed and demonized, often
accused of being one of Putin’s useful-idiots. The list seems to be
endless and spans from Russian scholar Professor Stephen Cohen and
Australian journalist John Pilger to UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
or, at times, even the Republican Party.
This
past year we have seen many alternative media sources essentially
“blacklisted” by the secretive organization PropOrNot which
published the names of more than 250 alternative news sources,
accusing them of being Russian agents. The Washington Post promoted
the story and, originally, ProporNot’s “List”. Only later did
the Post add an introductory comment and delete the direct link to
the List. The story was subsequently picked up and distributed by the
Daily Beast and USA Today.
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