Trump, Syria, Venezuela, Russia, China, Bolton, Serbia, Golan Heights, Yugoslavia, Iran, Obama, Clinton, Bush, Reagan

[JW Insider]

Fake news has been a part of US and international politics since, for example:

• the supposed Boston Massacre as prelude to the Revolutionary War
• the supposed killing of Thornton on "American" soil in 1846 as prelude to the US war with Mexico to take more of Texas. (Lincoln disputed it, famously saying: "Show me the spot.")
• the supposed invasion of Germany by Poland per Hitler as a prelude to the second world war 1939
• the Lavon Affair in Egypt in 1954 where Israeli terrorists bombed allies in hopes that others would be blamed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavon_Affair
• the supposedly unprovoked attack on the USS Maddox by Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin as a prelude to US open involvement in the Vietnam War
• Reagan's negotiation for the delay of the release of American hostages by Iran so that Carter would not be credited for their release
• Supposed tons of active WMD's held by Saddam Hussein as a prelude to the invasion of Iraq
• etc., etc., etc.

I realize that this could be discussed in the wider forum, not just under the Jehovah's Witnesses section of the forum. But I am also interested in whether a conversation on these topics might take a turn toward the way some beliefs can be skewed or strengthened by prophetic and eschatological interpretations.

But my main point is that I believe there is an obvious connection and common theme among the "fake news" episodes we are seeing now, such as Russia-gate propaganda, WMD propaganda,  and a trend that started to escalate fake news. I propose that this trend escalated not so much under Reagan (arms-for-hostages, Iran-Contra), but even more so under Bill Clinton and the Yugoslav/Serbian/Milosevic era when fake news began to actually work much more successfully with wider international coordination.

[JW Insider]

To begin however I think it's useful to address some of what happened with Russia-gate:

Here's a Tweet to begin with which I found on Jimmy Dore's Twitter feed: ( https://twitter.com/search?q=jimmy dore&src=typd&lang=en )

Ben Norton‏Verified account @BenjaminNorton Mar 24

The following deserve major credit for getting Russiagate right—as the corporate media spread non-stop WMD-style lies: @AaronJMate @MaxBlumenthal @RaniaKhalek @GGreenwald @MTaibbi @MarkAmesExiled @AjamuBaraka @YashaLevine @Jimmy_Dore @JordanChariton @FreedomRideBlog @KyleKulinski

Of course, not all these people get all things right all the time, and some are merely iconoclasts who wish to counter anything that the NYT says or Trump says etc., depending on other facets of their ideology. Some have a very narrow focus and get more things wrong than they get right. However, I believe that all of these people were correct on the supposed Russia-Trump connection and hype and deserve credit for being able to see through the propaganda.

Of course, I also hope to get some opportunity to present the connection between Trump-Russia propaganda Syria, Golan Heights, and then even on to China and Venezuela. The connections seem obvious to me now, but would have surprised me even 5 years ago (when I happened to take absolutely zero interest in such things). 

On the Venezuela connection, you can even use a couple of the names above like @RaniaKhalek, or even better Abby Martin, who probably has a Twitter account, too, but I didn't try to look it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abby_Martin

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

 

 

Got it all covered!

I don't believe anybody about anything.

Works for me!

 

...... and a LOT less work!

 

 

[TrueTomHarley]

1 hour ago, JW Insider said:

However, I believe that all of these people were correct on the supposed Russia-Trump connection and hype and deserve credit for being able to see through the propaganda.

Sorry, JWI. I couldn't resist. I mean, someone has way too much time on their hands:

 

[TrueTomHarley]

7 hours ago, TrueTomHarley said:

i mean, someone has way too much time on their hands.

I don’t spend an inordinate amount of time on videos, but this one almost becomes addictive. It’s the break dancing I love, as though workout gymnasts are really getting into it.

 I like the pacing, the sudden breaks in tempo, the shifts of one, two, and three persons on screen, sometimes two of the same person. It really is too much.

[JW Insider]

While naming this thread, I had left out another world "hotspot" that reveals a lot about how we in the so-called "West" will hear about "news" compared to other nations not allied with the "West."

Note that I wanted to provide some examples, not to take sides, but to point out some of the areas where hypocrisy is commonplace. It also shows how easy it is for people to begin to take sides without realizing they are being manipulated by propaganda. Unfortunately, it can also point out that some of the news sources that Americans widely trust are often eager to join in the propaganda.

A good example is the war against Yemen by Saudi Arabia. There is a clear video of a particular bombing in the last couple of days, next to a school with students watching from the schoolyard and the halls, balconies, and windows. (Anyone can find the video if they want.) And it is widely known and even admitted that the Saudis are leading this bombing with full support, aid, planes, refueling, bombs, logistics, and targets and even pilots in some cases being supplied by the United States.

So how does the NYT report a bombing the US "provides" for the Saudis when it kills several school-girls and other children? It's called a "large explosion at a warehouse." But it's also informative to note how a "source" is used by calling it a state-run news agency aligned with the internationally recognized government. (See more comments on this below the image.)

The "internationally recognized government" is actually a reference those who still support a president who illegally overstayed his term in office, fled to Saudi Arabia in 2015, and asked the Saudis to bomb his own people so as to delay any more numerous factions or parties from being able to take power. The Saudis were happy to bomb their old Shia enemies in Yemen. Yemen's people generally see this "recognized government" as a fake regime of an illegitimate president (Hadi) who has lived in Saudi Arabia for 4 years. Killing tens of thousands of civilians by bombings and killing millions through famine are the obvious primary targets of the US-UK-Saudi war against Yemen. The US and UK work with the Saudis because it helps them keep control and leverage over the flow of oil. 

The parallels with Venezuela, for example, should be obvious, where the "West" decided to recognize an illegitimate elitist president hoping that a civil war would put him in power, giving power to a person who had already expressed willingness to work with the West and the IMF on how oil would be controlled. The hypocritical talk about famine and shortages and corruption in Venezuela are obvious when one compares the US treatment of Venezuela with the treatment of Brazil and Columbia. In fact, in all the worry about how Venezuela was on the brink of famine, the US talked about how trade sanctions would teach them a lesson by creating real famine that might help produce a quicker "solution" to the regime change.