Rekindling Its Iraq WMD Fiasco The New York Times Is Back At Printing ‘Officials Said’

September 24, 2022

Rekindling Its Iraq WMD Fiasco The New York Times Is Back At Printing ‘Officials Said’

At first I wondered why the New York Times homepage editor would put a piece about Putin and his alleged involvement in war strategy under 'U.S. Politics'.

bigger

But after reading

As Russian Losses Mount in Ukraine, Putin Gets More Involved in War Strategy

I understand the qualification.

Some quotes:

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has […], American officials said, …

American officials briefed on highly sensitive intelligence said …

… his involvement has created tensions, American officials said.

The officials said …

…, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview on Friday.

… is to both sides, American officials said.

Some American officials said they saw trouble ahead …

A senior U.S. official said this week …

…could eventually be threatened, American officials said.

Senior Russian officers repeatedly questioned […], American officials said, …

The Russian officers believed […], American officials said.

… focused on massive artillery barrages, American officials said.

… hit by Ukrainian fire, Ukrainian officials said.

… said Seth G. Jones, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

… said Michael Kofman, director of Russia studies at CNA, a defense research institute in Arlington, Va.

…, U.S. officials say Mr. Putin believes …

… American officials have said that Mr. Putin has not been given accurate information …

Mr. Putin, an American official said, has opposed …

…, American officials said Russian officers themselves are divided …

Adding up we have:

anonymous American/U.S. official/s [said/have said/say]: 15 times,
named American semi-officials (Jones, Kofman): 2 times,
a named American official (Milley): 1 time,
anonymous Ukrainian officials: 1 time.

There are no other sources in the piece.

Would you believe that it took 4 (FOUR) NYT 'reporters', Julian E. Barnes, Helene Cooper, Eric Schmitt and Michael Schwirtz, to stenograph that nonsense?

A lot of anonymous American officials said that the U.S. was winning its wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan etc. Anonymous American officials said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The NYT printed all those false claims without providing evidence for their veracity.

There was some agonizing after the Iraq WMD claims turned out to be false. The NYT and other media promised to do better and to restrict the use of anonymous sources:

Under our guidelines, anonymous sources should be used only for information that we think is newsworthy and credible, and that we are not able to report any other way.
…
We understand readers’ wariness, but many important stories in sensitive areas like politics, national security and business could never be reported if we banned anonymous sourcing. Sources often fear for their jobs or business relationships — sometimes even for their safety.

Those anonymous American officials quoted in the above NYT piece are distributing 'newsworthy' and 'credible' information? Even some they very obviously have no way to obtain ('Mr. Putin believes …')? They must be fearing for their jobs and safety when they reveal the secrets of Putin's believes to those assiduous NYT 'reporters'?

Or its all just another bunch of lies. Not only what the American officials say but also what the NYT claims to be. The above piece is not the result of journalism by independent media but the outcome of intense collaboration between a quasi state organ and the Biden administration. It is an information operation waged against its own people and propaganda for a real war waged against Russia.

Why do they expect anyone to pay for this dreck?

Posted by b on September 24, 2022 at 07:50 UTC | Permalink

Comments

NYT is an organ of the Elephant in the Room as the Washington Post is an organ of the CIA. Anything other than sports’ scores is a waste of time.

Posted by: gottlieb | Sep 24 2022 15:38 utc | 101

bevin | Sep 24 2022 13:00 utc | 64
About Neocons and the GW Bush administration, Iraq War, WMDs, Iran, Syria, Israel/Russia/China power shifts, Presidents and the NYTs.
imo, irrespective of Podhoretz’ “so-called” leftist leanings in the 50s/60s barely anyone knew or cared what a ‘Neoconservative’ was back then, or what it might develop into later. That Trotsky was born Jewish like many were in revolutionary Russia is also irrelevant to Neo-conservatism, and I’d suggest Norman Podhoretz as well.
By the late 1990s it was quite clear what US Neo-Conservatism stood for – Nationalism, Fascism Corporatism, Globalization and Colonialist/US Empire building and Pro-Zionist Israel to the core.
For Zionists especially (including the Christian Zionists) PNAC and Neoconservatism and the expansion of the American Empire into ‘the New American Century’ were merely convenient tools to achieve higher goals.
In reality Neocons are Extremist Radicals only appearing as if they hold to strong traditionalist conservative trusted values and have a deep Faith in God and Democracy / rule of Law.
The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that focused on United States foreign policy. It was established as a non-profit educational organization in 1997, and founded by William Kristol and Robert Kagan (the husband of Victoria Nuland no less – Under Secretary for Political Affairs, U.S. Department of State and visiting fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations!)
The Project for the New American Century ceased to function in 2006; it was replaced by a new think-tank named the Foreign Policy Initiative, co-founded by Kristol and Kagan in 2009. The Foreign Policy Initiative was dissolved in 2017.
[ PNAC included Jeb Bush, Elliott Abrams Nat. Sec. Advisor, Eliot A. Cohen, Paula Dobriansky, Francis Fukuyama, Zalmay Khalilzad – Ambassador to Afghanistan to Iraq & to United Nations, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Chief of Staff to Vice President, VP Dan Quayle, John Bolton, Richard N. Perle ….. and literally hundreds of other Neocon sympathizers/groupies across the many Depts of the US Govt. were installed. ]
Norman Podhoretz was one of the original signatories of the “Statement of Principles” of the Project for the New American Century founded in 1997. That organization sent a letter to President Clinton in 1998 advocating the removal by force of Saddam Husein in Iraq.
imo Podhoretz was a useful name/fellow traveler but not key to PNAC or since; US Neocons were not “following him” these last 25 years or so.
Of the twenty-five people who signed PNAC’s founding statement of principles, ten went on to serve in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century#Signatories_to_Statement_of_Principles
(my conjecture is) the whole thing from campaign to running the White House was a PNAC setup from the beginning – GW Bush was a convenient naive patsy. But he worked it out in the last cpl of years and never spoke to VP Cheney again. Bush’s actual Campaign Policy was to extricate the USA from overseas entanglements, to cut the military, costs of State and redirect those funds back into rebuilding the nation. He ended up doing the reverse. Then Obama continued on with more of the same Neocon game plan except for Iran/Syria.
imo, Neocons and Neoliberals are such an incestuous lot, found in every nook and crack of K-Street the Media & the US Govt Intel State Judicial Financial Political GOP/DNC/MIC system today; they surely drove / facilitated the fake Russiagate conspiracy against Trump; US Presidents make so very little difference at all they are merely PR mouth pieces with no real independence or power. Puppets iow.
Not that much different than the New York Times actually.

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 24 2022 15:42 utc | 102

Sean you are right. The names I was looking for were Kristol and Kagan ( Richard Perle too). Off the top of my old head though the (semi) emblematic name that popped up was Norm Podhoretz.
You could go back to Burnham-of Managerial revolution fame. It was something about the SWP. And that is not to speak pf the ex CPers…

Posted by: bevin | Sep 24 2022 15:49 utc | 103

The NYT as quoted in b’s original post:

Under our guidelines, anonymous sources should be used only for information that we think is newsworthy and credible, and that we are not able to report any other way.

Material that’s neither attributed nor obtained first-hand isn’t “newsworthy” or even “news.” It’s rumor.

Posted by: David Levin | Sep 24 2022 15:54 utc | 104

I agree that Kadyrov is positioning himself for the job and would love to have it. But it is not going to happen for obvious reasons
Obvious to whom???
You are in denial….
The Russians are in “Go for broke” mode….
If for some reason… Putin were no longer president….
The successor will be un-compromising….. all in….. mad as hell…
With only one thing on his mind…..
DESTROYING NATO…..
Kadyrov… is probably a pussy cat compared to what might come…
Don’t belive me???
The Assistant Military minister for logistics was replaced today… on a saturday…
Because some of the newly mobilized received “rusty” rifles….
Because folks declared exempt were mobilized anyway…
Which was reported by the Russian populace via social media to Shiogu and those above him…
With action taken within hours…
Telegram channels are full of videos of Russian soldiers marching to their assembly areas…. Of their loved ones seeing them off…
What don’t you get????
INDY

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Sep 24 2022 15:55 utc | 105

@Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Sep 24 2022 15:55 utc | 106
Very true, the West’s worst nightmare would be the death of Putin. His successor would be significantly more hardline.

Posted by: Roger | Sep 24 2022 15:59 utc | 106

It’s rumor.
Posted by: David Levin | Sep 24 2022 15:54 utc | 105
No, it’s a work of Fiction. Pure Conjecture. Emphasis on the Con. iow public Propaganda direct from Govt sources, or Sources wanting to undermine the Govt. Works both ways.
Journalists do it this way because “unattributed quotes” can be made to look all kinds of different ways to suit the “effect” the Editorial direction demands.
That’s why they use four writers – each one sourced different sources – then the package up what they have by cherry-picking which bits of the quotes to use and when within the article.

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 24 2022 16:02 utc | 107

The paper of record is nowhere near as influential as Google property YouTube, where an influential video can get tens of millions of views.
Or an influential video that gets millions of views on Weibo can be censored on YouTube.
Take Uncle Damo’s “How to ‘qualified’ a BBC journalist?” parody video for instance ==> https://youtu.be/tRu_aE5Qz5o
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202102/1214579.shtml
The target of the West’s propaganda is laughing about the bad joke that it is.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 24 2022 16:03 utc | 108

Why do they expect anyone to pay for this dreck?
Maybe a better question to ask is, where is the money coming from which keeps the NYT’s in business? Probably from the same people who benefit from the propaganda the NYT’s is promoting. The intelligence, security, and defense industries, plus foreign interests who have a stake in manipulating and promoting US public perceptions to serve their own interests.
Put simply, he who pays the piper calls the tunes. And the general US public isn’t paying the NYT’s squat, so why would the NYT’s bother being objective.

Posted by: 10 to 1 | Sep 24 2022 16:08 utc | 109

is it just me or is The New York Post increasingly a standout for good journalism?
Posted by: GoFast | Sep 24 2022 12:47 utc | 60

I too have noticed that the New York Post has over the last year done much reporting that is highly uncomplimentary of the present ~~gang of thugs~~ administration. So, it seems to outclass the usual CIA-driven reporting, which I acknowledge is a low bar.

Posted by: David Levin | Sep 24 2022 16:09 utc | 110

A major problem in the US is that the news has been turned into a reality TV show that is meant to be addicting to people who watch it. They know how to get people all wrapped up in the storyline, and it works with lots of people. So viewers end up being addicted to the endless stream of propaganda. The question I have had for a long time is, how do you get people to end an addiction they don’t even know they have? I have failed to get a single news watcher to stop watching, no matter how much I show them they are being manipulated and send them to better information sources.
It is a real problem. The news is meant to be addicting to certain types of people, and it is working quite well. Not at all sure what the answer is.

Posted by: John R Moffett | Sep 24 2022 16:09 utc | 111

Posted by: jonku | Sep 24 2022 8:28 utc | 9
I resemble this remark. PLUS daily @ USD 0.35 with a cuppa and bagel with schmear.
Before residence in NYC, I grew up in US American hinterlands where my parents subscribed to Sunday NYT door-stopper as well as local daily news papers. And so I began rifling the sections and Magazine insert from grade 3. Surprising no one, I consider my acquaintance with that organization’s work product and editorial changes familiar, if not intimate simply because I’ve never been an employee.
As it’s been said, however, familiarity breeds contempt. Just so I deliberately quit patronizing that publication about mid-term of my 20-year residence in NYC, because it was painfully obvious–by observing the company’s circulation bleed from local and regional reporting into rank 4-color glocal profiteering and by comparison to my own, ahem, “lived experience” in NYC–that editorial management was not committed to producing either “impartial” or “objective” fact finding. Rather, management was and remains primarily an instrument for generating advertisers’ sales growth, tumors in the body politic.
This was Y3 of the Clinton admin, Y2 of the gollum f* Giuliani admin. Giuliani, the one Oprah crowned “America’s Mayor.”

Posted by: sln2002 | Sep 24 2022 16:10 utc | 112

Obvious to whom???
…
What don’t you get????
Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Sep 24 2022 15:55 utc | 106

The Russian “elite” will never agree to being governed by a Muslim, how is that not obvious? The US/NATO would love that outcome as it would likely lead to civil war and definitely accelerate the breakup of the country.
Defeating NATO in Europe is a goal, but not likely possible without killing the head of the snake on the other side of the ocean.
As for mobilization, two credible Russian analysts (Evgeny Krutikov and Yury Podolyaka) this week said that the task of these additional forces is to defend the boundaries of the four soon to be acquired Oblasts from further Ukrainian incursions and sabotage.
http://johnhelmer.net/and-then-there-were-none-2/

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Sep 24 2022 16:13 utc | 113

from RT fwiw
US psy ops exposed: Washington isn’t concerned about morals, it’s worried about getting caught
Pentagon orders urgent review of after its global scheme is compromised
A bombshell Washington Post investigation has revealed that the Pentagon is conducting a “sweeping audit of how it conducts clandestine information warfare,” after a variety of social media accounts, which its operatives used to target foreign audiences in elaborate psychological warfare efforts, were exposed.
The accounts violated platform rules and were eventually busted by researchers and the social networks they weaponized.
US defense policy advisor Colin Kahl is reported to have demanded that every Pentagon division engaged in “psychological operations online” provides a full account of their activities by October, due to high-level concerns that “attempted manipulation of audiences overseas” by the Department of Defense have significantly overstepped the mark.
Those fears were apparently stoked by the release of a landmark report in August by social media analytics firm Graphika, and the Stanford Internet Observatory, which found that over the past five years, hundreds of accounts disseminating pro-Western narratives – such as a recent propaganda blitz that “advanced anti-Russia narratives,” including criticism of the Kremlin’s “imperialist” war in Ukraine – were likely being run by the Pentagon’s Centcom unit.
Centcom is responsible for military operations of every sort across 21 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Central and South Asia. According to Graphika’s report, among the accounts taken down was a fictional Persian-language news outlet that shared content reposted from US state-run propaganda platforms Voice of America Farsi and Radio Free Europe.
The only problem is you got caught
The audit ordered by Kahl is sweeping and comprehensive. He wants to know “what types of operations have been carried out, who they’re targeting, what tools are being used and why military commanders have chosen those tactics, and how effective they have been.”
The Post without irony frames concerns about the Pentagon’s psychological warfare tactics as being related primarily to these efforts compromising Washington’s purported “moral high ground” globally, with a nameless diplomat quoted as saying:
“Generally speaking, we shouldn’t be employing the same kind of tactics that our adversaries are using…We are a society that is built on a certain set of values. We promote those values around the world and when we use tactics like those, it just undermines our argument about who we are.”

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 24 2022 16:14 utc | 114

Roger | Sep 24 2022 15:30 utc | 100
« as every day the Russians prove their constant bleating about “Russian weakness” to be wrong. »
This is to confuse the issue – propaganda is designed not to be accurate, it’s strength relies on deception, is designed to not report and to erase any ‘truth’ which may be inconvenient
Plus – the NYT et al line is Russia is losing, but they maintain also the line that Russia is dangerous, a threat to ‘democracry’, to us all and to ‘our way of life’ : therefore urgent exceptional measures monies etc etc
The two lines are braided with love – the general pop lap it up – doublethink
You are over optimistic, I think, as to any significant ‘reaction’ from westies – in RoW many are seeing the paper tiger

Posted by: Gerrard White | Sep 24 2022 16:14 utc | 115

No, it’s a work of Fiction. Pure Conjecture. Emphasis on the Con. iow public Propaganda direct from Govt sources, or Sources wanting to undermine the Govt. Works both ways.
Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 24 2022 16:02 utc | 108

True, I was inadvertently generous. It would have been better had I said, “It’s rumor at best.”

Posted by: David Levin | Sep 24 2022 16:14 utc | 116

I feel compelled to mention that Ghislaine Maxwell’s brother is curator of the NYT’s photo archive, a lovely position to either find or hide things.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 24 2022 16:22 utc | 117

The western nations are now so completely de-moralized that their leaders can just make Things up and they will go with it. With anything -and the opposite. The lifeform called “Joe Biden” that has no real purpose other than being a bizarre character in a Kabuki Theater play can give a speech to the UN and publicly “cite” president Putin with quotes Putin never said. It doesn’t matter any more. The western nations have fabricated a reality that is fed to their people around the clock on their smartphones and their media channels. This is their reality. The very concept of a world that objectively exists has been abandoned. The narrative may even Change completely from one day to another, like with the “pandemic”. It does not matter any more because the people have also lost every memory. They truly are “trans-human”, because These lifeforms cannot be called “human” any more. And that includes their leaders. This will be the First socio-economic and political collapse in the history of mankind that the people affected will not notice until they truly cease to exist and simply vanish. There will Not even be anyone telling their story, because there is none and there will be noone to Tell it to. The ages of the big void are coming to the west.

Posted by: Franz Beckenbauer | Sep 24 2022 16:24 utc | 118

Long term barflies probably remember vk… a lot of good stuff, but his stock with me went down when he said the newspapers are out to make money – that may have once been the case, but they have been money losers for decades. Their purpose is narrative control. Bezos bought WaPo to show his allegiance to the oligarchic club, and Carlos Slim (Mexican) did the same for NYT.
Any money they can generate is a benefit, but these mouthpieces of the Deep State would still exist even if they generated no money at all…

Posted by: Simplicius | Sep 24 2022 16:25 utc | 119

We are a society that is built on a certain set of values.
Yes indeed. But they are not the values you promote around the world and at home.
It’s always been “Do as we say not as we do.”
The NSA and Snowdon
Julian Assange and Wikileaks
Collateral Damage Video
The RussiaGate Hoax
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the best you have to offer as Presidential Candidates.
Citizens United
CIA Black sites
Abu Graib
Gitmo – a Bastion of the Rule of Law and the International Rules based System
Bugging Angela Merkel’s Phone
WMD in Iraq
Government Sanctioned Torture
Arms for Hostages and the Contras
The School of the Americas
Columbia, El Salvadore and Pinochet in Chile
Ukraine from 2014 to 2022
The Lies!
Oh yes indeed We are a society that is built on a certain set of values.

Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 24 2022 16:29 utc | 120

@Simplicius #119, NYT has gross profits of $1B and EBITDA close to $300M. It is an very profitable business.

Posted by: Yenwoda | Sep 24 2022 16:33 utc | 121

@ 116 Gerrard White – on the subject of propaganda
Couldn’t help but post this latest video from Österreichs Bundesheer‘s very own Col. Reisner, (which showed up in my YouTube home section) whom b’s linked to before. This one is “Cognitive warfare – The Fight for your Heart and Mind”.
https://youtu.be/MojUU8GgThM

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Sep 24 2022 16:34 utc | 122

It is just plain as day that any class conscious union worker in 1914 uncomfortable with the Tsarenreich would leap at the chance to grovel, fight, and die for the Kaiserreich. By any analysis Tsarenreich Bad, Kaiserreich Good. Has nothing to do with patriotism. Has nothing to do with archaic and meaningless social structure. Has nothing to do with thinking and behaving as a slave. Just class analysis and historical analysis.
It continues. Same today. Never changes. Join the ranks of Labor and salute our Great King Chuck III. And please, above all, just look the other way. Only bask in the radiance of the GodKing.

Posted by: oldhippie | Sep 24 2022 16:39 utc | 123

Put simply, he who pays the piper calls the tunes. And the general US public isn’t paying the NYT’s squat, so why would the NYT’s bother being objective.
Posted by: 10 to 1 | Sep 24 2022 16:08 utc | 110

I have to disagree. While I do not have access to the details of the NYT online subscription database, I will wager that more than half are government employees, government funded think-tanks, lobbyists, universities and colleges, etc.
With the old print version a building floor might share one or two print copies, now there are many more potential subscriptions, each to a single email address. It would be wonderful to be able to see the root domains of all those email addresses and determine who is really paying for the propaganda.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Sep 24 2022 16:40 utc | 124

To paraphrase Scorpion on a previous thread :
« It is so comforting to live in a world of certainty, knowing we are the good guys, and so comforting to live among a herd of like-minded people. »
Thank you Scorpion. You are one of a number of wonderful new barflies here, and I always enjoy reading you. Have a beer on me !
CHEERS !

Posted by: Featherless | Sep 24 2022 16:42 utc | 125

Most people I know do not believe this garbage, though the few who do will not look at any evidence to the contrary. These folks believe “Russian propaganda” is not to be evaluated for a truth quotient but to be dismissed based on source. More disturbingly, any story critical of western governments, even if it originated in the west, will be dismissed by them if it is reprinted in any Russian media (RT, Sputnik etc) as it then becomes “Russian propaganda” and need not be looked at.

Posted by: Snowleopard | Sep 24 2022 16:52 utc | 126

Posted by: Dr. George W Oprisko | Sep 24 2022 15:55 utc | 106
Yes, trying to mobilize the children of wrong people can be a career limiting move.
Also, such low level functionaries badly ended attempts to try their wings won’t be reported.
Note also how ‘the buck stops with my underlings’ Nobody took responsibility and resigned.
They just found a convenient scapegoat and fired them. Gotta keep the rubles flowing, others can pay for mistakes. These things are noticed in Russia, believe me.
Posted by: Roger | Sep 24 2022 15:59 utc | 107
More like fantasy come true. Kadyrov, Medvedev and others gathering their troops and slugging it out, Kadyrov in tik tok of course, is something that many would dearly love to see. No need for spurious ‘reality’ TV.

Posted by: Membrum Virile | Sep 24 2022 16:54 utc | 127

Long term barflies probably remember vk… a lot of good stuff, but his stock with me went down when he said the newspapers are out to make money – that may have once been the case, but they have been money losers for decades.
Posted by: Simplicius | Sep 24 2022 16:25 utc | 119

This reminds me of an old joke:
Question: How do you end up with a small fortune in the newspaper business?
Answer: Start with a large fortune.

Posted by: David Levin | Sep 24 2022 17:02 utc | 128

Well, for the most part, with the exception of Joe9211, I did not read too many trolls, perhaps it is yet too early for them to go to their laptops. I enjoy the arguments between opposing posters as I was always observing the debating teams, in order to learn why they held their positions based on the subject being debated.
A coin always has 2 sides and today, the West only offers their 1 side. Sometimes, even the trolls make pertinent points, albeit in a convoluted manner.
It is clear that some of the earliest ideas I held in posting on RT, was to first destroy the spy satellites and all bridges, rail crossing into Ukraine are finally getting traction. We will know when the West loses satellite access overhead of Ukraine.
I just finished watching the link to Patrick Lancaster, and you could hear the explosions in part of the video. It is clear that only “independent” venues and bloggers provide some semblance of reality and truthful reporting. That is my $0.02 cents view.

Posted by: Arcticman | Sep 24 2022 17:03 utc | 129

The subject of propaganda is such an all-encompassing one that it’s difficult to go off topic, yet I might be doing so.
For reasons which elude me, the New York Post has a feature on Oktoberfest in Munich, with a gallery of 42 photos . …
https://nypost.com/2022/09/17/oktoberfest-2022-moments-from-worlds-largest-beer-festival/
Here, they talk about Ukraine too – 2 released US veterans arrive in NYC
https://nypost.com/2022/09/24/us-veterans-alex-drueke-andy-huynh-released-by-russian-separatists-land-in-nyc-after-prisoner-exchange/

Posted by: Bruised Northerner | Sep 24 2022 17:07 utc | 130

Posted by: David Levin | Sep 24 2022 17:02 utc | 128
Yeah. Apparently Rupert Murdoch never tires of telling it 🙂

Posted by: Membrum Virile | Sep 24 2022 17:09 utc | 131

All the mainstream UK print and broadcast media are parroting the same nonsense about Putin being evil and Ukraine being full of good guys who deserve everyone’s undying support.
Is it the same total control of the news agenda in all NATO countries?

Posted by: D J G | Sep 24 2022 17:11 utc | 132

Never underestimate the stupidity of the American and British public. Tens of billions are invested every year to maintain this status quo. NYT is just one among many of those vehicles.

Posted by: WTFUD | Sep 24 2022 17:12 utc | 133

“confirmed by an anonymous White Horse Souse….” Bernays would be proud.

Posted by: Immaculate deception | Sep 24 2022 17:16 utc | 134

Over 80% of all MSM articles on the war are just reiterations of the Ukrainian government’s announcements. Whether that’s the Ukrainian General Staff, a minister in Kiev, or an oblast level official, it’s just Ukrainian rhetoric and propaganda. All media spin. But for some reason, English language MSM publishes this drivel as if it’s unimpeachable truth.
Little wonder that so many Westerners (particularly Americans) are so confused about the facts on the ground in Ukraine.

Posted by: Rudi | Sep 24 2022 17:16 utc | 135

Apparently Rupert Murdoch never tires of telling it 🙂
Posted by: Membrum Virile | Sep 24 2022 17:09 utc | 131
—
Robert Maxwell left his creditors with hundreds on millions pounds of debt, but just how he did is a tale he didn’t live to tell.

Posted by: too scents | Sep 24 2022 17:17 utc | 136

There are 4 types of americans re Ukraine. About 60% believe everything their mainstream media tells them (fox, cnn, etc) so they believe Ukraine must be supported at all costs and Russia is getting pummeled and will collapse very soon. About 30% are hardcore Trump supporters who are angry at establishmet and media. They dont like Ukraine much and dont care about Europe. They detest the US blind support of Klownlensky. They cant wait till Trump is back to put an end to this madness. 8% dont care and will never care about this BS. They are the Kardasian, tik tok, instagram crew. Usually young people. They will usually go along with the majority on this. And 2% are people who dont believe a word of mainstream media. Remember the Iraq war lies. The Lybia lies. And detest both Trump and Clintons.
These 2% are the last hope in the US. And most of these are too scared to make their thoughts public.

Posted by: Comandante | Sep 24 2022 17:26 utc | 137

Heard on radio today thousands of Russians of military age are fleeing Russia across the Georgian border to avoid being called up to fight in Ukraine.
I thought to myself Russian border guards are letting Russians of military age leave Russia during a mobilisation, when their country is going to need them. My understanding is these people being called up are reservists with special military experience. So reservists are trying to flee Russia cos they don’t want to fight in Ukraine, when they know during times of mobilisation they are the very people who will be called up. That is part of being a reservist in the military isn’t it? This is what they sign up to isn’t it?
Am I the one showing my ignorance and naviety when I think there is something very wrong with this narrative and Say “I don’t think so”?

Posted by: Sanz | Sep 24 2022 17:38 utc | 138

Just viewed Trumplethinskin(ian) Ballot-Stuffing attempt in Ukraine with 3 Zelensky -CIA operatives arrested at a location with black bin liners full of ‘nyet’ votes.
If nothing else, it’s refreshing to know that the Ukrainian regime/CIA after all, are determined to participate in the referendums.

Posted by: WTFUD | Sep 24 2022 17:39 utc | 139

@SeanAU | Sep 24 2022 15:42 utc | 103

Norman Podhoretz was one of the original signatories of the “Statement of Principles” of the Project for the New American Century founded in 1997. That organization sent a letter to President Clinton in 1998 advocating the removal by force of Saddam Husein in Iraq.

The PNAC also produced another document in 2000 Rebuilding America’s Defenses containing the following prescient passage on page 51, talking about transformation into information warfare:

Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor.

And wouldn’t you know it, less than a year later they gave you 911. These are the very same people (Nuland) who run the information war and kinetic war on Russia via Ukraine today.

Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 24 2022 17:46 utc | 140

That is part of being a reservist in the military isn’t it? This is what they sign up to isn’t it?
Am I the one showing my ignorance and naviety when I think there is something very wrong with this narrative and Say “I don’t think so”?
Posted by: Sanz | Sep 24 2022 17:38 utc | 138

I saw a couple of the alleged “reservists” who were interviewed on the Canadian news last night. Judging by their lightly accented English, age, clothing and other mannerisms, these were not reservists, but nothing more 5th column actors playing a role.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Sep 24 2022 17:46 utc | 141

Why would anyone be surprised or even disappointed at this point to see that the nyt is a dishonest, servile “news” organization producing propaganda along with human interest and local news. I think I understand that that has been its nature in most of recent times. What is the psychology that leads seemingly insiteful commenters and public figures to express surprise and dismay about this? It should be taken as axiom and move on. The dwelling on the obvious becomes tedious. Is unconstructive.
I just watch NewAtlas latest analysis. He does good job discussing in open minded fashion the us analysis of Russias progress and situation in the conflict. Strongly recommended to US congress – those with any rational ability remaining. The guy is very bright.
On the issue of mass delusion:
I am wondering, would the government of Isreal fit the defining characteristics of right-wing, nationalist regime commiting atrociaties targeting a resident ethnic group and yet Russia supports? Better left without comment – if one does not have something nice to say…
I live in US, not far from nyc (within blast radius, I think). In this area there is only a single viable political party, selecting candidates for election. As a single party would be, it is corrupt.

Posted by: jared | Sep 24 2022 17:47 utc | 142

A lot of the Ukrainian propaganda of war is emanating from and designed by UK funded projects (quelle surprise). The same stuff Syrian war propaganda, pretty much.
If this war is won by Ukraine, it certainly will not be via covert psyops campaigns. Yet both Kiev and its Western backers have a significant vested interest in propagandizing the public in North America and Europe. Stories true or false of victimhood, heroism and battlefield success are key to ensuring the endless flow of weaponry and financial aid to a country outgunned and outmanned by its much larger neighbor, the economy and industry of which has already been comprehensively crippled.
During the Syrian crisis, the U.S. spent potentially in excess of one trillion on regime change efforts, a core component of which was a failed $1 billion secret dirty war led by the CIA. Britain pumped at least $400 million into achieving the same goal, a figure that does not take into account black operations conducted by intelligence agencies or covert military units. The sums involved in the Ukraine conflict will likely dwarf those totals.
Along the way, major arms manufacturers are making a literal killing, in every sense. Despite a general downturn in stock markets the world over, the share prices of companies including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Thales have remained strong. In a particularly brash manifestation of the Military Industrial Complex in effect, Zelensky is scheduled to deliver a headline speech at a major U.S. defense industry conference on September 21st.
There are legitimate and reasonable arguments for and against regular arms shipments to Kiev, although consideration of the latter perspective has been almost entirely absent from mainstream discourse. As such, one cannot help but wonder if the ultimate intended target audience of the kind of informational connivance plotted by Valent and Chemonics is, as with Syria, Western publics.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/covert-british-information-war-targets-russia/281975/

Posted by: unimperator | Sep 24 2022 17:54 utc | 143

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Sep 24 2022 12:52 utc | 63

I’ve been preaching that gospel here at MoA for months:
…

I must have done a poor job getting my point across because our gospels are in fact very different. Now, we do share the common observation that the general public is apathetic to foreign policy but, in my opinion, this is very much for the benefit of policy makers.
Shaping opinions, manipulating behaviours and silencing dissent, all in a manner unbeknownst to the masses, this is propaganda that makes sense. And works. Neglecting this battlefield is indicative of either impotence or very poor judgement.

Posted by: robin | Sep 24 2022 17:55 utc | 144

Cord Meyer, aka Cyclops, was proud of the success of his pet project, Operation Mockingbird which began the task to usurp ALL Mainstream Media.
Begun in the 1950’s and Having become revealed during Frank Church Committee Hearings in the early 1970’s, the CIA admitted to the program promising that it was discontinued and not at all ongoing. Meanwhile it had control of the WaPo, Life Magazine, Look, Newsweek, NYT and dozens of other media outlets.
That promise was a bit like, “We promise not to expand NATO beyond existing territories.”

Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Sep 24 2022 18:03 utc | 145

Stenograph/stenographer (transcribe speech in shorthand)implies too much skill; mimic is a more apt denunciation of this monkey behaviour.

Posted by: Qui Sling | Sep 24 2022 18:04 utc | 146

yenwodatroll@121:
You of course ignore the punchline on my #119
“Any money they can generate is a benefit, but these mouthpieces of the Deep State would still exist even if they generated no money at all…”

Posted by: Simplicius | Sep 24 2022 18:04 utc | 147

The lead “reporter”, Julian Barnes out right stated in NY Times “reporting” about 3 years ago that Iran has an established nuclear weapons programs, basically likening Iran to North Korea or or North Korea in 2004.
He’s not a credible person, but he and Sanger have taken over for the infamous Michael Gordon, who wrote the “Judith Miller” WMDs in Iraq stories for The NY Times, and then only left The NY Times of the WSJ in 2017. Where he continues to lie.

Posted by: Jay | Sep 24 2022 18:11 utc | 148

A few remarks. Too many think BigLie Media is believed by most within the Outlaw US Empire, but consistent polling by Gallup and others shows a very different result with most media now distrusted. The one segment of the populace that retains the most faith are D party members. I’ve posted the relevant links here before that provide that proof.
The idea that Putin will resign and be replaced a la the head of the USSR is completely wrong. Putin will retire from the presidency and his successor will be chosen via democratic election by Russians. When might that happen? IMO, Putin will see through his economic program that ends in 2030. He’ll remain as an advisor to whoever replaces him if the war against Neoliberal Parasitism isn’t won by then, for he has vowed to exterminate that menace to humanity.
At the UNGA, Lavrov is extremely busy meeting with the RoW. Scrolling through the News Feed at the MFA website confirms that without having to consult anonymous White House officials. The upshot is Russia is very far from isolated as Biden likes to boast. His lie filled UNGA speech served to harm his position with RoW as more leaders are empowered to pushback.
Escobar notes at his VK:

THE EMPIRE SO FOND OF “DEMOCRACY”
ABSOLUTELY HATES A REAL DEMOCRATIC VOTE
Yesterday, on the first day of the Baby Bear referendums – real, direct democracy in action – the territory of the LPR was hit at least 4 times.
Targets: the administration of the Izotov mine village near Horlivka; the town of Stakhanov (not on the front line); a hotel and residential buildings in Rubizhne; and a market in Novaya Kakhovka.
They were all hit by HIMARS.
Translation: they were hit by the Pentagon.
EVERYTHING any agency of the USG says about the US “not wanting a war with Russia” is BULLSHIT.

Today’s Clobber Report says 300 additional foreign fighters were eliminated, a sizeable number:
“Up to 300 militants were eliminated by a missile attack on the point of temporary deployment of foreign mercenaries in the area of the village of Kalinovka, Nikolayev Region,” the ministry’s spokesman, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, announced during his daily briefing….
“Russian forces also eliminated more than 200 Ukrainian troops in Nikolayev Region, and almost as many more in Kharkov Region and in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Konashenkov said.”
Most probably another 1,000 Ukie and allied casualties, which appears to be the daily average. The daily grind will continue until the job is done.

Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 24 2022 18:15 utc | 149

@ Posted by: karlof1 | Sep 24 2022 18:15 utc | 149
Escobar… “THE EMPIRE SO FOND OF “DEMOCRACY” ABSOLUTELY HATES A REAL DEMOCRATIC VOTE”
By now we have all seen the photos and videos of the “vote”.
My Canadian voting standards may be different, but filling out the ballot with the person who handed it to me watching at the same table and then depositing it in a glass box, sometimes with my choice visible to a photographer does not meet democratic “best practices”.
It is not so much a vote as a demonstration of community solidarity. I am very happy for the residents who will mostly welcome the change of ownership. But let’s not pretend this is some kind of victory for democracy.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Sep 24 2022 18:27 utc | 150

Arcticman @ 129
Well, for the most part, with the exception of Joe9211, I did not read too many trolls, perhaps it is yet too early for them to go to their laptops.
The Pentagram does not like paying overtime

Posted by: circumspect | Sep 24 2022 18:32 utc | 151

After monitoring this website for “ the rest of the story”, ( Remember Paul Harvey?), I need to make just one point.
The western world has been infected with the Russian Derangement Syndrome, much like the Trump Derangement Syndrome. It was manufactured by US Democrats, perpetuated by western MSM, and has not yet infected 70 percent of the world’s population ( China, Russia, India, Brics).
It appears this infection has been deadly to the Ukrainian population, slightly less deadly to the EU populations. There is no known cure or vaccine for The Russian Derangement syndrome, but turning off all western MSM , getting outdoors and going on with your life seems to lessen the effects.

Posted by: Greybeard | Sep 24 2022 18:37 utc | 152

Opport Knocks @150
Maybe you disapprove, but it very much is a victory for democracy.
Votes can take many forms. A simple show of hands can be valid. Just because this vote doesn’t have enough secrecy to keep the Nazis lovers safe from being beaten up doesn’t mean it isn’t a valid democratic vote.
Anyway, Nazi lovers should be beaten up, and frequently too. That is just proper civic-mindedness.

Posted by: William Gruff | Sep 24 2022 18:37 utc | 153

@ c1ue | Sep 24 2022 12:29 utc | 54
I noticed something that happened in America during the 1990s. … It was a US Government Psyop using the slogan ‘Thank you for your service!” directed towards any, and all, servicemen.
It was cleverly devised by the Pentagon’s Psychological Operations to control the mind of the mass population. It played off of the ‘public guilt’ of the Lefty Liberals who opposed Vietnam, and played into the hands of the ‘Murica First’ (Neo-Con) crowd. It was carefully promoted on ‘Neo-Con Talk Radio’ and then later on the ‘Commie PBS Station’ to rally BOTH the ‘Left’ and the ‘Right’ in support of Endless Serial Wars and Infinite Pentagon Spending. … It worked brilliantly!
Think about its appeal. … Anyone (about 99% of the US population) who bought into the “Thank-You-For-Your-Service” mantra was then psychologically incapable of opposing anything the Pentagon then did. … Hence, the US military had a free hand to bomb any country at will, torture the people, murder the civilians, commit war crimes, and steal the country’s resources without any serious opposition or repercussions. … And for the pleasure of prosecuting these crimes, the soldiers were wildly saluted at airports, NFL football games, and rallies with Lee Greenwood tear-jerker songs, huge flags, F-35 flyovers, and mindless speeches.
Only a very small minority saw through the cynicism of this “Thank-you-for-your-service” psyop. … They were neither ‘Lefty-Liberals’ or ‘Neo-Cons’, but principled thinkers.

Posted by: Mummer | Sep 24 2022 18:49 utc | 154

@bevin #64
As someone who attends presentations at the Hoover Institute – which is NeoCon Central – I can 100% say that I have seen who the real movers and drivers are in that movement, much as I despise all its members.
Have you done so?
Podhoretz is NOT a mover and driver in the neocon movement: not in thought, not in action, not in position, not in lineage or history. He has had no roles in either Bush or Reagan administrations, for example. Podhoretz is simply a higher ranked, opportunist in the same line as Judith Miller. Podhoretz didn’t join the neocon anti-Trump/Never-Trump ranks, for example, and was excoriated for that particular swaying with the breeze.
You continue to damage your credibility by commenting on areas which you clearly do not have first hand experience or expertise.

Posted by: c1ue | Sep 24 2022 18:54 utc | 155

How the sludge flows:
1) It starts with British intelligence (e.g. Steele Dossier, Putin wants to take Kiev in three days, Germans are killing babies in Belgium)
2) This is fed to US intelligence (CIA). Yes, Americans can’t have a unique idea in their head and need to be told what to think by Brits.
3) This then goes to US media (Wapo, NY Times) who use a thesaurus and writing software to achieve the maximum persuasive effect. (Putin’s anger grows as his army’s supply concerns worsen).
4) Twitter accounts real and otherwise, run with these ideas to amplify the noise using the strongest possible emotional language (newborn babies, we are talking right out of the womb are being killed).
5) A few small blogs and commentators question the sludge and are mercilessly attacked for being ignorant if they make any factual mistake, or traitors if they don’t.
Fun stuff!

Posted by: Tom | Sep 24 2022 18:57 utc | 156

The 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows that journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is completely or partly blocked in 73% of the 180 countries ranked by the organisation. In the 2021 Freedom Index US ranks #32, between Suriname and Lithuania . .here.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Sep 24 2022 19:06 utc | 157

“..You continue to damage your credibility by commenting on areas which you clearly do not have first hand experience or expertise. c1ue@155
I’ll take that risk. The point you make re Podhoretz I dealt with above at 104.
I’ll leave it at that.
If commentary on neo-con policy is to be restricted to persons who attend briefings a the Hoover Institute I suspect that you will be swapping opinions with yourself- most of us wouldn’t be seen dead within miles of the place.

Posted by: bevin | Sep 24 2022 19:09 utc | 158

I have noticed another journalistic trend. Policies and politicians that had previously been labeled as “right” or “conservative” are now “Far Right.” Yes, in caps, to make sure the horror is recognized. On some reports the phrase “Far Right” is repeated over and over.

Posted by: Matador | Sep 24 2022 19:20 utc | 159

Posted by: bevin | Sep 24 2022 13:00 utc | 64
According to Wikipedia (I know, I know), Podhoretz was never a Trotskyist, but a ‘liberal’. I realise that in the US there is much confusion between ‘liberals’ and ‘leftists’ but surely this appelation of ‘Trotskyist’ is unwarranted? (Unless you have some kind of anti-Marxist axe to grind?)
As a European I know little about Podhoretz, but the W. article rings true in that he seemed to have a Jewish / Liberal background.

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Sep 24 2022 19:28 utc | 160

Posted by: oldhippie | Sep 24 2022 13:16 utc | 67
I think you may be confusing ‘leftists’ with ‘members of the !Labour! Party. The two are mostly mutually exclusive.

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Sep 24 2022 19:33 utc | 161

re: Far Right
Aug 5, 2021: Iran’s new hardline President Ebrahim Raisi sworn in – BBC
It’s been mandatory ever since for every “journalist” to repeat this silly appraisal of Raisi. Is there any other hardline president on the planet? Not that I know of.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Sep 24 2022 19:34 utc | 162

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Sep 24 2022 13:35 utc | 69
It should be apparent by now to anyone with a functioning brain the Sturgeon (aka ‘the Wee Liar’) is a fully paid up member of the UK establishment. She is content to have her corrupt little Scottish empire, and to not rock the boat too much as long as they leave her in power.

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Sep 24 2022 19:37 utc | 163

@Opport Knocks | Sep 24 2022 18:27 utc | 150

My Canadian voting standards may be different, but filling out the ballot with the person who handed it to me watching at the same table and then depositing it in a glass box, sometimes with my choice visible to a photographer does not meet democratic “best practices”.

I have not been offered the chance to vote on whether we should send weapons and money to Ukraine, and I don’t think anyone else in the West have been offered the chance to vote on the issue, but we are now expected to pay an extreme price regardless.
Take your voting standards to the polling station where you vote on this western war.

Posted by: Norwegian | Sep 24 2022 19:42 utc | 164

Posted by: Joe9211 | Sep 24 2022 15:07 utc | 90
Cute. But no cigar.

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Sep 24 2022 19:44 utc | 165

Just a reminder, democracy is governance by the people, not voting for one schmuck or another.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Sep 24 2022 19:46 utc | 166

The publisher of the NYT from 1991-2016 came out and apologized to its readers for all the lies about Clinton’s chances in 2016. He admitted the NYT had deliberately lied in order to depress Trump supporters and encourage HRC supporters. The staff at NYT all believe in Cultural Relativism, you can not know the truth so every thing is a “narrative”. So the NYT has become a pure propaganda rag. Do not know why people still cling to the idea that the NYT is “must” read.

Posted by: John Neal Spangler | Sep 24 2022 19:55 utc | 167

Posted by: oldhippie | Sep 24 2022 16:39 utc | 123
I say! Please show a bit more respect for the anointed monarch. His correct title is:
“Big-Ears’
He is regularly driven around in the State Vehicle, driven by his friend Noddy Truss, and occasionally interrupted by PC Keir Plod.
Enid Blyton was pretty prescient.

Posted by: Jams O’Donnell | Sep 24 2022 19:59 utc | 168

Do not know why people still cling to the idea that the NYT is “must” read.
Posted by: John Neal Spangler | Sep 24 2022 19:55 utc | 167

It is a must read for those whose job (self-appointed or otherwise) it is to parrot the correct talking points. My ex-boss, a CEO, used to regularly quote from both it and The Economist. I’m sure the high level people he was pitching deals to were suitably impressed. My job was to convince the IT grunts that our products and servers were secure.
It also appears to be a must read for b, who spends far too much time debunking it to the non-readers here.
I abandoned it in the early 80s, who has time when raising a family, and never missed it.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Sep 24 2022 20:12 utc | 169

Needless to say, the same goes for the Sydney Morning Herald on any subject other than local gossip.
God bless you Bernhard.

Posted by: Patroklos | Sep 24 2022 20:25 utc | 170

Mercouris is pointing out that US officials are constantly using projection to try to intimidate Russians by use of nuclear weapons. They are warning Russians of grave consequences should they use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Obviously Russia never threatened they are ready to use nuclear weapons, except in the case they were attacked by one. Does this point to a specific level of desperation in the US with the given development of the war in Ukraine and failed Western attempts to hurt Russia?

Posted by: Milos | Sep 24 2022 20:27 utc | 171

It is quite obvious to anyone not programmed by MSM that RF is winning and will win. Why does MSM keep pushing the narrative of RF incompetence, failure and imminent loss? At the current trajectory events will show how ridiculous these lies are. To write it off as stupidity or incompetence is to underestimate and not understand the adversary. After all they are clever enough to to coach their “reporting” with the measly “he said..he says etc etc..”
One dark hypothesis is they are establishing the narrative of RF failure and coming defeat and thus desperation so that RF will initiate the nuclear option because “Putin has painted himself into a corner”. This is the ultimate projection so they can launch and blame Putin. I hope I am wrong. Please let’s all pray this will not be the scenario.

Posted by: E Chan | Sep 24 2022 20:32 utc | 172

It’s not the first time for the NYT. Here is the apology for the NYT biased Iraq war propaganda:
https://sites.psu.edu/com409vicaro/2014/02/26/ny-times-apology-for-poorly-covering-iraq-war/
They are on autopilot for neocon causes, as for the “facts”, they make them up or omit them as often as they can.

Posted by: Paul GV | Sep 24 2022 20:36 utc | 173

b – thanks for an excellent take down of this spoon fed bs from the nyt…
@ Mummer | Sep 24 2022 18:49 utc | 154
that is an excellent observation that i am sure escaped quite a few folks… it was just another cynical, but slick form of propaganda that many swallowed without considering what they were swallowing..
@ E Chan | Sep 24 2022 20:32 utc | 172
that is a disturbing explanation and one i can’t rule out… these folks running this gong show are truly demented..

Posted by: james | Sep 24 2022 20:38 utc | 174

«to stenograph that nonsense? A lot of anonymous American officials said […] The NYT printed all those false claims without providing evidence for their veracity»
The NYT printed according to you many true facts, that someone said something. It is up to the reader to understand that when a journalist reports that “X achieved Y, said X” instead of reporting “X achieved Y” that means that there is no evidence that Y happened, and the journalist is fairly sure it did not happen.
Reporting “X achieved Y, X said” is a way for a journalist to avoid writing explicitly “Y is bullshit”. Any reasonable person understands that bald claims by self-interest sources are usually bullshit.

Posted by: Blissex | Sep 24 2022 20:50 utc | 175

@ james | Sep 24 2022 20:38 utc | 174
There may be a silver lining all of this. In opposition to America’s “Thank-you-for-your-service” Crowd, it does not seem to be working upon the younger generation Z. … Military recruitment amongst that group is woefully low.
Perhaps we need to come up with a ‘Counter-Slogan’ to this also. … Something like, “We do not thank you for your Corporatist service”.
Any suggestions?

Posted by: Mummer | Sep 24 2022 20:58 utc | 176

Blissex @175
Caveat lector, eh? It is the readers’ fault for being deceived and not the presstitutes’ fault for trying to deceive?
That’s some victim blaming there. Do you also blame the rape victims and absolve their attackers? “Hey, rapists are gonna rape! It’s your fault for going anywhere that rapists are.”

Posted by: William Gruff | Sep 24 2022 21:05 utc | 177

@ Blissex | Sep 24 2022 20:50 utc | 175
“X achieved Y, said X” instead of reporting “X achieved Y”
That’s been solved. There is no requirement that X achieved anything at all, verbal or otherwise. Hillary almost getting the presidency is a good example.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Sep 24 2022 21:09 utc | 178

That’s if we assume, as I have done since February, that Scholz’s Barbarossa 2 is as much of a bust as the first. I don’t see how things can turn out otherwise.
Posted by: English Outsider | Sep 24 2022 15:26 utc | 98
I have the White Tiger on now having never seen it before. Thanks for the recommendation.
Maybe we can take some consolation in the following: as fast as the virulent hatred can be ginned up by propaganda so can it be redirected elsewhere or dissipate altogether.
If there is one thing I’ve learned in recent years it’s the unbelievable capacity for most people in our societies to follow wherever they are told to go, to think, to feel, to speak. I find the whole thing very sad. It’s probably always been that way, but because of my being born after the Great Wars I never witnessed such widespread phenomena (as covid and now the geopolitical tectonics).
We just found out today that the small hotel our family had booked several rooms in months ago doesn’t have the rooms. My 90 year old mother arrived first and became quite upset. I told her to ‘please not worry or feel responsible’ (because she was doing both); ‘our world has gone mad since covid so this is just something to take in stride.’ I believe this is a fair remark.
London is fully booked next weekend (end of September, lovely time to visit) so it was hard but we found something soulless in a soulless area not far from where we were first going to meet (simply because that’s where we lived long ago, I would have preferred something outside the city frankly but…) I am greatly looking forward to seeing my small family with four generations all together (for probably the only time) after too many years apart but the prospect of travelling through airports and planes and major city London … ugh! Because it does indeed feel to me like our civilization is lost.
And the way so much shallow, ill-founded hysteria is so easily and rapidly aroused is part of it. How did we all get to be so collectively stupid and submissive?
Well one way is that too many of our storytellers work for centralized organs, too many major formative narratives are controlled and far too many people are willing to parrot them, even correct anyone who raises doubts. Ultimately, we are coralling ourselves into a slaughterhouse of our own cowardly making. And anyone reading the NYT at this point is further enabling this mass suicide.
Like I said, it’s very sad..

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 24 2022 21:11 utc | 179

Posted by: E Chan | Sep 24 2022 20:32 utc | 172
One dark hypothesis is they are establishing the narrative of RF failure and coming defeat and thus desperation so that RF will initiate the nuclear option because “Putin has painted himself into a corner”. This is the ultimate projection so they can launch and blame Putin. I hope I am wrong. Please let’s all pray this will not be the scenario.
I’m afraid you nailed it.

Posted by: blueswede | Sep 24 2022 21:12 utc | 180

Mummer @176: “Military recruitment amongst that [Millennial] group is woefully low.”
That is just because they are too fat and dumb to make usable cannon fodder.
From Stripes: “An estimated 71% of young Americans are unfit for military service, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The major reasons are obesity, education deficits, criminal records and drug use.”

Posted by: William Gruff | Sep 24 2022 21:13 utc | 181

You continue to damage your credibility by commenting on areas which you clearly do not have first hand experience or expertise.
Posted by: c1ue | Sep 24 2022 18:54 utc | 155
You don’t seriously think your own “attends presentations” counts as any real first hand experience or expertise, do you?
I mean, come on, if you’re gonna attack a barfly for having no experience, show your own or STFU.

Posted by: Michigan Dude | Sep 24 2022 21:14 utc | 182

Posted by: pretzelattack | Sep 24 2022 21:19 utc | 183

A major problem in the US is that the news has been turned into a reality TV show that is meant to be addicting to people who watch it.
Posted by: John R Moffett | Sep 24 2022 16:09 utc | 112
It’s not just the news, it’s everything. For years now I’ve been joking that the US is a ‘Reality TV Republic with a Reality TV President.’
(Then they elected Trump!!)
(And Ukraine got Elensky!)

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 24 2022 21:24 utc | 184

Brutal day for Russian aviation, at least 3 Sukhois of various types and one helo (claimed to be Ka-52 but impossible to verify type from the video).
It looks like Russia has gone “risk on” with its air force attempting more & closer sorties to support Lyman defense and prevent the Kupyansk bridgehead from expanding. It will be interesting to see how many losses Russia is willing to absorb before reverting to standoff range.

Posted by: Yenwoda | Sep 24 2022 21:25 utc | 185

Sanz @ 138:
There is a Wikipedia article on the Russia-Georgia border. It states that there is one route, the Georgian Military Highway, connecting the two nations directly. The highway is extremely busy with long queues of trucks on the Georgian side waiting to enter Russia. There would be plenty of truck drivers passing the time away taking photos and videos of people trying to flee mobilisation and posting pictures onto their social media accounts. I should imagine that border and customs control points along the highway are well staffed and guarded.
The other two routes from Russia into Georgia run through Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both recognised by Russia and a few other countries as independent of Georgia.
I would think a person would have to be quite desperate to drive, cycle or hitch rides from Russia into Georgia when major Russian cities not far from Georgia (cities like Krasnodar, Stavropol perhaps) would have flight connections with Turkey and other parts of the Middle East, if one wants to make a clean getaway.

Posted by: Jen | Sep 24 2022 21:26 utc | 186

From Stripes: “An estimated 71% of young Americans are unfit for military service, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The major reasons are obesity, education deficits, criminal records and drug use.”
Posted by: William Gruff | Sep 24 2022 21:13 utc | 181
I have to say, it used to be a lot more difficult to avoid military service.

Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 24 2022 21:27 utc | 187

“Generally speaking, we shouldn’t be employing the same kind of tactics that our adversaries are using…We are a society that is built on a certain set of values. We promote those values around the world and when we use tactics like those, it just undermines our argument about who we are.”
Posted by: SeanAU | Sep 24 2022 16:14 utc | 115
GAG ME WITH A SPOON!!

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 24 2022 21:28 utc | 188

Posted by: Greybeard | Sep 24 2022 18:37 utc | 15
A very true and clear assessment of the situation we are living through…spot on…

Posted by: notlurking | Sep 24 2022 21:30 utc | 189

CHEERS !
Posted by: Featherless | Sep 24 2022 16:42 utc | 125
Thanks for kind words.
(I need them after the bloodbath of calumny heaped upon me yesterday by Establishment PooBahs!)

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 24 2022 21:32 utc | 190

Posted by: Greybeard | Sep 24 2022 18:37 utc | 152
A very true and clear assessment of the situation we are living through…spot on..

Posted by: notlurking | Sep 24 2022 21:34 utc | 191

@Jen #186, I don’t think you will find a flight from Krasnodar to Istanbul in the next month that isn’t fully booked already.

Posted by: Yenwoda | Sep 24 2022 21:36 utc | 192

Posted by: Comandante | Sep 24 2022 17:26 utc | 137
“And 2% are people who don’t believe a word of mainstream media. Remember the Iraq war lies. The Libya lies. And detest both Trump and Clintons. These 2% are the last hope in the US. And most of these are too scared to make their thoughts public.”
Nuts!
You had me going… I thought I was going to be in your 2% until I got to ‘detesting Trump.’
I don’t detest Trump.
I like Trump.
He makes me laugh.
He’s the only US politician that’s made me do that regularly since….
since I dunno!
Can’t think of another one!

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 24 2022 21:39 utc | 193

I live in US, not far from nyc …
Posted by: jared | Sep 24 2022 17:47 utc | 142
Commiserations…

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 24 2022 21:43 utc | 194

I wonder if the mobilisation is being used to round up the ‘activated’ US assets and the Gehlen subversives.
It would be a perfect cover to purge Russia of its potential colour revolutionists and 5th columns.

Posted by: Johnycomelately | Sep 24 2022 21:44 utc | 195

Bemildred @187: “I have to say, it used to be a lot more difficult to avoid military service.”
Well, sure but that was from a time when most people still possessed the cognitive power to open a can of tuna. Americans have devolved a bit since then.

Posted by: William Gruff | Sep 24 2022 21:45 utc | 196

From mintpressnews earlier this month a great piece on propaganda:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/john-pilger-silencing-lambs-how-propaganda-works/281884/
“In the 1970s, I met one of Hitler’s leading propagandists, Leni Riefenstahl, whose epic films glorified the Nazis. We happened to be staying at the same lodge in Kenya, where she was on a photography assignment, having escaped the fate of other friends of the Fuhrer.
She told me that the ‘patriotic messages’ of her films were dependent not on ‘orders from above’ but on what she called the ‘submissive void’ of the German public.
Did that include the liberal, educated bourgeoisie? I asked. ‘Yes, especially them,’ she said.
I think of this as I look around at the propaganda now consuming Western societies.
Of course, we are very different from Germany in the 1930s. We live in information societies. We are globalists. We have never been more aware, more in touch, better connected.
Are we? Or do we live in a Media Society where brainwashing is insidious and relentless, and perception is filtered according to the needs and lies of state and corporate power?
The United States dominates the Western world’s media. All but one of the top ten media companies are based in North America. The internet and social media – Google, Twitter, Facebook – are mostly American owned and controlled.
In my lifetime, the United States has overthrown or attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, mostly democracies. It has interfered in democratic elections in 30 countries. It has dropped bombs on the people of 30 countries, most of them poor and defenceless. It has attempted to murder the leaders of 50 countries. It has fought to suppress liberation movements in 20 countries.
The extent and scale of this carnage is largely unreported, unrecognized; and those responsible continue to dominate Anglo-American political life.
In the years before he died in 2008, the playwright Harold Pinter made two extraordinary speeches, which broke a silence.
‘US foreign policy,’ he said, is ‘best defined as follows: kiss my arse or I’ll kick your head in. It is as simple and as crude as that. What is interesting about it is that it’s so incredibly successful. It possesses the structures of disinformation, use of rhetoric, distortion of language, which are very persuasive, but are actually a pack of lies. It is very successful propaganda. They have the money, they have the technology, they have all the means to get away with it, and they do.”
In accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature, Pinter said this:
The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.”
Pinter was a friend of mine and possibly the last great political sage – that is, before dissenting politics were gentrified. I asked him if the ‘hypnosis’ he referred to was the ‘submissive void’ described by Leni Riefenstahl.
‘It’s the same,’ he replied. ‘It means the brainwashing is so thorough we are programmed to swallow a pack of lies. If we don’t recognise propaganda, we may accept it as normal and believe it. That’s the submissive void.’”

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 24 2022 21:53 utc | 197

DJD132.
Here in kanuckistan 2IC is a Ukraine 1st, er.

Posted by: Tannenhouser | Sep 24 2022 21:53 utc | 198

Speaking of US/UK Psyops, I see that Alexei Navalny had the opportunity to weigh in on mobilization with a statement via his lawyers.

I don’t understand one thing. The army – a million people, the National Guard – 350 thousand people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs another one and a half to two million, there are so many people in the Federal Penitentiary Service. Why would they call on civilians?
That is, five million evaders will run back and forth across the country. And a million cops will run after them to mobilize them somewhere.
So the prisoners didn’t pull the situation out? How many percent of us are sitting at 228? Of these, those are still soldiers. They can be paid with heroin.
Right now, some Kovrov hard workers, 30-year-old men – they will now be called upon to lay down somewhere near Kherson. It’s all terrible. I think they will not call from Moscow. Summon 50,000 people from Moscow and tomorrow 150,000 relatives will protest on the street.
The main thing is already clear that the criminal war of aggression that is going on is getting worse. And Putin is trying to involve as many people as possible in all this, he wants to smear hundreds of thousands of people in blood. Of course, this will lead to huge tragedies, a huge number of deaths, and certainly will not lead to anything good.
The size of this crime and the number of those involved is growing, and this is done solely to ensure that one person holds this personal power. In order to extend his personal power, Putin is tormenting the neighboring country, killing people there, and now he is throwing a huge number of Russian citizens into this meat grinder of war, who should just live normally and take care of their families. So, of course, it was a crime, now it has become a crime of a much larger scale.

https://meduza.io/feature/2022/09/21/putin-hochet-zamazat-v-krovi-sotni-tysyach-lyudey
I still do not understand why his handlers in MI-6 sent him back to Russia when he could have claimed asylum in Germany. Were they that annoyed by his poor performance and substance abuse that they wanted him to do the jail time?

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Sep 24 2022 22:10 utc | 199

“Mercouris is pointing out that US officials are constantly using projection to try to intimidate Russians by use of nuclear weapons. They are warning Russians of grave consequences should they use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.”
Posted by: Milos | Sep 24 2022 20:27 utc | 171
Posturing for domestic consumption. They know the Russians don’t listen to anything they say and couldn’t care less what it is even if they do. They need this war to keep going whilst they bring our entire world into ruins. (I just pray this collapse doesn’t involve nuclear strikes.)

Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 24 2022 22:12 utc | 200

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