The Guardian, Washington Post and Der Spiegel have today published “bombshell” revelations about Russian cyber warfare based on leaked documents, but have produced only one single, rather innocuous leaked document between them (in the Washington Post), with zero links to any.
Where are these documents and what do they actually say? Der Spiegel tells us:
This is all chronicled in 1,000 secret documents that include 5,299 pages full of project plans, instructions and internal emails from Vulkan from the years 2016 to 2021. Despite being all in Russian and extremely technical in nature, they provide unique insight into the depths of Russian cyberwarfare plans.
OK. So where are they?
Ten different media houses have cooperated on the leaks, and the articles have been produced by large teams of journalists in each individual publication.
The Guardian article is by Luke Harding, Stilyana Simeonova, Manisha Ganguly and Dan Sabbagh. The Washington Post Article is by Craig Timberg, Ellen Nakashima, Hannes Munzinga and Hakan Tanriverdi. The Der Spiegel article is by 22 named journalists!
So that is 30 named journalists, with each publication deploying a large team to produce its own article.
And yet if you read through those three articles, you cannot help but note they are (ahem) remarkably similar.
From Der Spiegel:
“These documents suggest that Russia sees attacks on civilian critical infrastructure and social media manipulation as one-and-the-same mission, which is essentially an attack on the enemy’s will to fight,” says John Hultquist, a leading expert on Russian cyberwarfare and vice president of intelligence analysis at Mandiant, an IT security company.
From the Washington Post:
“These documents suggest that Russia sees attacks on civilian critical infrastructure and social media manipulation as one and the same mission, which is essentially an attack on the enemy’s will to fight,” said John Hultquist, the vice president for intelligence analysis at the cybersecurity firm Mandiant
From the Guardian:
John Hultquist, the vice-president of intelligence analysis at the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which reviewed selections of the material at the request of the consortium, said: “These documents suggest that Russia sees attacks on civilian critical infrastructure and social media manipulation as one and the same mission, which is essentially an attack on the enemy’s will to fight.”
Note that it is not just the central Hultquist quote which is the same. In each case the teams of thirty journalists have very slightly altered a copy-and-pasted entire paragraph.
In fact the remarkable sameness of all three articles, with the same quotes and sources and same ideas, makes plain to anybody reading that all these articles are taken from a single source document. The question is who produced that central document? I assume it is one of the “five security services”, which all of the articles say were consulted.
Revealingly all three articles include the comprehensively debunked claim that Russia hacked the Clinton or DNC emails. They all include it despite the fact that none of the three articles makes the slightest attempt to connect this allegation to any of the leaked Vulkan documents, or to provide any evidence for it at all.
The casual reader is led to the conclusion that in some way the Vulkan leak proves the Clinton hack – despite the fact that no evidence is adduced and in fact, on close reading, none of the articles actually makes any claim that there is any reference at all to the Clinton hack in the Vulkan documents, or any other kind of evidence in them supporting the claim.
That all three teams of journalists independently decided to throw in a debunked claim, unrelated to any of the leaked material they are supposedly discussing, is not very probable. Again, they are plainly working from a central source that highlights the Clinton nonsense.
The Washington Post does actually deign to give us a facsimile of one page of one of the leaked emails, which does indeed appear to reference cyberwarfare capabilities to control or disable vital infrastructure.
But the problem is they are showing us page 4 of a document, devoid of context. Why no link to the whole document? We can see it is about research into these capabilities, but presumably the whole document might reveal something about the purpose of such research – for example, is it offensive or to develop defence against such attacks?
I am always suspicious of leaks where the actual documents are kept hidden, and we only know what we are told by – in this case – a propaganda operation which, even on the surface of it, involves western security services, US government funded “cyber security firms”, and Microsoft and Google.
When Wikileaks releases documents, they actually release the whole documents so that you can look at them and make up your own mind on what they really say or mean. Such as, for example, the Vault 7 release on CIA Hacking Tools.
My favourite Vault 7 revelation was that the CIA hackers leave behind fake “fingerprints”, including commands in Cyrillic script, to create a false trail that the Russians did it. Again you can see the actual documents on Wikileaks.
I have no reason to doubt that Russia employs techniques of cyber warfare. But I have absolutely no reason to believe that Russia does so any more than Western security services.
In fact there is some indication in this Vulkan information that Russian cyber warfare capability is less advanced than Western. With absolutely zero self-awareness of the implications of what they are saying, Luke Harding and his team at the Guardian tell us that:
One document shows engineers recommending Russia add to its own capabilities by using hacking tools stolen in 2016 from the US National Security Agency and posted online.
It is, of course, only bad when the Russians do it.
The fact there is virtually no cross-referencing to the Snowden or Vault 7 leaks in any of the publications, shows this up for the coordinated security service propaganda exercise that it is.
But there are numerous examples given of various hacks alleged to be committed by Russian security services, with no links whatsoever to any document in the Vulkan leaks, and in fact no evidence given of any kind, except for multiple references to allegations by US authorities.
The Washington Post article has the best claim to maintain some kind of reasonable journalistic standard. It includes these important phrases, admissions notably absent from the Guardian’s Luke Harding led piece:
These officials and experts could not find definitive evidence that the systems have been deployed by Russia or been used in specific cyberattacks
The documents do not, however, include verified target lists, malicious software code or evidence linking the projects to known cyberattacks.
Still, they offer insights into the aims of a Russian state that — like other major powers, including the United States — is eager to grow and systematize its ability to conduct cyberattacks with greater speed, scale and efficiency.
The last quote is of course the key point, and the Washington Post does deserve some kudos at least for acknowledging it, which is more than you can say for the Guardian or Der Spiegel. Even the Washington Post, having acknowledged the point, in no way allows it to affect the tone or tenor of its report.
But in truth there is no reason to doubt that the Russian state is developing cyberwarfare capabilities, and there is no reason to doubt that commercial companies including Vulkan are involved in some of the sub-contracted work.
But exactly the same thing is true of the United States, the United Kingdom, or any major Western nation. Tens of billions are being poured into cyberwarfare, and the resources deployed on it by NATO states vastly outnumber the resources available to Russia.
Which puts in perspective this large exercise in anti-Russian propaganda. Here are some key facts about it for you:
Taking the Guardian, Washington Post and Der Spiegel articles together:
- Less than 2% of the articles consist of direct quotes from the alleged leaked documents
- Less than 10% of the articles consist of alleged description of the contents of the documents
- Over 15% of the articles consist of comment by western security services and cyber warfare industry
- Over 40% of the articles consist of descriptions of alleged Russian hacking activity, zero of which is referenced in the acutal Vulkan leaks
We get to see one page of an alleged 5,000 leaked, plus a couple of maps and graphics.
It took 30 MSM journalists to produce this gross propaganda. I could have done it alone for them in a night, working up three slightly different articles from what the security services have fed them, directly and indirectly.
I can see the attraction of being a “journalist” shill for power, it has been very easy money for the mucky thirty.
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In an infamous interview with Aaron Maté, before hanging up before the end of the interview, Luke Harding admitted he was a ‘storyteller’ rather than a journalist. As soon as you see the byline Luke Harding, you can be sure it is regurgitated British intelligence bullshit. In fact, since Harding was found guilty of plagarism dating from his time in Moscow, you can also be sure, he merely copied and pasted such bullshit. The fact that he continues to be employed by the Guardian, shows how far that so-called liberal publication has fallen.
Absolutely
Also responsible for the risible bs about Assange visited by Trump representatives, whilst in the embassy.
That interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ikf1uZli4g
Sigh, as usual a nothing burger clothed in spy-novel framing.
I read and read trying to find some breaking smoking gun but there was nothing.
Is this another hack and thus a leak by western intelligence?
Some take away quotes from the guardian piece:
“People should know the dangers of this,” the whistleblower said. “Because of the events in Ukraine, I decided to make this information public. The company is doing bad things and the Russian government is cowardly and wrong. I am angry about the invasion of Ukraine and the terrible things that are happening there. I hope you can use this information to show what is happening behind closed doors.”
…yeah… that that statement do not seems to be fabricated by a western intelligence officer no no.
Or take this part:
“. It is not known whether the tools built by Vulkan have been used for real-world attacks, in Ukraine or elsewhere.”
Oh, so you have no evidence that this evil russian group have actually carried out something evil?
“One part of Amezit is domestic-facing, allowing operatives to hijack and take control of the internet if unrest breaks out in a Russian region, or the country gains a stronghold over territory in a rival nation state, such as Ukraine. Internet traffic deemed to be politically harmful can be removed before it has a chance to spread.”
Note “if unrest break out”.. (IF!)
Does anyone believe that if a western state would be occupied, that these very western states do not have plans to disable internet in that very area (to say the least)?
This is also quite funny, an alleged russian bot they name on Twitter:
“The leak contains screenshots of fake Twitter accounts and hashtags used by the Russian military from 2014 until earlier this year. They spread disinformation, including a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton and a denial that Russia’s bombing of Syria killed civilians. Following the invasion of Ukraine, one Vulkan-linked fake Twitter account posted: “Excellent leader #Putin”.”
..I googled this account and folks.hold on now this alleged bot have… 17 followers! And ZERO retweets! I mean call the police the russians are coming!
http://twitter.com/1984leonidfedo1/
I see nothing offensive with this alleged russian cyberactivities, here is something offensive though:
“Biden has been presented with options for massive cyberattacks against Russia
The options presented include disrupting the internet across Russia, shutting off power and stopping trains in their tracks.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-presented-options-massive-cyberattacks-russia-rcna17558
When Luke Harding is the lead author on a report, you know it’s purely a clown show. This is the guy who cowered in his Moscow hotel room, too terrified to open the window lest the KGB listen in, knowing all the room service people were KGB, watching the evil KGB take control of his laptop and erase what he wrote even as he was writing it.
Seems Luke has somehow escaped his padded cell.
Indeed. This is very typical of the so called western “russia watchers”, they become obsessed and paranoid beyond rationality. They have so much in common with the Qanons and their conspiracy-theory-laden world and groupthink.
I still chuckle when I think of when Aaron Maté years ago interviewed Harding, and Harding just suddenly departed from the interview when the questions were too hard.
I know this man Aaron Maté. He appears on The Duran and The Jimmy Dore Show.
I’m ashamed to say I fail to get what he is talking about, because this guy Aaron has some truly beautiful eyes 🙂
Every time I try to listen and every time I find myself thinking ‘oh, he looked to the left! And now he smiled! His head is connected to his neck in some perfect manner!’ etc etc. Like watching a painting in a museum 🙂
Aaron spoke in the United Nations recently, on chemical attack in Syria
https://youtu.be/v1BCtPgyxYI
incredible eyes and posture, like a classic ballet dancer
TATYANA
“posture, like a classic ballet dancer”
now see, that´s it. There was always something irritating about his very posture you mention.
I certainly won´t ask him about it (Aaron, did you do ballet in your youth?).
Who knows they might ban me from fb, since ballet is considered too Russian…
But it could be an explanation. I believe once you did that kind of thing, it’s for “life”.
To stay in a good mood and in the ballet genre, and to withstand the all-encompassing crap, here is the famous dancing excerpt from the marvelous –
“The private life of Sherlock Holmes”, by Bily Wilder (1970) – Watson’s dance, approx. 9 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsXmFaylJFU
(note the great Clive Revill as director of the Russian ballet company)
p.s. Wilder, albeit no great director in the elementary sense of the profession, was a fine one and extremely good with musical cues. Which is a quality you find in most of his later films.
p.p.s. Only recently did I learn that the sweet called “Pavlova” was named and invented in the honour of the eponymous Russian ballet legend when she visited – Australia! – of all places
p.p.p.s. If I find the time I will look into the Vulkan leaks (too many Trekkies on the News staff???) as published by Süddeutsche Zeitung who shared this valuable piece of intelligence with DER SPIEGEL.
There’s nothing irritating about Maté, or his father for that matter. They both do great work.
Gordon Hastie
this was not about the work of Maté.
I am an ardent supporter.
It was a tongue-in-cheek comment, I assume by T, and certainly by myself.
Trying to look on the brite side for a moment. And I welcomed her idea. That’s all.
And indeed I shared her observation. But to interpret it as a comment on politics is a complete misunderstanding.
It´s, well, about form not content.
Since 99% here we exchange views and knowledge on matters of content.
btw, Engl. Wikipedia on Maté,
fascinating:
“(…)Aaron Maté is a Canadian writer and journalist.[2][3] He hosts the show Pushback with Aaron Maté on The Grayzone[2] and, as of January 2022, he fills in as a host on the Useful Idiots podcast.[4]
Maté works as a reporter for The Grayzone, a far-left news website and blog[5][6] which publishes supportive coverage of the Russian,[5] Syrian,[5] and Chinese governments,[7] including denial of Uyghur genocide.[5][7] In addition to his work for The Grayzone, Maté has also contributed to The Nation, and appeared several times on Fox News on Tucker Carlson Tonight.[8][9][10]
He challenged allegations of collusion between the Russian Government and the 2016 Trump Campaign, and the extent to which Russian interference influenced the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election.[5]
With regard to Maté’s reporting on the Syrian Civil War, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue said that, among the 28 social media accounts, individuals, outlets and organisations which it studied, Maté was the most prolific spreader of disinformation surrounding the war, including on the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government.[11] He has testified at multiple United Nations Arria meetings hosted by the Russian Federation and China, about what he called a cover-up by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons regarding the April 2018 Douma chemical attack.(…)”
When did Wiki turn into this pile of garbage?
Fortunately at least there are different language versions.
But uninformed youth preparing their homework on the basis of this?
Good God…
p.s. who the hell is “Institute for Strategic Dialogue”?
I have seen the names on the board. They read like Count Dracula´s hit squad. But who is giving the orders & the money, beyond Open Society blablabla?
p.p.s. Maté wrote a book on Russiagate, will be published in May:
https://www.amazon.de/Cold-War-Hot-Russiagate-Washington/dp/1682193721
> The Grayzone, a far-left news website
Wikipedia’s definition of “far-left” is idiosyncratic, if you don’t happen to be from the USA.
They could just have nicked his laptop while he was on a train or some other transportation.
BTW, I think it’s the FSB now. There may still be KGB operatives around, but they will likely be fully occupied managing their zimmers.
A competent spook would hire a competent thief to dothe actual thieving. Such thieves are common on german railways according to a previous comment.
The UK has its own dedicated Cyber Warfare division, as you correctly point out; every country is developing and deploying Cyber capabilities, undoubtedly both defensive and offensive in nature.
It’s a non-story and clearly just a pretty poor attempt at a bit more propaganda.
I guess what we should be asking is: “what is this bit of chaff about, what are they deflecting us from ?”
The Russians were never under any illusion that Luke Harding was a journalist which is why they blocked his visa a number of years ago. He’s been spitting blood ever since.
His newspaper, The Guardian, now routinely ‘pre-moderates’ any comments that I make BTL ever since I objected to Harding’s warmongering NATO stance. This sometimes verges on the bizarre. Last week I commented on the retiral of the German footballer Ozil and pointed out that his friendship with President Erdoğan was probably linked to a love of the game: Erdoğan had been a promising player in his youth and was offered professional terms. This comment did not meet the required terms and conditions of the Guardian newspaper and was removed.
Hilarious to discover that the Graun – or Guard? – as well as having nowt to do with Peterloo in fact, having claimed it was founded in response to that massacre, and having gone to great lengths to smear anyone on the actual left all these years, while happy to take money from Gates, was founded courtesy of the profits from slavery. Maybe I’m being unfair, as I haven’t read the thousands of words the G’s spent trying to explain itself. I sincerely hope it’s lost many more readers this week. But agents of the State have to keep going.
Craig, thanks for reading this sh!te so that we don’t have to.
No real news or surprises – they lie, they cheat, …
Anything that has the smell of Luke Harding (MI6 employee, pals with spy and Skripal minder Paco Miller, embedded in Ukraine, etc.) about it is obvious BS and should be dismissed without further ado.
The fact is: the west uses cyber warfare and the military against its ‘own’ citizens. As such, I don’t give a damn what Russia and China are allegedly doing – our governments are doing worse to us, damn them.
I was with you as soon as you wrote “Luke Harding”.
(like half the comments here)
Bravo for reading, analysing and exposing these articles for the muck that they must be. I saw the Guardian headline and that was enough. It would simply not be worth the bother to read it.
This stuff follows of course the completely risibly incredulous make believe of the yacht and crew that we were led to disbelieve blew up the gas pipe lines instead of Seymour Hersh.
And when the Dawn Sturgess Inquiry seems to be proceeding at a snail’s pace and giving off a terrible stench of cover up by the full apparatus of the British state, not a dicky bird of questioning from the media.
For about a decade now the Guardian has effectively been run by the Ministry of Defence.
https://declassifieduk.org/how-the-uk-security-services-neutralised-the-countrys-leading-liberal-newspaper/
That is key to understanding not only the Hardings and Tisdalls but also the Monbiots and Joneses with their hatred of official enemy nations and refusal to recognise the antisemitism “crisis” scam.
I believe Rusbridger’s resignation so soon after the angle-grinder affair remains to be properly explained. Rusbridger himself doesn’t seem to have had much to say. I assume he was personally nobbled.
If you haven’t seen Aaron Maté’s interview with Harding, it’s well worth a look. His body language says more than words could ever express and he bails out of the interview mid-question. The words “arse”, “handed” and “plate” instantly spring to mind. Don’t know how to post working links, but if you google “Aaron Maté Luke Harding” it should work.
—
[ Mod: Try this: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Aaron+Mat%C3%A9+Luke+Harding ]
Saw it but clearly saw a different interview. Harding showed himself to be Maté’s superior in every respect. Maté is a sophomoric YouTuber. Harding is on another level. Oxford educated (as opposed to Maté who went to some no-name university and didn’t even finish), lived in Russia for years (as opposed to Maté who doesn’t appear ever to have left North America), speaks Russian fluently and understands Russia better than most. Some people just don’t want to accept proof no matter what you give them. Ever tried speaking to a flat earther? Maté clearly has an ideological agenda. As do most people on this thread by the look of things. Harding bested him here but the guy just kept whining “where’s the proof?” like a 12 year old. He didn’t leave the interview mid-question. He left at the very end probably after becoming exasperated by Maté’s ideological rigidity. If you disagree, do me a favour and go to Russia. Spend a year there.
This may seem as an off-topic, however, this article is quite revealing on how modern journalism works, and especially, the mentioning of how Wikipedia moderators sell their souls:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/04/03/the-dirty-secrets-of-a-smear-campaign
And this one is about Assange. I wonder if you’ve seen this:
https://theintercept.com/2023/03/30/julian-assange-congress-rashida-tlaib/
I know your rules, so if you decide not to open, no offence taken.
Meanwhile in the harsh physical world of wholesale slaughter, courtesy of Boris and Biden (“Do not do a deal with the Russians” -1year ago): EU to discuss sending troops as “Peacekeepers” – does there not need to be an agreed (UNSC) peace to keep?
https://www.rt.com/russia/573927-kremlin-peacekeeping-forces-ukraine/
If they do this, the Russians will have cause to declare war on the EU, fully mobilize, the Belorussians would enter. Defcon 1 would quickly follow. Sayonara everyone.
Russia to declare war on the EU?
Bring it on. Best way to bring this to a head.
I am reluctant to spend the rest of my life worrying about the madman in the Kremlin.
Let’s lance this Russian boil and move on to the important issues facing the world and humanity.
Hehe, always enjoy a good April Fool’s spoof! The worrying thing is, some are now so propagandised they’re almost capable of thinking something like that!
Forget about the “almost”. The options seem clear enough to me.
1 Throw in the towel, let Putin have his expanded imperium, wail and gnash our teeth while he regroups before going after the Baltics, Poland, etc.
2 Accept a never-ending attritional war in Ukraine, with regular nuclear sabre-rattling from the madman, while meantime, the third world starves. The west can do this, certainly, but the money would be better spent on the climate and refugee emergencies.
3 Lance the boil, drive the murdering and raping occupiers back over the border to where they came from. They already own most of the best bits of Asia. Teach them to be satisfied with that.
I favour option 3.
Two straw men and simplistic nonsense as a solution.
Since you’re so enthusiastic for your preferred option, why don’t you just go over there and sort them out yourself? Sounds straightforward enough.
John, with regard to your option 3 and your “bring it on” in your previous post, you seem to be very enthusiastic. What are you waiting for? Get yourself over there, I’m sure the Azov Batalion would wecome you with open arms and really appreciate your strategic prowess. Hell, I’ll even pay for your transport over there (as long as it’s one-way). This war business is so easy when you’re sat behind a keyboard thousands of miles away, isn’t it?
As an example of a primary school playground jibe, “Go fight for the Nazis yourself if you’re so keen”, will certainly do.
That sort of reply is all you deserve, John.
Your first two ‘options’ were hyperbolic bullshit, the third – your favourite – was “send them in!”
Yup, just “make it so”, lots of other people can fight and die and you’re happy enough to risk nuclear war. Very bold of you.
Trolling, John? Or are you really as simple as you’re coming across here? Now there’s a choice between three genuine options for you, since I will accept ‘both’ as an answer.
“As an example of a primary school playground jibe, “Go fight for the Nazis yourself if you’re so keen”, will certainly do.”
Oh, sorry, from the tone of your previous comment, I thought that was the level at which we were currently supposed to be pitching the conversation.
Perfectly summed up. I second option 3.
I’m Russian. From Russia.
I do not work for “military or cyberwarfare”, but frequently work with Russian government companies.
One page of “document” provided seems as part of genuine Requirement Specification (Техническое задание) document for some software tool to work with geographical data. (See old GOST markup on left side).
So, most probable this map do not have any information for itself – it’s just example “how geodata will be shown”.
Moreover, I think that actual “1000 documents” with medium size of 5 pages is actually some non-classified private e-mails, discussing internals affairs inside company.
If this “Map of USA” is most important piece to show to public: everything else is total crap.
It is as if the Americans, British and Europeans don’t have exactly the same plans and operate in exactly the same ways (but are currently losing in this war) but I have no doubt they are even more destructive.
The Guardian does not appear to be pushing this article. I first became aware of it when I read our esteemed hosts tweet early this morning (BST). It did not appear on the front page, and I had to google to access it. It’s still not ‘front page’ at 21.00 BST.
Still it’s yet another Russia Bad headline.
I agree that any nation with resources will have some kind of cyber warfare division which is a giant nothing-burger to me. I’m amazed that Hillary and friends still can’t accept the fact that they lost the 2016 election to Trump. It’s going to be an interesting ride now that Trump have been indicted.
“Let him go” says Joe Biden with regard to a journalist who is allegedly being held in hellish conditions. Unfortunately the journalist in question is not accused of publishing details of American war crimes and so Julian Assange must languish in Belmarsh for an indefinite duration
re: Luke Harding etc.
do we actually know where US/UK media keep getting their entire news re: the war?
I have tried to ask around online but the info is scarce.
Mostly there seem to be foreign reporters in UKR who are under complete control / who serve the narrative willingly out of true conviction.
(It´s odd that there was not a single text on the egregious losses of AFU in German serious papers for many many months. Only after the US green-lit such shift did the others follow.)
And then there are the news agencies who are partially run by the very same media they provide, like dpa in Germany (owned by German state media).
Its unclear where they are getting their info from.
As is unclear what items the agencies provided to the papers will eventually be chosen by latter.
The famous “bottle-neck”.
But there is no comprehensive study on this as far as I know. Even after almost 1,5 years of war we do not know the major flow of information.
Sure there are single articles about the Institue for the Study of War, about some NATO propaganda office and some hints at UK intell services involved in planting some story.
But I am looking for the big picture, 300 pages in depth study on this.
Because it´s incredible what is going on.
Vulkan being just one example of many. It´s like an ongoing disinformation campaign to keep the rabble running in fear.
Nothing more.
Thats why it lacks real substance.
We merely have to be reminded of how bad the Russians are, from time to time.
It serves that purpose. But from the professional POV its a disaster.
The same is being done to Hersh´s story btw.
A couple of young ambitious reporters at German T-ONLINE news, affiliate of TELEKOM multi, now cooked up a new version with Russian ships in the area of NS at around the same time. So the Russians COULD have done it.
However there is one specific word used in every paragraph: allegedly.
And of course they rely on anonymous sources in German state security.
It´s simply hot air:
“Russian tracks” -“The Russian Navy is believed to have operated a mini-submarine at the Nord Stream sites days before the explosions. This calls into question previous theories.” 26/3/23:
https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/deutschland/aussenpolitik/id_100149758/nord-stream-russia-may-have-operated-a-submarine-before-the-explosions.html
4 reporters involved.
CM’s verdict from above applies here too.
It´s embarassing.
Where are the USUK getting their war ‘news’? They make it up. They lie. It’s beyond me why anyone is still reading or watching them. There are excellent honest informed journalists and analysts eg CM. If the majority stopped consuming MSM BS and kept up to date with reputable reporters our children and future generations might have a chance.
“If the majority stopped consuming MSM BS 2
Do we have any reliable information on how many are consuming MSM BS?
It is the Propaganda Multiplier.
It starts with the seeding to the News Agencies: Reuters, PressAssociation etc.
They even have ‘ex’-Spies on the board.
As do many mass media companies.
The Mainstream press and TV companies – mostly part of a few, very few, conglomerates – then use these seeded stories to populate their ‘news’ for the day.
That is why most front pages on the shelves say exactly the same thing.
And all TV news channels. And radio. And all the internet platforms such as Yahoo etc.
The regional TV and press used to be independent up to the turn of the century; they too have all been hollowed out by the big conglomerates and hardly any are left standing.
I keep patiently explaining to my nearest and dearest and all on the web that we in the Collective Waste live a wholly mythological existence. From Cradle to Grave.
It was easier to escape such propaganda in previous centuries by just leaving your church!
But Cinema, Radio, TV, Interweb have brought the church into people’s daily lives 24/7.
If everywhere you turn, you see and hear the same message, being multiplied over and over at the speed of light … it means we remain infantilised all of our lives – believing in Santa Claus, Heaven and Hell and God! (whose representatives are therefore to be worshipped and believed). Our very own non-democratically unelected Head of State being crowned and sprayed with Holy Water and oils from some stolen lands where the myths started; next month is a testament of the facts.
How many of our people who are scientists, doctors, engineers – those who know that data is data and lying about it is lethal – still believe in the delusions of that mythology?
But… but … it’s on the beeebeeeceee! They collectively bleat even if they are in far flung lands, where they willingly ignore their own media and ape the Myths Of The Collective Waste.
There are many individuals who write about the Narrative Construction and Management – but they are mostly only available on their own blog sites – having been expelled from the Media Churches for ‘Not sticking to the line’. Most regulars here will know of some such as Caitlin Johnstone, Jonathan Cook (especially regarding the Groaniad), and a few other independent sites they occasionally appear at.
The one message that hits home with those I speak to is: if Russian Media is obviously lying propaganda – why ban it? Are they too stupid not to see through its lies? Of course they are not that stupid, they say, but ‘other people’ are!! They tend to go a bit quiet then, at which point I give them the look and change the subject. It has a greater success than confrontational fact-throwing, which entrenches them further. I am now seeing more people who are asking themselves about the truth of Ukraine. They have dropped the dumb flag badge of idiocy; they are acknowledging that the Banderists are Nazis; they are beginning to doubt that Russia is losing and all Russians hate Putin! As they have been told left, right and centre.
I believe many Russians support Putin, and I also believe the estimated 900k who have fled Russia don’t.
I doubt that Russia is winning the war.
I believe you don’t know what a Nazi is.
I am certain that the people you speak to utter a silent prayer of thanks to Santa Clause when you change the subject.
Thanks for your considered reply, John M. It gives me an opportunity for a rebuttal and update.
900 k. Call it a million. Of 140 million is a lot less than 1%.
Your personal doubt … is equally inconsequential as my opinion.
There is insane death amongst against the unwilling conscripted Ukrainians.
A Nazi is what Nazi was. With all the same attributes.
These people who are in your opinion grateful are daily more saying something different.
I just had a conversation with one of them tonight in fact.
They are waking up.
The back of the fake narrative is fractured.
The African leaders telling US to their face is undeniable as well.
Censorship doesn’t work anymore.
You can’t fool ALL of the peoples all of the time.
Could you consider joining us?
It was an intuition which arose within me a while back, that there’s going to be some kind of massive cyber attack… One that will create havoc with the banking system, supply chain and internet use in general… To bring everything to a standstill and create chaos in the population.. Blame it on Russia and China.. How convenient.. A globalist false flag event on a grand scale.. An even more intense lockdown scenario where people will be forced to grovel to the whims of the social controllers… A digital security system will have to be set up so as to protect everybody from future cyber attacks and if you don’t have a digital ID then you won’t be able to use the internet..
Hope i’m mistaken.
We can just go back to cash and sending postcards from our cardboard homes
Cash can be abolished. It’s only pieces of plastic and metal. Barter and cash replacements can be outlawed. People would then use them anyway, giving the state an excuse to lock anyone up they can’t control.
re: TWITTER hearing in US Congress with Matt Taibbi
highly recommended:
“The House Weaponization of the Federal Government Committee holds a hearing on the Twitter Files featuring journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger.” 9/3/23
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMDjfP1gk60
it´s like listening to a dramatic play of 2,5 hours length, with good guys and bad guys and even a dramatic arch.
But what is also interesting in itself are the very people sitting on this Committee:
“Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government”
https://judiciary.house.gov/subcommittees/committee-judiciary/select-subcommittee-weaponization-federal-government
for instance Wikipedia on the Head Jim Jordan:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jordan_(American_politician)
of course I have no clue what is true and what is possibly smearing. But nothing of it hurt Jordan politically who is one of the most powerful members of the stolen-election group within the G.O.P.
The nice lady with that pretty necklace asking questions at min. 77 beat out Liz Cheney because Cheney was critical of Trump.
Wiki e.g. on Jim Jordan :
“(…)Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach with Ohio State University’s wrestling program from 1987 to 1995.[11] Ohio State University began an independent investigation in April 2018[12] into allegations of sexual misconduct against former wrestling team physician Richard Strauss, who served as the team physician during Jordan’s tenure as assistant coach.[13][14] Strauss died by suicide in 2005.[15]
In June 2018, at least eight former wrestlers said that Jordan had been aware of, but did not respond to, allegations of sexual misconduct by Strauss.[16][17] Jordan’s locker was adjacent to Strauss’, and while he was assistant wrestling coach, he created and awarded a “King of the Sauna” certificate to the member of the team who spent the most time in the sauna “talking smack”.(…)”
and this longread (17.000 words) on disinformation recommended by Matt Taibbi:
“A Guide to Understanding the Hoax of the Century – Thirteen ways of looking at disinformation”, 29/3/23
by Jacob Siegel
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation
It introduces a new term, Taibbi has also quoted at his Congressional hearing, the “counter-disinformation complex” in reference to Eisenhower of course. It might sound strange a term. But the danger is evident.
first paragraph:
“Prologue: The Information War
In 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy claimed that he had proof of a communist spy ring operating inside the government. Overnight, the explosive accusations blew up in the national press, but the details kept changing. Initially, McCarthy said he had a list with the names of 205 communists in the State Department; the next day he revised it to 57. Since he kept the list a secret, the inconsistencies were beside the point. The point was the power of the accusation, which made McCarthy’s name synonymous with the politics of the era.
For more than half a century, McCarthyism stood as a defining chapter in the worldview of American liberals: a warning about the dangerous allure of blacklists, witch hunts, and demagogues.”
A blue helmet with yellow stars might be a judicious symbol of peace; not so when strategically placed on a Northwood convention board table. It is a symbol of a nuclear strike initiated by a foolish, irrational response to the deaths of peacekeepers in Ukraine killed by Russian soldiers as wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Everything in the west is fake. After all, they have:
* Hypersonic missiles that don’t fly
* Planes and helicopters that routinely crash
* Aircraft carriers and ships that can’t stay afloat
* Bridges that collapse
* Artillery pieces that stop working after a few shots
* Tanks that can’t drive a single kilometer unaided
* Elections that need “fortifying”
* The inability to count votes in a timely manner
* Ruling coalitions consisting of minority parties
* Caretaker and “technocratic” governments
* Fake journalists like Luke Harding
* “social” media where > half the content is produced by bots and fakery
* Fake peace deals like the Minsk Agreements
* Self-imploding energy networks, etc, etc, etc
I seriously have to ask – does the West actually produce or make anything anymore? I mean things that actually work. For anyone (other than a handful of ultra-wealthy elites). When’s the last time something useful or innovative was created in Britain, America, or Germany?
I think you’ll find we have the monopoly on creating
Chaos, suffering, poverty and despair – way to go.
You forgot the vaccine and TBH I fell for it twice but not more for me
“does the West actually produce or make anything anymore? I”
Actually this really usefull device is made in the USA. I was suprised.
https://vidami.com/
It can be used for looping sections of a you tube video if you want to learn to play a tune.
I’m shocked! Shocked to find that Craig asserts that most western nations are developing cyber warfare capabilities, just like Russia placing nukes in Belarus, copying the US deployment of nukes in five European NATO states, the hypocrisy is breathtaking. Those publications are not worried about proving this propaganda, all they need is a sufficient number of citizens to believe it, that is why John Pilger said “we have war by media; censorship by media; demonology by media; retribution by media “.
Why is it necessary for citizens to believe the “propaganda”?
Is it not a universally believed and accepted trope on here that the citizens are powerless, so what does it matter what we believe?
Take a look at Sam’s list of unchallenged claims; a number of them make it clear that how we vote is supposedly irrelevant. Our elections are fake.
All rubbish, of course, but why did you not point that out? It completely contradicts your “propaganda” claim. You can’t both be right.
“Why is it necessary for citizens to believe the “propaganda”?
“Is it not a universally believed and accepted trope on here that the citizens are powerless, so what does it matter what we believe?”
Because we plebs might get very angry and riot in the high streets, shopping malls and out of town retail centres. The controlling billionaires do not like cuts to their ever increasing profits.
John Main
There is another reason for propaganda, it is used to write or rewrite history. When many assertions are made by politicians and journalists, they can be referenced and with the passage of time what is true and what is not is forgotten. Note for example how the press quite authoritatively now declare that labour was anti-Semitic despite no shred of evidence produced. Also the assertion that Russia hacked the DNC emails and influenced the Trump elections are totally baseless but still quoted as gospel by some.
Sorry SA
but UK and USA system of the Democracy is the best. We are Good and the rest are bad boys!
In our system we have accountability and oversight and committees and free (unbiased) media telling us the truth, etc. unlike all others?
Assange and Snowden are heroes getting medals and OBEs and Oscars and I am getting bit tired of them being on so many shows.
…and the pro-western handpicked international judiciary at the ICC takes care of the rest for the west.
ICC top persecutor, Karim Khan – the guy that claimed Russia commited warcrimes galore in Ukraine, has for the past decade been assigned to dig up possible warcrimes commited by all kinf of western “enemies”: Taliban, Qadaffi, serbs, iraqis and now the evil russians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karim_Ahmad_Khan
https://libyaupdate.com/icc-officials-call-on-the-president-council-to-hand-over-saif-gaddafi/
Here is recently cuddling with Zelensky, claiming the world to be a wild west if the nations with biggest weapons decide the future of the world.
https://youtu.be/XjAkzPYfEeA?t=130
….yeah apparently Mr kHan have never heard of the US, UK or the other western states that rule the world just because their superior weapons.
ICC and Khan will never go after the british, the israelis, the ukrainians, americans, french, germans, baltics and so on that have commited warcrimes in the very same regions he have been assigned to and commited more death than Russia have been attributed with.
(Iraq, Afghansitan, Yugoslavia, Libya, Afghanistan, Donbass, Palestine).
Enough is enough.
BRICS and their allies should create their own ICC and level detaining orders for the western warcriminals.
> just like Russia placing nukes in Belarus
ISW says they’ve seen no evidence of this actually happening; not even of nuclear storage bunkers being built. It seems to be just more Putinist bluster.
P.S. I do realize that ISW is biased; but their claims are pretty thoroughly cited, usually to public statements by Russian and Ukrainian officials, and to (mainly Russian) milbloggers.
The purpose of propaganda is not to persuade that certain things are true but to tell you what you are permitted to say. It persuades you that everybody else believes these things to be true and so you keep schtum about them.
The Guardian is a fucking rag and has been captured many years ago. Luke Harding is a joke. You’re being very generous when you describe these people as journalists Craig – they are just lackeys.
It’s as if Matt Taibbi’s work, demonstrating once and for all, that Russiagate was a hoax, isn’t out there. The Guardian, NYT and WP approach – as with the rest of the bought MSM – is simply to ignore what’s out there. Luke Harding, ffs…he was made to look the idiot he is by Aaron Maté, and of course he contributed to the Guard’s blatant lie about Manafort visiting Julian Assange.
Vulkan sounds like someone from Funeral in Berlin
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060437/characters/nm0007098
I wonder if it’s the same one, he went over the wall to the Russians in 1966 or about that time…
I read the Guardian article; I read the Graun regularly, I’m afraid. When I read an article that is clearly nonsense or propaganda, I check the byline.
This Vulkan article struck me as just a rehash of old stories from the computer security community; I didn’t note the lack of substantiation, because I’m used to The Graun not linking or producing source materials. I didn’t find the article very interesting, so I didn’t read it as obvious propaganda; and so I didn’t check the byline. If I’d noticed the disreputable Luke Harding in the byline *before* reading the article, I wouldn’t have read it.
Harding is just one of the Guardian writers I won’t read. I won’t read the leaders, or the advertorial articles. I can usually read all the articles with meat in them in a ten-minute session these days.
I read the Graun because I want *daily* news, which means MSM; and because I’m used to it. I’m attuned to their systemic biases on security, Zionism and the Middle East, and especially on Jeremy Corbyn. I kinda hate myself for it.
Look at it this way, Jimmeh: you read The Fraudian because you want to see what directions the propaganda is going in, and what the trendy propaganda item of the day is, before it catches up on you unawares.
And you also read The Fraudian because you can’t help but laugh at all these oh-so serious bullshitting journalists dig themselves deeper in their own graves.
> you read The Fraudian because you want to see what directions the propaganda is going in
Yes, there’s truth in that. It’s a bit like watching a train-wreck in slow motion.
I suspect the Getelarph is more reliable; I just can’t be bothered with hacking around their paywall (HINT: visit archive.ph, and paste the paywalled URL into their form).
German defense minister warns of ‘worst case’ US election scenario
Washington could ‘distance itself’ from Europe and the Ukraine conflict after the 2024 election, Boris Pistorius has said
https://swentr.site/news/573986-germany-us-elections-worst-case/
Hilarious, the same Germans that have been hiding behind the US warpower past year on Ukraine are now getting cold feet because they might end up being left alone with their warmongering attitude if Biden is not re-elected.
Do they fear peace will come? Or do they fear the war will not carry on?
I have no idea what has happened with the Germans as of late, I looked upon them as the most rational force in Europe along France (at least compared with the hawkish balts/Swedes/Poles).
This statement by Germany proves so much how the EU nations are nothing but satellite states to the US power (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_state) as soon as the US remove their hand: these very nations are left shivering, screaming, after Uncle Sam.
Well, that’s what you get for being such a pathetic servant to the US.
Great statement by the Left in Germany, this is the mentality and courage europeans need:
Berlin must break with its “relationship of extreme subservience” to America and its foreign policies “marked by breaches of international law,” Sevim Dagdelen, the deputy head of the Left party’s faction in the Bundestag, said on Friday. Germany must demand that US forces withdraw, along with their nuclear weapons, the MP added.
https://swentr.site/news/573987-us-troops-leave-germany-mp/
It’s less calling for Uncle Sam.
It’s being obedient and fearful of him.
Don’t get me wrong this Berlin government is a shit show, but so were all administrations before.
In essence it’s the same people running politics for 25 years.
But had they emancipated from the US without a major plan, which means without EU backing, they might have endangered their financial and economic foundation.
If the forced choice was between Russia and the US, the choice was evident.
Not out of sympathy, but rationale. Too many strings.
And I assume there was no Plan B in place (like long-term plans with BRICS.)
Of course I would have loved to see all the Atlantic nonsense dissolve into thin air and Europe giving Washington the finger.
Scott Ritter on Assange (among other topics, the entire conversation is 2 hours long.)
I think he speaks about Assange, starting at 38:40.
It´s worthwhile to listen to him, simply because he is frank and direct.
You don´t have to share his pessimism. But looking at the situation as an outsider, hmmmm…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHcRrYlymds
He is emotional and very touchingly so in his own clumsy Scott Ritter way.
Ritter is calling on the Brits to be disobedient, to block Belmarsh, to storm Belmarsh. To do basically anything thats possible.
With reference to the current French protests.
I doubt the French would do any such thing.
(He is romanticizing the French for that matter, after all Bastille was never stormed but handed over).
But admittedly I had similar fantasies.
What bothers me is the silence of FREITAG weekly paper here in Germany.
They were so much involved in the leaks.
They should feature a regular Assange section to keep the topic in the news.
In every issue.
Instead they waste their space on GUARDIAN propaganda pieces about Ukraine.