The Most Dangerous Fake News of All is Peddled by the Corporate Media

This is not the sort of thing you see in a confident, brave, and civilized nation, it’s the sort of stuff you’d expect to see toward the end. It’s the stuff of craven war-mongers, of dishonest cowards, of a totally deranged and very dangerous media. The signs are everywhere; imperial decline is set to accelerate rapidly in the coming years.

– From the April post: Prepare for Impact – This is the Beginning of the End for U.S. Empire

Fake news, propaganda and garbage information is everywhere and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. That being said, the key thing to understand is fake news from obscure websites you’ve never heard of is not what represents the real, global danger of rampant dishonest information. The real danger of fake news is the stuff that’s consistently being vomited onto the pages of “respectable,” billionaire-owned corporate media.

Obscure blogs and independent thinkers such as myself aren’t influencing foreign policy, domestic policy or anything that really matters (look around you). While alternative media did indeed play a monumental role in the election of Donald Trump, how much really changed when it comes to the true power centers?

Not much, not much at all. Goldman Sachs and Wall Street are more in control than ever before, and neocons and other assorted interventionists seem to be running foreign policy.

All of this reminds me of the famous saying, “if voting made any difference, they’d make it illegal.” Indeed, the time has come for all of us to own up to the very real and present danger of corporate media, which seemingly exists to provide public relations for oligarchs and the foreign policy establishment. Not that this should be surprising, you’d have to be the most naive creature on earth to think newspapers owned by billionaires are going to tell the public the truth. Indeed, I made the following observation earlier today on Twitter.

Truth be told, it’s way beyond bizarre, it’s downright terrifying. Note that most major newspapers could barely catch their breath from demonizing Trump during his first three months, yet suddenly saw him as a heroic figure as soon as he lobbed a few bombs at Assad. This is like giving a puppy a treat for peeing on a wee wee pad. The corporate press is literally training Trump to wage as much imperial war as possible. It’s crucial to understand that Trump, or any other administration really, can only do so much on the interventionist war front as the corporate press permits and pushes. Unfortunately, the corporate press is always pushing for war.

Today provided yet another example of how the “respectable” oligarch-owned press unquestionably repeats government propaganda when it comes to foreign policy. Two days after Seymour Hersh blew a hole in the fairytale account of Assad using chemical weapons in April, and merely a few hours after Sean Spicer started conditioning the public for more war with evidence-free claims that another chemical attack was imminent, here’s how the New York Times covered the April attack.

Naturally, you have the photo of the hurt child to pull at your heartstrings underneath which is written, “after a nerve agent was used in an attack in April.” Of course, there is no proof that a nerve agent was used in the attack; in fact, there seems to be increasing proof that there wasn’t. Yet, that doesn’t stop The New York Times from doing it again and again later in the piece.

WASHINGTON — American officials have seen chemical weapons activity at a Syrian air base that was used in the spring nerve gas attack on rebel-held territory, the Defense Department said on Tuesday, scrambling to explain what prompted a White House statement a day earlier that Syria would “pay a heavy price” if it carried out another one.

Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that what looked like active preparations for a chemical attack were seen at Al Shayrat airfield, which was struck in April by American cruise missiles two days after the Syrian government dropped bombs loaded with toxic chemicals in northern Syria. Another Defense Department official said that an aircraft shelter at Al Shayrat that had been hit by an American Tomahawk missile was being used for the preparation.

The United States and other world powers have accused Mr. Assad’s forces of repeatedly using chemical weapons to subdue rebels seeking to topple his government. Chemical attacks killed more than 1,000 people near Damascus in 2013 and dozens more in northern Syria in April of this year.

The paper consistently states non-facts as facts in order to push a particular narrative. Meanwhile, here’s some of what Seymour Hersh reported in German newspaper Die Welt over the weekend:

The available intelligence made clear that the Syrians had targeted a jihadist meeting site on April 4 using a Russian-supplied guided bomb equipped with conventional explosives. Details of the attack,  including information on its so-called high-value targets, had been provided by the Russians days in advance to American and allied military officials in Doha, whose mission is to coordinate all U.S., allied, Syrian and Russian Air Force operations in the region.

Some American military and intelligence officials were especially distressed by the president’s determination to ignore the evidence. “None of this makes any sense,” one officer told colleagues upon learning of the decision to bomb. “We KNOW that there was no chemical attack … the Russians are furious. Claiming we have the real intel and know the truth … I guess it didn’t matter whether we elected Clinton or Trump.”

The Execute Order governing U.S. military operations in theater, which was issued by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,  provide instructions that demarcate the relationship between the American and Russian forces operating in Syria. “It’s like an ops order – ‘Here’s what you are authorized to do,’” the adviser said. “We do not share operational control with the Russians. We don’t do combined operations with them, or activities directly in support of one of their operations.  But coordination is permitted. We keep each other apprised of what’s happening and within this package is the mutual exchange of intelligence.  If we get a hot tip that could help the Russians do their mission, that’s coordination; and the Russians do the same for us. When we get a hot tip about a command and control facility,” the adviser added, referring to the target in Khan Sheikhoun, “we do what we can to help them act on it.” “This was not a chemical weapons strike,” the adviser said. “That’s a fairy tale. If so, everyone involved in transferring, loading and arming the weapon – you’ve got to make it appear like a regular 500-pound conventional bomb – would be wearing Hazmat protective clothing in case of a leak. There would be very little chance of survival without such gear. Military grade sarin includes additives designed to increase toxicity and lethality. Every batch that comes out is maximized for death. That is why it is made. It is odorless and invisible and death can come within a minute. No cloud. Why produce a weapon that people can run away from?”

The target was struck at 6:55 a.m. on April 4, just before midnight in Washington. A Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) by the U.S. military later determined that the heat and force of the 500-pound Syrian bomb triggered  a series of secondary explosions that could have generated a huge toxic cloud that began to spread over the town, formed by the release of the fertilizers, disinfectants and other goods stored in the basement, its effect magnified by the dense morning air, which trapped the fumes close to the ground. According to intelligence estimates, the senior adviser said, the strike itself killed up to four jihadist leaders, and an unknown number of drivers and security aides. There is no confirmed count of the number of civilians killed by the poisonous gases that were released by the secondary explosions, although opposition activists reported that there were more than 80 dead, and outlets such as CNN have put the figure as high as 92. A team from Médecins Sans Frontières, treating victims from Khan Sheikhoun at a clinic 60 miles to the north, reported that “eight patients showed symptoms – including constricted pupils, muscle spasms and involuntary defecation – which are consistent with exposure to a neurotoxic agent such as sarin gas or similar compounds.” MSF also visited other hospitals that had received victims and found that patients there “smelled of bleach, suggesting that they had been exposed to chlorine.” In other words, evidence suggested that there was more than one chemical responsible for the symptoms observed, which would not have been the case if the Syrian Air Force – as opposition activists insisted – had dropped a sarin bomb, which has no percussive or ignition power to trigger secondary explosions. The range of symptoms is, however, consistent with the release of a mixture of chemicals, including chlorine and the organophosphates used in many fertilizers, which can cause neurotoxic effects similar to those of sarin.

Given the reporting of a journalist with decades of history calling out government b.s., you’d think the New York Times would at least mention Hersh’s reporting in their article. Nope, not a peep.

The Atlantic does a similar thing. Here are a few excerpts from its Syria piece this morning. Let’s start with the title.

“Another” chemical attack. Meanwhile, it looks like the last one never even happened, yet does The Atlantic mention the report authored by Sy Hersh two days earlier? Of course not, but it does continue to repeat the fake news claim of an April chemical weapons attack over and over.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer released a statement Monday night accusing the Syrian government of potentially engaging in preparations for another chemical weapons attack. While the statement offered minimal details, it argued that a future attack “would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children.” On April 4, a government-led chemical attack in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province resulted in the deaths of more than 80 civilians. According to Spicer, the Syrian government’s latest preparations closely resemble those carried out prior to April 4.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

If indeed enacted, a new chemical weapons attack could have reverberating consequences throughout the international community. In response to April’s attack, the U.S. launched 59 tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base—the nation’s first military operation against an Arab government since President Obama’s intervention in Libya in 2011. At the time, the administration referred to the strike as a “one-off” occurrence intended to deter future chemical attacks. But, in the wake of the operation, administration officials reported that President Trump had been deeply troubled by graphic images of Syrian children struggling to breathe. “No child of God should ever suffer such horror,” Trump said while announcing the strike.

The nation’s first military operation against an Arab government since President Obama’s intervention in Libya in 2011.”

Since that went so well, we may as well do it again.

Meanwhile, do you know anything about David G. Bradley, the man who owns Atlantic Media? I didn’t think so. Here’s a brief snippet mentioning him from a 2010 Daily Beast article about D.C. “richest power players.”

Far more visible is well-heeled entrepreneur and Atlantic Media publisher David G. Bradley, who owns The National Journal, The Atlantic, and Hotline. In 1979, a 26-year-old Bradley founded the Research Council of Washington. Over the years he zeroed in on health care and finance, and in 1997 he sold the company for more than $300 million. He is known for hosting monthly ultra-exclusive off-the-record dinners—a Valhalla of insiders, top journalists, foreign leaders, and White House officials—in his glass-enclosed office at the Watergate. “It’s a joy for me,” Bradley has said. “I launched it for the romance of it. It’s more book club than it is clubhouse.”

I’ll let you make your own determination as to whether or not this sort of thing is likely to lead to hard-hitting, power challenging journalism. Sounds like a bunch of elitists stroking each other to me.

Which brings me to the main point. The major newspapers do not hold power to account. They aren’t working for the public interest, and you can see the results all around us. With government, corporate oligarchs and the media entirely aligned against the best interests of the population at large, the situation looks very bleak. The imperial train wreck appears unstoppable.

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In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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13 thoughts on “The Most Dangerous Fake News of All is Peddled by the Corporate Media”

  1. Hersh has been shown to be a limited hang out mouth piece for the Washington consensus gang. This time making the spy guys look like paragons of virtue while Trump gets to be the excuse patsy and shown to be an even bigger idiot than I previously took him for.

    The new threat is the same as the ol’ red line threat. It is a repetition of the big lie told over and over until it sticks. The desperation of the neo cons is almost palpable as the military situation unwinds for them in Syria and all they can come up with is the same old Assad uses poison gas false flag meme. It is like a desperate scene from Hitler’s bunker as the illusion of grasping victory from the jaws of defeat is finally dispelled.

    Once ISIS is defeated I wonder what will the US led western coalition’s excuse will be for being in Syria? Most likely protecting the Kurds as IS vanquisher heroes. Turkey will may likely get to claim the section of Syria they absconded with as their Golan in a deal to keep the Kurds supplied, with the Kurd’s promise to curb their desires inside Turkey. Stranger bedfellows and more twists of logic have already happened in this war against the Syrian nation and her peoples.

    As for the MSM, which is comprised of real living persons, they are continually being caught out regurgitating the neo con narratives of events only to see their story lines quickly fall apart as the alt media blows holes the size of small nations through them. So be it as these fronts they work for are directly owned by members of the plutocracy and the staffing have thrown their lot and personal reputations in with them.

    Think of Hitler as the Deep State contemplating the situation in Syria and Eva Braun as Trump, the personal secretaries as the American insouciant people and the never to be counter attack as their red line.

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  2. Part of the U.S. response in Syria is related to the fact that the U.S. cannot stand competition on the World stage, and the “Neocons” et al, need to keep this conflict raging (to ensure Pentagon funding of course), as Russia scores a victory in winding down the Syrian conflict, and keeping Assad in power, as he is the only viable option to restoring some semblance of government. The U.S. has no concept of what Syria and the broader Middle East would look like without Assad, and they have no plan about “what to do”, if he is “terminated”. If Assad goes, Syria will become another violent, uninhabitable failed state, for which the U.S. will again be culpable for.

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  3. One question from Seymour Hersch’s piece. Something doesn’t make sense to me. He mentions

    ” officials in Doha, whose mission is to coordinate all U.S., allied, Syrian and Russian Air Force operations in the region”

    Qatar are funding a lot of the terrorists in Syria. they are very much against Syria in this war. NOT on their side, seeing as they want the gas pipeline to Turkey

    So why would such an operation be based in Qatar ?

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    • Qatar is home to the largest USAF base in the Mid East and no doubt has the capability to coordinate the use of Syrian air space so that a ‘shooting down’ incident doesn’t take place because someone intrudes on another’s operational flight. The parties involved have just agreed to use this USAF base as the coordinating center is all.

    • Thanks BRF.

      When you say “The parties involved have just agreed to use this USAF base as the coordinating center is all.”

      I suppose my follow up question would be “but those parties do NOT include Qatar?”

      It’s hard to imagine Qatar funding a load of jihadists in Syria – which they clearly do – and then being party to agreeing to bomb them. It would defeat the point of having funded them in the first place.

      And if they are NOT party to these decisions, there appears to be an operational risk of Qatar learning of US/Russian plans being as they are using their control rooms, which could presumably be bugged.

      Lastly – and not that I care for them in the slightest – if your Qatari funded terrorist was going about his business of terrorism in Syria and bombs started raining down from US and Russian planes in the sky – I would be pissed off to learn that they were being directed from Qatar.

      Whichever way you look at it – this is a very strange set up.

    • The coordination center is on a USAF base where Qatari sovereignty does not intrude…or as Vicky Nuland might say…. as regards the Qataris. All the air war participants file their flight plans here to avoid any incidents, like the Turkish AF getting tipped off and lying in wait for RuAF planes returning to base or the recent downing of a SAAF plane. Of course retaliation was dished out by Russian Kalibir missile taking out a NATO command and control center near Aleppo immolating a large number of NATO, Israeli and Arab GCC officers manning that center. Recent use by Russia of Kalibirs after the SAAF downing was most likely another tit for tat not reported on. At least the SAA managed to rescue their pilot as he ejected over ISIS held territory and can be considered a lucky man as to his grizzly fate if he had be captured by an ISIS unit.

    • Cheers BRF, very interesting.

      I’d heard about that Kalibir attack in the mountains of Aleppo elsewhere but wasn’t sure of the source (FarsNews I read it in I believe)

  4. Love it when the press quotes “Anonymous intelligence sources”. Or, translated, “Maria the cleaning lady”. Good enough.

    You want confirmation from a second source? Ask her daughter.

    You thinks I’m kidding? Here in Spain we had a hot-shot trendy TV journalist from La Sexta doing the US election. Being hot-shot she decided to do the Republican conference centre (‘cos they were going to lose), while her flunkey did the Dems at the glass ceiling palace. Giving her time to do a little shopping in New York. Things went really well, and got herself a snazzy little leather jacket.

    Unfortunately, Trump won. She then had to run around and try get an interview with somebody. Anybody. No preparation. So the only person she could quote was the Dominican cleaning woman in the ladies room .

    I kid you not.

    Standards are really going down.

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  5. The US Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, provides command and control of air power throughout Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and 17 other nations.
    The sprawling base 20 miles southwest of the Qatari capital of Doha is home to some 11,000 US military personnel.
    You are welcome.

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  6. Who sits around and watches the news all day or reads the paper front-to-back? Old people.

    Though I agree that this is about Empire — I believe the power struggle going on is not just nation-states but generations and generational ideas of what things should look like, what the ongoing narrative should be. Boomers need to perpetuate a power image. Even the most modest Boomer still considers themselves of high, high importance and thus will resist any affront to that and will actively support and pursue power-centric action and larger-than-life projection. This is not a humble generation. What brought that generation together was “everyone” got rich and it correlated with American power projection. Why would they not eat up this stuff? Why would they question it?

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    • Yeah, sounds just like my parents. My dad, in particular, watches the news all day (MSNBC, in his case), both my parents have the local paper delivered (Yes, there is still such a thing) and read the Sunday NYT cover-to-cover, believing every word. My mom goes to her AARP action groups and she can occasionally be found joining some action to protect her social security (not understanding that AARP threw younger divorced women (she is divorced) under the bus by supporting the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act. Both of my parents feel absolutely entitled to SS and Medicare and don’t believe me when I tell them that generations after them will see those entitlements whittled away and destroyed. They don’t like Trump and support the undermining of his presidency even if it means believing the Russia conspiracy hook, line, and sinker-not even understanding the implications for our political system. Bet that sounds like your parents and their friends, Ian. Except my parents are in their 80’s and I am a boomer.

      I may be but one boomer but I am one of many who don’t fit your imaginary description. Your obnoxious generalizations – esp. this: “Even the most modest Boomer still considers themselves of high, high importance and thus will resist any affront to that and will actively support and pursue power-centric action and larger-than-life projection” reminds me of the same obnoxious generalizations made about Millennials. (of which a few are already citizens of the “Empire.”)

      Sometimes I tend to think the traits you attribute to Boomers – and I would attribute to my parents–as attributable to all people of my parents’ generation. But then I remember individuals such as Daniel Ellsberg, Bernie Sanders, Noam Chomsky (not endorsing their politics, just countering the characterizations) and realize that sweeping generalizations about generations (or any class of people) is nothing more than weak thinking.

      I implore all generations to stop pitting one against the other. The elites from both ends of the age spectrum love it. The Boomers thought they were fighting the man (don’t trust anyone over 30 was the mantra) until they became the man. This is the way of the world. There is only a small percentage of people across all generations who understand how Empire perpetuates its rule. Can we please not alienate each other just because we were born in different years?

    • Disclosure: I’m a ‘boomer.’ All the generations are subject to the socio-economic conditions they are born into as controlled by TPTB. Us ‘boomers’ just happened to luck out being born into the post WW II period when private debt (corporate and household) were at an all time low and job guarantee was a hold over for us first extended to our fathers returning from war and risking their lives, being owed a debt of gratitude lest they revolt.

      With this low debt us boomers, as earlier anti-war-Vietnam genocide adherents, fell in line creating families and leveraging our way to a middle class life style. The houses we bought for thirty thousand are now worth at least ten times that amount now on paper but to sell them the next generation has to come up with the financing to purchase our assets. Boomer politicians are the problem with their neo-liberal economic mind set where you have to pay for everything using whatever income you have with the prices of assets put out of reach by the intervening years of bankster created inflation. The boomers are-were at the mercy of those who run the world just as their former and following generations were-are, but many, as you point out don’t think on these matters beyond continuing to swallow what TPTB put out on their propaganda networks….and I might add that too many of next generation appears to be even more clueless about how this world operates and in whose interests. I purposely did not label the generations other than my own because this is a ploy for shifting anger between the generations as a means to an end for TPTB. Your generation is either our kids or grand kids. We love you guys and often try our best to see you get ahead in life, all falling into the same trap of a debt based debt slave economic system meant to harvest as much of all our wealth as we will all possibly put up with.

      Good luck, dig deeper, get involved and take the time to view the “Money Masters” and the time to understand the information contained in that documentary.

  7. Robert David Steele on Donald Trump

    There are very disturbing issues and revelations discussed during this interview.

    Reply

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