Threads Of Establishment Russia Narrative Trace Back To Neocon Think Tanks
Do you want to know the secret for 100 percent guaranteeing that you will always be on the right side of history for every single foreign policy debate? It takes three very simple steps:
Step One: Pick any disputed issue of foreign policy.
Step Two: Find out what the dominant neoconservative think tanks are saying about it.
Step Three: Advocate the exact opposite position with confidence and authority.
It will work every single time. Neoconservative thought leaders like Bill Kristol have been on the wrong side of history on every single controversial foreign policy issue without exception and have been a driving force behind every disastrous US military intervention in recent memory. The military violence they push for at every opportunity never, ever plays out how they say it will and never accomplishes what they claim it will accomplish, and every single time they blame the failure of the actions they advocated on poor execution by whatever leadership happened to have been in place at the time.
It's become such a widely recognized phenomenon that even Fox's Tucker Carlson suggested to neocon Max Boot in a July interview that he "choose a different profession. Selling insurance. House painting. Something you’re good at.” These people are always wrong, always destructive, and always, always employed. If you love being perpetually wrong and well-paid, become a neocon pundit.
A couple of interesting articles have come out recently which highlight the extremely uncomfortable reality that it is impossible to shake a stick at the establishment Russia narrative without hitting a warmongering neoconservative think tank. Given that these people are so consistently wrong about everything, the fact that they are playing an instrumental role in manufacturing support for new cold war escalations with a nuclear superpower should make everyone a lot less eager to swallow the establishment narrative about what's going on with Russia.
A new article from Disobedient Media titled "Meet The Cabal That Are Framing Domestic American Activism As 'Russian Influence' And 'Fake News'" shines a much-needed spotlight on the neocon think tank Alliance For Securing Democracy, which has been cited over and over and over again by mainstream news outlets recently as a reliable source of authority on all matters pertaining to Russia's alleged interference in US democracy. Their assertions about Russia get advanced as unquestionable facts by these outlets, and before you know it everyday Americans are surrounded by screens chiming in unison that there is a hostile foreign power aggressively working to control their minds.
The problem, of course, is that this extremely influential think tank is chock full of neocons, war hawks and deep state cronies. The article details the toxic talent lineup behind this operation including Kristol, Michael Chertoff, Michael McFaul, and Michael Morell. These men have all been consistently on the wrong side of history regarding foreign policy issues and have built punditry careers advocating horrific things; Morell for example advocated the covert slaughter of Iranians and Russians in Syria not long ago on national television. As the article's pseudonymous author Adam Carter notes, the process by which this organization reaches its findings is fundamentally secretive and could easily be manipulated to conclude whatever these psychopaths want.
Want to try some quick citizens' journalism? Do a Google search for "Alliance For Securing Democracy", click "news", and document how many mainstream outlets have cited this pernicious warmongering think tank in recent weeks. These people are shaping the way Americans think and vote, and they all have the same neoconservative goal: manufacturing public support for escalations with Russia, with the ultimate goal of crippling the Russia-China tandem and securing the global dominance of the US power establishment.
Another new article originally published by Washington's Blog and now republished by Consortiumnews takes things even further with a screen shot the author claims comes from a "passive scan" of the site propornot.com, the extremely secretive outlet which, with the help of the oligarch-owned Washington Post, helped inflame the moral panic about Russian propaganda. The article's author George Eliason's claims link PropOrNot to the Atlantic Council, which is, you guessed it, a neocon think tank.
Eliason explains how the Atlantic Council is tied intimately to Ukrainian intelligence, which wouldn't be the first time PropOrNot was linked to Ukraine. This article from AlterNet by Mark Ames shows using publicly available information that prior to being thrust into the national spotlight by WaPo, PropOrNot was displaying loyalties to Ukrainian fascist groups.
The Atlantic Council is also tied to Crowdstrike, the private cyber security company whose testimony forms the entire foundation of the allegation that Russia hacked the Democratic party and gave exfiltrated documents to WikiLeaks in 2016.
"In lieu of substantive evidence provided to the public that the alleged hacks which led to Wikileaks releases of DNC and Clinton Campaign Manager John Podesta’s emails were orchestrated by the Russian Government," wrote journalist Michael Sainato back in March of last year, "CrowdStrike’s bias has been cited as undependable in its own assessment, in addition to its skeptical methods and conclusions. The firm’s CTO and co-founder, Dmitri Alperovitch, is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank with openly anti-Russian sentiments that is funded by Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk, who also happened to donate at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation."
Speaking of neocons and Ukrainian fascists, remember that time John McCain hung out with Oleh Tyahnybok?
Trace the threads of the establishment Russia narrative to their source, and you'll always run smack dab into the middle of a neocon think tank. You'll also run into a lot of hawkish Ukrainians, since they share the same anti-Russian agendas as the neocons have, thus making them the same kind of allies of convenience as McCain's "moderate rebels" in Syria. Neocons form alliances with extremist groups, oligarchs, intelligence agencies, and anyone else who will help them advance their bloodthirsty agendas of chaos and destabilization. It's what they do. Because they are evil.
Are these the people we want steering the ship and shaping the way the public and their elected representatives think about potentially world-ending escalations with a nuclear superpower? I think not.
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Hi Caitlin, We so value those like you who are honest and intelligent in their interpretations and driven to make a difference. That being said, I believe you need also to understand my point of view. I honestly believe in my interpretation that the victory will not be accomplished by direct action, but through indirect action. Rather than battle on the enemies field of choice against the advantages they posses. We simply change the game and the playing field. People like Kristol sad as it is, are seen as leaders.. The reality and the future we need is one in which these “leaders” become obsolete and irrelevant. What I hope for is a world unavailable only 30 years ago, but now a possibility. Technology can enable us to refine and define human intelligence and understanding. In my world view human logic and rational fail us all as they live in servitude of the individual, the self, the needs and wants of individual men and women. That is what this article is all about is it not? Individuals serving their needs by perverting human logic and reason to achieve their own goals. We battle; as you do, as individuals with our individual perspectives of logic and reason. Who judges? Who mediates? We rely or hope that individuals will process the Information and perspective as we see them, as we present them. We believe we are in the “right”, though this may not even be true at times. What I hope you see is that there is a process here. A very primitive process ( we are primitive man are we not) that will get us all killed in the twenty-first century. The terms “I think” and “think tank” will seem antiquated almost ridiculous in a world of Collective intelligence enabled by technology. A world where human logic and reason are moderated by human logic and reason. We cannot continue to limp along into the future with our greatest asset, our ability to put forth the logic and reason of intelligent beings, clouded in the murk of self. I am only an idea man. My goal here is to add a new perspective. One that people of talent can grasp onto and build for the future of us all.
I have found doing the exact opposite, and believing the exact opposite is most likely true, applies to domestic as well as foreign policy. Question everything, everything, they tell you. Even things you think you know to be true, find the origins of who is pushing the narrative, ask why MSM is pushing it and do some research. You just might be blown away by what you find.
Fantastic article, Cait!
I've been trying to imagine what their internal philosophy is. Leo Strauss, the Noble lie, Machiavelli. They write and speak for two audiences, one that knows they are lying and agrees with the "secret" agenda, and one that takes neo-con lies as fact, as direction and never questions information if it aligns with their superficial values.
So, what is the best way to fight lies that people want to believe?