By Caitlin JOHNSTONE
Well you’ll be shocked to discover that, while the Ukraine invasion we have actually been informed for weekswas occurring any day now still has not taken place, the US and UK have actually stated that Russia assaulted Ukraine in an invisible and unverifiable way for which the proof is secret.
“The White House blamed Russia on Friday for this week’s cyberattacks targeting Ukraine’s defense ministry and major banks and cautioned of the capacity for more significant disturbances in the days ahead,” AP reports. “Anne Neuberger, the Biden administration’s deputy nationwide security advisor for cyber and emerging technologies, stated the U.S. had rapidly connected Tuesday’s attacks to Russian military intelligence officers.”
“Technical details analysis shows the GRU was likely involved in disruptive DDoS attacks,” includes a declarationfrom the UK Foreign Workplace.
No proof for this claim has actually been offered beyond the assertive tone with which American and British officials have actually said it, however that likely will not stop arguments from western story managers that this “attack” justifies instant economic sanctions.
President Joe Biden states Russia President Putin is going to get into Ukraine. Reporter asks, “What reason do you need to believe he’s thinking about that option at all?” Biden replies, “We have substantial intelligence ability.” Once again, no evidence. Just trust us. pic.twitter.com/C9wwFE8w4p
— Kevin Gosztola (@kgosztola) February 18, 2022
You’ve probably also heard by now that President Biden announced at a press briefingthat Vladimir Putin has actually made the decision to get into Ukraine and strongly fall Kyiv “in the coming days,” citing only “intelligence”.
“What reason do you think he’s thinking about that alternative at all?” a press reporter asked Bidenafter his speech.
“We have a substantial intelligence capability, thank you quite,” the president responded to, and made his exit.
As we were advised earlier this month in an interesting exchangebetween State Department spinmeister Ned Rate and AP’s Matt Lee, US authorities securely think that just positioning assertions next to the word “intelligence” ought to be thought about rock solid evidence that those assertions are true, and journalism are anticipated to play in addition to this.
And indeed, a big percentage of the political/media class is responding to Biden’s unevidenced claim that Putin has actually chosen to introduce a full-scale ground invasion of Ukraine as though that invasion is in fact taking place.
It is beyond belief that in 2022, as we face challenges like covid & environment modification, any nationwide leader would begin a war that might kill thousands & produce millions of refugees. There is a diplomatic service to this crisis. It is terrible that Putin seems intent to reject it.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 18, 2022
2 crucial declarations by Biden just now:
1. US has intelligence that Putin has decided to additional get into Ukraine.
2. The intrusion will go all the way to Kyiv, a city of 2.9 m people.
Europe– the world– won’t be the exact same if Biden is right.
— Ivo Daalder (@IvoHDaalder) February 18, 2022
It is not even a tiny bit uncommon for US presidents to make incendiary claims about federal governments they don’t like without solid intel. https://t.co/5wp4CBrlvX
— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) February 19, 2022
There are also allegations of incorrect flagsamidst the battling in eastern Ukraine and numerous other claims about what Russia is doing as it gets ready for this intrusion it’s supposed to introduce, and it’s all simply being blindly accepted as objectively real in traditional political discourse. No place is it questioned. No place is the faultof the US and NATOin producing these stressbetween Russia and Ukraine ever reported, nor are the geostrategic benefitsthe US hegemon stands to reap from this standoff. Few even trouble attempting to articulate what Moscow would acquire from invading Ukraine, except the periodic infantile “they dislike us for our liberty”-design think piece about how Putin simply can’t stand democracy.
If online you question the veracity of any of these claims due to the comprehensive historythese institutions have of lying to us about simply this sort of thing, it’s treated as a freakish and bizarre interjection that is at best misguided and at worst proof that you’re an agent of the Kremlin. I haven’t received so many alerts from individuals calling me a Russian operative given that 2018, which to me is funny since everything I was saying about western Russia narratives in 2018 has actually since been completely vindicated.
And I believe it is essential while this all unfolds to take a minute to advise ourselves that the problem of proof is constantly on the celebration making the claim. This is a basic principle all of us apply in matters of reasoning and debate and in the legal system, and actually anywhere that contested claims are inspected, and it does not magically stop being the case even if a claim is spoken in an assertive tone by powerful individuals about a nation they do not like. If you make a claim in an unimportant time-wasting Twitter argument you’ll immediately be requested evidence that it holds true, but if the most powerful federal government on the planet makes an incendiary claim of possibly world-shaping consequence we’re all simply anticipated to accept it, even though that government has a proven track record of making incorrect claims.
Fantastic interview with of the previous MI6 chief with the Atlantic Council’s @B_judah (the whole gang present) where the intel goon * confesses * that many western “intel leaks” media outlets are dutifully conveying aren’t real leakages however propaganda messages developed to undercut Putin. pic.twitter.com/UOzBxG5F5H
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 17, 2022
The onus is not on anybody else to prove that the United States and UK governments are lying when they make these claims, the onus is on the United States and UK federal governments to prove that they are informing the fact. At some time after Donald Trump’s election it became a mainstream liberal teaching that you can say whatever you desire about Russia no matter how outrageous and suffer no expert effects if it showed completely false, and no one’s truly been pushing back on that. A lot of individuals developed whole careers out of recommending for many years on end that the entire Trump household was going to be dragged out of the White House in chains for Kremlin collusion, and when this stopped working to show true everyone simply imitated it was great and continued with their careers.
However it’s not great. It’s not okay that this unusual cold war hysteria environment has actually melted everybody’s brain over the last 5 years. It’s not all right that one of the most fundamental requirements of reasoning and proof have been flushed down the toilet. It’s not fine that we now have MI6 spooksand CIA mouthpieceshonestly acknowledging that the government is utilizing the western press to wage a details war geared at weakening Russia when both the government and the press are supposed to be simply informing us the fact.
I do not understand what’s going to occur with Ukraine. What I do know is that it would be excellent to drag the Overton window of acceptable argument kicking and screaming back to the point where the burden of evidence needs to be satisfied even, and specifically, by the world’s most effective people. And where, if that burden is not fulfilled, their claims are treated with all the disdain they are worthy of.