Anti-Russian Propaganda War Rages

by Stephen Lendman

John Pilger calls journalism the first casualty of war - "a weapon of war, a virulent censorship," by omission and commission.

Free and open societies are jeopardized. Presstitution substitutes for real journalism. News and information are carefully filtered, dissent suppressed in mainstream reporting.

Major media contributors are agents of wealth, power and privilege. Victims are blamed for high crimes of state. Big Lies substitute for honest reporting and analysis. A culture of deceit persists.

Russia is public enemy No. one, despite Putin's forthright efforts for world peace and stability. He's the leading antidote to Washington's hegemonic agenda, its endless wars of aggression, its unprecedented lawlessness on a global scale, its recklessness risking possible WW III.

Straightaway after Russia launched airstrikes on ISIS and other takfiri terrorists last week, Washington's lying machine went into action, supported as always by media scoundrels reporting rubbish as fact, ignoring clear evidence refuting it.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said bashing Russia's war on ISIS began immediately after it began, including false reports of civilian casualties and claims about targeting nonexistent US-supported moderates, not Islamic State terrorists.

Russian officials pay little attention to baseless Pentagon allegations about their airstrikes - precision ones striking ISIS targets in coordination with Syria's military, in full compliance with international law, already making a difference.

US bombing with rogue partners Israel, Britain, France, Canada and Australia is illegal, absent Security Council and Syrian authorization.

On October 6, Zakharova discussed Russia's involvement in Syria with reporters during a Moscow briefing - countering irresponsible US-led misinformation and Big Lies, Western media repeating them instead of doing their job.

"From the very beginning of the military part of the Russia's counter-terror operation in Syria, which was initiated after the official request of the government of that country, international media launched a powerful anti-Russian (smear) campaign," Zakharova explained.

"We face various accusations, namely securing primarily Russian interests in the region, allegedly disguised with fighting Islamic State and other terror groups."

Unrelated images or statements, most often from unnamed US officials, accompany baseless claims - no corroborating evidence presented.

RT International fact-checking discredited false accusations made. One example was a photo of an injured Syrian girl circulated widely online with a statement saying: "Russian strike in Homs that killed 33 civilians, including three children" was posted five days before Moscow's anti-terrorism strikes began.

Yet US-led Western media irresponsibly blamed Moscow for what happened. Propaganda war works this way. The photo was taken by an AFP photographer on November 4, 2012 in Al-Bab.

RT said "CNN rushed to break the news that Russia was bombing (practically nonexistent) Syrian rebels and not Islamic State militants." Its on-screen propaganda headline read: "US SAYS RUSSIAN BOMBS HIT ASSAD ENEMIES, NOT ISIS."

It was a bald-faced lie. They keep coming nonstop. The Big Lie drowns out hard truths - repeated enough gets most people to believe what's patently false.

Sergey Lavrov explained the only way to get accurate information about Russia's Syrian campaign is by asking its Defense Ministry, not the Pentagon.

Media sources like CNN, Fox News and The New York Times jump on any chance to bash Russia irresponsibly - fact-checking a lost art, blaring unsubstantiated headlines substitute, followed by a litany of misinformation, willful lying.

This is what passes for "journalism" in America, deliberately turning truth on its head. Putin's righteous intervention in Syria against US-supported terrorists deserves universal praise and support.

Media liars should be denounced for supporting imperial lawlessness, turning one country after another into dystopian wastelands and planet earth into a toxic cesspool, slowly destroying its ability to sustain life.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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