Beijing Bounties to Non-State Actors Hoax

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

According to Axios and other establishment media, declassified US intelligence claims that China paid bounties to "non-state actors" in Afghanistan to kill Pentagon troops.

Sino/Afghan expert Andrew Small considers the accusation unrelated to reality, saying:

Pursuing peace in Afghanistan is "one of the extremely rare areas where the US and China still have a willingness to work together on an area of importance." 

"They know the drawdown is taking place. We're not in the context where anything else needs to happen to US troops in Afghanistan."

"There is no reason to create additional pressure on US forces."

Politico said national security advisor Robert O'Brien briefed Trump on the "unconfirmed" intelligence — calling it "very thin," based on "rumors" without "hard evidence" supporting it.

In other words, the claim is baseless.

It's part of an all-out effort by 

Trump regime hardliners to make it hard to impossible for Biden/Harris to undo US war on China and other countries by hot and other means when they take office in January.

Last August — citing dubious US intelligence sources — CNN claimed that "Iran paid bounties to the Taliban for targeting American troops in Afghanistan (sic)."

Iran debunked the phony claim, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh saying:

"The accusation (aims to shift) blame (for US high crimes) onto others, and…attempt(s) to divert public opinion of the Afghan people from Washington's assistance to Daesh (ISIS)," adding:

"The US has not still given the public opinion an explanation for the nature of the helicopters flying in the airspace of Afghanistan under the control of NATO for supporting Daesh." 

Last July, the NYT falsely claimed that "Russia secretly offered (the Taliban) bounties to kill US troops" in Afghanistan (sic).

The accusation fell flat. The Pentagon denied it. 

The NSA said it had no corroborating intelligence to suggest it.

The CIA didn't confirm the claim it knew was untrue.

A follow-up Times report retracted the claim by shifting the narrative from Russia paying bounties to Taliban fighters to paying "Taliban-linked militants to kill American and coalition troops in Afghanistan (sic)," using a middleman "contractor (sic)."

Both reports were and remain fiction, not fact. No evidence supported them because none existed then or now.

In response to the fake news, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov minced no words called it "100 percent bulls..t."

Both Times reports laid an egg, anonymous sources alone cited.

The broadsheet's public editor once said: "There is nothing more toxic to responsible journalism than an anonymous source."

For the Times and other establishment media, it's longstanding practice — a vehicle for reporting fake news over truth-telling and full disclosure they shun.

The no longer operating City News Bureau of Chicago had a sign on its newsroom wall that read:

"If your mother says she loves you, check it out with two independent sources."

Establishment media long ago abandoned that gold standard.

Another fake news Times report last summer falsely accused Russia of "aggression" in Afghanistan — a US specialty in multiple theaters, polar opposite how Moscow operates.

The fake news accusation about bounties by China to non-state actors in Afghanistan to kill US forces is no more credible than similar phony claims about Russia and Iran.

Axios was first to report it, citing two anonymous Trump regime sources, adding:

"If the intelligence does not prove accurate, it raises questions about the motivations of the sources behind it as well as the decision to declassify it."

"China has long played a quiet diplomatic role in Afghanistan, inviting Afghan Taliban officials to Beijing to discuss plans for a peace deal and encouraging an Afghan-led solution."

In response to the fake news claim about Russia paying bounties to Taliban fighters for killing US forces in Afghanistan, White House press secretary Kayleigh McAnany debunked it, saying:

"(R)ogue intelligence officers" were undermining Trump, adding:

He wasn't briefed on the accusation because it wasn't based on verified intelligence.

According to Axios, anonymous US officials involved in the above-explained accusation against China "would not describe the source or sources of the intelligence or say when or over what period of time the activity occurred."

In September, commander of US forces in Afghanistan General Frank McKenzie said he'd seen no evidence to suggest Russian bounties to Taliban fighters.

"I just haven't seen it yet," he said.

The same is true about Iran and China. No credible evidence indicates that they're involved in any unlawful activities against the US domestically or abroad.

Whenever these claims surface against all US invented adversaries, no evidence supports them because there is none.

They're groundless!

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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