Corporate Media Russophobia on Full Blast Over Navalny
Absolutely jingoistic rhetoric coming out of the New York Times today. There is zero reason to believe the narrative that Putin poisoned Alexei Navalny.
NYT asserts that the poisoning of Navalny is an “established fact” simply because the presence of Novichok was detected by multiple laboratories. What is conspicuously omitted is the first report out of Omsk. We, the global public, deserve to see a detailed comparison of the reports, and an investigation into the discrepancies between them. Germany, France, and Sweden have clear motive for fabricating a poisoning (which intercepted calls imply), and Russia has a clear motive for denying an assassination attempt. Wait for facts > narrative.
NYT cites the agent was “used in at least one previous assassination attempt against foes of the Russian regime”. A lot to unpack. the incident they are referring to is the Skripal poisoning in London in 2018, which mysteriously enough, also managed to kill zero people. Strange how such a deadly nerve agent could not only fail to kill all of its targets, but also implicate one singular government as a consequence, no? Now the “at least once” line is a smokescreen for 0 other evidence. Skripal poisoning dress rehearsal? NYT says “against foes of Russian regime” which is a fact, but what they’re implying is that Putin is behind both without having to come out and say it — if disproved they get to play dumb. Shameless obfuscation of the truth through word association.
“In the face of Kremlin stonewalling”. Are they impaired? Putin asked Germany to hand over the data they’ve been using, and I don’t think that Germany is being forthcoming. Instead, they want the OPCW to investigate.
Hmm, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, eh? You mean the same one that lied to us about the 2018 Douma attacks as reported here by Aaron Mate on The Grayzone? The one who disparaged Ian Henderson calling his role minimal? Even though he was the lead investigator for the FFM in Douma? What a joke. The same organization that helped the US and its allies cover up an alleged chemical weapons attack?
“Whatever the full story, the Russian government’s contemptible posturing as an aggrieved victim of unfair suspicions only intensify the need to demand a reckoning from the Kremlin.”
Brain-melting levels of stupidity.
Describing the Russian govt natural posturing given the situation as “contemptible” is just another word association psyop trick to hack your brain into thinking that proclaiming innocence implies guilt. NYT is literally saying that even if they’re wrong it’s irrelevant. NYT lists Nalvalny’s crowning anti-corruption achievement: Showing that a former Russian president has extravagant properties. Is this a joke? I can name literally 100s of current or former politicians with extravagant properties. Is there really nothing better than that? Regardless of how one feels about Navalny’s politics, the reality is that he did not pose a threat to Putin whatsoever, given his 2–4% polling. He’s described as the best known and most visible of Putin’s opponents, but what has he actually accomplished politically? Nothing except for a few exposes on govt corruption. Why target him?
We finally get to the real reason behind the Navalny situation: economic warfare. Germany is threatening to withdraw from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline over this incident, which is the equivalent of Germany declaring all out economic war with Russia. Germany is heavily reliant on Russian fossil fuels and Russia needs the money badly due to sanctions that have been escalated at every single turn during the Trump admin. Caitlin Johnstone elucidates how USA is squeezing Russia economically.
NYT closes with a scene straight out of a Hollywood movie with Putin reigning Russia until his dying days as he callously murders everyone who looks at him funny with gas clouds of Novichok that he sprays out of his eyeballs.
“A state prepared to use banned chemical weapons against its own citizens is a danger and threat to the rest of the world as well.” Like say if a nation were to tear gas its own civilians, using a banned weapon of war?
If Putin truly is the mastermind the neoliberal media make him out to be, how does he botch 2 assassinations in 2 years in the exact same way, without accidentally endangering anybody around the alleged target, and the target is expected to make a full recovery?
Literally identical playbook to Douma attack. Don’t be surprised when we find out in 2021 that this was all a load of bullshit.
