Russian Black Propaganda is a Vast Effort to Destabilize the US and Topple NATO
Russian interference in the 2016 US election has been widely documented in press reports, The Atlantic provides a reasonable summary of the details in the official joint US Intelligence Agencies report. After stonewalling and denying, in time even Donald Trump conceded the basic truth it actually took place. Another report was the leaked dossier by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele. Initially written for GOP primary opponents of Trump, it was later sold again to Democrats. Best known for pissgate — salacious claims about Donald Trump’s presumed sexual predilections — buried in the 35 page report were also a myriad of details about Russian media influence operations, including hacking and trolling, Russian orchestration of the DNC Guccifer 2.0 leaks, as well as Wikileaks’ Podesta emails.
It too didn’t provide named or public sources. And, as Glenn Greenwald and others correctly noted at the time, that should give any skeptical reader pause. But in the weeks since events in Russia have led credence to Steele’s report. For example, after the report leaked, there were several Russian arrests for treason of hackers also suspected of having been sources. As well as the murder of Oleg Erovinkin, a former KGB general believed to have been the report’s primary source. But the most damning circumstantial evidence is the Steele dossier claim Russia had agreed to sell Trump 19% of the state oil company Rosneft, in exchange for lifting sanctions. Suspiciously, Reuters reported shortly after Trump was sworn in to office, Russia had sold a 19% stake of the oil firm through a cascade of intermediaries, making tracing of its final owner(s) impossible.
Thus, revelations of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s hasty resignation, for having been caught by wiretap discussing sanctions against Russia, as well as news that Trump officials had many such repeated contacts with Russian officials, might make one suspect there had been a behind-the-scenes negotiation of a quid-pro-quo for Trump’s personal gain. Which might explain why, when MI6 spy Christopher Steele’s name was revealed as the author of that Russian Election Interference Dossier, he ran like hell in hiding. Perhaps out of fear he could be slipped a nasty cup ‘o Russian polonium special Earl Grey at a London cafe. These people are dangerous!
This news is now common knowledge. Spread out across an official US report, a perhaps credible dossier, and curious events about the changing US-Russian relations since the Trump inauguration, all reported in various disparate news sources. Which, taken in aggregate, suggest more than a whiff of corruption by Trump. But it may be more than that. As John McCain noted on the Senate floor, Russia overtly intervening in US elections is tantamount to an act of war. Why in God’s name would the Russian government risk provoking the United States to war? And how could mere cyber attacks have had such an unexpected effect on the US election outcome? What I want to discuss is not just the tactics, the HOW of Russian propaganda efforts, but also the WHY. Their overall strategy.
But first, the tactics.
Read the whole article at: https://extranewsfeed.com/russian-black-propaganda-is-a-vast-effort-to-destabilize-the-us-and-topple-nato-27d569fad577#.ukfykijl5
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