OSCE: Monitors In Eastern Ukraine Threatened At Gunpoint By Separatists

[uhnope]

Source: RFE/RL

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says members of its monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine have been threatened at gunpoint near a village in the Donetsk region. The OSCE said a Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) was stopped by two armed separatists near the separatist-controlled village of Lukove in the afternoon on July 29.

This occurred, the OSCE said, while the SMM was following what it said were fresh tracks, likely left by an infantry fighting vehicle. The separatists blocked the road with their camouflaged-style jeep and pointed their guns at the monitors and ordered them to leave the area, according to the OSCE.

As the group of monitors was leaving the area, another separatist jeep appeared, traveling at top speed. It almost hit the lead vehicle in the SMM convoy before coming to a stop in front of the patrol, blocking its path.

The OSCE said one separatist made a "cut throat" sign to the monitors and took photographs of both SMM vehicles and the drivers.

Read more: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-osce-monitors-threatened-gunpoint-lukove/27890182.html

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How very nice of RFE/RL to refer to these terrorist Russian thugs as "separatists"

[uawchild]

1. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty cited again?

That's the full name of the source cited, RFE/RL.

Until 2013 Radio Free Europe was banned in the US as it was considered propaganda by American politicians.

"The restriction of these broadcasts was due to the Smith-Mundt Act, a long-standing piece of legislation that has been amended numerous times over the years, perhaps most consequentially by Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright, D. In the 70s, Fulbright was no friend of VOA and Radio Free Europe, and moved to restrict them from domestic distribution, saying they “should be given the opportunity to take their rightful place in the graveyard of Cold War relics.” Fulbright’s amendment to Smith-Mundt was bolstered in 1985 by Nebraska Senator Edward Zorinsky, D, who argued that such “propaganda” should be kept out of America as to distinguish the U.S. “from the Soviet Union where domestic propaganda is a principal government activity.” "
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/07/15/news/nation/u-s-repeals-propaganda-ban-spreads-government-made-news-to-americans/

How time's have changed, hmmm? Now its back to full on Cold War II propaganda. So it goes.

And why point out that RFE/RL is Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty? Because studies have shown that people often do not examine the actual article for a spurious headline with an associated link. A recent example was a headline and paragraph that claimed the earth was about to be destroyed by a meteor, clicking on the link revealed it was a scam headline and cited the statistics on how many people do not read linked articles.

[uhnope]

2. I just posted about a half dozen RFE/RL articles of topical and relevant news

Enjoy!

[uawchild]

3. Thanks for the opportunity to point out recently legalized domestic propaganda

US Government-Funded Domestic Propaganda Has Officially Hit The Airwaves

The U.S. government's mammoth broadcasting arm has begun the "unleashing of thousands of hours per week of government-funded radio and TV programs for domestic U.S. consumption," John Hudson of Foreign Policy reported on Sunday.

The content arrives with the enactment of the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012, sponsored by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R- Texas) and Rep. Adam Smith (D- Wash.), which was inserted into the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The reform effectively nullifies the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which was amended in 1985 specifically to prohibit U.S. organizations from using information "to influence public opinion in the United States."

The new law enables U.S. government programming such as Voice of America (VoA) — an outlet created in 1942 to promote a positive understanding of the U.S. abroad — t0 broadcast directly to domestic audiences for the first time.

VoA and other programs are now produced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which shares a "strategic communications budget" with the State Department and has an annual budget of more than $700 million.

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-domestic-propaganda-officially-aired-2013-7

What's a shame is how far we have regressed as a nation in this regard. Even back during the height of the Cold War, Democratic and Republican politicians all agreed that domestic propaganda should be banned.

" In the 70s, Fulbright was no friend of VOA and Radio Free Europe, and moved to restrict them from domestic distribution, saying they “should be given the opportunity to take their rightful place in the graveyard of Cold War relics.” Fulbright’s amendment to Smith-Mundt was bolstered in 1985 by Nebraska Senator Edward Zorinsky, D, who argued that such “propaganda” should be kept out of America as to distinguish the U.S. “from the Soviet Union where domestic propaganda is a principal government activity.”

It's just sad that our tax dollars are now being spent by our government to influence us with WHAT UNTIL 2013 was rightly labelled propaganda and was banned.

[uhnope]

4. ...

maybe one of the other purveyors will come along to commiserate with you about how the US has "regressed". The regressive I see elsewhere, like the fake left's regressive adoration for fascist Russia and for anything anti-US

[uawchild]

7. "Of course, having a Pentagon propaganda unit at all is highly anti-democratic."

"Of course, having a Pentagon propaganda unit at all is highly anti-democratic. The best defense of the truth is a free press. It should also be remembered that nowadays everything in Washington is outsourced, so government propaganda is often being turned over to Booz Allen or the American Enterprise Institute, which have a rightwing bias."
http://www.juancole.com/2012/05/congress-wants-the-department-of-defense-to-propagandize-americans.html

[PSPS]

6. We all truly appreciate your "concern."

[PSPS]

5. Were they shouting "build the wall?"

[uawchild]

8. "A new partnership is turning Radio Free Europe into an anti-Russia propaganda machine."

Uncle Sam Got a Shiny New Propaganda Bullhorn for Christmas
A new partnership is turning Radio Free Europe into an anti-Russia propaganda machine.
By James Carden

As we begin 2016, with the American mainstream media’s anti-Russia bias as deeply entrenched as never before, comes the news that the US government–funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has partnered up with the online magazine the Interpreter.

Previously, the Interpreter had been a “special project” of the Manhattan-based Institute for Modern Russia (IMR), a think tank funded by the exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khordorkovsky. In announcing the change, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, the journalist and CNN fixture Michael Weiss, said his organization was “excited to serve as an outpost of such a venerable news organization.”

An RFE/RL official told The Nation that the deal stipulates that RFE/RL will have exclusive rights to publish and translate articles from the Interpreter for RFE/RL’s audience abroad, while The Interpreter will be, in turn, obligated to publish each installment of ITS intractably Russo-phobic “The Power Vertical” blog.

According to Weiss, given his “magazine’s trajectory, a partnership with RFE/RL makes perfect sense.” That is only too true, given the marked decline in RFE/RL’s standards since the heyday of the Cold War.
https://www.thenation.com/article/uncle-sam-got-a-shiny-new-propaganda-bullhorn-for-christmas/

[uhnope]

9. Stephen Cohen was once considered a top Russia historian. Now he publishes odd defenses of Vladimir

Stephen Cohen was once considered a top Russia historian. Now he publishes odd defenses of Vladimir Putin. The Nation just published his most outrageous one yet.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2014/07/stephen_cohen_vladimir_putin_s_apologist_the_nation_just_published_the_most.html

You pretend to be "concerned" about propaganda and then you link to The Nation and defend RT until the cows come home.

[uawchild]

10. "You pretend to be "concerned" about propaganda and then you link to The Nation..." Yes and proudly!

Why, yes I did. And what do YOU have against The Nation magazine?

The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States, and the most widely read weekly journal of progressive political and cultural news, opinion and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator,[2] with the stated mission to "make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred."[3] It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.[4] It is associated with The Nation Institute.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation

So, lets recap, linking to a state funded propaganda site like Radio Free Europe is good?

"RFE/RL was developed out of a belief that the Cold War would eventually be fought by political rather than military means.[65] American policymakers such as George Kennan and John Foster Dulles acknowledged that the Cold War was essentially a “war of ideas”.[66] The United States, acting through the Central Intelligence Agency, funded a long list of projects to counter the Communist appeal in Europe and the developing world.[67] The missions of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were separate from Voice of America in the sense that VOA was meant to be the voice of America, reflecting American foreign policy and disseminating world news from an official American viewpoint, whereas RFE/RL has the mission of captivating people and stimulating non-cooperation in Communist countries."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_propaganda#Radio_Free_Europe.2FRadio_Liberty


BUT linking to THE LONGEST RUNNING PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE is BAD?

"During the 1930s, The Nation showed enthusiastic support for Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.[7]"

"In the 1950s, The Nation was attacked as "pro-communist" because of its advocacy of friendship with the Soviet Union,[16] and its criticism of McCarthyism.[7]"

"In 1991, The Nation sued the Department of Defense for restricting free speech by limiting Gulf War coverage to press pools. However, the issue was found moot in Nation Magazine v. United States Department of Defense because the war ended before the case was heard."

"On January 14, 2016, The Nation endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for President. In their reasoning, the editors of The Nation professed that "Bernie Sanders and his supporters are bending the arc of history toward justice. Theirs is an insurgency, a possibility, and a dream that we proudly endorse."[21]"


Wow. Just wow. Would you tell us all again how bad The Nation is? GOOD LORD.

[newthinking]

11. You are the **only** one slamming Cohen. He is a solid progressive voice

The Nation has been a liberal voice for more years than we have been alive.

You should really settle down a bit with your angst. It can make you look foolish.

[newthinking]

12. Hell yes the nation is a solid and reliable magazine.

It really shows a closed mind when one has to call any periodical or journalist out when you essentially don't want to think about or consider what they say.