Friday, July 10, 2020
Headlines for July 10, 2020
Worst, Most Misleading & Funniest Headlines for July 10, 2020
*The only people dismissing the Russia bounties intel: The Taliban, Russia and Trump
Yeah, no. Interestingly enough, two of those three are the ones in a position to actually know!
*Colin Powell suggests media had ‘hysterical’ reaction to Russian bounty reports
Gareth Porter analyzes the whole series of NYT articles:
*How the Pentagon failed to sell Afghan government’s bunk ‘Bountygate’ story to US intelligence agencies
Afghan intelligence service known as the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
The CIA and National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) each gave the NDS intelligence an assessment of “moderate confidence,” according to memorandum.
The NIC memorandum reported that NSA gave the information from Afghan intelligence “low confidence”
*New York Times: New US memo highlights gaps in intelligence reports on Russian bounties
“A recent memo from the council helmed by the nation's intelligence chief confirmed accounts that Russia offered bounties to Taliban fighters to kill US troops in Afghanistan -- but cast the reports as incomplete and potentially dubious, The New York Times reported Friday.”
“Multiple former national security officials told the paper that the memo's depiction suggested that it may have been swayed by political intentions.”
*New Administration Memo Seeks to Foster Doubts About Suspected Russian Bounties
Analysis of the supposed motives right in the headline.
Also they buried the article on page 19!
“The memo is said to contain no new information, and both its timing and its stressing of doubts suggested that it was intended to bolster the Trump administration’s attempts to justify its inaction on the months-old assessment, the officials said. Some former national security officials said the account of the memo indicated that politics may have influenced its production.”
Why didn’t the NYT speculate like this about motives when they published the original claims?
U.S. officials say intel on Russian bounties was less than conclusive. That misses the big picture.
The big picture — we’re going to whip up a new Cold War against Russia and justify spending a trillion dollars a year on war, evidence be damned.
*US seizes items thought to be made from hair of Muslims in Chinese labor camps
“US federal authorities have seized a shipment of products made from human hair believed to have been taken from Muslims in labor camps in China’s western Xinjiang province.” That’s it. That’s the sum total of the evidence. But actually this has nothing to do with whose hair it is, as this shows: “In May, a similar detention was placed on Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories Co Ltd, although those weaves were synthetic, not human.”
*Web headline: Trump Defends Confederate Flag in Latest Race-Based Appeal to White Voters
Article: Trump Adds to Playbook of Stoking White Fear and Resentment
“Race-based”. “Stoking white fear”.
*U.N. expert deems U.S. drone strike on Iran's Soleimani an 'unlawful' killing
The news that wasn’t “fit to print” by either the NYT or WaPo, although both have frequently cited reports by the same UN rapporteur in the past (eg, re the Khashoggi murder).
*Beijing’s secret police get a room with a view in Hong Kong
“Secret police” only exist in official US enemies; in the US and its allies they’re just “intelligence agencies” (even though they’re equally secret; even their budgets are kept hidden from the public).
*U.N. Chief Says Foreign Meddling in Libya Conflict at 'Unprecedented Levels'
“Unprecedented”? Really? US & NATO bombing the country and overthrowing its government wasn’t a precedent?
