The Duplicitous role of Some Mainstream “Left” Journalists & Human Rights Orgs in America’s Hybrid Wars (Reposted/Updated-Videos & Text)

First iteration March 5, 2017 / Revised May 17, 2019

The show used to be located in the Downtown Commnity Tv Center (DCTV) firehouse building (a converted firehouse) in New York City's Chinatown. In November 2009, they moved to the Chelsea District in Manhattan.

Democracy Now! was founded on February 19, 1996 at WBAI-FM in New York City by journalists Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, Larry Bensky, Salim Muwakkil, and Julie Drizin.^[4] It originally aired on five Pacifica Radio stations.^[1] Goodman is the program's principal host, with Juan Gonzalez and Nermeen Shaikh as frequent co-hosts.^[3] Jeremy Scahill, an investigative reporter and co-founding editor for The Intercept,^[5] has been a frequent contributor since 1997.^[1] Democracy Now! began broadcasting on television every weekday shortly after September 11, 2001, and is the only public medium in the U.S. that airs simultaneously on satellite and cable television, radio, and the internet.^[6]  In June 2002, Democracy Now! separated from Pacifica Radio and became an independent nonprofit organization.

Clearly 2002 marked a change of direction for DN! as it's quite probable the problems with this show began when DN! split from its original platform with Pacifica and sought "donations" and the help of "foundations" as an independent nonprofit. We all know that when foundations enter the field in force, the object of their benefaction suddenly begins to absorb and regurgitate their values. This is not even sinister, it's just human nature, normal for anyone living on a shoestring for many years and finally finding some generous sponsors. Problem is, practically all foundations are tools and playthings of the rich, usually helmed by (at best) well-intentioned but nonetheless comfortable pro-status quo liberals, a situation fraught with conflicts of interest for radical journalists. Who knows what happened then to Amy Goodman, but it's obvious the system certainly got to the previously brave and implacable critic of US predations. Suddenly transparent shills for the US propaganda apparatus, the likes of Samantha Power, and a host of literal stenographers for the State Dept. line began to show up with alarming regularity. To this day the mask has not entirely fallen off, and therein lies the residual ability of this show to inject US government propaganda into some of the most critical issues of the day among an audience of longstanding liberals and radicals. 

DN's programming mix a highwire act

I hazard by watching a few shows that the current DN! format uses a careful mix of guests and topics to maintain its credibility, so there is no uniform imperialist propaganda theme running day in day out, as one sees on all the major mainstream media like NYTimes, WaPo, CBS, CNN, NBC, BBC, MSNBC, Fox, etc. But giving credibility to disinformers and presenting as valid the "point of view" of pro-imperialist shills suggested by the myriad  individuals and organizations working for US imperialism is no real journalism, it is an exercise in artificial "balance", a simulacrum, a form of disguised propaganda. Still, this is an act that, cumulatively, cannot sustain credibility with perceptive publics indefinitely. I presume an audience erosion is or has been taking place for some time, and, given the fact its pro-US government fare has huge competition in the dense pack of mainstream presstitutes, DN! is not likely to find many recruits in that demographic.

DN! descent into a Faustian pact with the murderous establishment is mirrored by the runaway corruption we now find in the so-called "human rights industry". While many global NGOs were clearly and undeniably created as fronts for the CIA and other US government agencies to be used as instruments of destabilisation in various formulas, from outright coups to "color revolutions," etc. (the NED, National Endowment for Democracy is perhaps one of the best exemplars of this lot), since the mid 1960s, and accelerating in the late 1970s, it has become also irrefutable that Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and the more recent entry, Lawyers Without Borders, plus a host of other onetime reputable outfits, have also been penetrated by US state operatives, rich foundations, or are operating knowingly as willing collaborators. As can be seen below, the underhanded propaganda work of faux left media is often interwoven with the parallel fabrications produced by the huan rights industry. Together, they form a powerful mix in the hybrid war coktails constantly produced by the system's managers.

Personally I refuse to believe a battle-tested and highly experienced journalist like Amy Goodman cannot tell an imperialist propaganda plant from the real article. Below a sampler presented in rough chronological order showing the constant presence for at least five years of guests and witnesses spousing the State Dept. viewpoint. Draw your own conclusions.
—P. G.

• 1. BELOW: Published on 3 Aug 2011 —This is Democracy Now! at the start of Obama's hypocritical and underhanded aggression on Syria in 2011. DN is already providing soft cover in Washington's hybrid war effort.
  

  ---

  

  ---

  Syrian forces are pushing towards the center of the restive city of Hama as they continue an offensive in which an estimated 140 people have been killed. Residents say they saw explosions Wednesday morning and lines of tanks heading into the city. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, called on Tuesday for a rapid end to violence in Syria, but said direct U.S. involvement was unlikely. The U.N. Security Council met Tuesday to discuss the crisis, but failed to reach an agreement. Foreign media and observers are banned from Syria. Democracy Now! speaks with Nadim Houry, the senior researcher on Syria and Lebanon for Human Rights Watch, who is based in Beirut.

  ---

  
•   2. Published on 14 Nov 2011
  ABOVE: "Daily protests continue in Syria even as the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates the government has killed more than 3,500 people during the last eight months in its attempt to silence a growing popular uprising. Over the weekend, protesters carried out a general strike in several cities. Democray Now! gets a live report from Damascus from Razan Zaitouneh, a lawyer and human rights activist, who says she believes at least 4,133 people have been killed. 'The average of killing is also increasing. It's now at least 30 persons get killed daily by the regime in different cities of the country, especially in Homs and Hama and Idlib,'  Zaitouneh says."

  ---

• 3. Published Jan 30, 2012
  Syrian Activist Speaks From Hiding: Bloodshed is Continuing Despite International Criticism

  

  democracynow.org - "Street battles are raging at the gates of the Syrian capital of Damascus, and activists say at least 62 people were killed nationwide on Sunday. This comes United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called on the Syrian leadership, particularly President Bashar al-Assad, to end the violence against the demonstrators immediately, and plans to take up a draft resolution this week calling on him to step down and transfer power. 'They are just watching the bloodshed in Syria and keep talking and talking without doing anything,' says Razan Zaitouneh, a lawyer and human rights activist, who joins us from Damascus. We also speak with Karam Nachar, a U.S.-based cyber-activist who is working with Syrian protesters via social media platforms."

  ---

  4. BELOW: HERE GIVING CREDIBILITY TO THE WHITE HELMETS, A SORDID BUT SUCCESSFUL ANGLO-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA OPERATION, funded by UK intel services, George Soros, the CIA and other unsavory actors—

  The White Helmets: As Syria Death Toll Mounts, Meet the Rescue Workers Saving Thousands of Lives

  

  Published on Oct 13, 2016

  http://democracynow.org - In Syria, renewed bombing has reportedly killed more than 150 people this week in rebel-controlled Aleppo. On Wednesday, at least 15 people died after airstrikes hit East Aleppo’s biggest market. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports at least four children were killed and 10 wounded earlier today when shells landed near a school in western Aleppo, the area controlled by the government. On Wednesday, Pope Francis issued what has been described as his strongest appeal to date for an end to the fighting in Syria. We turn now to look at a group in Syria known as the Syrian Civil Defense, or the White Helmets. The group of some 3,000 volunteers has been credited with saving over 60,000 people from the rubble of buildings in war-torn Syria. Last month the group won a Right Livelihood Award, known as the Alternative Nobel Prize. We speak to Orlando von Einsiedel, director of the new documentary "The White Helmets."

  ---

  5. The Impossible Revolution: A Syrian Dissident on How a Fight Against a Dictator Became a Proxy War

  

  Published on Dec 22, 2016

  http://democracynow.org - In Syria, the evacuation of rebels and civilians from eastern Aleppo has resumed, after thousands were left stranded on Wednesday amid heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Syrian government forces said they expected the last of the evacuees to board buses within the coming hours, leaving the Syrian Army to take total control of the city, which has been devastated by months of heavy bombing and siege warfare. We speak to Syrian dissident and former political prisoner Yassin al-Haj Saleh, who lives in exile in Turkey. His wife, Samira Khalil, disappeared three years ago along with the prominent human rights attorney Razan Zaitouneh. Yassin al-Haj Saleh’s forthcoming book is titled "The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy."

  ---

  6. And finally, the coup de grace, DN's endorsement of the supposedly true Amnesty report on "Assad's slaughterhouse". Convenient timing.

  ---

  Human Slaughterhouse: Amnesty International Says Up to 13,000 Hanged at Syrian Prison

  

  Published on Feb 9, 2017

  http://democracynow.org - Amnesty International has released a shocking report claiming as many as 13,000 people—mostly civilians—have been hanged in a Syrian government military prison in recent years. Amnesty accuses the Assad government of running a human slaughterhouse and engaging in a deliberate policy of extermination by hanging thousands of civilians at a prison near Damascus. Amnesty says the killings amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. We speak to the co-author of the report, Nicolette Waldman, an Amnesty International researcher specializing in detention issues.

  Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: http://democracynow.org

  ---

  7. BELOW: Fact & Comment by Firas Samuri, Inside Syria Media Center

Human Right Watch discredits itself with doubtful statements (Feb. 16, 2017)

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization report, February 13, blames the Syrian army and its allies for using chemical weaponry in the opposition-held neighborhoods during the last stage of eastern Aleppo offensive operation. These so called "human rights defenders" presented 8 unconfirmed cases of using chemical weapons by the Syrian army from November 17 to December 13, 2016, when supposedly Syrian air force helicopters dropped chlorine bombs in the residential area. As a result of these incidents allegedly 9 civilians were killed and 200 were badly wounded.

 

Kenneth Roth, HRW's Exec Director. Like many of his ilk, the man is a smooth Ivy League lawyer and well prepared to run sophisticated bureacracies in the halls of power.

---

It should be mentioned that the HRW "experts" presented this news on the basis of incomprehensible phone calls and social networks posts, which hadn't been represented in the report. However, the sourcing is highly suspect. First, it is quite easy to find a great number of dubious photos and videos on the Internet, where we can see many Syrians who suspiciously speak English fluently. In these media materials, which are clearly aimed at Western audiences, people emphasize the fact that the ceasefire in Syria is not respected, and the government forces can't ensure the safety of the general population in the besieged city. It's strange that HRW representatives press charges against the Syrian government only on the basis of uncorroborated information and their own arguments. These aspects confirm the almost deliberate incompetence and inadequate research of this "respected" international organization regarding the real situation in Syria.
...
These organizations, hiding behind their supposedly "nongovernmental" identity, are not impartial by any elementary standard. The should conduct impartial investigations, based on the true facts on the ground related to the violation of human rights instead of publishing fake news. Unfortunately this HRW report does not reflect the real facts of such cases, of chemical weapons use in Syria, as chemical weaponry has been traced in each case to terrorists targeting civilians in order to create a false flag event to be exploited by Western media. Probably, one of the reasons for this demonstrably sloppy attitude, a veritable disregard for truth, is the fact that American billionaire George Soros finances the organization, and truth by definition does not enter the equation, for the object of Soros' largesse is propaganda not authentic reporting.  In 2010 he announced that his Open Society Foundation had granted HRW $100 million for protecting and promoting human rights worldwide. Consequently the majority of HRW reports are aimed at demonizing Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian army, instead of protecting the rights and freedoms of ordinary Syrians who are really in need of assistance from the international organizations.

Suspect timing

Why this sudden uptake in the "human rights" reports issuing from Syria? The publication of different organizations reports is happening against the background of Syrian talks in Astana and Geneva, which aim at reaching a genuine ceasefire in Syria. Confronted with this reality, Western countries, led by the US and its multiple shills, which clearly include these so-called "human rights" outfits, are once again making every effort to create negative information around Syria in the already far-from-impartial mass media, while reinforcing the notion that Bashar Assad is a tyrant, who kills his own people.

Read more: IBLAGHNEWS

People React to Amnesty International's Falsehoods
Prepared by Going Underground

We speak to Charles Glass, award winning foreign correspondent who spent his career on the ground in the Middle East about the turning tide in Syria. We talk to Amnesty International about the timing of their new report containing allegations against President Assad's government. Professor Piers Robinson on NATO-propaganda and media manipulation.
LIKE Going Underground http://fb.me/GoingUndergroundRT
FOLLOW Going Underground http://twitter.com/Underground_RT

Goodman: Is she or isn't she? Or is there two Amy Goodmans?