WITNESSES TO HISTORY

GLENN GREENWALD—If you think that, upon learning yesterday’s news, there was any self-reflection on the part of the media figures who spread this, or that they felt chastened about it in any way, you would be very, very wrong. In fact, not only did few if any admit error, but they did exactly the same thing on Thursday about a brand new evidence-free assertion from the U.S. Government concerning Russia: they mindlessly assumed it true and then stated it to millions of people as fact. They are not embarrassed to get caught spreading false CIA propaganda. They see their role, correctly, as doing exactly that.

KIM PETERSEN—”Practice open-minded skepticism; demand evidence; demand to know who the people involved are; scrutinize the history and backgrounds of the people, media, and places. In other words don’t allow yourself to easily be lied to…”

CALEB MAUPIN—It must be recognized that the tone and content of human rights reports issued by the United States tends to change based on the relationship countries have with the US government. While the US claims to be benevolent, championing the human rights of all, the selective nature and biased emphasis of reports issued by the United States is widely acknowledged. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has stated “Human rights must never be a vehicle for double standards or a means to pursue hidden agendas,” but it is clear that the United States routinely weaponizes human rights for its own purposes. Impoverished countries that assert their independence face more scrutiny than US aligned countries, or countries with a higher level of development. 

ERIC ZUESSE—The Minsk agreements were negotiated between Germany, France, Ukraine, and Russia — the four “Normandy Format” participants. The initial contacts had been discussions between Merkel, Hollande and Putin, all three of whom wanted the Obama-initiated slaughter in Donbas to stop, and Merkel and Hollande forced Ukraine’s Poroshenko to accept the Minsk agreements, or else Germany and France would block further IMF loans, which have been keeping the post-coup Ukrainian Government afloat. (That was leverage which Germany and France had over the U.S. regime — the empire isn’t entirely a one-way street.)

As this historical account proves, we have meddled shamelessly in practically every nation’s internal affairs for generations across the globe: from Guatemala, Iran, Indonesia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile and many other “lesser nations”, to Russia, Australia, and even Italy and Canada. No one is immune from Washington’s sordid maneuvers.