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    Re: Russia had better roll up Idlib before Biden is inaugurated .. Archived Message

    Posted by Ian M on December 3, 2020, 2:14 pm, in reply to "Russia had better roll up Idlib before Biden is inaugurated .."

    Omnibot performing his gatekeeper role again, pouring hot oil on the real dissidents from the safety of graun towers, then pulling up the drawbridge because you shouldn't 'succumb' to 'debating falsehoods'.

    Here's the ignoble thread in full:
    ·
    Dec 1
    For years, the Russian and Syrian governments, their paid trolls and useful idiots on both the far right and the left have dominated the conversation about #Syria on social media. They have denied or justified Assad’s atrocities, and spread lurid conspiracy theories.
    Thread/

    But now, thanks to the work of @chloehadj, @bellingcat and others, the tide is at last turning. There’s a palpable sense of panic among those who now find themselves exposed as atrocity deniers.

    I’m sorry to say that, until recently, the left had failed dismally on this issue. Very few of us called out the lies and stood in solidarity with the Syrian people, as they've been murdered en masse and oppressed by the world’s bloodiest dictator. That's now changing

    It was horribly reminiscent of the failures last century to speak out against the Holodomor (Stalin’s campaign of mass murder). It’s easy to forget how the few leftists who did so were demonised and ostracised, and accused of being Western imperialists.

    The same things were said about those who oppose Assad’s bombing, chemical weapons attacks, imprisonment and torture. Apparently, WE are the “warmongers”. If we denounce his atrocities, we must be in favour of Western military intervention. Even, er, when we explicitly oppose it.

    Propaganda is a crucial weapon of war. Those who have whitewashed Assad’s crimes have blood on their hands. Among them are some eminent figures. Their involvement in this issue and their alliance with the far right should be a source of lasting shame.

    Toxic Atmosphere
    How a chemical weapons attack in Syria spawned a shameful series of conspiracy theories By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 15th November 2017

    When you speak out in defence of human rights, you will find yourself constantly challenged to "debate" the conspiracy theories put forward by Assad's apologists. It's an old trick, often used by Holocaust deniers. By debating falsehoods, you give weight to them. Don't succumb.

    The war in #Syria is the best-documented in human history. There is a mountain of video and testimonial evidence of Assad’s atrocities. The "doubt" about them is entirely manufactured.

    Just like the Holocaust deniers and the climate science deniers, those who deny Assad’s atrocities latch onto tiny, misrepresented details and pursue them obsessively, while ignoring the vast weight of evidence that reveals the whole picture.

    The propagandists have created a complete alternative reality. Though Assad and Putin’s forces are responsible for well over 90% of the deaths, they are cast as the innocent parties. Conspiracy theories are used to deny the very existence of their victims.

    It should be a source of grave public concern that two of the leading conspiracy theorists are professors at @EdinburghUni: @Tim_Hayward_ and Paul McKeigue. Neither have expertise on Syria. This programme features and debunks one of McKeigue's claims:

    Could the rescuers be involved in staging chemical attacks?
    Intrigue - Ep7: Mayday - Managed Massacres - BBC Sounds


    .@Tim_Hayward_ is a serial conspiracy theorist, as you can see from his Twitter feed. He spreads dangerous misinformation about a number of topics. God knows what his students make of it. Are university professors not supposed to uphold certain evidential standards?

    When you challenge the denial of atrocities in Syria, you are widely accused of being in the pay of someone, working for MI5, Mossad etc etc.
    Yeah - because why else would anyone oppose mass murder, torture and other crimes against humanity?

    To my dear trolls:
    During my investigative work in West Papua, Brazil and East Africa, I was shot at, beaten up, shipwrecked, stung into a coma by hornets and pronounced clinically dead from cerebral malaria. If you think a few rude words will deter me, you are mistaken.
    Thanks

    Can you say 'projection'? Some good takedowns on Tim Hayward's twitter, including from Hayward himself: https://twitter.com/Tim_Hayward_ Also Cook and Mate have his number:

    Jonathan Cook @Jonathan_K_Cook
    ·
    How long do we on the left keep giving George Monbiot a pass simply because he's good on re-wilding and neoliberalism, when he keeps invests his credibility in propping up the most powerful lobby in the world – the west's war industries https://jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-11-27/us-war-machine/
    Quote Tweet
    George Monbiot @GeorgeMonbiot

    But now, thanks to the work of @chloehadj, @bellingcat and others, the tide is at last turning. There’s a palpable sense of panic among those who now find themselves exposed as atrocity deniers.
    https://bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08xs4st

    Jonathan Cook @Jonathan_K_Cook
    ·
    It's the same pattern with Monbiot: loud demands to topple dictators (while formally and disingenuously rejecting the means – war – needed to topple them); and near-silence on the torture of Julian Assange, who actually took on the west's war machine

    George Monbiot’s excuses for not speaking out loudly in defence of Assange simply won’t wash
    Faced with a barrage of criticism from some of his followers, George Monbiot, the Guardian’s supposedly fearless, leftwing columnist, offered up two extraordinarily feeble excuses this week for...

    Why would Monbiot big up the BBC podcast series Mayday shortly after Aaron Mate, one of its targets, demonstrated shocking blunders in its journalism and as BBC producers have gone to ground when confronted with questions they obviously can't answer?

    Questions for BBC on new White Helmets podcast series attacking OPCW whistleblowers | The Grayzone
    Aaron Maté fact checks BBC podcast Mayday, exposing errors in its defense of White Helmets founder James Le Mesurier and attack on OPCW inspectors
    thegrayzone.com

    https://twitter.com/Jonathan_K_Cook/status/1334166744102019072

    Aaron Maté @aaronjmate
    Confronted about his silence on OPCW's Syria scandal, @GeorgeMonbiot tried to mock @TheGrayzoneNews, & cited a @Bellingcat article that we have now exposed as a fraud: (https://thegrayzone.com/2020/10/28/draft-debacle-bellingcat-smears-opcw-whistleblower-journalists-with-false-letter-farcical-claims/
    )

    Bellingcat has gone mute & deleted tweets -- will George do the same, or apologize?

    @GeorgeMonbiot, what's your response to this?

    @GeorgeMonbiot is an intellectual coward

    https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1323328255982784515

    I for one am sick of his sh1t.

    jeers,
    I

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