{"id":208791,"date":"2022-04-11T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T11:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=208791"},"modified":"2022-04-07T11:17:25","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T10:17:25","slug":"fabricating-putin-quotes-and-banning-paraplegic-athletes-to-undermine-russia-how-low-can-the-west-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/04\/fabricating-putin-quotes-and-banning-paraplegic-athletes-to-undermine-russia-how-low-can-the-west-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Fabricating Putin Quotes and Banning Paraplegic Athletes to Undermine Russia: How Low Can the West Go?"},"content":{"rendered":"

7 Apr 2022 – <\/em>Mobilizing a population to vilify and hate a targeted enemy is a tactic that leaders have used since before the dawn of human history, and it is being used to demonize Russia and Vladimir Putin in the current conflict. If we want to join the march to war, we can join the hate fest.\u00a0 But if we want a more objective and honest assessment of events, we must rely upon facts that our government and its cheer-leading mainstream media are not anxious for us to view.<\/p>\n

In the wake of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, \u00a0all things Russian are being punished. Russian athletes, including paraplegics<\/a>, are barred from international sports competition. Century old Russian writers and musicians such as Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky are being removed from book shelves and concerts. Even Russian bred cats<\/a> are not exempt.<\/p>\n

If such actions are justified, why was there no such banning of US athletes, musicians or writers after the US invasion of Iraq?\u00a0 Moreover, why are so few people outraged by the bombing and killing of 370,000 Yemeni people?\u00a0 Why are so few people outraged as thousands of Afghans starve because the United States is seizing Afghanistan\u2019s national asset<\/a>s which were in western banks?<\/p>\n

Why Ukraine?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There has been massive and widespread publicity about Ukraine. It is a simple Hollywood script:\u00a0 Ukraine is the angel, Russia is the devil, Zelensky is the hero and all good people will wear blue and yellow ribbons.<\/p>\n

Maintaining this image requires propaganda to promote it, and censorship to prevent challengers debunking it.<\/p>\n

This has required trashing some long held western traditions. By banning all Russian athletes from international competition, the International Olympic Committee and different athletic federations have violated the Olympic Charter<\/a> which prohibits discrimination on the basis of nationality.<\/p>\n

Censorship<\/strong><\/p>\n

The West prides itself on free speech yet censorship of alternative viewpoints is now widespread in Europe and North America. \u00a0Russia Today<\/em> and other Russian media outlets are being blocked on the internet as well as cable TV.\u00a0 Ironically,\u00a0 numerous programs on RT were hosted by Americans, for example journalist Chris Hedges and comedian Lee Camp.\u00a0 The US is silencing their own citizens.<\/p>\n

Censorship or shadow banning is widespread on social media. On April 6, one of the best informed military analysts, Scott Ritter @realScottRitter, was suspended<\/a> from Twitter. Why?\u00a0 Because he\u00a0 suggested<\/a> that the victims of Bucha may have been murdered not by Russians, but rather by Ukrainian ultra-nationalists and the US and UK may also be culpable.<\/p>\n

The 2015 Netflix documentary titled \u201cWinter on Fire: Ukraine\u2019s Fight for Freedom\u201d<\/em> deals with the Maidan (Kiev central square) uprising of 2013-2014.\u00a0 It ignores the most essential elements of the events: the management<\/strong> provided by the US\u00a0 and the muscle<\/strong> provided by ultra-nationalists of the Right Sector and Azov Battalion. The attacks and killing of Ukrainian police are whitewashed away.<\/p>\n

By contrast, the 2016 documentary \u201cUkraine on Fire\u201d<\/a><\/em> provides the background and essential elements of the conflict.\u00a0 It is not available on Netflix and was banned from distribution on YouTube for some time.<\/p>\n

Most people in the West are unaware of the US involvement in the 2014 Kiev coup<\/a>, subsequent US funding and training of ultra-nationalist and Neo Nazi battalions<\/a>, and the eight year war<\/a> in eastern Ukraine resulting in fourteen thousand deaths.<\/p>\n

Sensational Accusations <\/strong><\/p>\n

Backed by US and UK intelligence agencies, Ukraine knows the importance of the information war. They make sensational accusations that receive uncritical media coverage. When the truth eventually comes out, it is ignored or buried on the back pages. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n