The five-day Georgian-Russian conflict saw Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili (pictured) and other Georgian officials waging an aggressive propaganda campaign and, in many ways, a disinformation war in the Western mass media. This media offensive was the result either of a carefully planned disinformation war or a rush by Western governments, mainstream media, and think tanks to get the Georgians’ side of the story and their side only. Either way, the Georgians were able to wage an effective and constant barrage of propaganda and disinformation against the Russians.
In some 40 appearances in the Western media and at Western think tanks, Georgian President Mikheil Saakasahvili and his ministers made numerous statements in their effort to convince the West that it was obliged to defend Tbilisi from Russia’s incursion. The following is a review of Georgia’s official version of events and a comparison of their claims with the facts as we know them as of late August and early September 2008.
Much to my delight, the word is getting out. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is slowly but surely being seen for what he is: a liar and an opportunist. However, my delight will never make up for the disdain I have for those among the commentariat who have protected him and covered up his lies. Western mainstream media continues to disgrace itself. And at the same time it lectures Russia about media standards. Again, we witness in front of our very eyes the death of outrage.
During Saakashvili’s war, we mostly heard from Saakashvili – not his victims or the Russian side. This of course was all so convenient for Saakashvili and his Western handlers. It was supposed to be that way. Saakashvili after all is Western – he’s “just like us.” But is he? Well, if he is just “like us,” we should be ashamed of ourselves and change – and look for better stooges to advance Washington’s neocon agenda.
The timelines are now becoming clear. Saakashvili ordered an attack against civilians he called his own. He said he “loved” the South Ossetian people and that we would never harm them. Only hours later, he attacked them in their beds – a 12-hour assault against innocent civilians. When things didn’t go the way he expected, he blamed Russia. The West’s commentariat swallowed this hook, line, and sinker. This was the commentariat’s first shame in the affair - much more follows.
To this day, Saakashvili is getting away with murder. Saakashvili started a war, with Washington’s support, and now expects a very pliant Western media to bail him out. Amazingly, and almost meeting his expectations, he nearly pulled it off. But the truth is catching up with him. Finally, there are those connecting the dots – Saakashvili has problems with dots being connected. He never really expected this. His Washington handlers in Tbilisi and the US were tasked with sanitising all of this. But it is not happening.
CNN, the BBC, Sky News, and all the American domestic networks cannot admit to their appalling coverage of Saakashvili’s preemptive war. Now they all prefer to ignore the facts that are coming to light. They simply lack the professional guts to admit they were wrong when the world needed the truth. Sadly, this is very much part of a trend.
I am pleased that at least more and more print media outlets are now reconsidering what really happened a month ago. They certainly don’t have a balanced view of Russia’s position regarding this conflict, but at least they are distancing themselves from Saakashvili’s. This is a small step towards correction and commitment to the truth.
Saakashvili is on his way out. Something tells me he won’t get the Western media coverage he wants and expects. The West’s media loves winners and morally defensible heroes. The more we learn, the less Saakashvili is either.
Peter Lavelle, Russia Today
The “Golden Voice of the Great Southwest”: Legendary Folk Musician, Activist Utah Phillips, 1935-2008 from Democracy Now! May 27, 2008
Utah Phillips, the legendary folk musician and peace and labor activist, has died at the age of seventy-three.
Over the span of nearly four decades, Utah Phillips worked in what he referred to as “the Trade,” performing tirelessly throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. The son of labor organizers, Phillips was a lifelong member of the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies.
As a teenager, he ran away from home and started living as a hobo who rode the rails and wrote songs about his experiences. In 1956, he joined the Army and served in the Korean War, an experience he would later refer to as the turning point of his life. In 1968, he ran for the US Senate on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. For the past twenty-one years he lived in Nevada City, where he started a nationally syndicated folk music radio show. He also helped found the Hospitality House homeless shelter and the Peace and Justice Center.
UTAH PHILLIPS: I think that—I think that it’s getting—it can get as bad. I think that we’re being frog-marched into a corporate fascist takeover of the country. And no fooling, I think that we’re in the Weimar Republic. And that’s another thing that I would encourage young people to understand, what—that was Germany before the Second World War, the rise of Hitler, the rise of Nazism. Why didn’t people do anything? You know, the big question that young Germans are asking their grandparents: “Why didn’t you do something?” Read about the Weimar, compare the rise of fascism in Germany from the 1920s to what’s happening right here right now.
And this is what they do to the beautiful wolves in Palin's sleazy, safari-land. When I sent a copy of a petition to Palin's email address at governor@gov.state.ak.us it was returned as spam!
Shows how much her government values public opinion.
If you love wolves like I do you should be warned that this video does not make pleasant viewing. Whether you watch it or not, please go to the Save America's Wolves website here and sign the Petition. After that please circulate the Petition to all your friends and contacts. Thank you.
The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has criticised the EU, saying Monday's emergency summit in Brussels failed to acknowledge Georgia's aggressive role in the Caucasus conflict. In an interview with Euronews, he also said Russia would not be isolated from the international community.
Speaking at his summer residence in Sochi on the Black Sea, the Russian leader told Euronews he had followed the summit closely.
Medvedev said the meeting showed that: “unfortunately, there is still no understanding of Russia's motives in making the decision to repulse Georgia's aggression, and in making the decision to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as subjects of international law. This is deplorable but not fatal, because in this world, things change”, he said.
Medvedev went on to say the EU was taking a pragmatic stance over the conflict: ”Even though the EU countries were somewhat divided on this issue, a reasonable and realistic approach prevailed. Some countries called for some imaginary sanctions and punishments but it didn't happen. And I think Europe, primarily the European Union, is better off this way,” Medvedev said.
The president also pointed out that Russia had not been ostracised by the international community.
”Russia doesn't want to be isolated, and in fact it is impossible to isolate Russia. The fact of the matter is, after this recognition we all should consider the security architecture we want to have in our complex world in the years to come. It is totally obvious to me that the events that started with Georgian aggression on August 8 made this issue very urgent. The former security architecture proved itself ineffective”.
