Posted on 12/28/2015 12:21:50 PM PST by familyop
American lawmakers push bill to counter Putin message
Russia has reorganized and intensified its international propaganda machine so effectively over the past decade that some Western lawmakers and diplomats say Washington now is badly losing a global messaging war to the increasingly modernized blitz of anti-U.S. content from Moscow-backed news operations.
Leaders in the House and Senate have not put their full weight behind the Royce-Engel legislation, although it moved swiftly through the committee in May.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Fallacies for promoting communism:
“Duuuh, let’s support communism, because...Obama!”
“Uuuh, all of the big government spending is supposed to go to my government income—not to be used against foreign communist propaganda!”
“Duuuh, the mainstream media lie, so let’s support the Russian propaganda machine!”
“Obama! Obama!”
“Establishment Republicans are too liberal, so let’s support a hard communist takeover of the USA!”
“Trump is on the right side with Putin, and anyone who doesn’t like it had better shut up and avoid voting, or else!”
[The above is a parody of today’s political class with ironic clarifications of their ingenuous political speech.]
Logic Examples for Political Baby Boomers and Gen-X-ers on Drugs
http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/kornbluthcm-marchingmorons/kornbluthcm-marchingmorons-00-e.html
Agitprop is effective at the margins. What is the message from the US as delivered by the US government and the MSM? Lgbtt...etc, climate change (i.e. reduce your standard of living), socialism, anti-Christian, more taxes, more government, tyranny, etc...
Russia doesn’t have to do much to smear the US.
Democrats have been doing this for years.
Yeah, but at least Putin means well.../enigmatic comment generator off.
Is it OK to say enigmatic, or is that racist? I remember someone getting into big trouble for saying "niggardly" a while back.
Why is it getting easier all the time to consider the Russian propaganda machine as a more plausible news source than the US mainstream media?
Don’t get me wrong, the Russians clearly have an anti-American agenda. Still, the supposedly US-based news media that feeds the newspapers, TV, and the social media in the US is even MORE anti-American.
One would not have thought that possible even ten years ago.
Yes, but don't make the terrible mistake of equating America with Obama. Both Putin and Obama want to see the demise of the United States. They basically share the same world vision.
_________________________________
BY: Bill Gertz
February 20, 2015
Russia agreed to provide military training for three leftist regimes in Latin America and increase military visits and exercises following a visit last week to the region by Moscow's Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu, Pentagon officials said.
Shoygu met with defense and military leaders in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua and signed several agreements on warship visits and military training during the visit, which ran from Feb. 11 to 14. It is not clear whether any new arms deals were completed during the visit.
Defense officials said the Russian leader is seeking bases in the region for strategic bomber flights that Shoygu recently promised would include flights over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.
U.S. intelligence agencies closely monitored the visit but a Pentagon spokeswoman played down the Russian military encroachment.
"Just as we have bilateral and multilateral relationships around the world, so do other nations," Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen M. Lainez told the Washington Free Beacon. "All nations are free to choose their associations as they see fit."
The U.S. Southern Command, the command responsible for maintaining security in the region, also played down the visit.
"We respect the sovereign right of nations in the region to seek constructive relationships with the international community," said Col. Lisa Garcia, a command spokeswoman.
Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), a member of the House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee, said "the Russian bear is out of hibernation from Damascus, to Donetsk, and from Pyongyang to Peru."
"Putin and his coterie of "former" communists smell weakness," Pompeo said. "Their window to expand Russian influence is now and they are acting with great vigor and with nearly zero resistance from America and the West. Russian military expansion into Latin America is simply one more manifestation of their resolve and American inaction."
Defense officials familiar with intelligence reports said Shoygu discussed future arms sales and signed military training and joint exercises accords during his four days of meetings.
All three Latin states are members of the 11-member Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, known as ALBA, a leftist alliance set up by Cuba and Venezuela in 2004 as an anti-U.S. grouping of states.
The Russian news site Pravda reported that the defense minister's visit appeared to set the stage for a future visit to the region by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian leader is under growing isolation as the result of diplomatic and financial pressure from U.S. and European states that U.S. officials have said are beginning to cause serious economic problems for Russia.
The Shoygu visit also comes amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West over Moscow's military annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and continuing Russian military destabilization, despite a recent ceasefire accord, in eastern Ukraine.
The Obama administration has remained largely silent on Russian military encroachment in the western hemisphere. Russian Tu-95 Bear H bomber flights have increased sharply near U.S. coasts in recent months, with one recent air defense zone incursion simulating a practice nuclear cruise missile strike on the United States from northeastern Canada.
British jets on Thursday intercepted Russian bombers flying along the coast near Cornwall, in southwest England.
In Nicaragua, Shoygu signed an agreement aimed at simplifying procedures for Russian warships to make port calls. A second accord was reached that will increase military training in Russia for Nicaraguan military personnel.
Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista President Daniel Ortega announced last year that he plans to build up the armed forces with Moscow's assistance.
Russia also agreed previously to supply naval gunboats to Nicaragua beginning in 2016.
Venezuela also is a major recipient of Russian weapons, including an estimated $12 billion in arms, including Su-30 jets, Mi-17, Mi-26 and Mi-35 helicopters, T-72 tanks, Smerch multiple launch rocket launchers, S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, and artillery.
Venezuela also agreed during the Shoygu visit to increase visits by Russian warships, and Caracas will hold joint military exercises with the Russians. Joint Russian-Venezuelan air defense training also was discussed, and Russian warship visits will take place in the future.
"We will most certainly take part in your air defense and artillery drills," Shoygu was quoted by state-run Sputnik news agency as saying in Caracas.
Pravda reported Russian air force aircraft may make use of Venezuelan bases in the future.
In November, Shoygu announced that Russian strategic nuclear bombers would conduct long-range training flights over the Gulf of Mexico. "In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico."
Marine Corps. Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, confirmed the likelihood of future Russian bomber flights during testimony earlier this month before the House Armed Services Committee.
"Moscow has made significant progress in modernizing its nuclear and conventional forces, improving its training and joint operational proficiency, modernizing its military doctrine to integrate new methods of warfare and developing long range precision strike capabilities," Stewart said.
Stewart said Russian military forces, including Tu-95 bombers, conducted "record numbers" of out of area air and naval deployments.
"We expect this to continue this year to include greater activity in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas," he said.
In an article published Tuesday, Pravda quoted Putin as saying Russia would not permit the United States to achieve military superiority, and Moscow will continue to bolster its nuclear forces, space weapons, navy, and long-range aviation.
The newspaper also said Moscow lacks a system of bases to achieve its objectives.
In Cuba, Shoygu met Cuban dictator Raul Castro and noted that military relations continued to "develop constructively." The Russian leader also thanks the Cuban communist regime for hosting port visits by Russian naval vessels, including the intelligence-gathering ship Victor Leonov, which made a port call in Havana in January, coinciding with the Obama administration's diplomatic initiative to seek normalized relations with the regime.
Cuba also agreed to send military personnel to Russia for training.
U.S. defense officials said the Leonov was anchored some 25 miles off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, last week, where it is suspected of conducting surveillance of U.S. nuclear missile submarines based at nearby Kings Bay, Georgia.
"This long-term strategy imposes obligations on Russia to supply its allies in Latin America with advanced weapons, including air defense systems, aircraft, and warships," Pravda stated.
Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton said the Russians appear to be filling a power vacuum in the region by the lack of focus from the Obama administration.
"Russia's perception of American weakness under Obama has fueled their new adventurism in this hemisphere," Bolton said. "Since I see no chance of Obama waking up to the potential threat, I am very worried about the situation a new president will face in January 2017."
Dan Goure, a Russia expert with the Lexington Institute, said Russia's current moves into Latin America "are like a page Xeroxed from the Soviet political-military playbook."
"Now, like then, the Kremlin is attempting to counter what it perceives as western encirclement by operating in America's backyard," Goure said.
"The U.S. deploys missile defenses in Eastern Europe and sends warships into the Black Sea so the Russian military is attempting a riposte by orchestrating naval visits to Venezuela and seeking to reopen its intelligence facility in Cuba."
Goure said Moscow is seeking to encourage anti-American sentiment in the region "much the same way as it perceives the U.S. has done to Russia in the so-called color revolutions."
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russia-boosts-arms-training-for-leftist-latin-militaries/
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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Russia's push into Ukraine has put many on edge. But less known is that Russia is also strengthening its military links south of the Rio Grande and re-establishing itself as a power in the region.
Vladimir Putin has been strengthening military links here, and Russia is now the largest arms dealer to governments in Latin America, surpassing the United States.
Russia has even floated the possibility of building new military bases in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and putting its warships permanently in the Caribbean.
In the midst of the Ukraine crisis, Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov recently visited Cuba, Peru, Chile, and Nicaragua, where he announced that Russia would also pour money into the new Central American canal project. ..."
This Cold War era russophobia is idiot. Putin’s attack on ISIS in Syria should be hailed as a victory for sanity by conservatives. NATO and the CIA and MI6 are bankster leg breakers. The globalist fascist banker oligarchy hate Putin for putting a stop to their post 1989 attempt at raw materials pillage of Russia. Yah, he used Russian gangsters, but that was fighting fire with fire. NATO’s brinksmanship is pushing the planet towards WWIII. How would we feel if Russia tried to pub ICBM’s in Cuba. Oh wait, that already happened and we had a sh*t fit. If the oligarchs can’t control the world’s money and raw materials supply, they will bomb it back to the stone age. Bankers are freaking insane and they are in desperate need of a straight jacket or a bullet.
Sorry, but the rest of the world Obama and the MSM is America. People like us are now the same position as freedom loving conservatives and classical liberals in such countries as Canada, France, Spain, England, and Australia. Remember how we rediculed their countries and them? Well like it or not you are a citizen of one the most socialistic countries in the western world with world leading taxes and regulations. Obama is your president. He is your face to the world.
They are being enriched by down with America interests and have sold our America already so what difference does it make? They can blame the demise of Americ on the Russians, but the only place to put the blame is squarely on Washington and the UNIPARTY that reigns there.
Sure, RT openly supports Russia’s point of view on issues of interest to Russia.
What a shock and surprise.
It also provided better coverage and greater honesty that does the American propaganda arm, CNN International. I can’t stomach CNN for 5 minutes. RT I can handle for a half hour - and sometimes I learn something. That NEVER happens with CNN International.
As for Russian trolls on the internet... I think we have a few right here on FR.
But that doesn't mean we should jump on-board with those nations who want to drive the final nails in our coffin (Russia for example). As long as we're alive, we need to keep fighting to reverse the many damaging things this commie SOB and his ilk have done to our once great country.
meanwhile on PBS....
Who is Brayne? I noticed that the VOA was in bad shape under the previous Clinton Administration (Hillary’s administration) and wouldn’t be surprised, if was in bad shape before that. For over 40 years, people not long descended from Europe (see northeast, west coast) have been overly influential in U.S. politics—a swing vote that has moved both parties far to the un-American left of both previous parties. The pendulum now swings from Euro-communist to Euro-fascist and back (both socialist—federal commies to state and local commies).
One now has to pay a small fortune before building a house or starting a small manufacturing shop in the middle of nowhere. Maybe the answer lies beyond the ongoing default process. Maybe President Bush was right with the scorched earth policy regarding debts. Maybe it’s the only way to de-fund the B and start clean.
“Putin and Obama basically share the same world view”
Except on Syria, Ukraine, gay adoption, Christianity, and taxes (Russia’s are lower)
Pinging Navy Patriot to post #29, so that I too can be called a putinista.
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