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EXCELLENT WORK. PUTIN AND XI are a tag team too: https://dianefrancis.substack.com/p/ukraine-taiwan-and-the-bullies

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This is much better and accurate:

https://thegrayzone.com/2017/11/08/clint-watts-russia-meddling-expert-censorship/

Will add that "Russian trolls" aren't by default associated with the Russian government. Aaron Mate noted that the particular mentioned Facebook posts critical of Hillary Clinton came after (not before or during) the 2016 US election. If I'm not mistaken, there were also Facebook posts from the same venue critical of Trump.

Good to see Glen Greenwald at Substack. He has a good piece on Natasha Bertrand:

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/cnns-new-reporter-natasha-bertrand

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Isn't the Gray Zone that fringe website claiming Bashar al Assad is kid friendly peace loving dictator ? That they never used chemical weapons ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grayzone

Wikipedia is always accurate, and democrat leaning.

University teachers point us to that site because it's so damn good at linking to everything we need in the footnotes.

About Russian Trolls, CNN had a pretty good documentary even linking the troll group to the Wagner group (the Mercenaries). They operate out of St-Petersburg.

Now, they don't operate alone, they got backing from FSB and GRU. If they encounter "problems" they can assess the target and hacked him/her if they feel they need to remove a perceived obstacle.

They seemed to work like an umbrella in 2017. The Russians themselves staying in shadows, and trying to influence existing fringe groups to push them toward more chaotic actions. I saw them use tactics to obtain private info that could be used to threaten or blackmail in order to coerce peoples to help with doxing and hacking of targets.

I saw one cell manipulating peoples on both the right and the left and pitting them against each other.

So in that regard, yes, not every troll was a troll, and they also used bots, a lot.

But the controlling elements of the chaos, those were definitively Russians. Now, one Russian can influence maybe 4 peoples, and back itself with bots where needed, ranging from creating a distorted vision of reality (you can program bots to make events/discussions happen, and it will look real) to making them look like an opposing group (you can enrage someone on the left against Nazi by creating pastiche Nazi, and once you get him enraged you can lure him to a protest, increasing the chance of violence)

I won't pretend I understand everything they did, but I saw that type of manipulation happen. I saw them manipulate peoples into fighting with each other.

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Let me start out by saying that this thread is a good read on how the disinformation claims against the Russian government are (in overall terms) inaccurate BS and a projection of the disinformation launched against Russia.

At second glance, perhaps some of the aforementioned Facebook posts against Hillary Clinton might've happened before the election. Something that could be fact checked on. Regardless, the venue doing such was of a low caliber and wasn't influential in the 2016 US prez election. Some more on that election relative to Russia:

https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1148581532598198273?lang=en

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/russiagate-elections-interference/

https://greenwald.substack.com/p/antony-blinken-continues-to-lecture

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You seem a little confused "Mikael".

I've seen a Russian posing as Bulgarian first hand in 2014. Till I started talking Bulgarian with him and started to ask him his favorite bedtime story. Turn out he left Bulgaria at 3 years old and work in Moscow. How convenient.

But "we" shouldn't fall for "western lies" hey ? We was suppose to mean, we Bulgarians should join Russia, cause we all know Ukraine is Russian, right ? OMG. That was so screwed up.

I think the worst part that year was to see Ukrainian accounts disappearing on CNN, everyone that was opposing those Russian trolls. Then I read that article that explained how East Ukrainians were running for their lives because the Russian Spetnaz were going door to door killing peoples.

That Crimean Tatar woman that I was speaking to the day before, Horsewoman, she was gone. And I realize she may be dead, killed by Russian soldiers.

So what were you saying "Mikael" ?

Black Widow Tricks Loki Scene - The Avengers (2012) Movie CLIP HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFj2VPWdPaU

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Apr 24, 2021Liked by Clint Watts

Thank you..

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Amazing article as always !

Just discovered you recently

In depth articles, loads of information.

Thank you for your hard work !

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The bigoted troll posting as Eric posted this piece further below:

https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html

I'm addressing it here because the reply format gradually dwindles the posted content as can be seen below this thread.

The above piece is long winded and broadly stated with cherry picked specifics given. It accuses the Russian government of doing exactly what the article itself does.

Meantime, it's not a lie to note that Evelyn Farkas (mentioned in the above Substack piece) has lied at her Twitter and Facebook accounts. Her lies state as fact that:

- the Russian government meddled in the election she participated in as as candidate (a flat out lie)

- the Russian government had given a bounty to the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan (a very dubious claim)

- Putin poisoned Navalny (a very dubious claim as well).

Some other clear examples of misinformation are deconstructed in these pieces:

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2021/04/14/cnn-blatant-disinformation-about-russia-ukraine-activity/

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2020/12/07/covering-russia-what-sucks-about-the-new-york-times/

Regarding RT:

https://www.eurasiareview.com/29122014-with-room-for-improvement-rt-gives-time-to-diverse-views-analysis/

In short, there's plenty of fault to be found among media venues with different slants. The Kiev regime and the media slanting for it has had some gross inaccuracies as detailed here regarding what Petro Poroshenko had falsely said about Crimea:

https://www.eurasiareview.com/09052016-ongoing-russian-ukrainian-intricacies-analysis/

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" the Russian government had given a bounty to the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan"

Hate to break it to you

Russia put a bounty on the head of human right activists. I wonder why. They must be real scared of those guys.

Lindsey Stirling - You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch (ft. Sabrina Carpenter) [Official Video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQb0DJZLhRM

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Concerning Eric's faux image of Russian based media promoting Nazis:

https://www.rt.com/shows/sophieco-visionaries/488031-collective-psychology-after-wwii/

Plenty of other examples. The upcoming Victory Day in Russia honors the defeat of Nazism. Contrary to what Eric claims further below, this holiday overwhelmingly honors the citizenry and not Stalin.

BTW, the Galician SS had a parade in Kiev earlier this week. Not that they represent most Ukrainians. I note this to show how easy it is to cherry pick.

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I guess it depend what you call Nazi

Russia sure has a funny vision of Nazi

Russian TV airs doc claiming Nazi-loving Ukrainians are running Canada's government

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqk84mTQdpA

ROFL

I think I found a picture of the directing commitee here

Ukrainian athletes are getting ready to leave to Tokyo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFUXTj0Lgw4

As you can see they even control the Olympics !

FEAR NOT Russia is comming to the rescue

Russian military buildup near Ukraine | International News | Vladimir Putin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYPO1uoO88k

Now if you don't mind, I prefer a different game

HEROES UNITED: CORONAVIRUS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRnPOSoljX0

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Here's another one for Eric to chew on:

https://www.rt.com/russia/522855-stalin-bust-removed-russia/

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A good discussion on the real Russia related disinformation out there;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXcjwX-JGA

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Thank you. I've been making additions to the Legion of Questionableness - https://start.me/p/1kOeNY/18loq

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This piece is flat out disinformation, carrying a nouveau McCarthyite stench to it. Who do we contact at Substack for the purpose of providing a detailed debunking of this tripe?

BTW, it's more likely that many Americans get duped by BS like the above article.

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I think you got the story wrong, dude !

Shazam! | I'm Bulletproof | Warner Bros. Entertainment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJPtjncmIc8

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You sound like a Russian PsyOp Disinformation specialist, especially posting that Glen Greenwald paid propaganda.

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And you "sound" like a moron posting anti-Russian BS.

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FACTS

Russian troops build up near Ukraine border | DW News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wrl7B6M-Tc

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Prove Greenwald isn't a paid Putin stooge. Greenwald is paid propaganda and no one with any sort or critical thinking would take him seriously.

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Greenwald provides fact based analysis, much unlike yourself. You're the one making the accusation against him. Hence, you're the one who should provide the proof. Not doing so makes you look quite foolish.

This new age McCarthyism is even dumber than the original. Post-Soviet Russia nowhere near the threat (if even such) as the Soviet Union.

In actuality, the neocon and neolib foreign policy advocacy poses a greater threat to global security and stability.

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What does McCarthyism got to do with anything ?

Post Soviet Union ? Let's have a look ...

Gravitas: Russia's new weapon can unleash 'Radioactive Tsunamis'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff1yLh8y39U

US, Russia Spar Over Military Build-Up at Arctic Summit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bo6O3Usrtw

and to conclude our program

Master of Tides - Lindsey Stirling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrutzRWXkKs

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That's a complete joke. You sound like a Russian sycophant. Prove that Glenn isn't a paid Russian operative. I remember Glenn defended white nationalist Nazi hate speech. This guy will defend the worst kind of scum.

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You appear to have a few screws loose. You've once again failed to prove that Greenwald is a paid Russian government advocate.

Greenwald and numerous others thinking along his lines aren't Russian. Your ongoing "Russian" mantra here smacks of a convoluted paranoia, perhaps blended in with bigotry.

Greenwald is anti-Nazi and anti-censorship, much unlike a good number of neocon and neolib leaning folks, who're quite okay with censoring reasonable pro-Russian perspectives, while being more tolerant of bigoted anti-Russian types.

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Thank you for this in depth analysis. Have you found any proof that American news outlets have a direct connection with the Kremlin’s disinformation and if so, how can they be held accountable? For instance, was it intentional that the Yonkers news outlet published that story or were they unaware?

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author

good question - why did Yonkers publish that?

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A detailed accounting concerning the Yonkers, Tribune, Strategic Culture Foundation and Evelyn Farkas:

https://irrussianality.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/how-to-write-a-bad-article-about-russia/#comment-37667

At last glance, Farkas' lies still up at Twitter:

https://www.unz.com/akarlin/habbening-trump-is-banned-from-twitter/#comment-4393232

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To get another perspective - something along the lines of good old fashioned journalism as opposed to the inaccurately sleazy caricature of a given view that isn't shared.

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How can we get permission to reprint at www.HSToday.us?

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author

yes - as long as you cite and link back to this substack post

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How can we get permission to repost at www.HSToday.us?

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